THE UNFORGIVING BEAST

REIGN’S POV

It was not my intention to scream, nor was it in me to take pity on that betrayer after what he had done to me. He robbed me of everything, including the life of my innocent baby. I wanted him to feel the pain he had made me go through. I wanted that pain to eat him alive, the same way grief ate me every waking moment.

Still, that encounter left me wondering what kind of warlord had saved me.

This Magnon beast!

Aldrin had launched first, his rage loud and careless, his aura screaming dominance like a wounded alpha trying to prove himself. But Magnon was just cool by then, composed, relaxed—like he could not even see that an alpha was attacking him. Like Aldrin was nothing more than a harmless fly buzzing too close.

The air changed the moment Magnon lifted his head.

The forest felt it.

I felt it.

Before Aldrin could even complete his move, Magnon knocked him away in less than a quarter of a second. The strike was silent but deadly, heavy with raw power. Aldrin’s body flew through the air at an angle I could not tell. He flew so high that I could only see him as a small dot against the dark sky.

That was when a scream slipped from my lips, fear gripping me because what the hell was that?

For a long moment, I thought the clouds would swallow him. Or maybe disappear in the air that was swallowing him up there. But finally, like magic, gravity remembered him.

He started dropping in a speed my eyes could not stand. I screamed again, looking away, but soon after decided to see what would happen next. At least someone had to tell the story.

He hit a tree first, breaking thick branches like dry bones, before crashing toward the hard ground. But instead of smashing into the earth, I saw Magnon shift. I thought he was going to attack him again, but he instead moved his hand slowly through the air, his fingers clawing at nothing.

A dark circle formed. It spun like a living thing—black at the edges, clear at the center—snapping shut around Aldrin’s body and trapping him midair.

My breath caught. I nearly became a stone of ice.

Magic.

They were right when they said Magnon used dark magic. This had to be how he was able to kill the moon itself in that historical incident. No normal wolf could bend the laws of the world like this. No normal beast could command shadows like this.

I looked at him, to try nd understand what kind of a being he was. He looked ten times more of a beast now. His eyes burned red, not like anger, but like eternal fire trapped behind flesh. His wolf aura rolled out in heavy waves, pressing down on everything that breathed. Even the trees bowed, their leaves trembling.

His hands rested at his sides, loose and calm, like he had done absolutely nothing at all. Like he had not moved a single muscle after that deadly strike.

I was still trying to figure him out when the forest suddenly exploded with sound.

Wolves howled in the distance. It felt like the entire land had awakened just to fear him. Like the world itself knew the king of doom had returned.

“You have the nerve,” Magnon roared, his voice low and deep, yet dangerously calm, “to try and attack me after nearly killing my mate over a crime she did not commit?”

The word "mate" wrapped around me like a bond I could feel in my bones.  I could not explain how it felt, really.

And all this was for his mate? For me?

I looked at Aldrin. He looked defeated.  Trapped inside that dark circle. His body shook as he struggled to breathe. His chest barely moved. His eyes were dull, barely opening and barely looking, but desperately trying to hang open. He tried to speak, but even breathing alone was a battle he was losing. His mouth opened wide as he dragged air in painfully, like a drowning wolf pulled from water too late.

“I could have gladly ripped your soul out with my fists,” Magnon continued, his tone deadly soft, as he reached for me. His arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me against his massive form, pinning me safely to his side. “But I would rather leave you here to die slowly, without anyone to help you.”

His scent surrounded me, a mint of earth, iron, night, blood, and something ancient. To be honest, his scent was indecipherable, but it strangely calmed my shaking even as fear and rage burned inside me.

I saw Aldrin lift his hand weakly, his fingers trembling as if reaching for help that would never come. It dropped almost instantly. His strength was gone. I did not think he would last another minute.

“And just in case the devil comes to your rescue,” Magnon added coldly as he turned slightly, his grip tightening on me, “tell your accomplices that even the gates of exile could not hold me for long, not to talk of eternity.  Magnon is back—and I will show no guilty soul  any shred of mercy.”

A roar ripped from his chest, loud and violent. It echoed through the forest, shaking the ground like thunder, sealing his warning into the earth itself.

He turned me fully around, preparing to walk away. But before we could take a step, shadows snapped out of the blue, as if they had been hiding in the air.

Figures appeared from all corners of the forest.

Familiar figures.

The soldiers of Silverwood Pack.

They were fully armed, silver blades glowing, eyes sharp with fear and duty. They formed a wide circle around us. The Alpha’s beta stood in front, beside the head guard, both frozen in shock.

Their faces twisted with scorn toward me—and terror toward the beast holding me. No one had ever dreamed of seeing Magnon alive.  It still felt like a horror dream to me.

Confusion held them still until their eyes followed mine.

Until they saw their Alpha.

Hanging in the air.

Barely hanging on to life.

Barely breathing.

Every face fell.

Some wolves stepped back without thinking. Low growls rolled through the group, restrained and afraid, as if no one dared to show how shaken they truly were.

“Alpha?” the beta managed to whisper, his voice cracking as his eyes turned golden.

Magnon looked at them. He just looked, plainly, not calculating or anything.  No concern and no emotion.  His burning eyes showed no fear. No mercy.

No one waited for orders.

The moment they saw Aldrin’s condition, instinct took over.

They shifted.

Bones snapped. Fur burst forth as howls ripped through the air as wolves launched forward in a desperate attack.

Magnon released a growl so loud it felt like real thunder falling from the sky. The ground trembled violently beneath us, cracking under his power.

In one swift movement, he swept me up with one arm, holding me tightly against his side. Then everything became chaos.

In a split second that felt like eternity, all I saw were blurs. Movements too fast for my eyes to follow. Bodies flew through the air, some falling and others hitting the trees and the rocks. Cries of pain and snapping bones filled the forest. One wolf after another slammed into the ground, blood splashing the earth and everywhere, their bodies broken and twisted.

Roars echoed from deep within the forest, wild and ancient, as if other beasts were answering Magnon’s call. His speed increased with every heartbeat. The world spun around me so fast my head reeled. Trees, wolves, blood—everything blended together.

I became dizzy.

Metal clashed loudly as weapons fell uselessly to the ground.

“They all deserve it, Reign,” Mina said brightly inside me, her wolf voice sharp with satisfaction. “For what they did to us. The blood of our little pup is being avenged.”

“They are still our people, Mina,” I whispered weakly. “Some of them are blameless.”

“Still, they betrayed us,” Mina replied coldly. “They wished this exact pain on us. Now they taste it.”

Then, as if by another magic, movements stopped.  The forest fell silent.

Deadly silent.

Magnon gently set my feet back on the ground, but his arms stayed around me, strong and steady. He was not breathing hard. Not even slightly.

I slowly opened my eyes.

Bodies covered the ground.

A pool of lifeless wolves lay before me. Most were dead. The few still breathing were wounded so badly they could not even cry out. Their eyes were closed. Their bodies barely moved.

“Oh, Goddess…”

Aldrin.

I snapped my head to where he had been before the chaos began.

Nothing.

A barren space.

The dark circle still hovered in the air—but it was empty. Hanging uselessly like a broken spell.

I turned back to Magnon. He was already watching me. My eyes moved over his body without thinking. Blood stained his right side, the arm he had fought with most. Deep scratches marked his skin, but they looked small only because of how massive he was.

“He is gone,” I whispered.

His gaze sharpened.  “Is he all you are worried about?” he asked quietly, as if my words wounded him where it hurt the most.

His words stole the breath from my lungs. I tried to answer—but my mouth was dry, and my heart was torn between fear, rage, and something far deeper.