Sun's Shadow

SELENE’S POV

I had been driving for the past six hours, and by now, it felt like anything would be better than my current situation. I was hungry, exhausted, and sad, though this sadness wasn’t the kind you feel after a bad day. It was deeper, more pervasive. I had been asked to move. My boss, David, thought that because I was young and a woman, I would be easy to manipulate, and he was right. When he told me I had to move to some remote city in Montana, I didn’t protest. To be honest, I just accepted it, not even thinking to ask for a raise. I had a crush on him for a few years. And who wouldn’t? Almost every woman in our office did. He was tall, athletic, with light skin and jet black hair that contrasted with his forest green eyes. Most of the time, his eyes didn’t even seem real. They were like looking into a distant, lush forest deep green, like the kind you find only in the thickest woods.

He was always kind to me, and sometimes it felt like maybe he was into me, too. With his sweet messages, attention to details, and making me feel like an important part of the team, I’d convinced myself he cared. But looking back, it’s obvious. He knew how I felt. He was using me— for my ideas, my overtime, and sometimes even to finish his own projects. On my last day at our New York HQ office, I discovered the truth: my relocation was originally intended for my colleague, Eve. David asked me to go instead because he was in a relationship with her, and it would be easier on his personal life if Eve wouldn’t leave New York. He made me believe that I was the only one capable of doing a good job in Montana and that it was the final step before my promotion, where I’d be his equal.

Idiot. There’s no better word for it. I’m just an idiot. I believed him for three years, believed I mattered to him, that he wanted me on his team, that I was valuable. But none of that matters anymore. I need to eat and rest, but I don’t want to stop yet. I’ve still got 30 hours of driving ahead of me. At first, I thought this long drive would be good for my mind. 36 hours alone on the road, just me and my thoughts. But now, it feels like the worst idea. Every minute, I get deeper into my own head, resenting everything around me, especially myself. I need to drive a bit more to find a more remote place, and I have to eat before that too.

Tonight is a full moon. I don’t know much about myself or my origins. I know a little from what my father told me when I was a child, before he died. He was a werewolf and a powerful one, I think. But he had to leave his pack because he fell in love with my mom. She died after giving birth to me. She was part witch and part werewolf, but like me, her werewolf side carried a curse. I believe this curse has been in my mother’s family for generations.

My father used to tell me stories and I am not sure how much truth they carry. About 300 or 400 years ago, races were more secluded from each other and had hostile relationships. Werewolves stayed in their packs, witches in their covens, elves in their forest kingdoms, and all of them kept as far from humans as possible. But an ancestor on my mother’s side, a witch named Astra, fell in love with a werewolf named Alastor. I never understood how they met, but it had something to do with spying and conflicts happening at that time. Astra’s father, Albus, was a high warlock and one of the most powerful sorcerers of his era. He thought it was disgraceful for his daughter, his heir, to be involved with a wolf. He tried to keep them apart, but Astra was smart and resourceful. She was also known as the witch of prophecy, the one who would bring change to all races, especially sorcerers. By then, she had already created many spells and adapted others to suit her needs. Sneaking out to meet her lover, Alastor, was never difficult for her.

Their love was pure, passionate, and young. They dreamed of a future together, where their children would grow up and have grandchildren who would run around in their garden. They often had small disagreements, but they were always playful. Alastor loved seeing Astra all fired up, stubbornly defending her point of view, and though he didn’t always agree with her, he didn’t care. He was in love. For Astra, he would do anything—seeing her smile was the best comfort for him, especially given his high temper as a wolf from an alpha lineage. His father was pushing him to take his place as leader, and Alastor had always believed that leading the pack was his destiny. But after meeting Astra, he began quietly preparing his younger brother to take over. The more disagreements he had with his father, the more his anger grew, and the wolf inside him started slipping out—shredding enemies during interrogations and even attacking pack members. The only thing that could calm him was seeing Astra, but even that was getting harder.

One day, Alastor was ordered to interrogate a witch. The walk to her cell felt agonisingly long, and as he approached, he tried to smell the air, desperate to know if the prisoner was Astra. His senses were in chaos, panic overtaking him when he couldn’t properly detect anything. There were too many people around, the scent of blood everywhere, and then... he smelled it. Her. That familiar, intoxicating scent of rain and roses. His mate. His love.

When he finally reached the cell and a guard opened the door, Alastor saw a young witch. She wasn’t Astra, and relief flooded through him, though the fear lingered. He could still smell Astra on this witch, why? His eyes landed on a bracelet she wore, one made by Astra. He had one just like it. This witch mattered to her.

He had no choice but to interrogate her, if he didn’t, he’d raise suspicion. His standing as the future alpha was already in jeopardy. He started questioning the witch, but she didn’t say a word, not even looking at him. It was as if she’d detached herself from her body, something only highly trained warriors could do. Maybe there was a spell involved, he thought, but he couldn’t be sure.

Without warning, he cut off her hand—the one with the bracelet. This jolted the witch out of her trance, though she still didn’t scream. Instead, she looked straight into his eyes, her gaze full of resentment, pain, and realisation. She knew she wouldn’t survive this session. A few moments later, she was dead, having used a suicidal spell to rupture every blood vessel in her body.

Afterward, Alastor stood in silence, haunted by what had just happened. All he could think about was Astra. If she had been in that witch’s place, would she have done the same? Of course she would—she was strong, stubborn. He rushed out of the dungeon, needing to see her. He shifted into his snow-white wolf form with light bright blue eyes, a symbol of his lineage, and sprinted through the forest toward their secret cabin.

This description of his wolf always made me wonder if my father had deliberately created it to resemble me. I had light blond hair, so pale it was almost white, and deep blue eyes, like a cloudless sky rich with colour. Alastor ran swiftly, a tingling sensation coursing through him. He could feel Astra and sense her fear. Ever since he marked her five days ago, his emotions were no longer solely his own; he felt for both of them. As he left the dungeon, the fear he’d experienced when he thought the witch had caught Astra still lingered. He realised then that the fear wasn’t his—it was Astra’s.

He reached the small cabin in the woods, their secret haven where they often spent time together, just the two of them. She was already inside, and there was no scent of blood, meaning she wasn’t hurt. That eased his mind, but he needed to hold her to truly feel at peace. He opened the door to find her singing in the kitchen, surrounded by pots and a chaotic mess, cooking happily.

This was it. This was his home, his happiness, his little slice of paradise. I loved that phrase. Whenever my father told me this part of the story, I always asked how he came up with it. He would tell me about a small island he visited with my mom, where she stood on a dune, looking out at the scenery and breathing in the salty air, and said,

“Look, Ereb, doesn’t this seem like a small corner of paradise?”

For my dad, that expression embodied unconditional love.

Alastor quietly approached Astra and wrapped her in his arms, placing small kisses on her neck and cheeks, showering her with playful affection. She laughed and tried to speak, but her breath caught, as the tickling affection overwhelmed her. He felt calm, finally. They stopped their playful wrestling, but suddenly, a rush of emotions surged through Astra—confusion, fear, excitement, sadness, love, happiness. The whirlwind of feelings unsettled Alastor, as he couldn’t pinpoint a dominant emotion. In that moment, his anxiety returned.

“My Princess, what’s wrong?”

She kept looking at her fingers tangled in her dress and remained silent for a few more minutes. After taking a deep breath, she looked at him and said,

“Alastor, I have news for you. Today, I found out that I am pregnant, and before you say anything, I want you to know that I am happy. I want to keep my little angel, and you can’t convince me otherwise. I know this will be hard for me, probably even harder than I am imagining right now. But I believe she is a miracle, and I will do everything to keep her safe. I know you have to become the Alpha of your pack, and it’s okay. I won’t interfere with your destiny or life as an Alpha. I won’t ask anything from you. Just promise me that you won’t try to kill her.”

After her monologue, Alastor felt lost, confused, angry even, but mostly happy. Astra looked directly into his eyes, and shock came over her face.

“Alastor, why... why are you crying?!”

She jumped up and started wiping the tears from his cheeks, but Alastor stopped her hand from moving and pressed it harder against his cheek.

“My Princess, I can’t believe you’re saying this. I can’t believe you expect me to leave you alone with our daughter, to live somewhere without me. You expect me to choose a life with my pack over the two people I love most in my life. You gave me a miracle, my precious daughter, and you fell in love with me. I can’t imagine anything more important to me than both of you. Where you go, I will follow. I will protect both of you and ensure you have the best and most wonderful life, because you deserve everything good, but I am only able to give you this little. I love you! You are my everything, and it pains me to think that you are even saying these words to me. Thank you, thank you so much.”

But their happiness didn’t last long. Due to the death of the witch, tensions increased between Alastor’s pack and Astra’s coven. Astra was preparing to flee, as they needed to move quickly before her pregnancy became evident and their people discovered their daughter and their relationship. They managed to leave for another part of the world and, for seven months, enjoyed a wonderful life together, preparing for their future. Astra was about eight months pregnant, and moving was becoming increasingly difficult for her. One morning, while Alastor was out for groceries, Astra was left alone.

It was at this moment that the high warlock Albus, Astra’s father, arrived. He was furious upon discovering that his daughter had run away with a wolf and was carrying his grandchild. Astra tried to reason with him, but he was resolute about taking her back immediately. Naturally, the brave and stubborn Astra would never agree to this, and Albus began to cast a curse that would kill his granddaughter in her first months after birth. He intended this as a severe punishment, letting her enjoy some happiness before taking everything away. Astra struggled against the curse, but a pregnant witch is significantly weaker, and she realised she couldn’t repel the curse with her strength alone. She had to find other ways to alter her daughter’s fate.

As Astra took the curse upon herself, Albus quickly added conditions, cursing Astra’s lineage to have only daughters, who would always mate with powerful wolves and die after giving birth. Alastor returned to the room and saw spell beams shooting from both of them. He saw his love fighting for her life against her father. Without hesitation, he appeared behind Albus and twisted his neck. It would have been harder to approach him under other circumstances, but Astra had managed to keep him occupied with her spells, as she was one of the few sorcerers capable of casting wordless spells. Albus had to stay focused on both her and his incantations.

Alastor’s intervention resulted in Albus’s death, causing a shockwave as the completed spells and residual mana began to spew in different directions. Alastor immediately went to the exhausted Astra, shielding her from the magical beams that continued to shoot around the small living room. He brought her to their bed and then went to re