Chapter 109 : Through the Torns and Flame part 2

บทล่าสุด

• Save Me, Claim Me   Chapter 177 : One Last Slow Morning

  Tessa POV The dawn came softly.No trumpet of war. No breaking storm.Just light. Pale and clean. Filtering through the canvas walls like gold dust.I stirred beneath the furs, half-waking before I opened my eyes, already aware of the warmth curled around me. Dorian’s body was wrapped against mine, one arm slung possessively across my waist, the other beneath my neck, fingers lazily brushing my collarbone as if even asleep he couldn’t let go.I breathed him in - smoke, salt, steel.And us.The weight of everything hovered on the edge of that peace. But it didn’t press. Not yet.“Don’t move,” he mumbled, voice rough with sleep. “If you move, it means it’s real. And we have to get up.”I smiled against his chest. “We do have to get up.”“No, we don’t,” he said, nuzzling the crown of my head. “We could stay here. Let the leftovers of Council crumble. Let Velarion vanish. Let the kingdom sort itself out.”I tilted my head up to look at him.His hair was a tousled mess, jaw shadowed in s

• Save Me, Claim Me   Chapter 176 : Yours, Still Breathing

  Tessa POVThe stars were out when we finally made it back to the tent.I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until the flap fell closed behind us and the scent of leather, pine, and Dorian wrapped around me like the only blanket that mattered. We hadn’t spoken much since the final war tent meeting - too many plans to finalize, too many faces to reassure, too many pieces to move before the summit. The march would begin at dawn in two days. The world wouldn’t wait.But for tonight… it could burn for all I cared.Dorian set the wine flask on the small wooden table and pulled two chipped cups from a chest in the corner. I started unfastening the outer layer of my coat, my shoulders aching from the weight of battle, planning, expectation.He glanced over his shoulder. “Want me to help with that?”I nodded once, quietly.He crossed the space between us and began undoing the buckles with careful fingers, slower than necessary. Not because he couldn’t move faster - but because this was the onl

• Save Me, Claim Me   Chapter 175 : Building New World

  Tessa POVThe war tent smelled of old smoke, damp leather, and blood still drying on the edges of maps.We stepped inside together - Dorian just behind me, his presence solid as stone - but the moment our boots hit the ground, all conversation stopped.Marcus stood at the head of the table, his arms crossed, eyes sharp. Valerian leaned against one of the support beams, blood still streaked across his gauntlet, though his expression was unreadable. Kira flanked him, her blade sheathed but her shoulders tight.To the left, Alpha Lysa of the Riverlands was already pacing. Two warriors from Nightshade lingered in the background - guards, or just the kind of soldiers who’d forgotten how not to stay alert.The map on the table looked like a wound.Red markers scattered across the parchment like dried blood. Black ink lines tangled through valleys and ridges, noting where battles had been won and where they hadn't.But none of it mattered if we didn’t decide what came next.I stood straighte

• Save Me, Claim Me   Chapter 174 : Ash and Aftermath

  Tessa POVThe sky had begun to darken again when we crested the last ridge.Smoke curled faintly from the edge of campfires below. The sound of hammers, of weary voices, of wolves shifting beneath layered furs - it all felt distant. Like a memory we hadn’t yet earned.I winced in the saddle. The cut along my ribs throbbed in time with my heartbeat. Dorian hadn’t fared much better - there was a tear in the leather along his shoulder, still red and raw - but neither of us had the strength to say more than we needed to.Two warriors stepped forward at the edge of the outer camp. I didn’t recognize them by name - one had a jagged scar that split across his brow, the other wore Ashmoon colors with soot darkening his cheeks. They bowed low as we approached.“Your tent is ready,” the scarred one said. “The healers are standing by if needed.”Dorian passed him the reins of both our horses without a word, and I followed him through the narrow path that split the camp. Warriors parted. Some bow

• Save Me, Claim Me   Chapter 173 : The Remained Two

  Tessa POVThe battlefield stilled - but it wasn’t peace.It was the kind of silence that came only when enough blood had been spilled to make the earth itself hold its breath.The two remaining Council members lay pinned in a cage of silver flame. Bound, not burned. Sable watched them through my eyes, her growl low in my bones. Not mercy. Just strategy.We had bled enough today.Dorian gripped my arm to steady me as I stepped forward. His shoulder was slick with blood, his jaw clenched so hard I thought he might shatter it.“You shouldn’t-” he started.I shook my head. “We need them.”Rylan and Galen flanked us. One of the Ashmoon warriors followed close behind, sword still dripping. The rest of our group circled out, forming a defensive arc around the clearing. No one spoke. The energy still clinging to the air was too raw. Too close to something ancient.I raised a hand toward the flames.The runes in the soil trembled - but didn’t break.“You’ll find they can’t speak lies while ins

• Save Me, Claim Me   Chapter 172 : What Follows The Rift

  Tessa POVAfter naming Dorian my King I kissed him. Hard. Fierce. Like the world had almost taken him from me.Because it had tried. Because I had almost let it.Dorian’s arms wrapped around me instantly, grounding me in the heat of him, the strength of him. His mouth met mine without hesitation - hungry, desperate, alive. There was no time to think. Just breath. Just heart. Just the knowledge that we were both still here.When I pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine. “Don’t ever do that without me again.”“I didn’t have a choice.”“You always have a choice.”I gave a breathless laugh. “You’re lucky I’m too tired to argue.”His hands slid down to my waist. “You’re lucky I’m too relieved to throw you over my shoulder and drag you out of this cursed place.”“Tempting.”We stood there for a moment, letting the forest breathe with us. Letting the new silence settle. The world hadn’t gone still - not completely - but something had shifted. A pressure lifted. A lock undone.Vel