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The question hammered through his mind as he watched sunlight play across her features. How was he supposed to deal with the mounting crisis in Solaryn—the sabotage, the rumors, the four increasingly hostile Alphas—when all he wanted was to lose himself in those expressive green eyes?

He cleared his throat, forcing his voice to remain steady despite the chaos in his head. "So, let's discuss the situation in Solaryn, and then you can tell me exactly what your background is and how you think you can help us here."

Amara set down her fork and leaned back slightly, her expression shifting from pleasure to professional focus with impressive speed. "Well, I heard from your sister Vessa that there are rumors being spread about you and something about things being volatile right now."

The reminder of his territory's precarious situation helped cool some of the fire in his blood. Raxen took a steadying breath, grateful for the return to safer ground even as his lion protested the shift away from personal matters.

"Yes, things are indeed volatile right now." He chose his words carefully, wanting to be completely transparent with her while not overwhelming her with the full scope of the crisis. "There are rumors and allegations that are completely false, spreading like wildfire for the past several weeks despite my efforts to stop them."

Something flickered in her expression—recognition, perhaps, or understanding that went deeper than professional interest. "Well, I can relate to what's happening to you."

That caught his attention immediately. His protective instincts sharpened, focusing entirely on her tone and the subtle tension that had crept into her posture. "Oh? How so?"

"I dealt with my own smear campaign two months ago." Her voice remained steady, but he caught the slight tightening around her eyes and the way her fingers stilled against her napkin. "It destroyed my career."

The casual admission hit him like a punch. Someone had deliberately damaged this brilliant, capable woman's reputation? The thought made his lion snarl with fury, and it took every ounce of his self-control not to demand immediate details about who had hurt her and how he could make them pay.

"I'm sorry to hear that." His voice came out rougher than intended, betraying some of the protective rage building inside him. "Do you mind telling me what happened?"

Her walls went up so quickly he could practically see them sliding into place. The open, engaged woman who had been enjoying lunch disappeared behind professional composure that felt like armor.

"I'm not ready to discuss it, and I think it's best to just focus on you and Solaryn's issues for now."

The dismissal stung, but he recognized the pain beneath her refusal. Whatever had happened to her had left wounds that were still raw, still bleeding. His instinct was to press, to demand she trust him with the truth, to promise he would protect her from whoever had caused that carefully hidden hurt. But she wasn't ready for his protection. She barely knew him, fated mate bond or not.

"Of course. Let's focus on what's going on here."

Raxen forced himself to respect her boundaries even as everything in him wanted to tear down the walls she'd built around that pain.

"So two weeks ago, wage records surfaced showing I was treating my pride members who work the trade route unjustly." His words came out clipped, his own frustration bleeding through despite his efforts to remain calm. "But I swear those records were fabricated. In the twenty years I've been Alpha, I have never treated my pride members unjustly in any shape or form."

"What is this trade route you mentioned?" She had shifted fully into professional mode now, her keen intelligence focused entirely on the problem he'd presented.

"Solaryn is responsible for the largest trade route in Nova Aurora. We've managed it successfully for the past twenty years, but now something seems to be happening—some conspiracy against me for reasons I can't fathom. And things are turning ugly fast." He could feel his tension building again as he laid out the scope of the crisis. "The four neighboring Alpha lions are here, and they're not happy with me. They're upset that the trade route is nearing a labor shutdown, and if that happens, it could send the entire planet into economic collapse—not just here in Solaryn."

Her green eyes sharpened with interest and determination. "Well, I won't let that happen. I will find a way to negotiate with the laborers and the Alphas to prevent a shutdown."

The confidence in her voice stirred something fierce and admiring in his chest, but he had to shake his head. "It's not that simple. The workers believe I've been treating them poorly and changing their wages, but I never did any of that. Plus, we're having mysterious sabotage of shipping manifests and shipments going missing or being destroyed. It seems like someone is trying to create this crisis specifically to make me look bad."

The frustration he'd been battling for weeks surged back with a vengeance. His hands clenched into fists as the full weight of what he stood to lose crashed over him again. Everything he'd rebuilt after his father's death. The trust of his people. The economic stability of the entire planet.

Twenty years of work, and it could all crumble because of lies.

Amara must have noticed his rising tension because suddenly her hand covered his, her fingers warm and steady against his knuckles. The contact sent that familiar jolt of electricity through his system, but this time it came with something else—a grounding sensation that helped quiet the storm in his head.

"We will figure this out." Her voice carried absolute certainty, as if the outcome had already been decided in their favor. "There has to be an explanation for everything. But first, we need to get everyone on the same page. Can you request a meeting with the Alphas, the head of the labor union, and whoever else is critical to this crisis? I need to inform them of my plan."

She looked him in the eye, and he saw steel beneath the compassion.

"Raxen, I'm one of the top mediators on Earth. I can get them to listen to me."

He had no idea what plan was forming in that brilliant mind of hers, and part of him bristled at the thought of his mate walking into a room full of hostile Alphas who might not respect a human mediator. But he was the Alpha of Solaryn. If he endorsed her authority, they would have to respect his decision. More than that, something in her tone convinced him she knew exactly what she was doing.

"Alright. I can schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning."

The smile that lit up her face was radiant with satisfaction. "Great. Then I'll spend the rest of the day preparing my plan. Do you think Vessa could meet with me later to help me?"

A stab of something that felt suspiciously like jealousy shot through him. She wanted Vessa's help, not his. She was choosing his sister over him for strategic planning, and his lion didn't like being excluded from anything involving their mate.