6. Rune
SIX
RUNE
Rune had every intention of retreating to his office in the city after that catastrophic encounter with Maple, but his body refused to cooperate with rational thought.
The idea of sitting through board meetings and corporate negotiations while her citrus and rose scent seemed permanently embedded in his lungs felt impossible.
Worse, he couldn't risk anyone at Trigg Corporation seeing their unflappable CEO looking like he was slowly coming apart at the seams.
Because that's exactly what's happening, his dragon roared with smug satisfaction. She's unraveling you.
"Shut up," Rune muttered aloud.
The past two hours had been an exercise in futile distraction.
He'd dismissed his housekeeper early, needing the illusion of control that came from managing his own space.
Tasks that normally would have been handled by her became desperate attempts to keep his hands busy and his mind focused on anything other than Maple.
His dragon had been relentless since the moment he'd walked away from Bram's office, roaring demands that made Rune's jaw clench with the effort of resistance.
The mate bond wasn't fully locked into place yet—he'd maintained enough distance to prevent that final, irreversible connection—but the resonance was growing stronger with every hour Maple kept his claim marker close to her body.
Ancient magic designed by his ancestors to ensure no Alpha could escape fate forever.
Currently, he stood in his walk-in closet, methodically reorganizing suits that were already perfectly arranged.
The mundane task should have been soothing, but his hands shook slightly as he moved hangers with unnecessary precision.
He hadn't cleaned out this space in years—it didn't need to be done—but the alternative was acknowledging the growing certainty that his carefully controlled life was about to be obliterated.
"This is ridiculous," he said to the empty room, his voice carrying the edge of a man fighting a losing battle. "She's just a human who stumbled across something she doesn't understand. I'll figure out how to unbind her from the marker, she'll go back to her normal life, and—"
The sharp pain that lanced through his chest cut off his words mid-sentence.
Rune staggered, one hand bracing against the closet wall as the sensation hit him.
Not the warm awareness he'd been fighting all afternoon, but something cold and urgent that made his dragon surge to the surface with violent intensity.
Our mate is in danger.
"No, you're overreacting," Rune growled out.
But even as he tried to dismiss the instinct, another wave of alarm flooded his system. The mate bond might not be fully activated yet, but it was strong enough to carry emotional echoes, and what he was feeling from Maple's direction wasn't confusion or curiosity.
It was fear.
His dragon's roar echoed through his mind with enough force to make his hands shake.
She needs us now.
Rune abandoned any pretense of rational thought. He bolted from the closet, taking the stairs three at a time as he raced through his mansion toward the private garage. His Lamborghini sat gleaming under the overhead lights, a machine built for speed and precision—exactly what he needed right now.
The garage door was still rising when he peeled out of the driveway, the sports car's engine responding to his urgency with a throaty roar that matched his dragon's fury.
The canyon roads stretched ahead of him, winding through the red rock formations that had sheltered his kind for centuries, and he pushed the vehicle to its limits as that invisible compass in his chest guided him toward Maple's location.
She's close. Too close to the hidden entrance for coincidence.
The thought struck him as he navigated a particularly sharp curve, his hands steady on the wheel despite the chaos in his mind. Was she trying to find him? Had something happened that made her seek out his territory for help?
The questions evaporated when he crested the next rise and saw the nightmare unfolding ahead of him.
A black SUV with tinted windows was aggressively pursuing a modest sedan along the treacherous canyon road, both vehicles moving at speeds that turned every curve into a potential death trap.
The SUV driver seemed intent on forcing the smaller car off the road, and Rune's enhanced senses picked up the terror radiating from the sedan's occupants.
Maple.
Her presence blazed in his awareness now, bright and desperate and absolutely terrified. She was in that sedan, along with someone else—a male whose scent carried the earthy tones of fieldwork.
Rune's vision went molten gold as his dragon demanded immediate, violent action. These bastards were threatening his mate, and the ancient part of his soul that had been shaped by centuries of territorial dominance wouldn't tolerate any harm coming to his mate.
He floored the accelerator, the Lamborghini surging forward with predatory grace.
The SUV's driver noticed his approach in the rearview mirror, but Rune was already committed to his course of action.
He pulled alongside the larger vehicle and, without hesitation, rammed his sports car into its side with enough force to send it careening toward the canyon wall.
The SUV's driver fought for control, managing to straighten out, but his attention was split now between pursuing Maple and dealing with Rune's interference. That moment of distraction was all Rune needed.
"Get away from her," he snarled through gritted teeth, even though the SUV's occupants couldn't hear him.
The SUV accelerated again, apparently deciding to finish what it had started. Rune watched in horror as it rammed into the sedan's rear bumper with vicious intent, sending the smaller car skidding toward the canyon's edge where a drop of several hundred feet waited.
No.
The word exploded through his mind with enough force to crack his iron control. His dragon surged forward, demanding shift and flame and the complete destruction of anything that dared threaten their mate. But there wasn't time for subtlety or transformation.
Rune accelerated and yanked the wheel hard to the right and slammed his Lamborghini into the SUV with every ounce of power the machine could deliver.
The impact sent both vehicles spinning, but his target got the worst of it.
The SUV careened off the road and crashed into the canyon wall with a sickening crunch of metal and stone.
His own car was totaled, the front end and passenger side crumpled beyond repair, but Rune was already moving.
He kicked open the driver's door and stumbled out, his gaze fixed on the sedan that was now teetering precariously on the canyon's edge, its rear wheels barely maintaining purchase on solid ground.
Behind him, flames erupted from the SUV's wreckage as the fuel tank caught fire. The explosion that followed seconds later lit up the desert sky, but Rune didn't spare it a glance. Whoever had been inside was no longer a threat, and right now only one thing mattered.
Maple was trapped in that car, and he had seconds to get her out before it plunged over the edge.
The sedan hung suspended over the canyon's edge like a death sentence waiting to be executed.
The guardrail had buckled under impact, twisted metal now the only barrier between the car and oblivion.
Rune approached with predatory caution, every step calculated to avoid disturbing the vehicle's precarious balance.
The acrid smell of burning fuel from the destroyed SUV behind him mixed with the desert air, but all his enhanced senses focused on were the two heartbeats trapped inside that car—one steady but concerned, the other rapid with terror.
Maple.
The driver's door faced away from the canyon, giving him access to extract the male first. Rune wrenched it open with controlled force, mindful that any sudden, sharp movement could send the entire vehicle plummeting.
"Easy," Rune commanded, reaching for the sun-weathered man behind the wheel. "Move slowly."
The man's practical field experience showed as he didn't panic or make sudden movements. Instead, he gripped Rune's outstretched hand with steady determination.
"Get to her," the man said urgently as Rune hauled him clear of the wreckage. "Save her."
"I'm working on it," Rune growled, his attention already shifting to the passenger side where Maple sat trapped.
The guardrail had buckled inward during the crash, pinning her door shut and leaving only inches of clearance.
Rune could see her through the spider-webbed glass, her green eyes wide with fear as she clutched that damned treasure chest against her chest like a lifeline.
The claim marker inside pulsed with ancient energy, calling to him even through the metal and glass barriers.
"Can you move?" Rune called out.
"The door won't budge," Maple replied, her voice steady despite the terror he could smell radiating from her. "And I think the car's sliding now."
She was right. The sedan shifted another inch toward the edge, loose gravel cascading into the canyon below with sounds that echoed like distant thunder.
Rune didn't hesitate. He reached for her without thought, without consideration for consequences or mate bonds or the careful control he'd maintained for centuries. His only focus was getting Maple away from the canyon's edge before gravity claimed her.
The moment his hands wrapped around her waist, the world exploded.
Every nerve ending in his body blazed with recognition as ancient magic surged between them, the mate bond snapping into place with the force of a lightning strike.
The claim marker in her treasure chest hummed loudly, responding to their fully activated connection, and Rune felt something fundamental shift in his soul—a hollow space he hadn't even realized existed suddenly filled with her presence.
Mine.
His dragon roared in triumph, but Rune forced the primal satisfaction aside. The mate bond could wait. Right now, only her safety mattered.
Maple's arm wrapped around his neck as he lifted her from the car, her free hand maintaining its death grip on the treasure chest. The sedan gave one final groan before sliding over the edge, disappearing into the canyon with a crash that reverberated through the desert silence.
Rune carried her several steps away from the crumbling edge before setting her down, his hands reluctant to release contact with her. The moment he stepped back, his dragon protested the loss with violent intensity, demanding he reclaim their mate immediately.
The mate bond is locked now.
The realization should have filled him with dread and dread alone.
Instead, relief flooded through him in equal measure—relief that she was safe, that he'd reached her in time, that she was here and whole and alive.
The terror of what had just been activated warred with overwhelming gratitude that nothing had happened to her.
"Thank you for saving us," Maple said, reaching out to touch his arm with trembling fingers.
Even that simple contact sent fire racing through his bloodstream, the mate bond amplifying every sensation until her touch felt like coming home and losing control simultaneously.
"How did you know where to find us?" she asked.
"That artifact is like a beacon," Rune managed, his voice rough. "I was able to pinpoint you that way."
What he didn't say was that the mate bond had become a beacon too, and now it blazed between them like wildfire.
The man approached them, extending his hand toward Rune with straightforward gratitude. "I'm Ben, Maple's friend," he said as Rune shook his hand. "Sorry for all the trouble we've caused."
"Let's not worry about that right now," Rune replied, pulling out his cell phone. "Let's just get somewhere safe."
He speed-dialed Kade's number, his second-in-command answering on the first ring.
"Meet us at the V-shaped intersection on the canyon road," Rune said without preamble, then ended the call and started walking toward the designated meeting point.
Maple caught up to him quickly, Ben following close behind, the treasure chest still clutched protectively against her chest. "Who was following me?" she demanded.
"I don't know," Rune admitted, "but until we find out, you'll need to stay with me as a precaution. Someone clearly knows about the claim marker, and it's becoming dangerous."
"I'm not staying with you unless you can offer my friend Ben protection too," Maple said with the kind of fierce loyalty that made his dragon stir with satisfaction. "He's in danger now too."
Of course she'd protect her friend.
"Fine," Rune agreed.
They reached the intersection as Kade's black SUV appeared around the bend, pulling up beside them with military precision.
Rune claimed the passenger seat while Maple and Ben settled into the back, and immediately the confined space filled with her scent—that intoxicating blend of citrus and roses now permanently embedded in his consciousness.
"What happened?" Kade asked, taking in Rune's disheveled appearance and the smoke rising from the canyon behind them.
"Long story," Rune replied, shooting his second-in-command a look that clearly communicated to not press him further right now.
Kade, reading the warning in his Alpha's expression, simply nodded and put the SUV in drive. The remainder of the journey to Rune's mansion passed in tense silence, but Rune's mind was anything but quiet.
The mate bond is irreversibly locked into place. No going back now.
Maple's presence behind him was already driving him toward madness, every breath filled with her scent, every heartbeat synchronizing with hers through their new connection.
And now he'd offered to keep her at his mansion, where her presence would seep into every corner of his carefully controlled domain.
This isn't going to end well.