HIS SAVAGE VOW

Let Me In

*Chapter 6: Let Me In*

I didn’t sleep.

Not after Damon’s text. Not after Kade left.

Every creak in the hallway had me reaching for the scalpel under my pillow. Five years of peace, and now I was back to sleeping with one eye open.

7 AM came too fast.

I was at work, scrubbing in for my shift, when my phone buzzed again.

Unknown number.

_“Council hearing moved. Tonight. 6 PM. Be there or we declare you rogue.”_

Rogue.

That was a death sentence.

I didn’t have time to panic. Bed 7 was coding.

“Charge to 200. Clear.”

Hands steady. Voice steady.

Don’t think. Don’t feel. Don’t remember.

Don’t let the wolf surface.

Too late.

The bond flared the second Kade walked into the ER. He didn’t belong here. He knew it. I knew it. But he came anyway.

“You’re coming with me,” he said, low enough that only I could hear.

I didn’t stop compressions.

“I’m on shift.”

“The hearing is in 4 hours. Damon’s already there.”

My hands faltered for half a second. That was all it took for the monitor to flatline.

“Resume compressions,” I snapped. “We’re not done.”

Kade’s jaw tightened. He didn’t argue. He just stood there, watching, like he was memorizing the way I moved under pressure.

We lost the patient.

I called time of death at 9:14 AM and walked out of the room without looking back. My scrubs felt too tight, my skin too hot. The bond was screaming at me to let him in.

“Shift’s over,” I said, stripping off my gloves. “Talk.”

Kade followed me to the staff lounge. Empty. Good.

“They moved the hearing,” he said. “Damon’s pushing hard. He has three elders on his side.”

“Then we give them a reason not to listen,” I said.

“How?”

I met his eyes.

“Let me in.”

Kade went still.

“You’re sure?”

“No,” I said. “But I’m tired of running.”

His expression shifted. Something raw, something careful.

“If you change your mind, I stop. Say the word.”

I nodded.

Kade stepped close. Not touching. Not yet.

His scent wrapped around me, cedar and smoke and something that was purely him.

“Close your eyes,” he said softly.

I did.

Warmth spread through my chest, down my spine. The bond uncoiled, slow and careful, like it was afraid I’d shut it out again.

Kade’s presence brushed against mine. Gentle. Asking permission.

I let him in.

It felt like coming up for air after holding your breath too long.

Memories hit me all at once. The first time he found me in the woods. The way he looked at me like I was the only thing in the world. The night he said _a good Luna doesn’t argue_.

Pain. Regret. Want.

All of it, raw and unfiltered.

“Selene,” Kade whispered. His voice was in my head now, low and rough. _I’m sorry._

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

Because for the first time in five years, I felt him feeling me too.

My fear. My anger. My exhaustion.

And underneath it all, the part of me that still wanted him.

The bond flared gold behind my eyelids.

“Open your eyes,” Kade said.

I did.

He was right in front of me now, forehead almost touching mine. His eyes were molten silver, wolf close to the surface.

“You’re okay,” he said. “You’re in control.”

I nodded. My hands trembled.

“Good,” he said. “Because we’re going to need it.”

The lounge door burst open.

Elder Mara stood there, flanked by two enforcers.

“Alpha Blackwood,” she said, voice sharp. “Step away from her.”

Kade didn’t move.

“She’s my mate,” he said. “And she’s in control.”

Mara’s eyes narrowed. She could feel it too. The bond, steady and strong.

“Proof,” she said. “Now.”

Kade turned to me.

“Your call.”

I stepped forward.

“Do it,” I said.

Kade took my hand.

Heat shot through me, immediate and undeniable. The bond blazed to life, visible to anyone with wolf senses. Gold light flickered under my skin, matching the silver in his eyes.

Mara’s face went pale.

“Impossible,” she whispered.

“Not impossible,” Kade said. “Inevitable.”

The bond hummed, solid and real. Five years of suppression hadn’t broken it. Hadn’t even weakened it.

Mara recovered first.

“This changes nothing,” she said. “Damon’s contract still stands.”

“It doesn’t,” I said. My voice was steady now. Strong. “Because I’m not property. And I’m not afraid anymore.”

Kade’s thumb brushed over my knuckles.

“Then we fight,” he said.

Mara looked between us, calculating.

“The hearing is tonight,” she said finally. “Come. Both of you.”

She left, enforcers following.

The second the door closed, Kade pulled me against him.

“You did it,” he murmured against my hair. “You let me in.”

I didn’t push him away.

“Don’t make me regret it,” I said.

“I won’t,” he said. “I swear it.”

For the first time since he walked back into my life, I believed him.

Tonight, we face Damon.

And this time, I’m not running.

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