All Chapters of His Savage Touch: Mafia Alpha’s Mate: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The silence after dawn was heavier than the night that had come before it.Aria felt it everywhere. In the halls of the mansion. In the way the guards avoided her eyes. In the subtle shift of the air whenever she entered a room. People were careful around her now, not because they feared her power, but because they sensed her restraint.And restraint was dangerous.She sat alone in the private council chamber, fingers folded neatly on the polished table. The stone walls seemed closer than usual, as if the room itself was listening. She had agreed to attend the meeting, but not to speak unless necessary. That decision alone weighed on her chest.The council members filed in one by one. Alphas. Mafia leaders. Elders who had survived centuries by knowing when to speak and when to stay silent.Luca took his place beside her, his presence steady and unyielding. He did not touch her, but she felt him there like an anchor.The meeting began with reports. Border movements. Rogue pack sighting

The scream cut through the lower district just after midnight.Aria felt it before the alarms sounded. A sharp pull in her chest. A ripple through the bond she now shared with the city itself. Fear. Pain. Anger twisted together into something volatile.She was already on her feet when Luca entered the room, fastening his jacket with swift, practiced movements.“A hybrid,” he said. “Lower market. Two injured. One dead.”Aria closed her eyes for a single breath.So soon.They arrived to chaos. Crowds pressed back by guards. Blood staining the stone near a collapsed stall. The body lay still beneath a thin covering, human by scent, young by the weight of grief clinging to the air.The hybrid responsible stood restrained a few feet away. Male. Early twenties. His eyes were wild, glowing faintly with panic rather than malice.“He attacked without provocation,” one guard reported. “Lost control.”Aria stepped closer, ignoring the murmurs that followed her movement. She felt everything. The

The threat did not come with violence.That was what frightened Aria the most.It arrived quietly, wrapped in normalcy, delivered through routine channels that had existed long before war or power ever touched her life. Luca received the call while standing beside her in the upper hall, his expression shifting so subtly that only someone bonded to him could have noticed.Aria felt it immediately.“What is it?” she asked.Luca ended the call slowly. His jaw was tight, his shoulders rigid. “They intercepted a convoy outside the northern gate.”Her heartbeat stuttered. “Whose?”“Mine,” he replied. “Unmarked. Carrying nothing valuable. Just a message.”Her blood went cold. “Did anyone get hurt?”“No,” he said. “That is the point.”The message arrived minutes later.Not written. Not spoken.A location.A time.A reminder that restraint could be exploited just as easily as rage.“They want me to go,” Luca said quietly. “Alone.”Aria’s hands curled into fists. The room felt smaller, the wall

The city felt different the moment Aria stepped outside the council compound.Not louder. Not quieter.Watchful.People stared from balconies and alleyways, from behind market stalls and tinted windows. News had spread without words. Power always announced itself, and defiance even more so.Luca walked beside her, his hand never leaving the small of her back. Not guiding. Guarding.“You should have let me tear the chamber apart,” he said quietly.Aria exhaled. “That would have given them what they want.”“And what is that?”“A monster they can justify destroying.”They reached the vehicle waiting at the curb. Luca opened the door but did not move to enter. His jaw was tight, his eyes darker than she had ever seen them.“There is something you need to know,” he said.Aria turned fully to him. “You do not look like a man about to share something small.”“I am not,” he replied.They got inside.The car moved before the door fully closed, security detail tense and silent. The city blurred

Aria did not wait for the smoke to clear.She stood at the edge of the ruined hall, eyes fixed on the damage, on the blood staining stone that had once felt unbreakable. The compound was still standing, but its illusion of safety had been ripped apart.They had reached her.And next time, they would come closer.“Seal the wounded wing,” Aria said calmly. “Move the injured to the lower sanctuary. Lock down the western tunnels.”Her voice did not shake.That frightened everyone more than her anger ever had.Commanders moved quickly, issuing orders, dragging the injured to safety. Wolves prowled the perimeter, teeth bared, senses stretched thin.Luca watched her from a few steps back.He saw the shift.This was not the Aria who had pleaded with the council. Not the woman who had tried to balance mercy and strength.This was someone forged in fire.“You are already planning something,” he said quietly.Aria turned to him. Her eyes were sharp, burning with resolve. “I am done reacting.”Lu