The Last Shadow Luna

Catherine's POV

I shoved my way through the sweaty chattering crowd with my heart pounding.

"Excuse me... excuse me, please," I squeaked but nobody moved. Typical. It was like I was a ghost in my own pack.

Today was supposed to be my day... the Mate Choosing Ceremony... and I was already late.

My silver-blue eyes stung from the dust kicked up by a thousand feet and my long black hair stuck to my neck in the humid night air.

I pushed harder, elbowing between two big warriors who didn't even glance down.

My legs ached. I'd run half the distance after helping an elder with her baskets but did anyone care? Nope. Just another day of being Catherine Linn, the weak twin.

Finally, I burst through to the front clearing where moonlight and my chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath.

"Catherine!" Mom's voice cut through the murmurs.

She grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward with her nails digging in.

"Where have you been? Everyone's waiting! Do you want to shame this family even more?"

Dad just shook his head with arms crossed, disappointment written on his face.

"Always last. Always."

Before I could even apologize, Mom dragged me over to the line of girls who had come of age.

My feet stumbled on the grass and I fell into place beside my twin sister Cassandra, trying to smooth down my simple white dress.

Cassandra didn't look at me at first.. then she leaned close, her voice in a sweet whisper only I could hear.

"Look who finally showed up. Did you get lost smelling the flowers again, little weakling? Or were you too busy dreaming about your precious Raphael while the rest of us actually trained?"

My cheeks burned but I kept my eyes forward, biting my tongue like I always did.

We were identical... same black hair with silver undertones that glowed under moonlight, same elegant figure, same striking eyes... but that's where it ended.

Cassandra stood tall and proud, muscles toned from years of fighting. I was... me. The one everyone whispered was the weakest girl in Silvercrest Pack. Beautiful, maybe.. but useless in a fight.. a fucking liability.

"Shut up, Cass," I whispered back, but it came out too soft.

She smirked.

"Make me."

Across the clearing, the boys our age stood in their own line, chests puffed out, eyes gleaming with wolfish excitement.

My gaze locked on Raphael Valecrest immediately. He was tall with dark brown hair tousled just right and sharp jawline and athletic build that made my stomach flip.

He was looking my way too. A small smile tugged at my lips.

We'd loved each other in secret for years... stolen kisses by the river, promises under the stars. Today the Moon Goddess would make it official. I could already feel the pull.

The priestess stepped into the center, her robes flowing like liquid silver. The whole pack fell silent and drums beat low and steady as she raised her arms, eyes closed as she chanted to the goddess.

Energy crackled in the air. I felt it first in my chest... a warm snap like a golden thread tying my heart to Raphael's.

The mate bond.

Joy exploded inside me. I had to press my lips together to stop from squealing out loud.

'It's real. He's mine. Finally.'

The priestess opened her eyes.

"The Moon Goddess has spoken. Raphael Valecrest... your fated mate is Catherine Linn."

For one perfect second, the world was golden.

Then... silence with no cheers and no clapping. Just a few awkward coughs and someone in the back muttering, "Figures."

My smile faltered and heat crawled up my neck.

I looked at Raphael, waiting for him to step forward.. to pull me into his arms like I'd dreamed a thousand times.

Instead, he stared at the ground with his jaw clenched.

"Raphael?" I whispered, voice cracking.

He stepped forward anyway and the crowd leaned in, hungry for drama while my stomach twisted.

"I've got something to say," he announced but still wouldn't meet my eyes. "Catherine... you're beautiful. I'll give you that. But beauty doesn't make a mate. You're weak. Pathetic, even. The weakest in the pack. How can someone like you stand beside me when I'm fighting my way to Beta? You'd be dead weight. A pull-down..!"

Each word landed like a slap and I felt the bond stretch painfully tight.

"I, Raphael Valecrest, reject you, Catherine Linn, as my fated mate."

The pain hit like fire ripping through my veins and I gasped, doubling over. It felt like my soul was being torn in half. Whispers turned to chuckles around us and someone actually clapped.

"No..." I breathed as tears blurred my vision.

Raphael's voice rose again.

"I choose someone worthy. Cassandra Linn."

My head snapped up. Cassandra? My own sister?

The priestess frowned deeply.

"Young wolf, the consequences of rejecting a goddess-given mate are known. Calamity follows. Are you certain?"

"I don't care," Raphael said flatly.

Cassandra brushed past me with her shoulder bumping mine hard as she leaned in again, lips at my ear.

"Poor little Cathy. Always second place. Even in your own love story." Then she walked to him with that seductive sway and they kissed right there... deep, hungry, like they'd done it a hundred times before.

The new bond snapped into place between them with a golden glow and the pack cheered this time.

I couldn't breathe. My world crumbled into dust. Tears poured down my face as I stumbled backward. Everything hurt... my chest, my head and my heart. It felt like someone had reached inside and shredded me.

I turned and ran with weak legs carrying me away from the lights, away from their laughter.

"Catherine, wait!" But no one actually chased me. Not really.

I didn't get far before footsteps pounded behind me. Cassandra and Raphael caught up easily... werewolf speed and all. I was too slow as usual.

"Running away already?" Cassandra laughed, circling me. "How dramatic. You always were the emotional one."

Raphael rubbed the back of his neck but his eyes had gone hard.

"Look, Cat... it's not personal. We've just been seeing each other for months behind your back and she's strong and she fits. You don't."

The words sank in like claws.

"You've been... dating my sister?"

Cassandra grinned.

"Oh, more than that. While you were picking flowers and being all gentle and useless, we were together.. training.. panning and fucking under the same moon you thought was yours."

She stepped closer, voice dripping venom.

"Face it, sister. You were never enough. Not for him.. not for anyone."

Pain swallowed me whole. I couldn't even scream.. it came out as a broken sob.. like a child who'd been slapped for the first time, I spun and ran... blindly, desperately... into the dark forest beyond the clearing.

Branches whipped my face and roots grabbed at my ankles but I didn't care. I just needed to get away.. away from the rejection.. away from their cruel laughter echoing behind me.

Tears streamed nonstop.

"Why me?" I choked out between gasps. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

My lungs burned but I kept going deeper, legs shaking until the sounds of the ceremony faded completely.

The forest grew thick and silent except for my ragged breathing and the distant hoot of an owl. Moonlight filtered through the canopy in silver patches.

I slowed, wiping my face.

"Okay... okay, I need to go back. They'll be worried. Or... not."

A bitter laugh escaped me. Even in pain, my brain tried to crack a joke. 'Great job, Catherine. Ran away like a pup who got scolded for peeing on the Alpha's boots.'

I turned around but every tree looked the same.

Panic prickled my skin. Which way was home? I sniffed the air... werewolf trait... but my senses had always been dull. Another thing Cassandra loved to mock me for.

A twig snapped under my foot and I tripped on thick roots and went down hard, scraping my palms and knees.

Pain washed over me but it was nothing compared to the hole in my chest. I lay there on the cool forest floor, sobbing quietly.

"I just wanted to be loved... Is that so bad?"

Exhaustion pulled at me and my body trembled.

Suddenly, the moonlight above me vanished as a huge shadow fell over my curled-up form.

I looked up slowly to see.. oh goddess.. no...!

Catherine's POV

The creature standing over me was neither man nor wolf but a twisted fusion of both.

It stood eight feet tall, covered in mangy gray fur that matted and fell away in patches to reveal diseased flesh beneath. Its face was of a wolf but wrong...elongated muzzle, too many teeth, eyes that glowed yellow.

Its body stood upright like a man's with thick arms ending in claws that could rip through steel.

And it was looking right at me.

"Hello, little wolf," it rasped and the voice was nothing but hunger.

I tried to run.. I tried so hard.. but my legs gave out from under me and I crashed to the ground, tears streaming down my face.

I was so tired.. so broken and so done with fighting a world that had never given me anything but pain.

The creature lunged and I closed my eyes, waiting for the end.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

The shots rang out like thunder and the creature above me shrieked in a horrible piercing sound that made my ears bleed.

It convulsed, jerking violently and then it was gone, rolling away from me in a convulsing heap of fur and flesh.

I blinked, dazed and saw them.

A group of people emerged from the tree line...seven of them, men and women both, armed with weapons that smoked in the cool night air.

They moved with the coordination of soldiers, positioning themselves around the fallen creature.

"Silver bullets," one of the women called to me. "Keeps it down."

Two of the men approached the creature while it thrashed and one of them produced a gleaming silver knife from his belt.

"Hold it steady," he said.

The younger man grabbed the creature's mangy head and tilted it back.

The knife flashed in the dim light and then there was a spray of dark blood.

The creature went still.

Silence followed, broken only by my own ragged breathing.

The woman turned to me, her expression shifting from combat readiness to concern.

"Are you hurt?"

I tried to speak.. failed and tried again.

"I... I don't think so."

"Hannah, check her over," the older man ordered, tucking away his knife. "Make sure she didn't get scratched or bitten."

"Not infected," the woman called Hannah said as she knelt beside me. "She's clean. Just scared and exhausted."

"Those are silver bullets," I managed, my voice coming out hoarse and strange. "And a silver knife. You knew what that thing was?"

The scarred man crouched in front of me.

"He was rogue werewolf turned feral from decades of isolation and bitterness. You were lucky we were passing through."

"Lucky," I repeated flatly..

The boy who'd held the creature's head laughed.

"Lady, you don't look so lucky. What are you doing out here alone? This deep in the forest? At night?"

"I..." The words caught in my throat.

What was I doing? Running away from everything I'd ever known. Fleeing a pack that never wanted me. Chasing after a future that didn't exist.

"Her clothes," Hannah murmured. "That's ceremonial silk. She's from one of the local packs."

"Silvercrest," I said quietly. "I was from Silvercrest."

"Was?" The woman exchanged a look with her companions. "That sounds like a story."

I found myself telling them everything.. the mate ceremony.. Raphael's rejection and Cassandra's cruelty.

By the time I finished, several of them were muttering curses under their breath and the young boy looked ready to commit murder on my behalf.

"Those bastards," the woman spat. "Publicly rejecting your mate? That's cold. That's seriously cold."

"Our parents didn't even try to stop it," I added painfully. "They just... watched. Like they were waiting for it to happen."

The scarred man shook his head slowly.

"Some people don't deserve the gift of family."

For a long moment, no one spoke.. then Hannah gently touched my arm.

"We can take you back to Silvercrest if you want," she offered. "Tell them what happened. Make them see reason. Two wolves versus the whole pack might not win, but..."

"No." The word came out sharper than I intended. "No, I won't go back there. Not ever."

"Then where will you go?"

I looked up at the starry sky...my old friend, my only companion through countless lonely nights...and felt something inside me crack and reform.

"Oakhaven," I said. "Take me to Oakhaven."

The boy looked surprised.

"The human town? But you're a werewolf. They'll notice eventually and if the wrong people find out..."

"Not if I hide my wolf." The thought had been forming in my mind since the words left Hannah's mouth. "Not if I just... disappear. Live quiet. Live small. Whatever's left of my wolf, I'll keep it buried."

"You can do that?" The woman looked skeptical. "Suppress your nature forever? It's not easy."

"I'm not asking for easy." I pushed myself to my feet, swaying slightly but standing nonetheless. "I'm asking for escape."

The scarred man studied me for a long moment and then he nodded slowly.

"There's a path not far from here. Follow it east until you hit the main road. Oakhaven's about a half-day's walk from there."

"The town isn't exactly welcoming to strangers," Hannah added, "but there are decent people there. You'll find shelter somewhere. We are headed for Helen Ashmoor's safe haven for outcasts."

"What about Helen Ashmoor?" I asked suddenly.

"She's gathering werewolves who don't fit the traditional mold," the woman said carefully. "The ones cast out by their packs for one reason or another. We're on our way to meet her now."

"Come with us," the boy urged. "You wouldn't have to hide who you are. You could be surrounded by people who understand."

Something in me wanted to say yes.. wanted to believe that there was still a place for broken werewolves like me. But I was so tired and the wounds were too fresh.

"Maybe someday," I said. "But not today. Today, I just want to disappear."

They showed me the path, pointing me toward the human world.

"Watch yourself," Hannah said as I turned to go. "And if you ever change your mind, the path to Helen's sanctuary is always open."

I walked into the darkness and I didn't look back.

***

The sun was rising when I finally stepped out of the forest.

Oakhaven sprawled before me like something from a storybook. Humans.. completely and beautifully oblivious to the supernatural world that had defined and destroyed my entire existence.

My clothes were barely more than rags at this point...torn during my flight through the forest, bloodstained from my collapse in the dirt.

I must have looked like a ghost or a walking corpse because more than one human did a double-take as I stumbled past them.

I didn't care.. I just kept walking, putting one exhausted foot in front of the other, searching for somewhere...anywhere...to rest.

There.. a garden and an old stone wall covered in blooming flowers with a little house beyond it.

I barely made it to the grass before my legs gave out completely.

The smell of roses filled my nostrils...sweet and soft and nothing like the sharp pine of the forest. I was so tired.. maybe just a few minutes of rest...

"Harold! Harold, come quickly!"

An old woman's voice pierced the fog that was swallowing my mind.

"There's a girl out here! She looks half-dead! Harold, get out here NOW...!"

Catherine's POV

The screaming wouldn't stop, piercing through the smoke and fire, tearing through the night like claws raking across flesh.

I stood in the middle of it all... calm, so impossibly calm... watching the massacre unfold before my eyes.

Bodies fell like marionettes with their strings cut and blood pooled beneath my feet, spreading across the cobblestones in dark shimmering ribbons.

"More," I heard myself say.

Knees hit the ground all around me.

Men, women, children... they begged with trembling lips and tear-streaked faces, their hands raised in surrender but I felt nothing.

I raised my hand slowly, deliberating savoring the fear that radiated from those trembling figures while my masked warriors waited in silent rows behind me.

"Spill them," I whispered.

The swords came down.. the screaming crescendoed and I simply watched blankly.

My gaze drifted downward, to the puddle of blood accumulating at my feet.

The liquid was red and black and in its surface, I saw my reflection.. but it wasn't me... not the me I knew, not the me I had always been.

She stood tall and proud where I stood broken. Her silver-blue eyes held no warmth and no soul. Her pale face was beautiful and terrible in equal measure.

Long black hair with silver undertones framed her face like a crown of midnight and moonbeams. She was me, yes... but I had become something else entirely.. something powerful but frightening..!

The reflection smiled and I felt the nightmare crack apart like glass...

I bolted upright in bed, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst through my chest.

My nightgown was drenched in sweat, clinging to my skin like a second skin. My hands gripped the sheets so tightly my knuckles ached.

"No, no, no," I gasped, my breath coming in uneven bursts. "It wasn't real. It wasn't real."

But it felt real. It always felt real.

It's been several years now and that nightmare had haunted me for years now... ever since I first ran from Silvercrest, ever since I collapsed in Mrs. Hargrove's garden like a wounded animal.

The images never changed.. the blood.. the screaming.. the coldness and that reflection.. that terrifying reflection!

I pressed my trembling hands to my face, trying to ground myself in the present.

I was Catherine Linn. I lived in Oakhaven. I was safe. I was loved. I was human, as far as the Hargroves knew.

A knock at the door made me jump.

"Catherine, dear?" Mrs. Hargrove's voice drifted through the door, worried. "Are you awake? I heard you from down the hall."

I opened my mouth to reply but my throat constricted, refusing to cooperate.

The nightmare still had its claws in me, pulling me back toward those blood-soaked streets, toward that emotionless reflection.

The door creaked open and Mrs. Hargrove shuffled inside, her gray curls slightly askew from sleep.

She was a small woman, barely five feet tall with kind brown eyes that had seen sixty-three years of life and still sparkled with warmth.

"Oh, sweetheart," she murmured, taking in my state... my flushed face, my shaking shoulders, the tears I hadn't even realized were streaming down my cheeks.

She crossed the room quickly and settled on the edge of my bed, her thin hands reaching out to cover mine.

"It's alright," she said softly, her voice carrying the gentle cadence I had come to cherish more than anything in this world. "You're safe. You're here with me and Harold. Nothing can hurt you in this house."

I finally found my voice, though it came out cracked and small.

"I... I was dreaming again."

"I know, love. I heard you." She used her thumb to wipe the tears from my cheeks.

"You were talking in your sleep.. tossing and turning like the devil himself was chasing you. You said some things... things that sounded painful."

I couldn't remember what I had said. I never could. What words might have slipped past my defenses?

"I'm sorry I woke you," I whispered.

"Don't be ridiculous." She patted my hand firmly. "I'd wake up every hour if it meant making sure you're alright. Now tell me. Do you want to talk about it?"

I couldn't.. She was human and the supernatural world I had escaped would only put her and Harold in danger.

"It was just a nightmare," I lied. "The same one I always have. I'm fine now, really."

Mrs. Hargrove didn't look convinced but she didn't push. That was one of the things I loved about her... she understood that some wounds needed time to heal and some secrets needed to stay buried.

"You know," she said, settling back against the headboard and pulling my blankets up around my shoulders, "Harold and I have been thinking."

My heart stuttered. Had they discovered something? Had I done something to reveal what I was? "Thinking about what?"

"About how you've been taking care of us all these years." She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Cooking, cleaning, tending the garden, running all the errands. We were supposed to be the ones looking after you when you arrived, sick and exhausted on my garden. But you've ended up looking after us instead."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"I like taking care of you. It makes me feel... useful."

"You are useful, Catherine. You're more than useful. You're family."

She said it so naturally as if it were the most obvious truth in the world.

I had never had that... not really. My parents had tolerated my existence. Cassandra had actively hated me.. and Raphael...

No. I wasn't going to think about Raphael.

She rose from the bed with a soft groan, her joints creaking slightly and shuffled toward the door. At the threshold, she paused and looked back at me.

"You know, Catherine, Harold and I never had children and we always wondered what it would be like, having someone to raise and love unconditionally. Then you came along like a gift from above."

My eyes burned with fresh tears.

"I don't deserve you."

"That's not for you to decide, dear." She smiled warmly. "Now get some rest. You had a long day tomorrow."

After she left, I sat in the darkness of my room listening to her footsteps fade down the hall.

I had been living with the Hargroves for four years pretending to be human, hiding my senses and supernatural instincts beneath careful acting.

Four years of love I had never expected to find, not from anyone and certainly not from a pair of sweet old humans who had no idea what walked among them.

It was the happiest I had ever been. More than that... it was the first time I had ever truly felt content.

I closed my eyes, willing the nightmare's to fade away.

It was just a dream, I told myself. It didn't mean anything.

When sleep finally claimed me again, the nightmare stayed away.

***

The next day found me on my way from the market smiling happily as I responded to greetings from neighbors.

I had made a life here with real friends and a real home.

It was everything I had never known I needed.

I turned onto the Hargroves' street, my mood lifting at the sight of their cozy cottage at the end of the block. But as I approached, something felt wrong.

Three unfamiliar cars sat in the driveway. They hadn't been there when I left for the market that morning. In fact, I had never seen them before in this quiet neighborhood.

I paused at the edge of the property, my grocery bag hanging loosely from my fingers and rhe hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

I pushed through the front gate and approached the front door. The curtains in the living room were drawn but I could see silhouettes moving behind them.

I turned the knob slowly letting my instincts guide me.

"... never told us you was coming," Harold was saying, his voice carrying strain. "We hadn't heard from you in over twenty years."

"Things change." The woman's voice was clipped. "Family has a way of reconnecting when it matters most."

I stepped into the doorway of the living room and stopped dead.

Three men in dark suits stood against the far wall, their hands clasped behind their backs, their sunglasses-covered eyes scanning the room with practiced intensity. Security guards but who were they with?

In the center of the room, standing in front of the fireplace with her arms crossed and her lip curled in disgust was a young woman.

She was tall and elegant with glossy black hair pulled back into a severe ponytail and a designer outfit.

"Catherine.." Mrs Hargrove approached me nervously. "Meet.. Amelia. She's our long lost daughter.."