Chapter 10: The Sky Reaper
941 Words
The beast descended like a nightmare ripped from the stars.
Its black wings stretched wide enough to blot out the moonlight, casting the entire glade in unnatural darkness. With a deafening crash, its talons sank into the earth, splitting rock and soil. The ground trembled under its weight. A grotesque blend of cursed wolf and scaled dragon, its body pulsed with a sickening aura of dark magic. Its eyes, molten red, locked instantly on Aria.
“It’s watching me,” she whispered, heart hammering.
“It’s hunting you,” Myra said, her voice sharp with alarm. “That’s no ordinary creature. It’s a soul-bound sentinel. Forged by the Shadow Council. Meant to track down Luna power.”
Kade stepped in front of her, his body tense. “Then it’ll have to go through me.”
Without warning, the creature unleashed a shriek. But it wasn’t a sound — it was a force. A wave of pure pressure that ripped through the trees, splitting trunks and cracking stones. Aria dropped to her knees, her ears ringing, eyes burning. The air was thick with dread.
Then it moved.
Faster than something that size should.
It lunged straight for her.
Kade met it mid-leap, shifting in an instant. He slashed across its wing with clawed hands, slicing into the leathery membrane. Black ichor sprayed into the air. The beast roared — this time an actual sound, one that shook the trees — and whipped its massive tail, catching Kade in the side and sending him flying across the clearing.
“Kade!” Aria cried, stumbling to her feet.
“Don’t go near it!” Myra yelled, pulling Aria back. “If it connects to your aura, you’re finished. That thing is designed to bond to power, and you—”
“—are its target,” Aria finished, realization dawning.
The Sky Reaper turned its head toward Myra. A pulse of crimson light gathered in its chest, then fired a beam of corrupted energy. Myra summoned a barrier with her staff, deflecting it just in time. The impact sent her sprawling back, panting.
“That thing’s feeding off something,” she said, coughing. “Every strike it lands, every soul it devours, it gets stronger. It’s tied to the Shadow Alphas.”
“We can’t fight it now,” Kade said as he limped back to Aria’s side. Blood ran down his arm, soaking into the dirt. “We’re not ready.”
“Then we run,” Aria said, grabbing his hand. “But not forever. We find a way to end this — on our terms.”
Together, the three of them darted through the forest, ducking between trees and dodging the Reaper’s blasts. It crashed after them, relentless, tearing down anything in its path. Aria could feel the vibrations in the ground with every step it took. Her legs ached, lungs burned, but something inside her kept pushing forward.
Then something shifted.
Not outside. Inside her.
Selene’s blood was stirring again.
She felt it — the whispers of the past, of ancient wolves and hidden powers. A vision flashed in her mind: a silver blade glowing beneath the moonlight, resting in a sacred cave surrounded by stone statues.
The Moonblade.
A weapon forged for Luna-born. For her.
“Kade,” she gasped. “I saw something. There’s a weapon. I think it’s calling to me.”
“Where is it?” he asked, scanning ahead as they ran.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But it’s not here. We need to go further. Past the canyon. Beyond the boundary.”
Kade didn’t question her. He just nodded. “Then that’s where we go.”
They burst through the final line of trees into the open — the edge of the canyon lay just beyond a ridge. Relief flooded Aria’s chest. They were close.
Too close.
A figure stepped into their path.
He was tall. Golden-haired. Familiar.
Jaxon.
Aria’s heart stopped.
Her first mate. The one who had rejected her in front of the entire pack. The one who had shattered her.
But this wasn’t the same male.
His golden hair had lost its shine, now laced with streaks of black. His eyes glowed faintly red. And he wore robes etched with runes — dark magic, the kind only the Shadow Council used.
“What are you doing here?” Aria demanded, voice shaking.
He smiled. “I told you I’d come back for you, didn’t I? You just didn’t know I meant it literally.”
Kade growled and stepped in front of her. “You have three seconds to disappear.”
Jaxon chuckled. “You’ve always been the guard dog. Loyal. Fierce. Predictable.”
From the shadows behind him, cursed warriors began to emerge. Ten. Fifteen. All cloaked in darkness. All carrying the same corrupted power that the Sky Reaper radiated.
The Reaper landed behind them with a seismic crash, blocking their escape.
They were surrounded.
Aria’s wolf surged within her, screaming to fight, to shift, to run — anything. But her limbs felt like lead. Her heart broke all over again as she looked into Jaxon’s eyes. There was no light in them anymore. No regret. Only possession.
“You don’t belong to them,” he said gently. “You belong to me. You always have.”
He reached for her hand.
Kade snarled and stepped forward, claws ready.
But Jaxon’s eyes flicked past him, straight into Aria’s.
“You’ve tasted his loyalty,” Jaxon whispered, “but now it’s time to remember what rejection really costs.”
Then, with a flick of his fingers, the cursed warriors lunged.
- Writer
