A hunter.
A girl whose ancestors made a pact with my father and never told her. The blood bond. The mate spark.
It had finally come home.
And she had no idea who she really was.
I raised my hand one last time. Not to strike. To touch her.
She flinched, expecting death.
Instead, I brushed her cheekbone with my thumb — wiped the blood from her temple.
Her skin burned beneath my touch. So soft. So defiant.
“What do you do when the thing you’re supposed to kill... feels like it’s already inside you?”
And I said the one truth I could manage:
“You’re mine.”
Then I vanished into the shadows.
I didn’t go far. I stood beneath the trees behind the temple and listened to her stagger away. I memorized the rhythm of her breath. The weight of her presence.
She was not just the hunter sent to kill me. She was the only thing in this world strong enough to break me.
And she would. Eventually.
But not tonight.
I’ve walked this world for over six hundred years, drenched in war, in betrayal, in silence. But now I’ve seen her.
And I can’t pretend to be untouched anymore.
They told me love was a weakness. But they never warned me how hard it would be… to walk away from the one person fated to ruin me.
Seori
Cracked Foundation
I’ve lied before. To demons. To Guild officers. Even to myself. But never like this. Not when my skin still buzzes with his touch. Not when my palm won’t stop burning. Not when my blood feels like it belongs to someone else now.
The Guild's underground chamber reeked of incense and old blood. I stood before the Elders in the circle of white salt, bowing just enough to be respectful — not obedient. I couldn’t afford to look weak. Not after failing to kill him.
No — not failing.
Choosing not to.
That was worse.
"Target sighted," I said coldly. "He escaped during a collapse in the lower temple ruins. Shadow burst nearly ruptured my wards."
Half-truths. Enough detail to pass. Just enough steel to cover the shaking in my voice. Elder Nam narrowed his eyes.
“He harmed you?”
“Superficial damage.” I straightened. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”
