All Chapters of His Savage Touch: Mafia Alpha’s Mate: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The land beyond the border smelled wrong.Aria noticed it the moment they crossed into the abandoned territory. The air carried fear that had not yet settled into decay. Whatever had happened here was recent, violent, and unfinished. Power had been torn away so suddenly that the ground itself still remembered.Luca slowed beside her. His instincts were on edge, wolf pacing beneath his skin.“This place was ruled,” he said quietly. “Strong leadership. Organized packs.”“And now,” Aria replied, “it is empty.”They moved deeper, boots crunching over broken stone and shattered glass. Buildings stood intact but hollow, doors left open as though people had fled mid breath. No bodies. No blood. Just absence.That disturbed Aria more than destruction ever could.She reached inward, letting her awareness stretch. The pull came immediately, sharp and insistent, tugging at her chest.Something here wanted her attention.They found survivors near the old council hall. A small group huddled togeth

Aria drifted in and out of consciousness to the sound of voices layered with urgency.Not panicked. Controlled. Luca’s voice cut through them all, steady and anchored, even when the world itself seemed to be leaning toward collapse. She felt his presence before she fully woke. Solid. Familiar. Unmoving.Her eyes opened slowly.She was in her room. Curtains drawn. The air heavy with the scent of herbs and something metallic she recognized as power residue. Her body felt bruised from the inside out, not injured, but strained, as if every nerve had been stretched and forced to remember its limits.Luca sat beside the bed.Relief crossed his face the instant he saw her eyes open. He did not speak right away. He simply reached for her hand, grounding her before the questions could come.“How long,” she asked quietly.“Several hours,” he replied. “You scared them.”“Did I scare you,” she asked.He met her gaze honestly. “Yes. And I would let you do it again.”She smiled faintly, then winced

Aria woke to silence that felt earned.Not the fragile quiet that followed fear, but the steady calm that came after something had been faced and survived. Her body still ached, but the pain was distant now, muted by exhaustion and something else she could not quite name.Acceptance, perhaps.Light filtered softly through the curtains. Morning had come without catastrophe. That alone felt like victory.She shifted slowly, testing herself. The power within her responded, subdued but present, no longer raging, no longer pulling at her bones. It felt contained, like a river redirected rather than dammed.Luca noticed her movement immediately.“You are awake,” he said, relief softening his voice.“Yes,” she replied. “And still here.”He sat up beside her. “The city held.”She nodded. “Any casualties.”“Minor injuries. No deaths,” Luca said. “People are calling it a miracle.”Aria closed her eyes briefly. “It was not a miracle. It was restraint.”“And resolve,” he added.Later that day, th

The decision did not come to Aria all at once.It unfolded slowly, like a truth her body understood before her mind was willing to name it. She felt it in the way her power no longer surged instinctively. In the way the bond with Luca steadied instead of flared. In the way the city moved now with less dependence on her presence.She had become a constant.And constants, she realized, were dangerous.At sunrise, she summoned the council again. This time, she did not stand at the center of the room. She sat among them.The shift was subtle, but everyone noticed.“I am changing the structure,” Aria said calmly. “Effective immediately.”A ripple of unease moved through the chamber.“You are stepping back,” one councilman said carefully.“No,” Aria replied. “I am stepping aside.”Luca remained silent, his gaze fixed on her, attentive but unintrusive.“I will no longer be the first point of response,” Aria continued. “Regional councils will act before escalation reaches me. Disputes will be

The city was quiet in the hours before dawn, but Aria felt every heartbeat, every shift of air as though the world itself were holding its breath. She stood alone on the balcony, the cold marble under her palms grounding her even as her mind spiraled.She had thought that stepping back, limiting her power, and sharing responsibility with the councils would bring peace. But the absence of constant chaos did not bring calm. It brought reflection, and with reflection came unease.Luca approached silently, his steps measured, almost reverent. “You are awake early,” he said softly, his eyes scanning the horizon with her, yet always coming back to her.“I did not sleep,” she admitted. “I keep thinking… about the choices I have made. About the cost of restraint.”He nodded. “You chose wisely. But wisely is never easy.”She turned to him, searching his dark, unwavering eyes. “Am I… enough?” The question slipped out before she could stop it, raw and unguarded.“You are more than enough,” Luca