Chapter 6 Rune
SIX
RUNE
Rune stared at the untouched sandwich on his desk as he replayed the morning’s events.
The ham and cheese might as well have been cardboard for all the appetite he had.
Every time he tried to take a bite, his mind drifted back to Electra.
The memory of her bare legs and that challenging spark in her green eyes made his wolf prowl beneath his skin.
Focus. Eat. You need the fuel.
But concentration proved impossible when his mate was living in the most vulnerable position imaginable—isolated, unprotected, and sitting directly on the fault line between two rival packs.
The radio call that had torn him away from her cabin had been about Birch’s enforcers stirring up trouble on Mill Road, barely three miles from Electra’s front door.
Rune’s hands clenched into fists as he remembered the confrontation.
Three of Birch’s wolves, all swagger and territorial posturing, trying to push the boundary markers deeper into Hale territory.
“You’re on the wrong side of the line,” he’d told them firmly.
The lead enforcer—a stocky wolf named Kane—had sneered. “Lines change, Hale. Maybe it’s time you accepted that.”
Rune had stepped closer, letting his alpha presence fill the space between them. “The only thing that’s going to change is your current location if you don’t move. Now.”
They’d retreated, but not before Kane had made a point of sniffing the air, his eyes glinting with intrigue. “Interesting scents around here lately.”
The implied threat had taken every ounce of Rune’s control not to shift and rip the wolf’s throat out on the spot.
Now, hours later, his protective instincts were still simmering at dangerous levels.
Electra had no idea she was living in a hostile environment, and he couldn’t exactly explain that her new home sat squarely between two wolf shifter packs locked in a territorial dispute without revealing secrets he wasn’t ready to share yet.
Even though she saw right through the safety ordinance excuse this morning.
Her sharp wit had cut through his carefully rehearsed speech like a blade through silk. The woman was too perceptive for her own good, and the way she’d challenged his authority had sent heat racing through his veins.
“How very authoritative of you.”
The memory of those words, delivered with that slight smirk, made his wolf rumble with approval even as it frustrated him. She wasn’t intimidated by his alpha presence—if anything, she seemed fascinated by it.
He needed answers. And he knew exactly who to call.
Rune searched for Gerri Wilder’s contact online and grabbed his phone. The phone rang twice before her familiar voice filled the line, warm and knowing in a way that immediately put him on edge.
“Sheriff Hale,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “I was wondering when you’d reach out.”
“Cut the act, Gerri.” His voice carried the controlled bite of an Alpha who’d reached the end of his patience. “What exactly were you thinking placing Electra on my land? Right on the border with Birch’s territory?”
“Oh my.” Her tone turned innocent, which only made Rune’s suspicion deepen. “Is there a problem now? I thought it was perfect at the time—isolated, peaceful, exactly what a burned-out writer needs to reignite her creative spark.”
“Peaceful.” The word came out flat. “You put a human woman directly in disputed pack territory between two rival Alphas, and you call it peaceful?”
“Now, Sheriff, I’m sure you don’t think I was stirring the pot. I simply found a lovely cabin that was available and suited Ms. Calloway’s needs perfectly.”
The woman’s ability to play innocent while orchestrating chaos was legendary among shifter circles. Rune pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache building behind his eyes.
“Don’t play games with me, Gerri. You know exactly what kind of position this puts me in.”
“Do I?” Her voice carried that maddening hint of amusement. “And what position might that be?”
Rune’s free hand clenched into a fist. He wanted to tell her that Electra was his mate, that her meddling had just complicated his life beyond measure, but something held him back. The admission felt too raw, too vulnerable to voice aloud.
“She’s in danger,” he said instead. “Birch’s wolves are already sniffing around the area.”
“Oh, I’m sure a capable Alpha like yourself can handle any... complications that might arise.”
The casual way she dismissed his concerns made his wolf snarl. “This isn’t a game, Gerri. That woman could get hurt.”
“Mmm.” The sound was thoughtful and considering. “You seem quite concerned about Ms. Calloway’s welfare. More concerned than one might expect for a simple new resident.”
Damn. She already knows.
Of course she knew. Gerri Wilder had a reputation for orchestrating fated mate encounters with surgical precision.
“I protect everyone in my territory,” Rune said carefully.
“Of course you do.” Her agreement was far too cheerful. “Though it’s wonderful to see you taking such a personal interest in someone’s safety. Your mother would have been so pleased.”
The mention of his mother hit unexpectedly hard, and Rune’s control slipped enough to let genuine emotion bleed into his voice. “Leave my mother out of this.”
“She wanted you to be happy, you know. To find love and have a family. She used to worry that you’d let duty consume you entirely.”
“I was perfectly fine until you brought Electra here,” Rune ground out, his composure cracking. “Now I’m not.”
Gerri’s laugh was warm and knowing. “Oh, sweetheart. Fine is just another word for existing without living. And that’s no way for an Alpha to spend his life.”
“You don’t understand—“
“I understand perfectly.” Her voice softened, taking on a maternal quality that made his chest tight.
“You’re thirty-eight years old, Rune. You’ve spent twenty years putting duty before everything else, and where has it gotten you?
Alone in a cabin, eating sad sandwiches, and patrolling empty roads. ”
The accuracy of her assessment stung more than he cared to admit.
“You think settling down makes you weak,” she continued. “But strength isn’t about standing alone—it’s about having something worth fighting for.”
“And what if I lose her?” The words escaped, raw and honest. “What if caring about her makes me weak when my pack needs me strong?”
“Oh, honey.” Gerri’s voice was gentle now, understanding. “Love doesn’t make you weak. It makes you fierce. It gives you something to protect beyond duty and obligation.”
Rune closed his eyes, fighting the truth in her words. The mate bond pulled at him constantly now, a magnetic force that made every moment away from Electra feel wrong. His wolf wanted to claim, to protect—instincts that flew in the face of the careful control he’d built his life around.
“You’ll figure it out, Alpha,” Gerri said, her tone returning to its characteristic mix of warmth and mischief. “Don’t overthink it. Sometimes the best things in life come when we stop trying to control everything.”
The line went dead, leaving Rune staring at his phone with a mixture of frustration and resignation.
Gerri Wilder had just confirmed what he’d already known—she’d orchestrated this entire situation with the precision of a master strategist. And now he was caught between his duty as Alpha and the primal need to claim his mate, with Birch’s wolves circling like vultures and Electra completely unaware of the danger she was in.
You can’t run from fate forever.
The truth settled in his chest like a stone. Whether he’d asked for it or not, Electra Calloway was his mate.
The phone call with Gerri had shattered what little composure he’d managed to salvage, leaving him wound tight as a spring. He shoved back from his desk, the chair scraping against the floor.
I can’t just sit here while Electra’s out there alone.
The thought drove him to his feet. He grabbed his keys, ignoring the stack of incident reports that demanded his attention. Paperwork could wait. His mate’s safety couldn’t.
The drive toward Electra’s cabin felt different this time—charged with urgency rather than the careful pretense of his previous visits. As he got closer, his wolf rumbled beneath his skin, alert and agitated, sensing something amiss before his human mind caught up.
That’s when he spotted the unfamiliar truck ahead on the winding mountain road.
Rune’s instincts flared like a match struck in darkness. The truck moved with deliberate slowness, its driver clearly studying the terrain rather than navigating it. This wasn’t someone lost or sightseeing—this was reconnaissance.
Who the hell are you, and what do you want with my territory?
He eased off the accelerator, allowing distance to stretch between the vehicles while keeping the truck in sight.
The driver’s behavior set off every alarm bell ringing in his head.
The truck would slow at certain points, pause near trail markers, then accelerate again—the methodical pattern of someone mapping the area.
Or hunting.
The truck’s brake lights flashed as it approached the turnoff to Electra’s cabin. Rune’s hands tightened on the wheel, his wolf snarling beneath the surface. The truck didn’t turn down her drive, but it lingered at the intersection long enough for the driver to crane his neck toward her property.
Rune pulled over behind a cluster of pines and reached for his radio, running the license plate through dispatch. The response crackled back within minutes, and his blood ran cold.
“Vehicle registered to a Sarah Mitchell, Hartford, Connecticut. No outstanding warrants.”
A woman’s name, but definitely a man behind the wheel. Rune’s jaw clenched as he processed the implications. Stolen vehicle, borrowed car, or something worse—none of the possibilities were good.
He eased back onto the road, closing the distance between them. Through the rear window, he could make out the driver: brown hair, average build, nothing immediately threatening. But something about the man’s posture, the way he held his shoulders, screamed predator to Rune’s heightened senses.
The truck suddenly jerked forward, engine revving as the driver spotted Rune’s cruiser in his mirrors. Instead of pulling over like any normal citizen would when approached by law enforcement, the car accelerated sharply and took the next curve at dangerous speed.
Running. Guilty of something.
Rune’s protective instincts roared to life, his wolf demanding pursuit and elimination of the threat. But chasing a spooked suspect through mountain curves could end badly for everyone involved. Better to let him run for now—Rune’s presence alone had served as a warning.
He grabbed his radio as the truck’s taillights disappeared around the bend.
“Forrest, you copy?”
“Yeah, boss. What’s up?”
“Need you to increase patrols around Mill Road and the Henderson cabin. Just ran off a suspicious vehicle—male driver in a car registered to someone else, clearly scoping the area.”
Forrest’s voice sharpened with interest. “You think it’s connected to Birch’s pack?”
Rune considered that possibility, but his gut said no. The man had felt human—no supernatural energy, no pack scent. Just wrong in an entirely different way.
“Negative. This felt personal, not territorial. But I want extra eyes on that area regardless.”
“Copy that. Want me to run additional background on the plate?”
“Do it. And Forrest?” Rune’s voice carried the steel of an Alpha’s command. “Keep this quiet for now.”
“Understood.”
Rune ended the call and stared down the empty road where the truck had vanished. Every instinct told him to go to Electra’s cabin, to tell her about the threat, to explain everything—the mate bond, the pack dynamics, the danger she’d unknowingly walked into.
Right. Just knock on her door and say, ‘Hey, we met yesterday, but surprise—you’re my fated mate and there’s some creep stalking you. Also, I turn into a wolf. Hope that’s not a problem.’
The absurdity of it would have been funny if the situation weren’t so serious. Electra was sharp enough to see through any excuse he gave for showing up again so soon. She’d already called him out this morning for his thin safety speech.
The memory of her teasing tone sent heat spiraling through him even now, when he should be focused on threat assessment. She challenged him in ways no one had dared in years, and his wolf loved it even as it frustrated his need for control.
But control was exactly what he needed right now. Bursting into her life with supernatural revelations would only drive her away, and he couldn’t protect her if she ran.
With a growl of frustration, Rune turned the cruiser around and headed back toward town. Work would have to be his anchor tonight—incident reports, patrol schedules, anything to keep his hands busy while his mind raced with scenarios and contingencies.
But when he finally settled back at his desk, surrounded by paperwork and the familiar routine of law enforcement, one truth burned clear in his mind. Electra Calloway was no longer just a complication or a distraction.
She was his.
And he’d be damned if he’d let anyone threaten what was his.