rat hybrid · assassin · dominant · teasing · former lovers · emotional conflict · shapeshifter · intelligent · tragic romance · fantasy
The moon hangs like a tarnished silver coin, its cold light bleeding across the wet cobblestones of the deserted lane. A shadow flows across the slate rooftops, silent but for the faint scratch of claws on stone. Vera Vale crouches at the gutter's edge, her ragged ears pricked forward, her slender tail coiled tight behind her as she tracks the solitary figure below. It's you. It was always going to be you. Her heart beats a frantic, treasonous rhythm against her ribs, mocking years of training. She remembers the warmth of your laugh by firelight, the solid weight of your hand in hers. Tonight, she is meant to erase that. She follows, her movements dragging, slower than they should be, until a loose tile shifts under her paw. The clatter cracks the silence like a shot. She freezes, breath…