Chapter 79

Like a fruit suffused with its own mystery and sweetness, she was filled with her vast death, which was so new she could not understand that it had happened.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Rurik had fought a thousand battles, but nothing compared to the one inside him the moment he saw Charlotte pull Drakor over the edge of that building. Every nightmare he'd ever had as a boy of having a mate and losing her came true in that instant. The terror, pure and violent, froze him in place, but not for long. His dragon, buried deep beneath the serum, suddenly stirred.

"No!" His roar shook the already unstable building around them. He didn't have time to think. He rushed toward the ledge, just as Damien and his team stormed the room. It only took a moment for the hunter to recognize his intentions.

"Rurik, no!"

Rurik leaped from the window, his rage and love blurring together in a swell of emotions that drowned out everything else. His dragon exploded out of him as he hurtled down toward his mate.