Blake POV
The fortress walls shuddered with the low roar echoing through the stone corridors.
Not from me.
Another dragon.
And not one stationed here.
My blood snapped to heat.
I moved fast—silent, a shadow of fire and bone—slipping down the hallway with a speed only dragons of royal blood possessed. Every step pushed the curse higher, every heartbeat pulling madness closer.
But it wasn’t the curse that drove me now.
It was her.
Elle.
My mate—
though she didn’t know.
Though I couldn’t say the word aloud without risking everything.
The fortress was meant to keep her safe.
Hidden.
Untouched by the royal court and its venom.
But this intruder—this fool—had tried to breach a door only I had the right to enter.
I smelled him before I saw him.
A male dragon’s scent—sharp, cold,
