My dragon snarls. The timing couldn’t be worse.
But Selene’s suspicion hits me immediately. Her eyes narrow at Marcus, that sharp intelligence working.
“Convenient timing,” she says flatly. “They terrorize us all day, and now their entire leadership is vulnerable?”
Marcus’s jaw tightens. “War makes strange opportunities.”
I reach out to my brothers through the mental link. Relay the coordinates.
Old ritual site. Pre-war.Auren’s response is sharp.If this is real, we can’t ignore it. But bring Marcus with you. If he’s lying, I want him where we can deal with him.
Smart. If Marcus is a traitor, leaving him here with my newly claimed mate isn’t an option.
We need you. Rurik is en route to guard her,Auren adds.Wait for him before you leave.
Rurik arrives ten minutes later,dropping from the sky in red-gold scales. He shifts mid-landing, grinning.
“Babysitting duty. My favor—” He stops. Sniffs the air. His grin widens. “Well, well. Someone’s been busy. Congratulations, brother.”
Selene flushes
I pull Rurik aside. “Stay alert. Something feels wrong about this.”
His grin fades. “With my life, brother. She’s pack now. I’ll die before I let anyone touch her.”
I turn back to Selene. Her fear hits me—not for herself, but for me. For what might happen three territories away.
“I’ll feel you,” I remind her. “The whole time. If anything happens?—”
“Then you’ll come running.” She rises on her toes, kisses me hard. “Go. End this. Then come back.”
I shift in the clearing. Marcus climbs onto my back—silent, pale. Zyphon and Auren circle above.
I launch into the darkening sky, and for the first time in four hundred years, I leave behind something that matters more than duty.
The bond pulses warm in my chest the entire flight. Selene—alive, safe, mine.
The ritual site is empty.
Ancient stones stand silent and cold beneath us, moss-covered and crumbling. No fires. No dragons. No ritual. The clearing hasn’t been touched in centuries.
I round on Marcus, my dragon already surging beneath my skin. “Explain.”
“I don’t—the intelligence was solid—” His voice cracks with fear. Real fear, or a good performance of it.
Zyphon’s hand closes around his throat, lifting him off his feet. “How much did they pay you?”
But I’m not listening. Selene’s sudden terror slams into me. Pain. Fear. A scream that echoes through my skull even though I can’t hear it with my ears.
And then—nothing. The bond goes silent. Not broken, but muffled. Wrapped in something that blocks my sense of her, like a blanket thrown over a flame.
MATE. DANGER. FIND HER.
“They have her.” The words tear out of me, barely human. “I felt it—she’s in pain—the bond is muffled?—”
“Go!” Auren drops Marcus, who crumples to the ground, forgotten. “I’ll deal with the traitor. Find your mate.”
I don’t wait. My wings catch the night air and I launch toward the cabin, following the muffled thread of the bond. It’s faint—so faint—but it’s there. The claiming mark guides me like a compass pointing toward true north.
