Even as she spoke the words, her hand brushed unconsciously over the burning marks on her hip. The half-bond between them pulsed quietly, a reminder that nothing about this situation felt temporary anymore.
Adrian studied her for a moment, his expression softening as if he sensed her internal turmoil. "Let's just take this one day at a time."
Riley nodded, though her instincts told her that stepping into Adrian's world might change everything about her life.
TEN
ADRIAN
The drive to Adrian's estate stretched through rolling countryside bathed in moonlight, his truck cutting through the darkness while silence filled the cab like a living thing. His hands gripped the steering wheel with practiced calm, but tension radiated from every line of his body. Through the bond humming between them, he could feel Riley's emotions like a constant electric current—her uncertainty about leaving her apartment, her wariness of the shifter world she'd been thrust into, and her stubborn resistance to needing protection.
She can feel everything now too.
The thought sent equal measures of exhilaration and terror through his chest. The partial mark he'd accidentally left during their explosive encounter meant the emotional barriers he'd spent years constructing were essentially useless. Riley could sense his fierce protectiveness, his devotion that had ignited the moment he'd first seen her, and his gnawing worry about the consequences of a half-mark on her body. From this moment on, she would know everything he felt. The realization left him feeling stripped bare.
If someone had told him this morning that the day would end with the best sex of his life, an accidental partial bond, a roguetiger attack, and his mate sleeping under his roof, he would've recommended immediate psychiatric evaluation. Instead, here he was, driving through the night with the woman fate had chosen for him, both of them reeling from how drastically their lives had shifted in a matter of hours.
The attack outside her apartment building replayed in his mind on an endless loop. Someone had sent that rogue—someone who knew he was courting his mate and wanted to send a message. The timing was too convenient, too targeted to be coincidence. Which meant Riley now had a target painted on her back simply for being his.
Mine to protect.
The possessive thought pulsed through the bond before he could stop it, and he heard Riley's sharp intake of breath beside him. She was learning exactly how intense a tiger shifter's protective instincts could be, especially when it came to his mate.
"Sorry," he murmured, his voice rough in the darkness. "I'm still adjusting to you being able to feel everything I feel."
"It's fine." Her response was quiet. "I can tell that you're trying not to overwhelm me. But also that you're... exposed. Like you're not used to anyone seeing you that intimately."
The accuracy of her observation made his chest tighten. "I'm not."
She gave him a soft smile. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not used to it either."
When the estate's iron gates finally came into view, Adrian felt some of his tension ease. Home. Safety. Centuries of Kael protection surrounding them both. The truck's headlights swept across the long driveway lined with ancient oaks, revealing glimpses of manicured grounds and the imposing stone facade that had sheltered his family through generations.
Riley's loud intake of breath told him she was taking it all in—the sheer scale of old money and older power, the kind of legacy that couldn't be bought or built overnight.
"This is all yours?" she breathed as the main house came fully into view. "This place is massive."
Adrian parked near the front entrance, studying her reaction through the mate bond. Awe, of course, but also a kind of unease that made his tiger restless. She was already feeling out of place and already calculating how different their worlds truly were.
"I'm not the kind of man who needs to showcase wealth," he said, cutting the engine. "But my family's been accumulating things for four centuries. It adds up."
Riley stepped out of the truck and tilted her head back to take in the full height of the building—three stories of weathered stone and tall windows that spoke of permanence and unshakeable power. "This place breathes ancient secrets," she said softly. "Like it's seen everything and survived it all."
"Something like that." Adrian retrieved her hastily packed suitcase from the truck bed, noting how small it looked against the backdrop of his family's legacy. "Come on. Let's get you inside."
He guided her through the front entrance, past portraits of previous Kael Alphas whose eyes seemed to track their movement. The foyer alone was larger than most apartments, with a sweeping staircase that curved toward the upper floors and enough space to host formal gatherings for the entire pride.
"Guest suite's this way," Adrian said, leading her up the stairs and down a hallway lined with more family history.
The guest room he showed her was elegant and comfortable—cream-colored walls, antique furniture, and windows that would offer a view of the gardens in daylight. Everything a visiting dignitary or potential mate might need. Everything proper and appropriate and completely wrong.
Riley wrinkled her nose the moment she stepped inside.
"What's wrong?" Adrian asked, though he could feel her dissatisfaction through the bond like a discordant note.
"I just assumed I'd be sleeping in your bed."
Heat flooded his cheeks, and he was grateful for the dim lighting. "I didn't want to overstep. Or assume anything."
