Chapter 54 WHO IS THE FATHER?
ALICIA'S POV
Luna's eyes open for the first time and I cannot breathe.
They're pure silver like mine when my True Luna power activates. But babies aren't supposed to have colored eyes yet. Newborns have blue or gray eyes that change later.
Not silver. Never silver.
"Her eyes." Sarah leans closer with her medical curiosity overriding her shock. "That's not normal pigmentation. That's a power manifestation."
"She's three hours old." My voice shakes as I hold my daughter closer. "How can she already have power?"
"Because she's not just any baby." Ray's staring at Luna with something between wonder and fear. "She's the child of a True Luna and four mates. She was born from forbidden bonds and impossible circumstances."
I look at my daughter's tiny face searching for features that might tell me which mate fathered her. Her nose is small and perfect. Her chin is delicate. Her hair is dark like mine but with hints of lighter streaks catching the light.
She could be any of theirs., or all of theirs, or none of theirs.
"We should do a paternity test." Logan's voice is careful. "Not because it matters for love but for medical reasons. Knowing the genetic father helps us understand potential health issues."
"No." The word comes out sharper than I intend. "We're not doing tests. We're not making one of you more important than the others."
"Alicia, be reasonable." Monty steps closer. "Logan's right about medical concerns. And don't we all want to know?"
"Want to know what? Which of you contributed DNA?" I hold Luna tighter. "That's biology, not family. You're all her fathers. All of you. That's what matters."
Kai's watching me. "You're afraid."
"Of course I'm afraid!" Tears blur my vision. "What if knowing the biological father changes things? What if it creates hierarchy? What if Luna grows up feeling like three of you are less important than one?"
"That won't happen." Ray kneels beside my chair. "We're all committed to being her father regardless of biology. But Alicia running from the truth doesn't make it disappear. It just makes it scarier."
He's right. I hate that he's right.
"Fine. Run the test." I wipe my eyes roughly. "But I'm telling you now. Whatever the results say Luna has four fathers. Not one. Four. And nobody gets to argue about that."
Sarah nods and moves to collect DNA samples. A quick swab from Luna's mouth. Then from each mate. The whole process takes less than five minutes but feels like an eternity.
"Results will take a few hours." Sarah labels the samples carefully. "I'll run them personally. Nobody else needs to know until we decide what to do with the information."
"Thank you." I'm exhausted now. The birth and the power use and the emotional rollercoaster have drained everything from me. "Can I sleep? Just for a little while?"
"You need rest." Sarah checks my vitals quickly. "The delivery was traumatic. Your body needs time to recover. I'll watch Luna while you sleep."
"No." My arms tighten around my daughter. "She stays with me. I'm not letting her out of my sight."
"Then we'll set up the incubator beside your bed." Sarah doesn't argue. "But Alicia if her vitals drop I'm taking her immediately. Understood?"
I nod because I don't have the energy to fight.
They move me to a private recovery room. The incubator sits beside my bed humming softly. Luna sleeps inside it and her tiny chest rises and falls with each breath. Monitors track her heart rate and oxygen levels and temperature.
My four mates arrange themselves around the room.
"You don't all have to stay." I close my eyes because looking at them hurts. "I'll be fine."
"We're not leaving." Ray's voice is final. "Morrison knows about Luna. He knows she was just born and until we figure out how he got that information none of us are going anywhere."
Right. The spy. One of these four men sent word to Morrison about my daughter's birth.
I look at each of them through heavy eyelids. Trying to see guilt or fear or any sign of betrayal.
Ray's face is hard with Alpha authority masking everything underneath. Monty looks worried but that could be genuine concern or elaborate acting. Kai's expression is unreadable as always. Logan's studying medical charts but his jaw is tight.
"How did Morrison know?" I ask quietly. "Bides you four and Sarah, nobody else knew Luna was born yet."
"Someone could have been listening outside." Monty suggests. "Or watching through windows. Or using surveillance equipment we don't know about."
"Or one of you texted him." The accusation sits between us like poison. "One of you told Morrison my daughter was born within minutes of her birth."
"I didn't." Ray's voice is firm. "I swear on my life I didn't contact Morrison."
"Neither did I." Monty's hand is over his heart. "Alicia, you have to believe me. I would never endanger Luna."
"Same." Kai's voice is flat. "I don't work for Morrison. Never have. Never will."
Logan doesn't say anything, he just keeps studying those medical charts like they hold answers to questions nobody asked.
"Logan?" I press. "You're being awfully quiet."
He looks up finally and his hazel eyes are troubled. "I didn't contact Morrison either. But I've been thinking about something Sarah said earlier. About Luna's DNA being unusual."
"What about it?"
"She said the True Luna power combined with four mate bonds created something unprecedented." Logan sets down the charts. "What if Luna's genetics reflect that? What if she's not just one father's child but somehow carries DNA from all four of us?"
The room goes silent.
"That's impossible." Monty's voice is strained. "One sperm fertilizes one egg. A child can't have four biological fathers."
"Basic biology doesn't account for True Luna power or mate bond connections." Logan leans forward. "Alicia channeled energy through all four bonds during conception. During pregnancy or during delivery. What if that energy literally wove pieces of all four of us into Luna's genetic code?"
"You're suggesting our daughter is some kind of genetic hybrid?" Ray sounds skeptical.
"I'm suggesting she's unprecedented. Just like everything else about this situation." Logan looks at me. "Which might explain why Morrison wants her so badly. If Luna carries combined genetics from four powerful bloodlines she's not just special. She's unique in all of wolf history."
The implications make my head spin. Luna isn't just my daughter. She's potentially something that has never existed before.
A knock interrupts my thoughts. Sarah enters looking pale.
"The test results are back." Her voice shakes slightly. "You need to see this."
"Already?" Logan checks his watch. "That was less than two hours. You said it would take longer."
"The machines flagged an anomaly. I ran the test three times to confirm." Sarah holds out a tablet. "The results are conclusive but they don't make sense."
Ray takes the tablet. His face goes blank as he reads.
"What?" I demand. "What does it say?"
"It says Luna's DNA matches all four of us." Ray's voice is hollow. "Not partially but completely. She has genetic markers from me, Monty, Kai, and Logan in equal distribution."
"That's impossible." Monty grabs the tablet. "DNA doesn't work that way. You can't have four biological fathers."
"Apparently you can if you're the child of a True Luna and four bonded mates." Sarah's voice holds scientific fascination. "The mate bond energy during conception must have allowed multiple sperm to contribute to the fertilized egg. Creating a genetic mosaic that's twenty-five percent from each father."
"So she's all of ours." Kai's voice is quiet.
"Yes." Sarah nods. "Luna is literally the daughter of all four mates. Something that should be genetically impossible but somehow happened anyway."
I stare at my sleeping daughter. At her silver eyes and dark hair and features that could belong to any of them because they belong to all of them.
"Morrison knows." Logan's voice cuts through my shock. "That's why he wants her. That's why he contacted us so quickly. Somehow he knows what Luna is."
"How?" Ray demands. "How could he possibly know about her genetics when we just discovered it?"
"Because he's been planning this." Kai pushes off the wall. "The Veritas have been tracking True Luna bloodlines for centuries. They probably predicted this possibility. Prepared for it."
"Prepared for what exactly?" Monty asks.
"For a child who carries the combined power of four bloodlines and a True Luna." Logan's face is grim. "For Luna. The perfect vessel for whatever Morrison's planning."
My arms tighten around my daughter's incubator. "Nobody's taking her. Nobody."
"Agreed." Ray's Alpha command fills the room. "We protect Luna. All of us. Whatever it takes."
"Even if it means working together?" Kai looks at each of them. "Even if it means trusting mates who might be spies?"
The question hangs heavy.
Because Morrison still knows things he shouldn't. Still gets information from inside our group. And now he knows about Luna's unprecedented genetics.
Sarah's tablet buzzes with an incoming message. She checks it and her face goes white.
"What now?" I ask.
"Security footage from the medical wing." Sarah's hand shakes as she turns the tablet. "From thirty minutes ago. Someone accessed Luna's genetic data remotely. Downloaded all the test results and sent them to an external server."
"Who?" Ray's voice could cut steel. "Show me who accessed the files."
Sarah pulls up the footage. We all crowd around to see.
The person at the computer terminal has their back to the camera but their frame is familiar. They work quickly and efficiently. They download the files, send them, then delete their activity logs.
They turn slightly and the camera catches their profile for just a second.
My heart stops. My world tilts. Everything I thought I knew shatters like glass.
Because the person who sent Luna's genetic data to Morrison, the person who has been the spy all along, is someone I never suspected.