Page 93 of Beneath Scales and Shadows
“Thank you, Lord Ignis,” he said, voice quiet but sincere. “For aiding us—for sparing what could be rebuilt. It won’t be forgotten.”
“Send word when your kingdom is ready to sign a treaty,”he pathed to the new king.“And be certain your terms honor the wounded, not just the survivors.”
“Will do.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
SORA
An inferno coursed through her veins.
Not dragon flame, but something deeper, more primal. Every nerve sparked beneath her skin, silver scales flickering with an inner light that echoed the crystal glow threading through the mountain’s chambers. The journey back to Dralux had passed in a haze of sensation—Ignis’s scales beneath her, the wind whipping her hair, the scent of smoke, blood and battle clinging to them both.
Now, in the sanctuary of their chambers, reality fragmented into sharp, disconnected moments of sensation. The soft hiss of the bathing pool as steam rose in curling tendrils. The weight of her armor eased with each piece Ignis removed, his talons moving with deliberate care as he undid each fastening, slow and precise. The throb of the ruby scale embedded in her side, pulsing in time with his twin hearts.
“It hurts,” she whispered, knees buckling as another wave of heat crashed through her. “Why didn’t anyone tell me that it would hurt?”
Ignis caught her, his scaled arms solid and sure. “I know, my little Luna.” His voice rumbled through her bones, both painful and soothing at once. “Your heat came too fast. The battle, the moonlight, the blood bond—everything accelerated your transformation.”
She pressed her face against his chest, inhaling his comforting scent of midnight stone and ancient fire. Even that small contact sent sparks cascading across her flesh. Her body burned from the inside out, desperate for something she couldn’t name but instinctively understood.
Him.
“What’s happening to me?” The words scraped her throat raw.
Ignis lifted her with ease and strode to the steaming pool, not slowing as he stepped into the mineral-rich water. Heat lapped at her skin the moment they sank in—water she’d come to crave now wrapping her in blessed relief.
“Your body prepares for mating—demands it,” he answered, brutally direct yet gentle in his delivery. “The dragon blood has awakened fully. You are no longer becoming an omega in its fullness—you simply are.”
“I can’t think straight.” She pressed her palm against her forehead, finding it burning hot—much hotter than her new normal. “Everything feels—”
“Too much?” His crimson eyes held understanding beyond words. “That is the nature of omega heat. Your senses heighten until the world becomes overwhelming.”
Ignis reached for a crystal vial on the pool’s edge, uncorking it to release the scent of mountain herbs and night-blooming flowers. He poured its contents into the water, which immediately turned opalescent, swirling with colors that soothed her raw nerves.
“This will help ease the discomfort,” he explained, gathering water in cupped hands to pour over her shoulders.
Relief unfurled where the enchanted water touched her—brief, but blessed. Sora leaned into his touch, eyes falling shut as he worked with patient care, washing the blood and soot of battle from her skin.
“When we found you in the throne room—” His voice caught, the memory cutting deep. “When I felt your call through our bond...”
“You came crashing through the ceiling,” she finished, a smile tugging at her lips despite the pain. “My dragon king, destroying everything in his path.”
“I would have torn the castle stone from stone to reach you.” His hands stilled on her shoulders, claws carefully retracted. “When the princess confessed to trying to kill you—to drowning the baker’s daughter whose body you now inhabit—I lost all restraint.”
Sora turned to face him, water swirling around them both. Even through the haze of heat, the memory stood crystal clear. “Justice. You gave her the same death she inflicted.”
“Poetic, wasn’t it?” A dangerous smile curved his scaled lips. “And now Artania will be rid of the evil filth that tainted it.”
“It was the moment I knew.” The confession spilled forth, driven by heat and truth in equal measure. “When you crashed through that ceiling, when you sought vengeance not just for me but for the baker’s daughter—when you protected me with your wings while destroying everything that threatened us—I knew with absolute certainty.”
His eyes darkened, pupils expanding until crimson became mere rings of fire. “Knew what, my little Luna?”
“That I love you.” The words hung between them, simple yet profound, carrying more meaning than anything she could describe. “Not because of heat or prophecy or fate. Not because our souls are bound by blood magic and ritual. But because you see me—all of me. The historian from Earth, the twice-born omega, the woman caught between worlds—you see me completely.”
Ignis’s breath caught, the sound barely audible over the gentle lapping of water. His hand rose to cup her cheek, thumb tracing the silver scales at her temple with reverent precision.
“I have lived a century,” he said, voice roughened by emotion. “I have watched kingdoms rise and fall. I have seen wonders beyond mortal comprehension. Yet nothing compares to the miracle of finding you—of having you look at this monstrous form and see not beast, butme.”
