Chapter 2 The Final Contract

I stared at the name long after Aric shut the door behind me.

Rael Valen.

A name that didn't belong in my hand. That name was legend-moon-blessed royalty, one of the last true-bloods born under a crimson eclipse. The kind of lycan children whispered about and old wolves cursed in their sleep.

Now I was meant to kill him.

The scroll trembled slightly in my fingers, and I didn't like that it did.

I left the guild without another word, pulling my cloak tighter as I moved through the waking streets of Rhendon. Snow crunched underfoot. Smoke curled from the chimneys of butcher shops and bakeries as cityfolk braved the cold to open stalls and sweep steps. None of them knew what had happened last night. None of them saw the blood I'd spilled.

They didn't have to. The curse saw enough for all of them.

I took the long way home. Needed to think. Needed distance between that name and whatever heat had curled through my stomach when I read it. Guilt? Fear? Or something worse?

By the time I reached my flat on the edge of the old quarter, my muscles ached and the burning under my skin had crept back in small, pulsing waves.

The moment I locked the door behind me, I slid down the wall and pressed my hand against my ribs. The runes were dimmer now-still angry, but not screaming. I forced slow breaths, then tossed the scroll onto the table.

I knew the rules. Every kill fed the curse, and every delay starved it. The balance was delicate, but this job was different. This wasn't a corrupt lord or a war profiteer.

This was him.

My fingers brushed the old pendant at my neck-silver carved with the crest of the Moonbloods. I'd worn it since I was a child, long before I knew what it meant. Long before I understood the kind of blood that ran in my veins.

Mother never spoke of my father. All I knew was his name was Valen, and that he'd left her to die in childbirth. The pendant was all he'd left behind.

I'd thought of throwing it into the sea a hundred times.

But I never could.

I stared at it now, cold and still against my skin.

"Rael Valen," I whispered.

The pendant twitched. A small shiver ran through the chain.

My stomach turned cold.

I pulled it off and dropped it beside the scroll. "Of course."

It had never reacted like that before.

That was the second sign.

The first had been the flare of my curse last night-the worst it had ever been. And now this. All of it felt like something was unraveling, and I didn't know if I was at the center or just too close when it snapped.

I should've walked away.

But I'd said yes, hadn't I?

One more job.

The last job.

I took the scroll again and broke the seal completely. Inside was more than just a name now. It held a map, sketched with haste but detailed enough to trace the northern reaches. A red mark was scrawled near Thalor Ridge-deep in snow-wolf territory.

Rael was on the move. Traveling in secret. Smart, if he knew he was being hunted.

Smarter than most of my targets.

Beneath the map was a note, scrawled in Aric's hand:

He travels with a merchant caravan posing as a guard. You'll need to catch him before the next moon, or the curse will breach your heart. He's dangerous, Kaela. Finish it, or don't come back.

I read it three times.

Before the next moon.

Less than three weeks.

I stood and started gathering gear-boots, twin blades, spare clothes, vials of sedative. I strapped them into my pack with a familiar rhythm. Mechanical. Focused.

And yet, my hands weren't steady.

Rael Valen.

Somehow, I knew the name would haunt me from now until my last breath.

I didn't sleep. Couldn't.

I sat by the window, watching frost gather on the glass, watching the world breathe while I stayed perfectly still.

The next morning, I returned to the guild.

Not to delay. Not to plead.

Just to look Aric in the eye one last time.

The office was darker today. Fewer torches. More shadow.

He glanced up when I entered, then leaned back in his chair. "Figured you'd come back."

I dropped the scroll on his desk.

"You knew," I said.

He didn't pretend to misunderstand. "Yeah. I knew."

"Then why me?"

"Because you're the only one who can get close to him."

My jaw tightened. "Because of the blood?"

"Because of what you are. Half-Moonblood. Half-human. You walk in both worlds. That makes you dangerous-and invisible."

"Not to him."

"No," Aric agreed. "Not to him."

We stared at each other for a long beat.

He broke it first.

"You don't get to run, Kaela. Not this time. The curse is bound to his line. The closer you get, the worse it'll burn. If you back out now, it'll rot you from the inside out."

I stepped forward. "And if I fail?"

Aric smiled, slow and sharp. "Then I send every guild blade after you. And they won't miss."

His meaning was clear. This wasn't just about payment or principle anymore. This was personal-for both of us.

"You've always known what I am," I said.

"I have."

"And you still trained me."

"Because you were useful."

I nodded once. "Understood."

I turned to leave.

"Kaela," he said behind me.

I paused.

"You won't survive if you hesitate. You get one opening. Make it count."

I didn't answer.

There was nothing left to say.

Outside, the city was already moving. Wagons rumbled over cobblestones. Vendors shouted prices in the square. The world kept spinning, unaware that I'd just accepted the contract that could kill me.

Or worse-reveal the truth I'd spent my whole life hiding.

I walked north with a storm in my chest.

By dusk, I was out of the city gates, boots crunching through brittle snow, hood drawn tight against the cold. The air here smelled cleaner-pine and frozen earth-but the weight in my chest didn't lift.

The pendant around my neck warmed.

It had never done that before.

And still, I didn't take it off.

Because deep down, I knew it wouldn't matter.

This path had already chosen me.