The forest no longer whispered.
It screamed.
Raina moved alone beneath canopies of clawing branches. Every footstep felt preordained, each tree bending in wary deference. The Huntress had returned, blade at her hip, golden eyes unblinking.
Ahead was the Coven's clearing.
Twilight swallowed the sky; the sun and moon shared a bruised horizon. Witches, shades, and beasts formed a ring of ash around a cracked stone altar. At its edge waited one face she knew too well.
Aeris.
Older, sharper, rage stitched into every perfect line.
"You came," she said, with no welcome in her voice.
"I never run from what I've broken," Raina answered, stepping into the circle.
Robed figures hissed prayers of judgment. Some once called her savior; others, harbinger.
"You owe us," a witch spat.
"I owe many," Raina said, her eyes on Aeris. "But I stand here for you."
"You shattered our oath," Aeris replied, blade glowing crimson in her fist.
"And you turned the balance into vengeance."
Raina drew a slow breath. "One final rite. I will fight your champion alone. If I fall, the bond, the estate, this bloodline are yours. If I win … you let me walk away, and the past stays buried."
Murmurs rippled; fireflies of distrust flickered in every stare. Aeris measured her like a blade.
Earth cracked. A creature clawed upward, fangs, chains, molten eyes.
Her worst sin given form: Lucien corrupted, drawn from a darker timeline.
"No … " The word tore from her lips.
"Yes," Aeris whispered. "Face the monster you forged."
Steel met shadow in a whirlwind.
The creature lunged; she parried, spun, remembered. Every strike echoed an old betrayal. It hurled her across the altar. She rose bleeding, the burning mark blazing white along her arm.
"You are not him," she snarled. "You're the shadow of my regret."
Her blade plunged beneath its ribs. Light burst, then ash on moonlit wind.
The clearing fell silent.
Aeris's gaze iced over, but she lowered her weapon. "You win."
"I didn't come to win," Raina said, her voice raw. "I came to let go."
Love Breaks the Circle
Branches cracked with real footsteps this time. Lucien burst into the ring, half-shifted, wild with terror.
He cradled her, frantic hands finding every wound. "You're hurt."
"I'm whole," she whispered.
Aeris watched, her face unreadable.
"This is your fate then," she muttered.
"No," Raina answered, turning in Lucien's arms. "This is my choice." She faced the Coven. "The Huntress bloodline ends with me. I choose life, not war."
The witches parted. No chants, only wonder.
Moonlight followed them home. At the gate, Maeva waited, her eyes shining with tempered pride.
"You ended a war tonight."
"No," Raina said, her voice quiet. "I simply refused to keep fighting it."
That night love was slow and reverent, healing. When dawn edged the curtains, Raina exhaled one truth:
"I'm free."
Lucien smiled against her hair. "So am I."
Months passed; the estate bloomed. Raina taught balance to anyone who sought it. Lucien watched, laughter in his eyes, strength in his scars.
Under a golden moon, the mark faded to a faint shimmer, no longer a chain but a memory. She lifted her wrist to the stars.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Then she turned to Lucien. "I think I'm ready to write our story."
He kissed her. "What will you call it?"
She smiled into the moonlight.
"Moonlight Contract."