BLOODMOON PACT

THE LETTER

Chapter 3

The arrows kept coming and Raina barely had time to roll behind a rock, her shoulder burning with every movement. The silver poison was spreading slow and cold through her body, making her feel weak in a way she hated. Kael didn’t wait for her. He pulled out his sword and charged out of the cave without even looking back, his boots crunching against the snow.

Raina cursed under her breath. Stupid, reckless, just like a Drayce. But she followed him anyway because staying alone in that cave felt worse than dying beside him.

Outside, five men in black stood waiting, their faces covered with masks that made them look inhuman. They moved fast, but not like wolves. Mercenaries. One of them threw a knife and Raina ducked just in time as it hit the tree behind her with a heavy thud, splinters scattering into the air.

“Kill the girl first!” one of them shouted. “The bond breaks if she dies!”

So they knew. Raina’s wolf growled inside her, weak but angry. She couldn’t shift because of the poison, so all she had was her dagger and her anger. She threw herself at the closest man. He was bigger and stronger, but sloppy, his footwork heavy on the snow. She slid under his swing and stabbed him in the thigh, making him scream and fall. Pain shot through her shoulder and she bit her lip hard to stop herself from crying out, tasting blood.

Kael was fighting two men at once, moving faster than any normal human could. He wasn’t shifted, but he was using his wolf strength, his strikes precise and brutal. “Stay down!” he shouted at her, but Raina ignored him. She wasn’t going to sit there and wait to be killed.

Another man came at her from the side and she barely blocked the strike. The force knocked her back into the snow, and the cold seeped through her clothes, making her dizzy. The man raised his sword for the killing blow, and Raina closed her eyes, expecting it to be over. But nothing happened.

When she opened one eye, Kael stood in front of her with the mercenary’s sword stuck in his chest. He didn’t even flinch. He grabbed the man by the throat and slammed him into a tree with a wet, ugly sound that made Raina’s stomach turn. The man dropped dead, and Kael pulled the sword out of his chest like it was nothing. The wound started closing right away, skin knitting itself back together.

Werewolf healing. Raina just stared at him, suddenly aware of how different they were.

“Get up,” Kael said, breathing hard, his face flushed from the fight. “We’re not done yet.”

The other two men looked at each other and ran without another word. Kael didn’t chase them. He walked back to Raina and offered her a hand, but she got up on her own, refusing to show weakness. “You’re crazy,” she said, wiping blood off her dagger. “So are you,” he replied, and for the first time there was something almost like respect in his voice.

They stood there for a moment, both breathing hard while snow fell around them quiet and slow. The dead man from the cave was still inside, and Raina knew he had something they needed to know. She limped back in with Kael behind her, her boots leaving red prints in the snow.

The arrow was still in the man’s throat, the fletching snapped off. Whoever shot it didn’t want him talking. Raina knelt down and checked his pockets, her hands shaking not from fear but from the poison eating at her. She found a folded paper tucked into his inner pocket, damp with blood.

It was a letter with no name and no signature, just a message written in rushed, slanted handwriting: _“The Voss bloodline ends tonight. The bond is a mistake. Kill both. Leave no witnesses.”_

Raina read it twice, her hands clenching into fists until her nails dug into her palms. “They want both of us dead,” she said, her voice low. Kael took the letter and read it too. His face didn’t change, but his jaw tightened and a muscle in his cheek twitched. “Not just us,” he said. “Whoever did this wants the war to start again. Blood for blood. They want the Voss and Drayce to tear each other apart.”

Raina stood up, her legs feeling weak and unsteady. “My pack is gone,” she said. “My brother is gone. And they want me dead too.” Kael put a hand on her shoulder, but she flinched away like his touch burned her. “Don’t touch me,” she said, and he dropped his hand immediately.

“I know you hate me,” he said quietly. “I hate this too. But we can’t do this alone. If we split up, we die.” Raina looked at him properly for the first time since they’d met. He looked tired, not just from fighting but from everything, like he carried too much weight alone. For a second she saw the same pain she felt, and she hated that she saw it.

“We find who sent this letter,” Raina said, folding the paper and tucking it into her own pocket. “Then we end them.” Kael nodded, and they left the cave together, leaving the bodies behind.

The snow was heavier now and the sky was dark, the clouds hanging low like they were ready to swallow the world. A storm was coming, and Raina could feel it in her bones. She mounted her horse with shaking hands and refused Kael’s help, gripping the reins tight even though her fingers were numb.

They rode in silence for a long time, the only sound the wind and the steady rhythm of hooves against frozen ground. Finally, Kael spoke. “There’s a place,” he said. “An old contact who deals in information. If anyone knows who sent those men, it’s him.”

“Where?” Raina asked, keeping her eyes forward. “Red Hollow,” Kael said. “It’s two days ride from here. Neutral ground, so no pack claims it. No one’s safe there, but no one’s above the law either.” Raina didn’t like it. Neutral ground meant anyone could be there, friend or enemy, and you never knew who was watching. But she had no other choice. “Fine,” she said. “Red Hollow.”

They rode faster, pushing the horses harder than was safe, but neither of them cared. An hour later the storm hit them hard, wind and snow coming down so fast Raina could barely see Kael ahead of her. Her shoulder was on fire now that the herbs were wearing off, and every breath felt sharp in her chest.

Kael stopped suddenly and held up a hand for silence. Raina pulled her horse to a halt and listened. Footsteps. Not theirs. More men, moving through the trees with practiced quiet. They were surrounded.

Kael drew his sword, the metal scraping against the scabbard sounding loud in the quiet. Raina pulled her dagger, her grip slipping on the wet handle. Figures stepped out from the trees, all in masks and black clothes, forming a circle around them.

One of them stepped forward, taller than the rest. “You’re harder to kill than we thought,” he said, his voice calm and too calm, like he was discussing the weather. Kael stepped in front of Raina, blocking her from view. “Who sent you?” he asked, his voice cold.

The man tilted his head, studying them both. “Does it matter?” he said. “You’re both going to die here, and it’ll look like an accident.” Raina felt the bond pull tight in her chest and it hurt, a sharp ache that made her grip her dagger harder. She looked at Kael, and he looked back at her. No words were needed.

The fight started again, and this time Raina moved first, running straight at the man who had spoken. The snow turned red.