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Chapter 21 : The Alpha’s Restraint
Last Updated:
2025-03-30 05:04:04
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Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 22 : The Price of Strength
Dorian’s POVTessa was too still in my arms.Too quiet.Her breathing was steady, but I could feel the weight of her exhaustion, the way her body had given out long before she wanted it to. Blood smeared her skin, dark bruises already blooming along her arms, her ribs. She was light against me, fragile in a way that made my jaw clench.I kept my stride even, controlled, as I carried her through the hall, but inside, I was anything but calm."This was a mistake." Kael’s voice was a low growl in my mind, dark and simmering with rage. "You should have stopped it. You should have protected her.""She fought." I forced the words through gritted teeth. "She proved she wasn’t weak.""And yet, here she is - broken in your arms."A snarl threatened to rise in my throat. Not at my wolf - but at myself. I wouldn’t let guilt take hold.This was necessary. She needed to fight. She needed to remember she could.But Kael wasn’t convinced."You keep telling yourself that," he sneered, "but I see what
Last Updated : 2025-03-30Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 23 : The Things Left Unsaid
Tessa's POVPain pulled me from the depths of unconsciousness.It was a dull, relentless ache, spreading through my body like fire licking at the edges of dry wood. Every breath sent a sharp sting through my ribs, every shift of my muscles a reminder of the fight.I swallowed against the dryness in my throat, my lashes fluttering as I tried to make sense of my surroundings. The scent of herbs and clean linen filled my nose - sterile, sharp, unfamiliar.Not the main hall. Not the place where I had stood, fists clenched, heart pounding. A clinic.I was still alive. For a moment, that alone felt like a victory.I kept my eyes closed, focusing on the voices drifting through the air.“She won’t be able to move without pain for a few days.” Sera’s voice was calm, clinical, but there was an edge of something else beneath it - something sharp. “Was it worth it?”Dorian’s voice followed, deep and unreadable. “She needed this.”There was silence, and then Sera exhaled sharply. “She needed this,
Last Updated : 2025-03-30Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 24 : The Darkness Between Dreams
Tessa’s POVI drifted in and out of consciousness.Pain pulled at the edges of my awareness, but exhaustion weighed heavier. My body ached, my ribs protesting every shallow breath. I knew I should fight the pull of sleep, but the warmth of the blanket and the lingering scent of cedarwood lulled me deeper.Somewhere in the haze, I felt a hand brush against mine - light, tentative. Not a dream.Dorian.I wanted to say something, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. I sank further into the dark, Sable’s presence wrapping around me like a shield."Rest", she murmured. "You’ve earned it."And for once, I let myself listen.Dorian’s POV She looked so small like this.Tessa had fought like hell - more than I expected, more than I dared to hope. But now, unconscious in the clinic bed, she seemed… fragile.Kael huffed inside me, still pacing, still restless. "She shouldn’t have been in that fight."I clenched my fists. "She needed it."A snarl. "She needed us."I exhaled slowly, running a hand thr
Last Updated : 2025-03-30Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 25 : No More Running
Dorian's POV She was fighting me. Even now, bruised and exhausted, Tessa was still fighting.Kael paced in the back of my mind, still unsettled. "You shouldn’t have let this happen.""She needed it", I reminded him. "She needs to prove to herself that she’s more than what he made her believe."A growl. "She could have died."I pushed the thought away before it could settle.Tessa was watching me, her expression carefully guarded, but I could see it - the flicker of uncertainty, the crack in her defenses. She wanted to believe me. She just didn’t know how.I leaned back in my chair, keeping my voice even. “I know you think this is another cage. That I’m no different than him.”Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t deny it.Good. She was honest, even in her silence.I let the words settle before continuing. “But you’re wrong.”Tessa let out a slow breath, eyes narrowing slightly. “Then prove it.”A challenge.My wolf bared his teeth in approval. I studied her for a long moment before speak
Last Updated : 2025-03-30Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 26 : No One Touches What’s Mine
Dorian’s POVThe door clicked shut behind me, and I exhaled, rolling the tension out of my shoulders. Kael was still restless, his presence coiling in the back of my mind, watching."You should have stayed." His voice was a low snarl. "She doesn’t trust easily, and you left her with doubts.""She doesn’t need me hovering over her like she’s fragile", I countered. "She needs space to think."Kael didn’t like that answer, but he fell silent.I moved down the dimly lit hallway, my boots echoing against the wooden floors. The packhouse was quieter than usual, but I wasn’t stupid. They were talking - whispering about the broken female their Alpha had dragged into their territory.Their murmurs had been there since I carried Tessa through the main hall, her body bloodied and bruised but still defiant. A mated Beta female, discarded by her mate and brought here? It was reckless. It was unheard of.It was my decision. And I wasn’t about to explain myself.I pushed through the double doors int
Last Updated : 2025-03-30Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 27 : Standing on My Own
Tessa’s POVI woke to the scent of herbs and antiseptic, my body aching like I’d been trampled by a herd of wolves. My eyelids felt heavy, but as I forced them open, the soft glow of lamps illuminated the wooden beams of the ceiling above me.The clinic.I exhaled slowly, pushing past the hazy memories of the fight. My wolf, Sable, stirred sluggishly in the back of my mind."You’re awake", she murmured."Unfortunately". I swallowed, my throat dry.Sitting up took effort. My ribs protested, but the pain was manageable - familiar, even. I had lived through worse. I had survived Callum’s beatings, the humiliation of being cast aside like I was nothing. This? This I could handle.A soft knock sounded at the door. Before I could answer, it creaked open, and Elara stepped inside.Dorian’s sister.I hadn’t spoken to her much, but I’d seen her watching me from the edges of the pack’s gathering . She was tall and poised, her dark hair braided over one shoulder, her sharp golden eyes assessing
Last Updated : 2025-03-30Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 28 : Training
Tessa’s POVThe morning air was cold, but the heat between us burned hotter.Dorian moved like a predator - fluid, controlled, utterly lethal. Even when he wasn’t attacking, every motion was precise, effortless. He barely broke a sweat, while my skin was damp, my breath ragged from exhaustion.He was beautiful.That realization hit me at the worst moment - when he pivoted in a perfect arc, demonstrating a counterstrike I was supposed to mimic. The muscles in his arms flexed, his shirt clinging to his torso, damp with sweat. His dark hair was slightly tousled, a few strands sticking to his forehead, and his sharp jaw clenched in focus.Sable hummed in approval. "Look at him."I swallowed hard. I already was.His body wasn’t just strong - it was built for destruction, honed into something wickedly dangerous. But there was elegance in it, too, like watching a storm twist through the sky.His gaze flicked to mine, sharp and knowing.“Distracted?”My breath hitched. I forced my expression
Last Updated : 2025-03-30Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 29 : The Fight
Tessa’s POV I barely slept that night.Every time I closed my eyes, I felt him again - his hands correcting my stance, his body so close it blurred the line between dominance and something far more dangerous. The heat of his touch still burned against my skin, and the worst part?I didn’t hate it. I hated him. I hated the way he controlled everything - this pack, this training, me.And I hated that, despite every reason to resist, my body reacted to him like I belonged to him.Sable prowled in my mind, restless. "He wants to break us."I sat up in the room I’d been given, staring out the window. The moon was high, bathing the forest in silver light. Somewhere out there, Dorian was probably still training, pushing his warriors to their limits."He’s not breaking us", I told my wolf. "He’s making us stronger."Sable’s growl was low, reluctant. "Then we fight. We take everything he gives us. And we make sure he never owns us."I exhaled, gripping the sheets. "Agreed."The Next Morning
Last Updated : 2025-03-31
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Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 73 : Threads of Power
Tessa POVI stood at the edge of the packhouse balcony, the morning air crisp against my skin. The sky above was painted in soft blues and golds, the sun rising like it had something to prove. Much like me, I thought with a faint smile. There was a strange stillness in the world today - one that hummed just beneath my skin.My reflection in the tall window panes startled me at first. I looked... different. My features were sharper, more radiant. My eyes glowed faintly, gold flecks flickering like embers in a deep forest. My hair - gods, even my hair seemed fuller, darker, shimmering with strands of silver and shadow. Power hummed through me like a current I hadn’t felt before.“You see it too,” Sable whispered, her voice a soft rumble at the back of my mind. “You are more. This is what we were meant to be.”“I feel like I’ve changed overnight, again.” I whispered, fingertips brushing against the slight glow beneath my skin.“Because you have. The bond unlocked something buried. Somet
Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 72 : Bloodlines and Echoes
Dorian POVThe morning sun hadn’t yet crested the distant ridges when I stood at the tall window of my private study, watching the mist curl through the trees like pale fingers. The room was quiet - too quiet - and my wolf didn’t like it.Kael stirred beneath my skin, restless. "She's different now."I nodded to the silent room, though the reflection in the glass answered me - tall, sharp lines in a black shirt, collar open just enough to reveal the mark Tessa had left on my throat. The claiming."More than different," I murmured back. "She’s magnificent."Kael hummed, almost reverent. "You knew she was strong, but not this strong."He was right. I had known Tessa was special - had known it the moment I first caught her scent in the Silver Creek territory. But even then, I hadn’t imagined… this.Her transformation after the Luna ceremony had been nothing short of breathtaking. Strength hummed from her in quiet pulses, radiating in the air around her like heat from the sun. Her eyes, o
Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 71 : Change
Tessa POVI woke up slowly, the sunlight filtering through the curtains, bathing the room in a soft glow. The bed beneath me felt different, as if I were lying on a cloud. Everything about this morning felt different, but it wasn’t until I stretched, feeling the stretch of muscles that hadn’t felt quite so… powerful before, that I realized something had changed. I didn’t know exactly what, but there was a difference. A subtle shift that I couldn’t ignore.Sable was awake the moment my eyes opened, her presence a comforting hum in the back of my mind. She was still, just watching, waiting for me to recognize what had happened. And when I did, she purred softly, a ripple of approval running through our bond.“You feel it too, don’t you?” I asked quietly, my voice still thick with the remnants of sleep."I do", Sable replied, her voice steady, yet tinged with awe. "Something has been unlocked. Something… powerful."I pushed myself up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. My feet hi
Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 70 : Moonlit Reflections
Tessa POVThe sky was painted in ink and silver by the time we slipped away. Stars shimmered like scattered dust over the dark forest line, and the wind whispered secrets in a tongue only the wolves could truly understand. I leaned against the cool stone railing of the balcony outside our private quarters, a crystal glass of deep red wine held loosely in my fingers.Below, the estate grounds were hushed. The fire pits still glowed softly, casting flickering light across the stone pathways. Most of the guests had retired. The official meetings were done, and the mask of diplomacy had slipped from Dorian's face the moment the doors to our suite had closed behind us.Now, with just the two of us, the night felt like it finally belonged to something real.Dorian emerged from inside, two fingers holding the stem of his own glass, the rest of him bare from the waist up. The soft moonlight carved lines across his chest and shoulders - each scar a story I hadn’t yet heard, but a few I already
Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 69 : Shadows and Alliances
Dorian POVThe first strikes of sunlight cut across the floor like a blade, but Dorian was already awake.He stood by the tall windows, bare-chested, the cool morning air brushing against his skin as he sipped from a glass of dark coffee. The city beyond the trees stirred to life in the distance, unaware that history had shifted the night before.She was still asleep.He didn’t turn to look at her - not yet. He could feel her presence in the room like a second heartbeat, tethered to him through the mark she wore, the bond they'd completed in body and blood. Tessa had fallen asleep curled in the sheets after the second time he’d taken her. Possessive, wild, animal. Kael had been dangerously close to the surface, and for once, Dorian had let his wolf have a say.He was different this morning. Lighter and heavier at once. More himself. Kael paced lazily in the back of his mind, still sated, still sharp.“She’s ours now,” his wolf murmured.“She’s always been,” Dorian replied in silence,
Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 68 : One More Time
Tessa POVHis breathing was still rough against my hair, his chest rising and falling with the force of it, but his hands never stilled. One stayed tight in my hair, the other stroking over my spine, over the curve of my waist, as if memorizing me all over again.As if he hadn't just taken me. As if he hadn’t already conquered me. As if he couldn’t get enough.And neither could I.My fingers curled against the hard planes of his chest, feeling the wild hammer of his heart against my palm, the frantic beat still syncing with my own."Again," Sable whispered, hungry and insatiable.Kael answered with a low rumble of agreement, echoing through the bond.I tilted my head up to meet Dorian’s eyes - and found him already watching me. Devouring me.Gods, the way he looked at me - like I was the only thing left that mattered in this world. Like I was precious and dangerous and his salvation, all at once."Tessa," he rasped, voice torn and wrecked from what we’d just done. From what he still
Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 67 : I Wanna Be Yours
Tessa POVThe door barely clicked shut before Dorian pinned me against it with his body, the sheer force of him stealing the breath from my lungs.His mouth crashed down onto mine, fierce and claiming, tasting of wine and war and the unbearable hunger he had kept bottled up all night.I kissed him back just as fiercely, threading my fingers into his hair, dragging him closer, baring my teeth when he growled low against my lips."Ours," Kael rumbled from inside him - but this time I heard it through the bond too, not just Dorian’s mind. It made my wolf howl in answer.Sable surged to the surface, clawing for control, and I let her come halfway - enough for my nails to sharpen, for my instincts to burn brighter, for the raw need to shred through my chest.He tore his mouth from mine only to rip the ceremonial jacket off his shoulders, leaving him in the dark shirt that clung to every hard plane of his body.I was already undoing the clasps of my dress, hands shaking with urgency. But he
Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 66 : Celebration
Tessa POVThe rest of the night blurred into a symphony of congratulations, glances, whispered words, and shifting alliances.After Marcus withdrew, more guests approached - some bold, others hesitant - offering their formal words of respect, layered with hidden questions.Dorian received them all with a polished, dangerous grace. Sharp when he needed to be. Cordial, but never warm. He shook hands, set appointments, dropped promises of future meetings like baited hooks into hungry waters.I stayed at his side, my fingers brushing his, always connected. And every time a stranger’s gaze lingered too long, every time a lesser Alpha looked at me with too much interest, I felt Dorian’s subtle shift - a tightening of his hand, a slight roll of power under his skin, a silent warning that made most look away quickly."They should fear," Sable whispered, satisfied. "They will learn respect."I found myself smiling - not coldly, but with the serene confidence that came from knowing exactly who
Save Me, Claim Me Chapter 65 : I'm Luna Now
Tessa POVThe roaring of the pack filled the great hall, a living tide of sound and power that pressed against my skin like a second heartbeat.I clung to Dorian for one long, anchoring moment - his forehead resting against mine, his strength flooding through me - before he drew back slightly and turned to face the crowd.He lifted our joined hands into the air, a silent declaration. The hall erupted again, voices raised not just in celebration but in submission, in devotion.I could feel it - a thousand threads connecting me to them now, warm and buzzing through my veins like liquid fire.Dorian’s voice cut through the noise, sharp and commanding."Let the celebrations begin."A thunder of approval answered him, and then music swelled - the first haunting notes of the traditional Luna’s Dance.He turned back to me, a wicked smile tugging at the corner of his mouth."Shall we, my queen?"I laughed, breathless, still reeling from the storm raging inside me, but I nodded."Try to keep u
