“We don’t have time—”
“Tell me.” I need to know. Need to understand what I’m being accused of.
“Specific evidence. Damning evidence placing you at the scene.” She’s working on the second cuff with focused intensity. “They’re going to execute you.”
“Maybe that’s justice.” The admission comes out quiet but honest. “For what I’ve done. The orders I gave. The people who died because I prioritized missions over their lives—”
“For something you didn’t do?” She looks up. Fierce. Eyes blazing. “No. I’m not letting them kill you for a crime you didn’t commit.”
“You believe me?” The question comes out shocked despite my attempt at control.
“Yes.”
The certainty in that single word leaves me reeling.
The second cuff comes off.
My dragon explodes outward with enough power that I stagger. Not shifting—just freedom after days of crushing suppression. Fire roars through me. My senses sharpen immediately. Colors brighten. Sounds clarify. Her presence intensifies until it’s almost mind-numbing in its complexity.
And the mate bond hits with full force.
Mate. Mine. Need.
The instinct is so strong that I have to lock my muscles to keep from grabbing her.
She feels it too. I watch her reaction—the way her pupils dilate, the way her breathing changes, the way her body sways slightly toward mine before she catches herself.
“You’re sacrificing everything.” I stare at her. “Aurora is your home. Your family. If you do this—”
“I know what I’m doing.” She’s checking the door again, listening for pursuit. “Can you shift? Fight if we need to?”
My dragon is already testing boundaries, eager and free after days of suppression. “Yes.”
“Then we move. Now.”
Alarms sound. Loud. Immediate. Facility-wide alert echoing through corridors. Someone found the unconscious guards.
Nadia curses under her breath. Opens the door. Checks both directions.
“This way. Stay close.” She moves into the corridor. I follow, trusting her despite every logical argument against this plan.
We run through Aurora’s corridors. She knows the layout intimately—takes turns that avoid main passages, keeps us moving through maintenance areas and storage corridors that most operatives don’t use regularly.
Behind us, I can hear voices calling out. Running footsteps. The facility mobilizing to hunt us.
“There!” someone shouts from an intersection ahead.
Three operatives block our path. I recognize one—Luke from the briefing. Dragon energy radiates from him. He sees Nadia, and shock crosses his face.
“Nadia, don’t do this,” he says with genuine concern in his voice. “Step away from him.”
She doesn’t slow. Just accelerates toward them.
Luke moves to intercept. She half-shifts and takes him down with wolf power—not trying to cause serious injury, just incapacitate. He hits the ground hard, breath knocked out.
The other two engage immediately. One wolf, one I can’t identify by smell alone.
My dragon surges forward as I shift partially—strength increasing, senses sharpening even further.
