Chapter 8: Shadows in the Moonlight

The days blurred together after that night. I couldn’t shake the sense that something was unraveling beneath the surface, a story long buried that I was only just beginning to scratch the surface of. I spent hours at the clinic, trying to focus on routine matters, the things that used to fill my days. But no matter how many dogs I treated or cats I checked in for their annual vaccinations, my mind kept drifting back to the journal, to Luca’s words, to the prophecy.

To the pack.

To everything I thought I knew.

The phone rang late one afternoon, and I nearly dropped the syringe I was holding when I saw the caller ID. It was Astra.

“I was hoping I’d catch you,” her voice said when I answered, light and teasing, though I could hear the edge of urgency beneath it. “You’ve been quiet since our little meeting. I thought you might have gotten cold feet.”

I wasn’t sure if I was angry or relieved to hear from her. She had appeared out of nowhere, dropping bombshells on me about my father’s life and the strange, hidden world I was now tangled in. She was still a mystery, and that didn’t sit well with me. But I had learned the hard way that I couldn’t afford to turn away from the truth, no matter how complicated it got.

“I haven’t gotten cold feet,” I replied, my tone clipped. “But there’s still a lot I don’t understand. A lot I’m not sure I’m ready to face.”

Astra’s laugh was light, almost melodic. “None of us are, darling. But that’s the way it always is with this kind of thing. The truth never waits for the perfect moment. It always comes rushing at you, whether you’re ready or not.”

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, the weight of her words sinking in. It felt like everything in my life was moving at a speed I couldn’t control, like I was being pulled deeper into something I didn’t fully grasp.

“Where are you?” I asked, suddenly needing to see her, hear her words in person. Maybe, just maybe, she could fill in the gaps I couldn’t yet connect.

“I’ll be at the clearing tonight. You know the one.” She paused, and I could hear the rustling of leaves in the background, as though she was already out there, waiting. “Luca will be there too. If you want answers, this is where we start.”

The clearing. The place where my father’s secrets had first come to light. Where I had come face-to-face with the reality of my bloodline, and of Luca’s role in it.

“I’ll be there,” I said, my voice steady even as my insides clenched with nerves. The night felt heavy with anticipation, as though everything in the world was holding its breath, waiting for the next step.

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I arrived at the clearing just before midnight. The air was thick with the scent of pine and damp earth, the wind whispering through the trees like it had a secret to tell. I could already see the dim light of the fire flickering in the distance. The clearing looked exactly how it had the first time I’d come here with my father—vast and open, with the full moon hanging like a watchful eye above us.

Astra was the first to step out from the shadows, her wild hair catching the moonlight as she moved toward me. She looked the same as ever—wild, untamed, and full of secrets. But this time, there was something different about her, something more serious in the way she carried herself.

“You made it,” she said, her voice quiet but warm. Her eyes flicked over me, scanning me like she was sizing me up, reading me in a way I couldn’t quite explain.

“I’m here,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. “What’s going on, Astra? What do I need to know?”

She smiled, but there was a hard edge to it now. “More than you realize, Isla. But you’re not ready for all of it. Not yet. There are things you have to understand first.”

I glanced around the clearing, feeling the weight of the silence pressing down on me. “Where’s Luca?”

Astra’s gaze shifted toward the shadows at the edge of the clearing, her eyes narrowing as if she were waiting for something. “He’s coming. He knows we need to talk. And trust me, there are things even he doesn’t want you to know.”

My heart skipped at her words. “Why do I feel like I’m being kept in the dark on purpose?”

Astra’s expression softened, almost pitying, before she stepped closer, her voice lowering to a whisper. “Because you are. But sometimes the dark is where you find the truth. Luca can’t tell you everything. Not yet. He has his own demons to face. And so do you.”

I swallowed, trying to steady the tremor that had started in my hands. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”

“None of us are,” Astra repeated, her tone gentler this time. “But that’s why we have each other. To help us make sense of it. Now, we wait for Luca.”

We stood in silence for several long minutes, the only sounds the wind rustling through the trees and the distant call of an owl. It felt like the entire forest was alive with anticipation, as though everything in nature knew what was coming.

Finally, I saw him.

Luca emerged from the shadows, his form impossibly tall and strong, his presence commanding the space around him. The moonlight seemed to bend around him, casting his face in sharp relief. His expression was unreadable, his jaw tight, but his eyes… those eyes, dark with secrets, softened when they landed on me.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” he said, his voice low, filled with something I couldn’t quite place.

“I wasn’t sure I would,” I replied, my heart beating faster. “But I need answers, Luca. I need to know what’s going on.”

He stepped closer, his gaze flicking briefly to Astra, who was already watching us with a knowing look. “We’ll tell you everything, Isla. But only when you’re ready to hear it.”