Chapter 15
1990 Words
Chapter Fifteen – She Cannot Be Hidden
Carlos’s P.O.V.
The chamber had grown quieter.
Not calmer.
Quieter.
Fear had a way of silencing even the loudest voices.
Marcus rested both hands on the Council table.
“We have heard enough about rumors.”
His gray eyes swept across every Alpha and Luna present.
“If we are to continue…”
“…we will continue with facts.”
Several heads nodded.
Lorenzo leaned forward.
“Then let us begin with the only fact every pack already knows.”
He looked directly at me.
“Carter Lykoudis was unlike anything our world had ever seen.”
“Agreed,” I answered.
“He was a hybrid.”
“Agreed.”
“He possessed abilities none of us fully understood.”
Again.
“Agreed.”
Luna Sofia folded her hands neatly on the table.
“If such abilities could exist once…”
She let the sentence linger.
“…could they exist again?”
No one answered.
Not because they didn’t have an opinion.
Because every person in the room had arrived at the same terrifying conclusion.
Alpha Jean-Baptiste finally voiced it.
“We’re asking the wrong question.”
Marcus looked toward him.
“What question should we be asking?”
Jean-Baptiste stood.
His voice carried through the chamber.
“We keep debating whether Anna Rivera is pregnant.”
He shook his head.
“That no longer concerns me.”
Every eye followed him.
“What concerns me…”
He paused.
“…is what that child becomes.”
The words settled over the Council like smoke.
Another Alpha spoke.
“If Carter’s blood created something stronger…”
“…what happens when that blood is born instead of made?”
A Luna quietly added,
“What if the child inherits the wolf…”
“The vampire…”
“…and something neither race has ever witnessed?”
Lorenzo looked toward me.
“Could such a child become stronger than an Alpha?”
Another Alpha answered before I could.
“Stronger than all of us.”
Murmurs rippled around the room.
Luna Vivienne spoke next.
“And if that’s true…”
She folded her arms.
“…what becomes of werekind?”
Silence.
She continued.
“If one child can command powers beyond our understanding…”
“What stops every existing balance from collapsing?”
No one laughed.
No one dismissed the concern.
Because no one could.
Marcus looked at me.
“Carlos.”
I met his eyes.
“Do you understand why this Council is frightened?”
“I do.”
“And do you understand why they continue requesting Anna’s presence?”
Before I could answer—
Navarro spoke.
Not loudly.
Simply enough to command the room.
“If the child exists…”
He looked around the Council.
“…then this is no longer a Rivera matter.”
“It is a matter for every supernatural bloodline represented here.”
The chamber fell silent again.
Marcus slowly nodded.
“The request stands.”
He looked directly at me.
“Bring Anna Rivera before this Council.”
Every Alpha remained seated.
Every Luna watched.
I looked at Christa.
She looked back at me.
No words passed between us.
None were needed.
For the first time since this meeting began…
We both knew.
There was no other choice.
Christa stood.
“I’ll bring my daughter.”
⸻
Christa’s P.O.V.
My footsteps echoed through the Alpha House.
Every corridor felt longer than I remembered.
Every guard straightened as I passed.
No one dared ask questions.
They had seen my face.
That was answer enough.
I reached Aaliyah’s suite and opened the door without knocking.
The room shimmered.
Silver symbols floated through the air.
Ancient runes burned across the floor beneath Anna’s feet.
Aaliyah knelt before her.
Doña Isolde stood behind them, both hands raised, whispering words older than DeL Sol itself.
Magic poured from their fingertips.
Layer after layer.
Spell after spell.
Then—
The room shook.
The runes flashed brilliant white.
One by one…
They shattered.
Glass cracked.
Candles exploded.
The windows rattled violently.
Anna cried out, clutching her stomach.
A pulse of silver-gold light burst from her body, racing across the room before disappearing into the walls.
The spell was gone.
Completely.
Aaliyah staggered backward.
“No…”
She whispered.
“No…”
Doña Isolde’s breathing was uneven.
Her hands trembled.
“I’ve never…”
She looked at Anna in disbelief.
“…I’ve never seen magic reject itself.”
Anna looked between them.
“What happened?”
Aaliyah’s eyes filled with tears.
“I can’t hide you anymore.”
Silence.
“The concealment should have held.”
“It always holds.”
Doña Isolde slowly lowered her hands.
“But not against this.”
Anna instinctively wrapped both arms around her stomach.
“I’m sorry.”
Aaliyah immediately crossed the room and cupped Anna’s face.
“No.”
“You apologize for nothing.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
She rested her forehead against Anna’s.
“The child…”
She smiled sadly.
“…no longer wishes to be hidden.”
A heavy silence settled over the room.
I stepped forward.
Every eye turned toward me.
“The Council has demanded your presence.”
Anna closed her eyes.
“I figured.”
“I told them no.”
She looked at me.
“I know.”
“I can’t tell them no again.”
Anna nodded slowly.
“I know.”
No fear.
No tears.
Just acceptance.
Serenity stepped beside her niece.
Then Aaliyah.
The three women stood together.
Sister beside sister.
Daughter between them.
Serenity reached for Anna’s hand.
“We don’t walk into battle behind you.”
Aaliyah took Anna’s other hand.
“We walk into it with you.”
I felt something tighten in my chest.
The little girl I’d once carried on my hip was gone.
Standing before me…
Was the woman she had become.
I crossed the room and gently adjusted Anna’s jacket.
She looked so much like me at her age that it stole my breath.
Then I rested my forehead against hers.
“My baby…”
My voice almost broke.
“I’m so sorry.”
Anna smiled through tears.
“You taught me never to run.”
I closed my eyes.
“I know.”
She straightened her shoulders.
“So let’s stop hiding.”
Behind us, Aaliyah and Serenity exchanged one final look.
Neither reached for weapons.
Neither shifted.
Instead, they stood a little taller.
The sisters of DeL Sol had made their choice.
If the Council wanted to judge one Rivera woman…
They would have to face all four.
Together.
And somewhere deep beneath Anna’s heartbeat…
A quiet pulse of ancient magic answered.
As if the child understood.
The time for hiding was over.
Chapter Fifteen – The Child of Prophecy
Christa’s P.O.V.
The walk to the Council Chamber was silent.
Not because there was nothing left to say.
Because every word felt too small for what waited behind those doors.
Anna walked in the center.
I walked on her left.
Aaliyah on her right.
Serenity followed half a step behind us.
Not because she was lesser.
Because that was where my sister had always chosen to stand.
Watching our backs.
Protecting the line.
The hallways of the Alpha House had never felt so long.
Every servant stepped aside as we approached.
Every warrior lowered their head.
The conversations stopped.
The laughter disappeared.
No one spoke.
But everyone stared.
Rumors had reached every corner of DeL Sol.
They knew the Council had demanded Anna’s presence.
They knew the concealment magic had failed.
They just didn’t know what waited beneath her blazer.
Anna’s hand slipped into mine.
It was trembling.
I squeezed it gently.
“You don’t have to answer anything unless your father or I tell you.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
“If anyone disrespects you…”
A small smile touched her lips.
“I know.”
Aaliyah smiled faintly.
“Your mother has been waiting all day for someone to try.”
“I heard that,” I muttered.
“You were supposed to.”
Even Serenity laughed softly.
The sound was brief.
But it reminded me we were still a family.
Not just Alphas.
Not just legends.
A family.
As we reached the Council doors, Anna stopped walking.
None of us spoke.
She closed her eyes.
Slowly…
She rested both hands over her stomach.
“I can feel it.”
Aaliyah frowned.
“What?”
“The baby.”
Tears gathered in Anna’s eyes.
“It knows.”
The hallway became impossibly still.
Doña Isolde’s words echoed through my mind.
The child no longer wishes to be hidden.
I reached up and brushed a loose curl away from Anna’s face.
“You ready?”
She opened her eyes.
“No.”
A long breath escaped her.
“But hiding hasn’t protected anyone.”
She straightened her shoulders.
“So let’s go.”
I nodded once to the two Rivera warriors guarding the entrance.
The massive oak doors swung inward.
Conversation died instantly.
Every Alpha.
Every Luna.
Every heir.
Every pair of eyes turned toward us.
Carlos immediately rose from his chair at the head of the Council table.
He crossed the chamber without hesitation.
Without asking permission.
Without acknowledging anyone else in the room.
His eyes never left our daughter.
When he reached Anna, he offered his arm.
“My princess.”
Anna slipped her arm through his.
He kissed her forehead.
Then turned to face the Council beside her.
The five of us walked together toward the center of the chamber.
Carlos.
Me.
Anna.
Aaliyah.
Serenity.
A united front.
No one sat.
No one spoke.
Marcus Blackwood slowly removed his glasses.
His expression had lost every trace of authority.
It had been replaced by disbelief.
“So…”
He whispered.
“The rumors were true.”
No one answered.
Because no answer was needed.
Aaliyah stepped in front of Anna.
Her hands moved carefully to thebuttons of Anna’s blazer.
One.
Then another.
Then the last.
The jacket loosened.
Serenity gently slid it from Anna’s shoulders.
A collective gasp swept through the chamber.
Anna stood before the Council with her stomach exposed.
There was nothing to hide anymore.
The gentle curve of her pregnancy caught the warm glow of the candlelight.
Ancient silver markings, remnants of the broken concealment spell, shimmered faintly across her dark skin like moonlight trapped beneath the surface.
Several Lunas rose to their feet without realizing it.
One Alpha whispered a prayer beneath his breath.
Another instinctively reached for the Moon Goddess pendant around his neck.
Luna Sofia’s confident expression crumbled.
“No…”
She whispered.
Marcus stared openly.
“My God…”
Lorenzo slowly sank back into his chair.
“It wasn’t gossip.”
“It was truth.”
The chamber’s candles suddenly flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every flame bent.
Not toward Carlos.
Not toward me.
Not toward the Council.
Toward Anna’s unborn child.
The chandeliers overhead trembled.
Crystal chimed softly.
The marble beneath our feet hummed with ancient magic.
Every wolf felt their beast stir uneasily.
The child had not cried.Had not moved.
Had not cast a spell.Yet every ancient power represented within those walls acknowledged its existence.
Carlos stepped closer until he stood shoulder to shoulder with Anna.
I moved to her opposite side.
Aaliyah and Serenity closed ranks behind us.
Three Rivera women.
Two Alphas
A family.
A fortress.
I lifted my chin and looked each Alpha in the eye.
“You demanded to see my daughter.”
My voice echoed through the chamber.
“Now you have.”
No one answered.
Because for the first time in two centuries…
The prophecy wasn’t a legend whispered to Alpha heirs.
It wasn’t faded ink on ancient parchment.
It wasn’t a dream recorded by a Silver Moon Luna.
It stood before them.
Breathing.
Waiting.
And the future of every supernatural bloodline had just become impossible to deny.
- Writer
