Page 6 of Rebel for Claws (Rebellious Mates #4)

"When Logan's message mentioned the fourth part of the Lunar Prophecy was actually here now, I cleared my schedule.

" Lena's voice was soft but carried an authority that made everyone in the room pay attention.

Her gaze found Vivian immediately, those unusual violet eyes widening with something approaching awe. "You're her. The last descendant."

Here we go. Vivian felt her spine straighten. She'd spent thirty-five years feeling like she'd been analyzed and whispered about in every room she'd walked in—but something in Lena's expression felt different. Less clinical and more reverent.

"That depends on what exactly I'm supposed to be descended from." Vivian kept her tone neutral, though her pulse quickened as Lena approached with careful, deliberate steps.

"May I?" Lena gestured toward Vivian's hands, and something in her manner compelled compliance.

The moment Lena's fingers touched hers, Vivian felt a jolt of recognition. Not physical, but something deeper, like ancient magic recognizing its own kind. Lena's eyes closed briefly, and when they opened, they held wonder.

"The bloodline of Queen Isadora and Fenris Shadowheart." Lena's voice dropped to a whisper. "I can feel it in you—the convergence of human magic and shapeshifter power that created something entirely new three and a half centuries ago."

"My great-great-great-great grandmother." The words felt strange on Vivian's tongue, an admission she'd never spoken aloud to anyone outside her family. "The first human magical queen to mate with a wolf shifter in this territory."

"Not just any wolf shifter." Lena's excitement became palpable, her healer's training evident in how she cataloged details with scientific precision.

"Fenris was from the original Shadow pack bloodline—one of the few shifters who retained partial magical abilities even before mating with Queen Isadora.

Their union didn't just create a hybrid bloodline; it created the template for what our entire shifter kind could become. "

Logan shifted in his chair as his attention focused entirely on their conversation. "Template for what, exactly?"

"Perfect harmony between human consciousness and shapeshifter instinct.

Enhanced magical abilities that surpass anything we've seen in three centuries.

The capacity to shift not just into wolf form, but into multiple animal aspects as needed.

" Lena's grip on Vivian's hands tightened.

"The Lunar Prophecy speaks of four chosen hybrids who will restore the old ways.

Maya represents scientific reasoning and evolution, Zoe represents healing and unity, Elena represents revolutionary change combined with authenticity.

" Her violet eyes locked onto Vivian's. "But you—you represent the return of our true potential. "

Our true potential. The words resonated through Vivian's bones like a tuning fork struck against stone. Every instinct she'd honed, every magical ability she'd hidden, and every moment of feeling fundamentally different from the modern shifters around her—it all suddenly made sense.

"The fourth part of the prophecy." Vivian's voice came out steadier than she felt. "What does it say exactly?"

Lena released her hands, stepping back with something approaching reverence. "When the catalyst awakens to her true path, the barriers between worlds shall crumble, and the beings of both realms shall remember what they were meant to be together."

The silence that followed felt charged with possibility and danger in equal measure. Vivian could feel the weight of three pairs of eyes on her, waiting for her response. For her acceptance or denial of what she represented.

Thirty-five years of hiding. Thirty-five years of feeling like something vital was missing from the world around me. Thirty-five years of searching for my true purpose.

"I accept it." The words came out with quiet conviction, carrying the weight of a lifetime of preparation. "I am Vivian Cole, last descendant of the original ancient shapeshifter bloodline, and I accept my role as the fourth part of the Lunar Prophecy."

The moment she spoke the words aloud, something shifted in the air around them.

Vivian felt power unfurl within her like wings spreading wide after being folded too long.

Her violet eyes blazed with golden light as ancient magic responded to her acceptance, and she could have sworn she felt the echo of other magical presences—Maya, Zoe, and Elena—as if their destinies had just aligned.

Zoe's intake of breath was audible. "My God, you're glowing."

"Not glowing." Lena's voice held professional fascination. "Radiating magical energy that's been suppressed for decades. Vivian, your abilities are extraordinary—far beyond what any of us expected."

Logan's chair scraped against the floor as he stood abruptly, his former enforcer instincts clearly screaming warnings. "Which makes her the biggest threat the High Council has ever encountered. They've spent three centuries trying to eliminate powerful bloodlines like hers."

"Exactly." Vivian's newfound sense of purpose blazed through her voice. "Which is why we need to act quickly. The ancient texts I retrieved from Moon Hollow will prove their corruption, and with all four prophecy hybrids identified, we can finally restore?—"

"No." Logan's voice cut through her words with the authority of someone accustomed to life-or-death decisions. "Your only priority is staying alive and staying hidden. The Council will mobilize every resource they have to eliminate you the moment they confirm your location."

There it is again. The assumption that I need protection instead of partnership.

Vivian's eyes flashed with golden fire, her magical heritage responding to the surge of frustrated anger. "I didn't survive twenty-five years of hiding in the mountains and ten more years of fighting in the rebellion to just sit in some cabin and do nothing while others fight for my cause."

"It's not just your cause anymore," Zoe interjected, though her tone remained gentle. "It's bigger than any of us individually. Lena and I can continue analyzing the ancient texts while Logan coordinates with Damon, Elena, Kieran, and Maya on strategy. Your job is to just stay safe."

"My job," Vivian's voice dropped to the dangerous quiet her grandfather had taught her to use before striking, "is to use the abilities I've spent my entire life developing to help restore harmony between our worlds. Not to hide like a frightened child while others make decisions about my destiny."

Lena stepped forward, her healer's instincts clearly recognizing the brewing conflict. "The prophecy suggests that when all four hybrids work together, their combined power could reshape our entire society. But if even one is eliminated?—"

"Then we lose everything." Logan's green eyes held grim certainty. "Which is why Vivian stays hidden until we have a concrete plan that doesn't end with her dead and the prophecy unfulfilled."

The rational part of Vivian's mind acknowledged the tactical sense in Logan's position. But the part of her that had watched her family die, that had spent decades training for this exact moment, and that carried the magical legacy of Queen Isadora herself—that part demanded action.

They don't understand. I'm not just another hybrid to protect. I'm the catalyst. The one who's supposed to awaken our true potential. How can I do that from inside a reinforced cabin?

"I understand your concerns," Vivian said finally, though her violet eyes continued blazing with barely contained magical energy. "But I won't be sidelined while others fight for the future I'm supposedly meant to help create."

She didn't voice the vow forming in her mind—that she would find a way to make them understand she needed to be part of the solution, not just the problem they needed to solve.

One way or another, she would prove that the fourth part of the Lunar Prophecy couldn't fulfill her destiny from the shadows anymore.