SERAPHINA’S POV
Two days had passed since my last conversation with Kieran.
Two days since my preternatural encounter in the forest.
Two days since the storm inside me had ebbed, leaving me raw and hollow—adrift between the crushing silence where my wolf should have been and hope, that one day, that hollow would fill.
At first, I wanted nothing more than to shut the world out. To curl up in my room and let the ache swallow me whole.
To drown in my sorrow, convincing myself I had been a fool to believe—even for a heartbeat—that I could belong in a world that had spent so long pretending I didn’t exist.
But that spiral, that weakness pulling me toward despair, wasn’t why I had come here.
I remembered the old woman’s words—how pain blinded more than darkness, how patience would draw strength where doubt only smothered it.
I had made a vow when I joined the OTS. I wasn’t here for Kieran. Not even for Lucian.
I came for Daniel.
And for myself.
