Chapter 269: The Tension at the Table

Vivian’s POV

I opened my mouth to ask another question about the houses when I suddenly felt it something flickering faintly along our mating bond.

It was a subtle shift. A sudden tightening.

I turned my head to look at Zahliver. His jaw was locked tight, his broad shoulders were rigid, and his attention was still locked somewhere ahead of us. But I could feel his unease crawling right under my skin like static electricity. There was no real need for me to ask what was wrong; I already knew. It was displeasure. Or maybe... something a whole lot closer to a dark warning.

"Are you thinking about applying to study there, Vivian?"

The unexpected question came from the far other end of the dining table. I followed the sound of the voice and found Joshula watching me with a piercing, intense focus. No one else at the table had bothered to ask who he was, but with his resemblance to Zahliver being so striking, it really did not need to be said aloud.

His direct question caught me completely off guard. Honestly, I had not even thought that far ahead into the future yet.

"I am not entirely sure," I admitted quietly, playing with my fork. "Maybe someday."

I caught the faint, distinct sound of metal bending slightly under pressure nearby. It made my ears twitch. But I did not dare look over at Zahliver right then. Joshula was still speaking, and I certainly did not want to interrupt him or draw any more unwanted attention to myself. Yet my inner instincts were prickling furiously, warning me that something explosive was building up right beside me.

"Are you not about their age?" Joshula asked, gesturing loosely toward the younger wolves sitting further down the table. "From what I understand, most people apply to college right after high school finishes. Did you simply not get accepted?"

My inner wolf bristled up immediately in my mind.

Those are fighting words, she growled low and viciously in my head.

The friendly mood at the table shifted in a split second. The other pack members fell into an awkward, suffocating silence, nervously fidgeting in their seats. Surprise flickered across their faces some looking deeply uncomfortable, others deeply cautious. Even Zahliver’s usual calm cracked slightly at the edges. I could feel the burning heat of his anger radiating straight through our bond... mingled heavily with a strange sense of guilt.

I was not actually angry for the same exact reasons as the others at the table. The sudden sting in my chest came from somewhere else, something much deeper about my past life. My wolf, on the other hand, was more than ready to launch my half-eaten piece of toast straight into Joshula’s smug face.

"I was accepted, actually," I replied smoothly, keeping my voice remarkably even despite my rising temper. "But you know how life works it does not always follow a nice, straight path. Besides, I still have plenty of time to figure out when I actually want to go."

My casual tone seemed to soothe the anxious air for everyone else at the table... except for Zahliver. His heavy energy had not softened. Not even a little bit.

Joshula nodded slowly, looking entirely too thoughtful. "So, if you had gone, what classes would you have chosen to take? What subjects do you actually like?"

I shrugged carelessly, tossing out the first few normal topics that came to mind. "English. Psychology. Art."

That was the exact moment he smiled and it was definitely not the nice, friendly kind of smile. There was something sly and calculated about it that made my stomach twist uncomfortably. The bright glint in his eyes, the deliberate tilt of his head... it felt way too familiar.

"Then you would probably be sorted right into Red Lupus. Maybe even placed with Drake," he said smoothly, his voice carrying clearly across the quiet room.

That is when it finally hit me, and I realized exactly where he was going with this little game. Just like that, a sudden chill crept all over my skin. Cold, hard fury settled deep into my bones.

"I could always show you around the campus sometime," Joshula added with a knowing smirk. "Let you see what you have been missing out on all this time."

Drake, sitting just a few chairs away, visibly blanched. He looked like he desperately wanted to sink right through the wooden floorboards and disappear. The mere mention of his name in that suggestive context had him shrinking down small in his seat. Across from me, Zahliver went completely still and our shared bond did not just go cold. It completely iced over. Not because he was trying to shut me out of his mind, but because he was white-hot with blinding fury.

There is a big difference between playfully poking fun at someone... and then there is stepping directly onto a landmine.

Joshula had not just taken a cheap jab at me. He had dragged poor Drake into it and made a reckless implication that pushed every single possessive, territorial instinct in my mate straight into overdrive.

The heavy air in the room changed so suddenly that I could feel the physical shift rippling through everyone present. The cozy warmth that had lingered for breakfast was entirely gone, replaced by a suffocating, freezing chill. Zahliver had not said a single word out loud yet, but his overwhelming presence poured outward, flooding the room like a silent, commanding force of nature.

One by one, heads began to lower around the table. Necks were bared in instinctive submission. Even without a single vocal growl, his terrifying Alpha authority snapped into place like a whip cracking in the dark. The only person in the entire room who refused to yield?

Joshula.

Zahliver’s eyes locked onto his brother piercing, ice-blue, and deadly calm. There was a silent death warning hidden in every single breath he took.

"Joshula," he said slowly, each individual syllable sounding crisp and deeply dangerous.

I had not seen him act this coldly terrifying in a very long time.

Joshula did not respond right away. I could clearly see the intense tension locked in his jaw, the deep conflict flashing in his eyes. Part of him his wolf instantly recognized the overwhelming power of the Alpha sitting right in front of him. But something else deep inside him stubbornly resisted.

"You are to return to your room immediately. You will not leave its walls until sunrise tomorrow," Zahliver ordered finally, his voice unnervingly quiet but iron-firm. There was no loud shout, no aggressive bark, no blind rage. Just pure, terrifying control. That calm edge was infinitely more horrifying than if he had simply screamed at the top of his lungs.

And just like that, Joshula stood up from his chair. His movements were stiff and entirely unwilling, but he ultimately obeyed the Alpha’s command.

As the heavy dining room door clicked shut behind him, Zahliver let out one long, slow breath and briefly closed his eyes.

The suffocating tension vanished almost instantly from the room. It honestly felt like someone had just flipped a magical switch. Everyone around us blinked rapidly and looked around in utter confusion, acting just like people who had suddenly woken up from a strange trance.

Had he actually muted everyone’s sensory awareness during that standoff?

Honestly, knowing what he was capable of, I would not put it past him.

And yet, even with the heavy pressure entirely gone from the air, a strange, lingering quiet remained over the table. A heavy silence that clearly said no one wanted to dare bring up what had just happened. And I certainly was not going to be the one to start.

Not yet, anyway.