Page 92 of Beneath Scales and Shadows
With deliberate aim, he hurled the boulder at the jagged hole where ripples still marked the princess’s entry. The impact sent water geysering upward, ice cracking outward in starbursts. He watched dispassionately as bubbles surfaced, then stilled.
A stone for a stone, a life for a life.
The symmetry stirred something deep—order, balance, retribution. But beneath it, guilt coiled tight, a reminder that he’d waited too long to face the evil that had torn his clan apart.
Sora arrived at the shoreline, her breath coming in clouds of vapor. Through their bond, he felt her complex emotions—not triumph or vindication, but solemn acknowledgment that some cycles could only end in destruction.
But for Ignis—there was only relief. Bone-deep, soul-warming relief.
She was alive. His Luna, his queen.
He hovered above the ruined coastline for only a heartbeat, wings outstretched, breath still heavy with the scent of battle. But it was her golden hair that caught his eye, whipping wild in the wind like a living flame. Her body stood strong and unyielding on the blood-soaked shore, her posture regal despite exhaustion. And her gaze—Moon Goddess,her gaze—was locked onto him with a force that made his chest ache.
She’d never looked more furious. More radiant. Morehis.
He dropped from the sky in a rush of wind and wings, landing with a heavy thud beside her. The moment his claws touched sand, he lowered his great head to hers, curling his long neck around her smaller frame. His forearms folded inward, gathering her into the curve of his chest, and his wings swept forward, enclosing her in warmth and shadow.
A cocoon. A claim. A home.
“I thought I’d lost you,”he pathed through their bond, the words choked and thick.“Shells, Sora, I love you, but I need you to stop dancing with death.”
She pressed her face into his neck, trembling—not from fear, but from the weight of survival.
“It’s over,”he pathed, more to himself than to her. He didn’t quite believe it. The war. The pain. The endless clawing ache of not knowing if he’d lose her.
Gone, all of it. And she was here.
But even wrapped in her scent, even lost in the feel of her, he caught it—faint at first, then unmistakable.
Heat.
She was in heat. Which only meant one thing—her body had finished its omega transformation.
The scent hit him like a physical blow—sweet, sharp, full of her essence and ripe with need. His wings twitched around her, his instincts flaring, fierce and possessive. How could she be in heat at a time like this? After everything they had just endured?
No.Not here. Not now.
As much as every part of him screamed to take her back to their chamber, to lay her down and worship every part of her until she forgot the war, he couldn’t—not yet. Not until the final thread was tied.
Once her heat took hold, they’d be occupied for days—locked away in their chambers, lost to the pull of instinct and bond.
He pulled back just enough to press his forehead to hers.“You’re in heat, my treasure. We’ll return home soon—I’ll take care of you, I swear it. But first, we must speak with the prince. I need to be sure he keeps his word.”
He dipped low, wings folding tight as he crouched before her.“Climb on,”he pathed gently, though there was a thread of urgency beneath it.“Let’s finish this, so I can bring you home and give you what you need.”
She nodded once and swung onto his back, her fingers curling against the scales of his neck.
Ignis launched skyward, the wind catching beneath his wings as he soared toward the ruined castle—his mate secure, his heart burning, and his mind already on what awaited them once peace was sealed.
Ignis landed with a heavy beat of wings, the ruined throne room yawning open before him. Sora slid from his back with practiced ease, but his attention was already locked on the male kneeling in the center of the shattered hall.
Prince no longer. King now.
The male’s hands were raised in surrender, his eyes wide but steady. There was no madness in him—no shadow of the corruption that had claimed his sister. Only fear… and the cautious, flickering hope of a ruler desperate to rebuild.
The king lowered his gaze and bowed deeply, the sharp line of his throat exposed in a gesture of deference not lost on Ignis. The young alpha that was willing to submit to another wasn’t an easy feat, especially when their newfound alliance was young. Only those who’d worked together for a long time—like his wingleaders Blaze and Enixa—held no resistance under his leadership.
Only time would tell if Celestoria would hold up to their promises and change of leadership.
