SERAPHINA’S POV
The darkness in the hollow beneath the ancient tree held the same vast, endless promise as the night sky—as if it were brimming with secrets, waiting for the first spark of light to unveil them.
I hesitated at the threshold, fingertips grazing the rough, silvery bark. My heart pounded a relentless rhythm, each beat echoing with a strange, electric recognition that rippled through me.
Everything I’d been chasing—every fragment, every half-truth, every door slammed in my face, every fear I’d carried for thirty long years—coiled together in my chest as I stood at the brink of a precipice I had been blindly approaching my whole life.
The weight of it all pressed so fiercely against my ribs it threatened to splinter them.
Alina’s presence curled warm around my thoughts, steady as an anchor in a storm.
’Breathe, Sera.’
I drew in a slow, deep breath, holding it at the top of my lungs the way Maya had taught me long ago as a centering technique.
And then, I crossed the threshold.
The air shifted in an instant as the world fell away.
The Origin Archives Room wasn’t a room at all.
It unfolded into a realm that felt suspended above the fabric of reality. My boots touched no visible ground; instead, I stood on a floor of faintly glowing starlight, soft and cool and insubstantial as mist.
Overhead stretched a sky that couldn’t belong to this earth—swirls of violet, indigo, and silver drifting like fluid galaxies.
The air thrummed with ancient magic, its low vibration raising goosebumps along my skin.
Soft streams of light unfurled around me, weaving themselves into a gently curving path of stars that led deeper into the expanse.
I drew a shaky breath. “Okay. That’s...”
‘Beautiful,’ Alina whispered from within me, awed.
Beautiful didn’t even cover it.
As I moved forward, the starry path pulsed beneath my feet, as if acknowledging my arrival.
Then a voice—neither male nor female, neither young nor old—seeped into the space around me.
‘Welcome, Seraphina.’
The sound wasn’t spoken. It resonated inside me, threading through my bones like music.
I swallowed hard. “What—Who are you?”
‘A keeper. A witness. The voice of the Origin Archives.’
My gaze swept the horizon. “What do I do?” I asked, my voice trembling. “Where do I go from here?”
A soft pulse of starlight illuminated a distant archway formed purely of shimmering constellations.
‘To the Starlight Hallway. If you wish to ask your question.’
My pulse quickened. This was it. One question for this visit; one chance to pry open the truth.
I followed the star-path, my footsteps silent yet somehow echoing in the vastness. The archway grew clearer the closer I came, and when I passed beneath it, the world expanded once more.
The Starlight Hallway stole my breath away.
Countless stars drifted around me like living embers, each burning with its own hue. Constellations flowed and reformed, shifting into patterns beyond my understanding.
At the center, a circular platform glowed brighter than all the rest—a dais sculpted from what seemed to be solidified moonlight.
The moment I stepped onto it, the stars stirred.
’You have been granted one question,’ the voice murmured. ’Ask.’
My throat tightened. Standing here, enveloped in cosmic magic older than any legend, it felt like anything was possible.
“Can this place truly answer anything I ask?”
A faint vibration rippled across the Hallway, almost like laughter.
‘Not every question has an answer. Some answers do not exist. Some are not permitted. Some would destroy what you hope to save.’
I clenched my fists. “Then...how do I know which one to ask? Which answer do I need the most?”
‘That decision is up to you. And be warned, Seraphina: any attempt to deceive, manipulate, or test the Hallway will result in immediate revocation of access.’
A cold shiver crept down my spine.
No pressure.
My mind spiraled through every question clawing at me:
Why did Father come here?
What was he researching?
What secret had he tried to bury?
Why am I like this—broken, incomplete?
Why was my wolf silent for so long?
Why me? Why my family? Why—
It struck me that most of my questions spiraled back to a single point—after all, he’d probably had the same questions.
I licked my lips. “What was my father investigating?”
The stars dimmed.
A sharp sound—like a muffled crack of thunder—reverberated through the Hallway.
‘Denied.’
The voice was still calm, but this time it carried weight.
‘The Archives do not reveal the lives or secrets of others. You have been warned.’
I swallowed hard.
Right. Not that.
I closed my eyes. What did I truly need? What question had haunted me, cutting deep since the day I learned I could not do what every other wolf did so easily?
I looked at my trembling hands.
My voice came out softer this time. “How do I achieve full transformation?”
Silence. Long and heavy.

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