Chapter 3 Chapter Three
Kael
The moment she stepped onto my floor, every instinct I possessed came alive.
Not because I saw her.
Not yet.
Because I felt her.
The sensation slammed into me with enough force that my dragon surged forward beneath my skin.
Mine.
The beast's voice wasn't words exactly.
More instinct.
More certainty.
More possessive certainty than I was comfortable examining.
I stiffened.
Across the boardroom, Rowan immediately noticed.
Of course he did.
After two hundred years together, there wasn't much either of us could hide.
His silver eyes narrowed.
Then widened.
"Oh."
I hated that tone.
I really hated that tone.
"What?"
"That's her."
My jaw tightened.
"We don't know that."
"The hell we don't."
His grin spread.
Slow.
Dangerous.
Smug.
"I can feel her from here."
Unfortunately, so could I.
The sensation grew stronger by the second.
Closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Like a magnetic pull buried somewhere beneath my ribs.
Three hundred years.
Three hundred years of waiting.
Three hundred years of wondering if fate had made a mistake.
And now—
My dragon paced restlessly.
Every nerve ending in my body felt alive.
The bond wasn't fully formed.
Not yet.
But it was there.
Waiting.
Awakening.
Recognizing.
The boardroom doors remained closed.
I stared at them.
For perhaps the first time in my life, I found myself genuinely nervous.
Me.
Kael Drakon.
Dragon Alpha.
Corporate titan.
Former king.
The male who had once negotiated a ceasefire while standing in the middle of an active battlefield.
Nervous.
Ridiculous.
Rowan looked delighted.
"You look nervous."
"I am not nervous."
"You adjusted your cufflinks three times."
I immediately dropped my hands.
His grin widened.
"Four."
I considered setting him on fire.
Just a little.
As a warning.
The pull intensified.
Suddenly my dragon went utterly still.
Not restless.
Not agitated.
Still.
Focused.
Predatory.
Waiting.
The boardroom doors opened.
And everything changed.
Auburn hair.
Green eyes.
Soft curves hidden beneath a professional navy blazer.
She stepped into the room with a leather notebook clutched in one hand and enough determination in her expression to suggest she'd personally fought her way to this moment.
Which, judging by her file, wasn't far from the truth.
She wasn't just the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.
She was something infinitely more dangerous.
She was ours.
The bond hit.
Hard.
Air vanished from my lungs.
My dragon roared.
Ancient power surged through my veins.
Mine.
Mine.
Mine.
Across the room Rowan inhaled sharply.
For perhaps the first time in two centuries, neither of us knew what to say.
Because she was real.
Not a prophecy.
Not a dream.
Not a possibility.
Real.
Standing less than twenty feet away.
Then she looked at me.
And froze.
Interesting.
Something flashed across her face.
Recognition.
Confusion.
Fear.
Wonder.
All at once.
Like she felt it too.
Not understood it.
But felt it.
The room temperature spiked.
Several dragons seated around the table immediately straightened.
Their instincts reacting.
Their power responding.
And then—
Magic.
I felt it explode outward from her like a pulse.
Ancient.
Wild.
Sleeping.
Awakening.
Dragon.
Definitely dragon.
But beneath it...
Something else.
My blood ran cold.
Impossible.
Fae.
Not diluted.
Not distant.
Ancient.
Pure.
Powerful.
The room went completely silent.
Every dragon present felt it.
Every single one.
Gods.
What are you?
She swayed slightly.
Instinct took over.
I stood immediately.
The scrape of my chair echoed through the room.
The urge to cross the distance between us was overwhelming.
To touch her.
Steady her.
Protect her.
Make sure she was safe.
Mine.
I crushed the instinct ruthlessly.
Mostly.
Her eyes widened.
Large.
Green.
Beautiful.
And entirely too aware.
She was watching me the same way I was watching her.
Trying to understand.
Trying to make sense of something impossible.
For a brief moment, neither of us spoke.
The room seemed to disappear.
Everyone else faded into the background.
Only Violet remained.
Then Rowan cleared his throat.
The moment shattered.
Thank gods.
Because another few seconds and I might have done something incredibly stupid.
Like walk across the room and pull her into my arms.
"What is your name?"
The question emerged rougher than intended.
She blinked.
Swallowed.
And somehow that simple movement held my complete attention.
"Violet."
The name wrapped around my senses.
Perfect.
Across the room Rowan exhaled slowly.
"Well."
His voice sounded oddly breathless.
"That explains a lot."
Violet frowned.
"Explains what?"
Her voice.
Gods.
Her voice.
Warm.
Sweet.
With a hint of sarcasm hidden beneath the nervousness.
Dangerous.
Rowan opened his mouth.
Probably to say something ridiculous.
I kicked him under the table.
He yelped.
Violet blinked.
I maintained eye contact.
Completely innocent.
Rowan looked personally offended.
Interesting.
The corner of Violet's mouth twitched.
Like she was trying not to smile.
My dragon immediately became obsessed.
Wonderful.
The meeting continued.
Technically.
Nobody remembered much of it afterward.
Least of all me.
Because Violet sat three chairs away taking notes.
And every time she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, my concentration evaporated.
Three hundred years.
I had waited three hundred years.
And fate had given me a female who looked capable of dismantling my sanity in under an hour.
Fantastic.
Then it happened.
One of the executives made a joke.
Not even a particularly funny one.
Violet laughed.
Everything stopped.
The sound was bright.
Warm.
Unrestrained.
Beautiful.
The kind of laugh that came from someone who had fought for happiness and appreciated it when she found it.
Something painful twisted inside my chest.
Because suddenly I wanted more.
I wanted to know what made her smile.
What made her angry.
What made her laugh so hard she cried.
I wanted to know everything.
Mine.
The dragon sounded entirely too pleased with itself.
Then Violet suddenly went still.
Her pen froze.
Her eyes widened.
The room temperature dropped.
And for a fraction of a second—
Golden light flashed beneath her skin.
Nobody else noticed.
No human would have.
Every dragon in the room did.
Power exploded through the bond.
Ancient.
Violent.
Awakening.
Violet gasped.
My dragon surged forward.
Rowan was already on his feet.
And somewhere deep beneath the city...
Something ancient woke up.
Something that had been searching for centuries.
Searching for her.
And it had just found her.
