Chapter 176: Fear

"Where have you been hiding lately?" I asked, stepping closer and pulling out a high bar stool beside Adam. I watched as he took a sip of hot tea and nudged a plate of fresh sandwiches toward himself.

"I got a job with Rolan. So I’m officially employed now, and I’m looking for a place of my own. I can’t go on living here as a permanent guest, leeching off your Alpha’s hospitality." Adam offered an awkward smile, mechanically scratching the back of his neck. But as he raised his eyes to mine, his smile vanished, replaced by a deep frown. "How are you feeling, Jane?"

"Fine... more or less. Why?" I asked uncertainly, turning my attention inward. Nothing felt critically wrong, yet my body felt heavy and hollow, as if I had just run a marathon.

"You’re far too pale." He reached out, pressing the back of his hand to my forehead. His brows knit together even tighter. "And you’re burning up. You have a severe fever."

Confused, I touched my own forehead, but my skin felt completely normal to my own touch. Yet when I looked down at my hands resting on the dark countertop, I realized with a sudden pang of dread that they were trembling uncontrollably. Worse, the skin on my wrists had turned so unnaturally pale, almost translucent, that the blue lines of my veins pulsed terrifyingly bright beneath it.

My heart plummeted. What is happening to me? Why is my body failing right now, when everything around us is already falling apart?

Suddenly, the heavy kitchen door burst open, slamming against the wall as a breathless, excited Matthias rushed in.

"Mom! Mom! Dad came into my room and said he’s leaving! He said he won’t be back until late tomorrow night, and he told me to make sure you didn’t worry!" my son piped up loudly, running over and tugging on the hem of my shirt.

I stared at him in shock, unable to process the words. Magnus left?

Air caught in my throat. Rising slowly from the stool as if in a trance, I walked past the frozen men on stiff legs. Stepping into the dark corridor, I approached the grand window and pressed my forehead against the cool glass. Staring out into the shadowy courtyard, I watched Magnus’s black car, flanked by three armored security SUVs, speed through the gates at breakneck pace before dissolving into the night.

A sticky, paralyzing fear clawed at my heart. Had something irredeemable happened? Did he go to resolve this with brute force right now? If that bastard from the restaurant really was a government official, what kind of threat does this pose to our family? To the pack? To Magnus?

The crushing unknown, coupled with a surging instinct of danger, hung heavy over my frayed nerves like a sword of Damocles, ready to drop and sever everything in an instant.

***

Clutching my fourth glass of ice water in trembling fingers, I listened to Adam, a jagged chill of dread creeping down my spine at the prospect of the gathering storm.

"Derek, you have exactly two hours to prepare the food and pack it up," Adam instructed with grim efficiency. "Alan, notify everyone that they must be fully packed within that time. We are evacuating the mansion immediately. Security remains strictly on the outer perimeter. Issue high-potency scent suppressants to everyone. No one approaches the main house while Magnus is away under any circumstances—if her scent settles on them, the Alpha will slaughter them without asking questions."

The ice water scorched my parched throat with cold, yet my thirst was so unquenchable it felt as though an internal blaze was raging within me. The liquid seemed to evaporate the moment it touched my lips, completely failing to hydrate my exhausted body against the searing temperature.

I was burning alive. My body was betraying me second by second, melting under the onslaught of my awakening essence while a dense, viscous fog slowly clouded my mind. Heat coiled relentlessly from my lower abdomen, spreading through my veins like molten lava, turning every breath into a labored struggle.

Matthias, who had been standing beside me, suddenly scrambled onto a chair to press closer to me. Nuzzling his small nose trustingly into my burning neck, he drew a deep breath.

"Mom, can I really go to the cafe with Grandpa Adam? And sleep over at his new house?" His bright, untroubled voice echoed inside my thumping head.

Lowering my hazy gaze to my son’s head, I swallowed down the lump in my throat. At any other time, he would have been devastated at the prospect of spending the night away from me, but nature possessed a far wiser design.

I had read about this phenomenon before—when parents entered their heat or rut, a child’s sharp psychological need for their presence was temporarily severed. Their instincts mercifully dulled, allowing them to endure the separation painlessly as an innate survival mechanism steered them toward other trusted adults.

As wild as it sounded, nature ensured children instinctively gravitated toward relatives and trusted guardians for their own safety.

Adam and our extensive security team—whom Magnus had secretly assigned to guard Matthias—would undoubtedly keep him safe while I endured this agonizing, mind-altering awakening.

"Yes, sweetheart," I managed to squeeze out, striving to keep my voice steady even as my insides trembled like stepping off a cliff.

Yet another razor-sharp, terrifying question loomed over me. Releasing Matthias, I slowly shifted my gaze to Alan standing nearby. Shifting nervously, I stared down at my trembling fingers. Although I had already made my decision mentally, my entire future now hung on the doctor’s words.

"Alan, my test results..." The words escaped my lips in a raspy whisper, and I froze, scarcely breathing.

"Everything is clear. There are no remaining traces or toxic residues in your blood or plasma. You are free to... well, you understand," the man said softly, tactfully averting his eyes. I let out a shaky exhale as the invisible vise gripping my chest finally loosened its hold.

The truth was, I wanted this desperately. Yet I had been terrified that if even a fraction of those past toxins lingered in my system, I might permanently harm my future child—a child I was already planning.