Page 24 of Rebel for Claws
"Start with the earliest records," Vivian suggested, pulling a leather-bound journal toward her. "If there's a connection between our bloodlines, it would have been established before the Severance."
For the next several hours, they worked in focused silence broken only by the occasional rustle of ancient pages and Vivian's soft murmurs of concentration. Alaric found himself stealing moments to study her—the way her pale blonde hair caught the morning light, how her brow furrowed when she encountered something significant, and the unconscious way she bit her lower lip when deep in thought.
She's going to be the death of my self-control.
"Alaric." Vivian's voice cut through his wandering thoughts, sharp with discovery. "Look at this."
She leaned forward, pointing to a passage in what appeared to be a formal decree from three centuries ago. The movement brought her closer, and Alaric caught a full wave of her intoxicating scent. His hands clenched on the arms of his chair.
"The Severance wasn't just about separation," she continued, seemingly unaware of his internal struggle. "It specifically mentions 'the prevention of prophetic bloodline convergence that would threaten Council authority.'"
Alaric forced himself to focus on her words rather than the way her lips moved as she spoke. "Prophetic bloodline convergence?"
"There's more." Vivian pulled another document forward, her excitement palpable. "This references your ancestor from 350 years ago—Magnus Silvercrest. He was apparently... courting someone from the human magical bloodline during the same period my great-great-great-great grandmother was with Fenris Shadowheart."
What?Alaric leaned forward despite himself, bringing them close enough that he could see the gold flecks dancing in her violet eyes when she was excited. "That's impossible. My family records show Magnus mated within the pack."
"Because the records were altered," Vivian said, her voice dropping to an intimate whisper. "Look at the original text here—it's been overwritten, but you can still see traces of the original writing beneath."
She pointed to faded ink barely visible beneath darker script, her finger tracing the ancient words. When her hand accidentally brushed his, electricity raced up his arm and his wolf practically howled with need.
Control yourself. She trusts you enough to work with you. Don't ruin it by acting like a primal beast.
"The human woman that Magnus was courting," Vivian continued, apparently unaffected by the contact that had nearly undone him, "was my great-great-great-great grandmother's younger sister."
Alaric stared at the documents, pieces clicking into place with stunning clarity. "They deliberately separated our bloodlines."
"Not just separated—severed completely." Vivian's eyes met his, and the intensity there made his breath catch. "Because if a human magical bloodline and the Silvercrest bloodline ever combined through a completed mate bond..."
She trailed off, reaching for another scroll with hands that trembled slightly.So she's not as unaffected as she's pretending.The knowledge sent satisfaction coursing through him.
"'The mating of a Silvercrest Alpha with the human magical lineage will create an Alpha of unprecedented power,'" Vivian read aloud, her voice barely a whisper. "'Abilities unknown to modern shifters will awaken in the Alpha due to his dormant genes, and the one who bears this power will possess the strength to reshape the very foundations of our shifter society.'"
Silence stretched between them, heavy with implication. Alaric's mind raced as the full scope of Thorne's manipulation became clear.
"That's why he kept me captive for so long," Alaric said slowly, his Alpha authority bleeding into his voice despite his emotional turmoil. "The experiments weren't just to understand my abilities—they were searching for my dormant magical markers."
"And why he created the Severance in the first place," Vivian added, her strategic mind clearly working alongside his. "He knew that if our bloodlines ever mated..."
"I would become powerful enough to destroy him." Alaric stood abruptly, pacing to the window as the magnitude of the revelation hit him.Three hundred years of manipulation. Three centuries of keeping us apart.
"Your sons need to know," Vivian said softly. "And Lena, Maya, Zoe, Elena—all of them. This changes everything about the Lunar Prophecy."
Alaric turned back to face her, drinking in the sight of his brilliant, dangerous mate surrounded by the evidence of their shared destiny. "You figured this out. All these years of investigation, and it took you one morning to uncover what Thorne spent centuries hiding."
A flush colored her cheeks at his praise, and Alaric felt his resolve weaken further.She's magnificent. Strategic brilliance wrapped in beauty that could bring kingdoms to their knees.
"We figured it out together," Vivian corrected, standing to face him. The mate bond pulsed aggressively with the reduced distance between them, and Alaric watched her breath catch as she felt it too.
"If I complete the mate bond with you," Alaric said, his voice dropping to a low rumble, "I become something Thorne can't control or manipulate anymore."
"A secondary prophecy alongside the Lunar Prophecy," Vivian whispered, her violet eyes darkening with an emotion that made his wolf stir restlessly. "The creation of an Alpha powerful enough to bridge both worlds permanently."
And she would be mine. Completely, utterly, irrevocably mine.
The air between them crackled with possibility and desire barely held in check. Alaric took a step toward her, then another, watching her pupils dilate as he approached.
"Vivian," he said, her name a prayer and a promise on his lips.
