Blood Of The Sun

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Anna’s P.O.V.

The world outside my window was white and endless, a canvas of snow and ice that seemed to swallow everything in silence. The further north we traveled, the more I missed the warmth of Houston the way the sun kissed my skin, the steady hum of life in the city. Here, even the trees looked like ghosts, their branches weighed down with frost.

Our caravan stretched across the highway like a moving fortress. Black SUVs, engines growling low, lights cutting through the storm. The Rivera family never traveled light. Not anymore. Not after everything we’d survived.

At the front, my parents rode with the lead guard Alpha Carlos Rivera and Alpha Christa Rivera. They weren’t just my mother and father, they were a force. Two alphas, equal in power, equal in love, equal in the way the pack drew steady just knowing they lived. They were loved. They were feared. They were mine.

I shifted in my seat, Antonio’s shoulder brushing against mine. Sixteen and already restless, my brother hadn’t stopped scanning the tree line since we left the city. His wolf was young, eager, but his instincts were sharp. Sometimes I wondered if he felt the same itch at the base of my skull that I did—the warning that something waited out there in the snow.

Across from us, Aunt Serenity sat with the grace of a queen, hands folded in her lap, her hazel eyes always thoughtful, always watching. Aunt Aaliyah was her opposite, her temper sparking like the blue fire she could summon at will. She drummed her fingers against the leather seat, energy thrumming around her like a storm that couldn’t be contained. Ramiro, her mate, reached over to still her hand, his touch soft but steady, and for a moment the sparks faded.

Their twin boys, Enzo and Mateo, leaned against each other in half-sleep, though even in dreams, I could feel their energy one wolf, one witch, both carrying their mother’s fire.

The radio crackled. Ricardo’s voice came from the lead SUV, sharp and calm. “We’ll stop in twenty for fuel. Eyes open.” His wife, Maria, rode with him. She was more than family she was the pack’s shield in her own way, the woman who handled the press and turned politics into art.

I glanced at Serenity, hoping for reassurance, but her expression was unreadable. It was Aaliyah who broke the silence, her voice low, sharp, and certain.

“You’re quiet, Anna. Too quiet. Do you know why your parents made us come on this tour?”

I shook my head, though I thought I did.

“Because the world doesn’t love us the way our pack does,” she said. “Power like ours doesn’t go unnoticed. And monsters don’t stay buried.” Her gaze was piercing, almost cruel, but beneath it was something else fear. “Do you even know where hybrids came from?”

Antonio groaned. “Do we have to do this now?”

“Yes,” Aaliyah snapped. Then, softer, “Yes. Because if she doesn’t understand, she won’t survive.”

A hush fell inside the SUV, the rumble of the engine the only sound. Even Serenity looked uneasy, her fingers curling tightly in her lap.

Aaliyah’s eyes burned in the dim light, sharp as blue flame. “Hybrids weren’t born by accident. They were made.”

Antonio shifted beside me, finally interested. “Made? How?”

Her voice dropped lower, weighted with memory. “Centuries ago, wolves thought they could control everything packs, bloodlines, even death itself. Some turned to witches, bartering with forbidden blood magick. They wanted wolves who never tired, warriors who could fight without moonlight, soldiers who wouldn’t fall even with silver in their veins.”

She leaned forward, her dreadlocks spilling over her shoulders, her tone sharp enough to cut. “So they bound our kind with another the cursed, the damned. Vampires. The first hybrids were forged in fire and blood.”

Serenity added softly, “And in their hunger, they destroyed everything.”

Aaliyah nodded, her lips tight. “Hybrids don’t need the moon. They don’t bow to alphas. They drink, they tear, they burn. Packs that tried to use them became their first victims. Cities bled. Covens fell. Wherever hybrids went, they left only ash and bone.”

My chest tightened. The snow outside suddenly looked less like silence, more like a shroud. “But they died out, didn’t they?”

Aaliyah’s gaze flickered to Serenity, then back to me. “So we thought. But evil like that never really dies. It hides. It waits.” Her voice cracked with anger, with fear. “And when it comes again, it will come for us.”

Antonio frowned, defiant. “We’re Dios del Sol. We draw power from the sun. If they come, we’ll burn them.”

For the first time, Aaliyah smiled but it was sharp, bitter. “Pray to the gods you never have to test that, Antonio.”

The SUV fell quiet again, her words heavy in the air. I leaned my forehead against the window, trying to steady my breath as the frost-laced trees blurred past. But the silence didn’t comfort me.The first thing I noticed was the cold.

It wasn’t the same as outside on the road this cold was alive, sharp as crystal and bright as silver. The Blue Moon pack house rose before us, not sprawling like Dios del Sol, but tall and proud, a fortress of stone and glass. Snow crowned its towers, icicles glittering like spears along the balconies. It looked less like a home and more like a winter castle, carved straight out of the frozen earth.

Our convoy curved up the winding drive, tires crunching on frost. Guards in deep blue uniforms stood lined along the entrance, their breath misting in the air, their posture rigid with pride. Even here, far from the warmth of Houston, the air buzzed with reverence for the Alphas.

When the doors opened, Alpha Marcus and his Luna Tiffany were waiting at the top of the grand stair. Marcus was broad-shouldered, his presence commanding, his silver-shot hair pulled back neatly. His smile, though, was warm, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he stepped forward.

“Alpha Carlos. Alpha Christa.” He bowed his head first in respect, then clasped my father’s arm in a warrior’s greeting. “Welcome to Blue Moon. It is an honor to host the Dios del Sol.”

Beside him, Luna Tiffany was radiant despite the chill. She wore a long velvet gown the color of midnight, her dark curls pinned with frost-like gems. Her voice was soft but steady as she embraced my mother. “Christa, the North has been waiting to see you. And your children.”

Her gaze slid to me, then to Antonio at my side. She smiled, warm and knowing. “You carry your parents’ fire.”

Behind them stood their children Marcus Jr., tall and serious with the sharp jawline of his father; Jacob, younger but restless, eyes darting like he was ready to sprint from formality; and Diamond, the youngest, her dark braids tied with silver threads. She was sixteen, and the moment she saw Antonio, her lips parted, her cheeks flushing.

Antonio, of course, pretended not to notice but his wolf stirred, and I didn’t miss it.

Mother didn’t either. She glanced at Luna Tiffany, and in that silent look, something was acknowledged. A promise was made.

“Perhaps early signs,” Tiffany murmured. “If so, we’ll keep them close.”

“Always,” my mother agreed.

Inside, the Blue Moon pack house was a marvel. The halls glittered with chandeliers strung like constellations, every corner filled with polished wood, icy stone, and the smell of pine and burning cedar. The air was busy, alive with the movement of staff rushing past. Some carried trays of crystal glasses, others draped velvet and silk across the walls, pinning silver and blue banners that shimmered in the firelight.

“Preparations for tonight’s ball,” Tiffany explained as she led us deeper inside. “We wanted your arrival to mark more than a visit it is a celebration.”

The words made my chest tighten. A masquerade. A night of masks and politics. A stage where every look could be a secret, and every dance a trap.

Our sleeping quarters were beyond beautiful. The guest wing was lined with arched windows overlooking the snow-laden grounds, the rooms vast and glowing with candlelight. My chamber alone had a fireplace large enough to step inside, furs draped across a carved oak bed, and curtains so heavy they could shut out the whole world.

But even wrapped in beauty, unease lingered.

Because tonight, beneath the music and lights, I could feel it already something was waiting.