CHAPTER TWENTY NINE: FINDING SERAPHINA 'S DIARY

That night, I waited until I was sure the pack council meeting was well underway before making my move.

Mrs. Chen had confirmed that Kieran would be occupied for at least two hours and she had volunteered to keep watch for me.

My heart was pounding as I crept through the darkened hallways toward Kieran's private quarters.

I had never been in his personal rooms before - our conversations had always taken place in his office or common areas.

The door to his suite was unlocked, which surprised me until I remembered that this was a pack house where trust was supposed to be absolute.

No one locked their doors against family.

I slipped inside and carefully closed the door behind me.

The room was larger than I had expected, with a sitting area, a massive bed and what looked like a private study alcove lined with bookshelves.

Using the small flashlight I had brought, I began my search systematically.

Mrs. Chen had said Kieran kept Seraphina's belongings somewhere private, things that were too painful for him to look at regularly.

I started with the obvious places - dresser drawers, closet shelves, the desk in the study area.

But I found nothing that obviously belonged to a woman who had died five years ago.

Then I noticed something odd about one of the bookshelves.

While the others were packed with books, this one had a gap in the middle, as if something had been removed.

I ran my hands along the shelf, and my fingers found a hidden latch.

When I pressed it, a section of the bookshelf swung inward, revealing a small hidden compartment.

Inside, I found exactly what I was looking for.

The compartment contained a wooden box filled with personal items.

A silver hairbrush with long strands of silver hair still tangled in the bristles.

Several pieces of delicate jewelry that caught the light from my flashlight.

A pressed flower, now brown and brittle with age.

And at the bottom of the box, wrapped in a piece of silk cloth, was a leather-bound journal.

With trembling hands, I lifted the journal out and opened it to the first page.

THE PRIVATE THOUGHTS OF SERAPHINA MOON WHISPER was written in elegant script across the top of the page.

I had found Seraphina's diary.

My new psychometry ability activated the moment I touched the journal, but I tried to control it, to focus on just reading the words rather than experiencing full visions.

I needed to understand what Seraphina had been thinking and feeling in her final months.

I flipped to an entry from about six months before her death.

KIERAN HAS BEEN DISTANT LATELY. I KNOW HE CARES FOR ME, BUT SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE HE'S JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS OF BEING A MATE RATHER THAN TRULY BEING PRESENT.

OUR BOND WAS ARRANGED BY OUR PARENTS FOR POLITICAL REASONS AND WHILE WE'VE GROWN TO CARE FOR EACH OTHER, I WONDER IF WE'LL EVER HAVE THE DEEP CONNECTION THAT TRUE MATES SHARE.

That was interesting. I had assumed Kieran and Seraphina were deeply in love, but apparently their relationship was more complicated than I had realized.

I turned to another entry, this one from four months before her death.

SOMETHING STRANGE IS HAPPENING IN THE WEREWOLF COMMUNITY.

THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF ATTACKS ON FAMILIES WITH UNUSUAL ABILITIES - HEALERS, SEERS, WOLVES WITH RARE GIFTS.

THE ATTACKS ALWAYS SEEM RANDOM, BUT I'M STARTING TO WONDER IF THERE'S A PATTERN WE'RE NOT SEEING.

My blood ran cold.

Seraphina had been aware of the attacks on special bloodlines, just like I had learned from the library books.

I continued reading, my heart racing as I realized that Seraphina had been investigating the same conspiracy that had killed my parents.

I'VE BEEN RESEARCHING THE FAMILIES THAT WERE ATTACKED, AND I FOUND SOMETHING DISTURBING.

IN EACH CASE, SOMEONE CLOSE TO THE FAMILY HAD DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR ROUTINES, THEIR ABILITIES, AND THEIR WEAKNESSES.

THESE WEREN'T RANDOM RAIDS - THEY WERE CAREFULLY PLANNED ELIMINATIONS.

BUT WHO WOULD WANT TO ELIMINATE FAMILIES WITH SPECIAL GIFTS? AND WHY?

I flipped forward a few more pages.

I THINK I'M BEING WATCHED. YESTERDAY I CAUGHT SOMEONE GOING THROUGH MY RESEARCH NOTES IN THE LIBRARY.

WHEN I CONFRONTED THEM, THEY CLAIMED THEY WERE JUST CURIOUS ABOUT PACK HISTORY, BUT SOMETHING FELT WRONG ABOUT THEIR EXPLANATION.

I'M SCARED THAT MY INVESTIGATION IS PUTTING ME IN DANGER, BUT I CAN'T STOP NOW. TOO MANY INNOCENT PEOPLE HAVE DIED, AND SOMEONE NEEDS TO FIND OUT WHO'S RESPONSIBLE.

The next entry made my hands shake.

ELENA SHADOW MEND CONTACTED ME TODAY. SHE'S TERRIFIED FOR HER LIFE AND HER FAMILY'S SAFETY.

SHE SAYS SOMEONE DISCOVERED HER TRUE IDENTITY AND IS PLANNING TO ELIMINATE HER BLOODLINE COMPLETELY.

I PROMISED ELENA I WOULD HELP PROTECT HER DAUGHTER IF ANYTHING HAPPENED TO HER.

THE LITTLE GIRL IS ONLY FOUR YEARS OLD, AND ELENA THINKS SHE MAY HAVE INHERITED THE FAMILY'S POWERFUL ABILITIES.

IF THE wrong PEOPLE FIND OUT ABOUT HER...

ELENA GAVE ME INSTRUCTIONS FOR FINDING HER DAUGHTER IF THE WORST HAPPENS.

SHE'S PLANNING TO HIDE THE CHILD WITH HER BROTHER THEODORE, WHO DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT THE FAMILY'S MAGICAL HERITAGE.

SHE THINKS THE GIRL WILL BE SAFER IF SHE GROWS UP NOT KNOWING WHAT SHE IS.

I sat back in shock.

Seraphina had known my mother.

She had been involved in the plan to hide me with Uncle Theodore.

But according to this, Uncle Theodore hadn't known about my magical heritage - which meant he wasn't part of the conspiracy that killed my parents.

I kept reading, eager to learn more.

THE ATTACKS ARE GETTING CLOSER to HOME. LAST WEEK, A FAMILY OF HEALERS WAS KILLED JUST TWO TERRITORIES AWAY FROM US.

THE OFFICIAL REPORT BLAMED rogue WOLVES, BUT I FOUND INCONSISTENCIES IN THEY EVIDENCE THAT SUGGEST SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY.

I NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL ABOUT WHO I SHARE MY SUSPICIONS WITH. IF THERE REALLY IS SOMEONE ORCHESTRATING THESE ATTACKS, THEY COULD HAVE ALLIES ANYWHERE - EVEN IN OUR OWN PACK.

The sound of voices in the hallway made me freeze.

The pack council meeting must have ended early.

I quickly took photos of several pages with my phone, then began putting everything back in the hidden compartment.

But before I could close the journal, one more entry caught my eye.

I HAD THE MOST DISTURBING DREAM LAST NIGHT. I SAW ELENA'S DAUGHTER GROWN UP, POWERFUL BEYOND IMAGINATION BUT COMPLETELY UNAWARE OF WHO SHE REALLY WAS.

IN THE DREAM, SHE WAS SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WHO WERE LYING TO HER, PEOPLE WHO KNEW HER TRUE IDENTITY BUT WERE KEEPING IT SECRET.

THE WORST PART WAS THAT IN THE DREAM, ONE OF THE PEOPLE LYING TO HER WAS SOMEONE SHE TRUSTED COMPLETELY. SOMEONE SHE WAS FALLING IN LOVE WITH.

I WOKE UP TERRIFIED THAT THIS DREAM MIGHT BE A VISION OF THE FUTURE.

WHAT IF ELENA'S DAUGHTER SURVIVES TO ADULTHOOD, ONLY TO BE BETRAYED BY THE VERY PEOPLE WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HER?

The voices in the hallway were getting closer.

I quickly put the journal back, closed the hidden compartment and looked around frantically for another way out.

I slipped onto the balcony just as I heard Kieran's voice in the main room.

"Marcus, are you sure you saw a light in here?" Kieran was saying.

"I thought I did," Marcus replied. "But maybe I was mistaken."

I pressed myself against the wall of the balcony, trying to stay hidden in the shadows.

My heart was pounding so loudly I was sure they could hear it.

"Everything looks normal," Kieran said after a moment.

"The meeting ran longer than expected. I'm exhausted."

I waited until I heard Kieran's bedroom door close before carefully making my way off the balcony and back to my own room.

Once I was safely in my room, I looked at the photos I had taken of the diary pages.

Seraphina's words kept echoing in my mind, especially her fear that I would be betrayed by someone I trusted and loved.

Was she talking about Kieran?

Was her dream a warning that he wasn't who he seemed to be?

I thought about everything I had learned.

Seraphina had been investigating the attacks on special bloodlines.

She had been in contact with my mother.

She had known about the plan to hide me with Uncle Theodore.

And she had been worried that someone close to her was working with the enemy.

But most disturbing of all was her vision of my future - surrounded by people who were lying to me, including someone I was falling in love with.

I looked at the photos of her final entries on my phone.

Tomorrow I would read them more carefully, but tonight I was too shaken by what I had already discovered.

Seraphina had died trying to protect me and expose a conspiracy.

She had been murdered by someone she trusted, just like my parents had been.

And according to her prophetic dream, I was walking the same dangerous path.

As I lay in bed that night, I couldn't shake the feeling that Seraphina's spirit was trying to warn me about something terrible that was coming.

But I didn't know if I was strong enough to handle the truth when I finally discovered it.

All I knew was that tomorrow I would have to confront Kieran about the diary and demand answers about what he really knew about Seraphina's investigation.

Because if her dream was right, if someone I was falling in love with was lying to me, then I needed to know before it was too late.

The question was: would I be brave enough to face the truth, even if it destroyed the only happiness I had found since coming to Shadow Ridge?Only tomorrow would tell.