Chapter 258: The Midnight Shift

Vivian’s POV

I did not think much about it at the time, though my busy mind still tucked that strange little detail away into a quiet corner of my memory. Instead, I headed straight into my room and went right for the bathroom to take a long, hot shower. My mother used to always say that hospitals, for all their harsh disinfectants and sterile smells, were still secretly crawling with invisible germs too many sick bodies crammed into one single building for that not to be true.

Since we had left the hospital rather late in the afternoon, it was already pretty late by the time our car finally pulled back onto pack grounds. I half expected to see Zahliver waiting impatiently for me in the doorway, but the house was surprisingly quiet. Still, I knew deep down it was only a matter of time before he showed up he always did, no matter how busy he was.

I took a quick, refreshing shower, not even bothering to blow-dry my damp hair and barely taking the time to towel it off properly. Then I did something I had not allowed myself to do in ages, but desperately needed: I took a proper nap.

I slipped into bed under the covers, pulled the thick blankets tight around my shoulders, and immediately grabbed Zahliver’s favorite pillow. The familiar, comforting scent of him instantly made me feel safe and secure. I was fast asleep before my final thoughts could even finish forming in my head.

In my sleep, I dreamt of soft white flower petals floating gently through starlit skies, of warm kisses pressed against chilled skin, and of piercing blue eyes holding my gaze captive. Well, considering what happened next, that very last part might not have been a dream at all.

When I finally blinked my eyes open hours later, those exact same intense blue eyes were staring right back at me in the dim light. Zahliver’s strong arms were wrapped tightly around my waist, and the genuine warmth in his expression made my chest ache a little with sudden affection. He smiled softly down at me, and without even trying, I mirrored his smile right back.

"Hi there," I whispered groggily, rubbing the heavy sleep away from my eyes with the back of my hand.

He lifted one large hand and cupped my cheek so gently it made my heart flutter wildly in my chest. I let go of the pillow I was clutching and instead wrapped both of my arms around his broad shoulders.

"Hello to you too, sleepyhead," he murmured in that deep, husky voice of his the kind that always made it sound like he was the one who had just woken up from a deep sleep, even though I clearly was the one who had been napping.

I ran my fingers slowly through his thick, slightly tousled hair, tugging lightly at the soft strands just for fun.

"I hear you have been extremely busy helping people today," he added softly, his thumb tracing my cheekbone.

I nodded slowly against his chest, letting out a tired sigh as I threw one leg casually over his hips and snuggled even deeper into his comforting warmth. He let out a low, pleased growl in the back of his throat, nuzzling the sensitive side of my face with the tip of his cold nose.

"You are my entire world, Vivian," he whispered between a series of featherlight kisses pressed against my temple.

His large hand suddenly skimmed upward along my leg, wrapping firmly and possessively around my thigh. Before I even had a single second to react to the shift in his mood, I found my back pressed firmly against the mattress as I was pinned completely beneath him. My breath caught sharply in my throat at the sudden dominance. Then I looked up and noticed his eyes they were no longer a comforting, brilliant blue. They had turned completely, inky black. His sharp fangs were fully extended.

"Zahliver?" I said, feeling genuinely confused by the sudden change. It usually took a massive amount of provocation to push him into this feral state.

"Mine," he growled deeply, his voice vibrating through the mattress.

"Yeah... I think we have kind of already established that fact by now," I replied, trying my best to keep my tone light and teasing, even though my pulse had suddenly skyrocketed.

His mouth parted slightly as if he wanted to say something more Mate, perhaps, or some other fierce declaration but he suddenly cut himself off with a harsh, frustrated growl and abruptly tore his body away from mine.

I blinked in pure astonishment, left lying there in the empty space he had just occupied.

Propping myself up unsteadily on my elbows, I watched him start pacing back and forth across the bedroom floor, dragging his strong fingers aggressively through his dark hair like he wanted to rip it out root by stem. His movements were sharp, jittery, and intensely agitated, and he kept rapidly muttering words under his breath far too low for me to possibly catch.

"Okay, seriously, what on earth is going on with you right now?" I asked, sitting up fully against the headboard, concern now sharply overtaking my confusion.

He stopped his manic pacing instantly and turned back to face me. His face smoothed out into an expression of forced calm, and his smile stretched out wide way too wide. Something about the expression felt entirely wrong and deeply off.

"Nothing at all is wrong. Sorry, it has just been a long day. I mean, you have had a long day too, obviously. But, uh, yeah. We should definitely go eat something right now. You have not eaten anything proper yet, right? I cannot possibly let you starve. Let us go downstairs."

Without giving me a single fraction of a second to respond or process his weird behavior, he bent down swiftly, grabbed my hand, and yanked me upward with so much sudden force that I practically landed right on top of his chest again.

Is he honestly rambling right now? my inner wolf asked dryly, clearly just as baffled as I was.

I blinked at him, completely stunned by the whirlwind of weirdness. "What the fu "

He did not even let me finish speaking a single curse word before he practically darted down the wooden stairs like someone had lit a roaring fire directly under his boots. I had absolutely no choice but to scramble after him, my feet hurrying quickly behind his long strides. By the time I finally reached the ground floor and stumbled into the kitchen, he had already pulled out a chair from the dining table and practically shoved me into it before diving headfirst into the open refrigerator with way too much jittery energy for this time of night.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at the back of his head, watching his frantic movements like I fully expected him to pull out a live chicken instead of simple sandwich ingredients.

By this point, I was officially nervous.

Something felt terribly wrong. Zahliver was never, ever this frantic or scatterbrained. Controlled and terrifying, sure. Intense and focused? Always. But this jittery, wildly distracted version of my usually unflappable Alpha? That was entirely new territory, and it was definitely not anywhere on my carefully prepared mental list of things to expect.