041: Almost Nude and Fully Delusional

Almost Nude and Fully DelusionalTalia’s POVI turned around so fast I nearly lost my balance and faced the wall, kept my eyes there and felt the heat move up my neck in a way that I had absolutely no patience for given everything else that was currently happening in my life.Behind me I heard a short, quiet sound that was unmistakably Valik finding something amusing.“Why is your face red?” He asked teasingly.“Nothing, I’m just feeling hot.” I said, fanning my face with my hands.I reached for the door handle but I couldn’t leave because the handle was hooked.I tried it again, properly, and it still didn’t unlock, and I stood there with my hand on a locked door and my back to a man in a towel and the full indignity of the situation pressing down on me from every angle.“You can’t run from me,” Valik said. He sounded entirely too unbothered.“Put your clothes on,” I said to the wall.He didn’t say anything for a moment. Then the sounds of someone moving around, fabric, the particula

042: The Man Who is Sick

The Man Who Is SickValik’s POVI spent most of my day in the war room. We were talking about strategy session on how to safe guard the pack. Today had been worse than usual because the recent deaths had created gaps in the patrol structure that needed to be filled before they became vulnerabilities that someone with knowledge of the pack’s movements could exploit.I walked back toward my quarters late, tired in the specific way of a day spent making decisions that had consequences, and I was still turning the patrol restructuring over in my mind when I saw Monica in the corridor outside my room.She turned when she heard me coming and her expression arranged itself into something warm and a little concerned, the performance of someone who had been waiting and wanted that noted.“I heard you skipped breakfast,” she said. “I brought something up for you.”She stepped aside from the doorway slightly.I looked past her into the room.Something settled in my gut that was not quite suspici

043: The Ring Around the Wound

The Ring Around the WoundTalia’s POVBrett came every morning to treat my wound. He would come, knock twice and come in when I gave him permission to. He didn’t say much beyond what was necessary, but what he said was always useful, and after the first few visits I had stopped bracing for the interaction the way I braced for most interactions in this pack. He was kind hearted and willing to help me heal.“You’re healing faster than I expected,” he said on the third morning, replacing the dressing on my back with the careful attention of someone who understood that speed was less important than carefulness . “The tissue is responding well.”“Thank you… For everything. I have been heeding to your advice.” I said.He paused in his work for a moment.“It’s my job. You are Alpha Valik’s wife, it’s my duty to give you the best I have got” he said. Simply, without deflection, but also without the coldness that some people use when they want to prevent gratitude from landing anywhere.“It mi

044: The Man in the Dungeon

The Man in the DungeonValik’s POVAfter my visit to Rendell’s pack. I had a great deal to think about and the sound of the horses and the road was preventing me from thinking properly. This was one thing why I didn’t like long journeys, now I even added to my troubles because I can’t stop thinking about my wife. Rendell’s situation confirmed patterns I had already been tracking, the age range of the victims, the increasing boldness of the operations, and suggestion of someone operating with a specific objective rather than just opportunistic violence.Magnus was sick and moving faster than a careful man would move. One question I kept asking myself is, what has his sickness got to do with the people dying? Is he looking for something valuable?I was still thinking it over when one of my forward guards came back along the road toward me at a canter, which meant something had happened ahead that required my attention before I reached the gates.“There’s a man,” he said, pulling up bes

All Chapters of The Alpha I Saved Ruined Me: Chapter 41 - Chapter 44

041: Almost Nude and Fully Delusional

042: The Man Who is Sick

043: The Ring Around the Wound

044: The Man in the Dungeon