Savage Bond

Savage Bond Epi3

Chapter 11: Underneath the Skin Taissa

Ashmoor was starting to feel less like a cage and more like a haunted castle where every corner whispered your name when you weren’t listening.

Calista found me in the southern gardens that afternoon, where the winter roses bloomed like pale ghosts.

"You know, most wolves would be inside napping or sparring," she said, sliding onto the stone bench beside me.

"I’m not most wolves."

She grinned. "You say that like it’s a bad thing."

We sat in silence for a moment, the wind tugging at her braid, the sky heavy with the promise of snow.

"I think I forgot how to have friends," I admitted.

"That’s fine. I’m really annoying. You’ll get used to me."

I laughed, startled by how natural it felt.

Over the next few days, she made it a point to invade my solitude with small things: warm bread in the morning, book recommendations I pretended not to like, and constant conversation that ranged from castle gossip to questions I didn’t want to answer.

We walked through the stables one evening as snow fell lightly outside, flakes catching in her hair like stars.

"Ever think about running?" I asked her.

She glanced at me, serious. "You mean from all this? From Dom? No. Never. He’s the only reason I’m still alive."

That surprised me.

She went quiet for a second, then added, "Our parents were assassinated. I was fifteen. He was seventeen. He ripped the man who did it in half in front of the whole court. No hesitation. Then he stepped over the body and took the crown."

I swallowed. "That must’ve been hell."

"It was. But he made it safe. He made me safe."

Her voice had steel beneath the warmth. I realized then how alike we might be, her and I. Raised on blood and fear, but still choosing connection over cruelty.

"Why are you trying so hard with me?" I asked. "You don’t owe me anything."

She smiled. "Because you don’t know it yet, but you belong here. And because my brother’s been a ghost for years. You’re the first person to make him burn again."

That night, I couldn’t sleep. My wolf was restless.

You trust her, she said.

I don’t trust easily.

She earns it. Piece by piece.

And him?

Silence.

Then, You want to.

I pressed my hand to my chest. The bond pulsed, slow and steady. Always there.

I didn’t know if it was comfort or a threat.

---

Chapter 12: Teeth and Shadows Taissa

Dominic called it a security patrol. I called it a poorly-disguised test.

"You need to know the terrain," he said, not looking at me as we suited up. "And they need to see you can handle it."

"They think I’m a threat."

"They think you’re a queen."

I snorted. "I’m not anyone’s queen."

He didn’t answer. Just handed me a pair of black leather gloves.

The patrol consisted of four wolves: Dominic and me, and two others I hadn’t met before—Vren, a quiet scout with sharp green eyes, and Mara, a tall woman with scars like claw marks along her throat.

They were cordial. Not friendly. Watching.

We moved through the eastern woods, thick with frost and pine. The silence between Dominic and me crackled with tension. Our wolves stirred beneath the surface.

He watches your steps, mine said. *Not because he doubts. Because he cares. *

I bit back a sigh. You’re obsessed with him.

Because he is ours.

He is a king. I am a broken thing with fire in my blood.

Then he was forged for you.

I shook the thoughts off and scanned the trees.

That’s when the ambush hit.

Six rogues. Fast. Trained. Not human.

It happened too fast for thought.

A flash of steel. The howl of pain. Mara went down, bleeding. Vren took two in a rush, but another got past and lunged for me.

I shifted mid-air, my bones stretching and cracking as my wolf took over. White-hot and furious.

Claws slashed. Teeth tore.

Dominic was already a shadow in the chaos, his wolf enormous and black as pitch, golden eyes glowing.

I held my own until one of them slammed me against a tree.

Pain exploded in my shoulder. My vision went white, then red.

You are not prey, my wolf roared.

I let go.

Heat surged through me, unnatural and burning. My claws lit with fire.

I struck. The rogue went up like paper in a blaze.

When the battle ended, the snow was stained with blood and ash.

I shifted back, panting.

Dominic stood across from me, now human, eyes locked on mine.

"You burned him," he said, voice low.

"I didn’t mean to."

"That was a gift. That wasn’t just rage."

We stood in the blood-soaked silence.

My hands still glowed faintly.

---

Chapter 13: The Other Half Dominic

She was dangerous. Beautiful. And mine.

Watching her light up that rogue like she’d summoned flame from her soul? I hadn’t expected it. But my wolf had. He’d been pacing ever since we brought her back to the stronghold, whispering, she’s more than she knows.

And now we had proof.

Back at Ashmoor, I paced the war room.

Calista stormed in. "You need to talk to her. She’s locked herself in her room."

"She’s overwhelmed."

"She’s unraveling, Dom. She thinks she’s a threat to us."

"She’s not wrong."

Calista narrowed her eyes. "And you think distancing yourself helps? She’s your mate. Don’t abandon her now."

I ran a hand through my hair. "I don’t know how to protect someone who could burn me from the inside out."

"Then learn. Or you’ll lose her."

That night, I went to her room.

She was on the balcony, back straight, arms tight.

"You burned a wolf to ash," I said.

She didn’t turn. "I didn’t know I could."

"You were meant to."

"What do you know that I don’t?"

I stepped closer. "Your family bloodline—it wasn’t just Alpha. It was Elder. The old blood. The kind that could command nature itself."

She turned slowly. "Why didn’t anyone tell me?"

"Because they were killed before they could. And because someone wanted you silenced."

Chapter 14: When the Flame Touches Skin Taissa

I didn’t mean to follow him.

But I did. Like a magnet pulled by something deeper than gravity. I told myself I was just going to speak with him. Set boundaries. Put this damn bond in its place.

Liar.

The firelight from his chambers spilled across the hallway like an invitation. The door was cracked. He was inside, shirtless, standing at the window with a glass of whiskey in his hand and the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders.

I knocked anyway.

He didn’t turn. “Come in.”

I stepped inside. My body felt too hot, my skin too tight. The bond between us thrummed like a living thing.

“I can’t sleep,” I said.

“Me neither.”

He turned then. Eyes locked on me. His gaze dropped to the tunic I wore—thin, barely past mid-thigh, nothing beneath it. I hadn’t meant to come dressed like this.

Liar again.

“I keep dreaming,” I said.

He took a step closer. “Nightmares?”

“Worse. Dreams that feel too good. Dreams I don’t want to end.”

I was shaking. My wolf was silent, watching, waiting. Dominic crossed the room slowly, like I was something sacred and wild. He reached out, his knuckles brushing my cheek.

“Tell me to stop,” he said.

I didn’t.

His mouth was on mine in an instant. Not gentle. Hungry. His hands framed my face, then dropped to my hips, pulling me against the hard line of his body. I gasped, the contact overwhelming, electric.

I didn’t remember moving to the bed, but we were there, tangled, breathless. He stripped his shirt off fully, muscles shifting like carved stone beneath scars and ink. My hands roamed over his chest, his back. He groaned against my skin.

“I want you,” he said into my neck. “But only if you want it too.”

“I do.”

It was true. My body screamed for him.

But the moment his mouth moved lower, trailing fire along my collarbone, the world shifted. Something in the shadows behind my eyes cracked open.

Blood. Screams. A hand around my throat.

I couldn’t breathe.

My whole body froze.

“No,” I gasped. “Stop. Stop—”

He pulled back instantly. “Taissa?”

I was shaking, knees drawn to my chest, sobs breaking loose. I wasn’t in his bed anymore. I was back in the woods. Back in the cage.

“Don’t touch me,” I choked.

Dominic raised both hands. “I’m not going to. You’re safe. Just breathe with me.”

He sank to his knees beside the bed, keeping distance. His voice was steady, soft.

“Four counts in. Four out. That’s it. Good. You’re okay.”

Minutes passed. Maybe hours. My sobs dulled into silence.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Don’t be. You did nothing wrong.”

He stayed there until I let him pull the blanket around my shoulders. Until I leaned into his warmth again. Until my eyes drifted closed and he carried me—not to his bed, but to mine.

He didn’t touch me again.

But when I woke, I could still smell him on my skin.

---

Chapter 15: Bonded and Bruised Dominic

She hadn’t spoken to me in two days.

And I hadn’t pushed. I couldn’t. Not after the way she crumbled in my arms.

My wolf was restless. Pacing. Furious at anything that wasn’t her. He wanted to curl around her, to protect, to comfort, to mate. But he was smart enough to know now wasn’t the time.

“You’re making the walls shake,” Calista said, leaning in the doorway of my war room.

“She’s hurting.”

“And so are you.”

I didn’t reply. Instead, I reviewed the latest reports from our scouts—rogue activity had increased. Territories close to Ashmoor were disappearing overnight. No survivors. Same sigils. Same pattern.

“Something’s coming,” I muttered.

Calista crossed her arms. “Then you’d better get your s**t together, Dom. Because she won’t wait around forever for you to figure out how to be vulnerable.”

“I already showed her everything.”

“No,” she said. “You let her feel your hunger. Not your heart.”

That night, I found her in the training yard.

She was sparring with Corin, the old warhound I trusted with my life. He’d taken to Taissa immediately. She moved with grace and fire, her strikes precise. But I could tell her heart wasn’t in it.

Corin threw a feint. She stumbled.

“Again,” he barked.

She growled and launched forward. Her power surged—just for a moment—and Corin dropped to one knee, laughing.

“She’s learning control,” he said.

“She’s not the only one,” I muttered.

Taissa approached me, sweat-slicked and silent.

“I want answers,” she said. “Real ones. No more riddles.”

I nodded. “Meet me at the archives tonight. I’ll show you everything.”

She came just before midnight. I led her to the forbidden wing, where the oldest scrolls were kept.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Your legacy.”

We read together. By firelight. Bloodlines. Elders. Powers thought extinct. Her family had been guardians once—of balance, of wildness itself.

“They weren’t just slaughtered,” I said. “They were eliminated. Because someone feared what they were.”

“What I am.”

I looked at her. “No. What you will be.”

She stared at the flames. “And you? What are you to me?”

I took her hand.

“Whatever you need me to be. Until you’re ready to claim more.”

She didn’t let go.

---

Chapter 16: Ghostblood Taissa

The Moon Binding came too soon.

A pack-wide ritual meant to reconnect bloodlines, honor ancestors, and bind the territory. I hadn’t wanted to participate. But Calista insisted.

“If you want the pack to trust you, they need to see you belong,” she said, adjusting my ceremonial cloak.

I stood in the inner courtyard as torches were lit and the pack formed a wide circle. Dominic stood across from me. Bare-chested. Crownless. Just a wolf among wolves.

The chant began.

Ancient. Low. Thrumming.

My wolf stirred immediately. This is home.

I stepped into the center.

The moment my bare feet touched the sigil carved into the stone, it happened.

Visions.

Not dreams. Memories.

My mother screaming. My father fighting. A cloaked wolf watching from the treeline, eyes like mine. But colder.

I collapsed to my knees, clutching my head. Pain erupted through me. Fire. Ice. Wind. The ground beneath me cracked.

“She’s seizing!” someone yelled.

Dominic was there in seconds.

“Taissa! Breathe. Stay with me.”

“I saw him,” I gasped. “The one who gave the order. He had our eyes. My father’s blood.”

Then everything went dark.

When I woke, I was in Dominic’s room, wrapped in blankets.

He sat beside me, hand on mine.

“You’re part of something old. Something wild,” he said.

“I’m scared,” I whispered.

“So am I.”

He kissed my forehead.

And this time, I didn’t pull away.

---

She stepped forward. "You think I’m a weapon."

"No. I think you’re the storm that comes after the fire."

She put a hand on my chest. The bond surged.

"Then stop standing so far away."

My restraint snapped.

I kissed her like it would be the last time.

And prayed it wouldn’t be.