Chapter 294: Something New

Zahliver’s POV

Albericus stared at me for a quiet moment, then gave a slow, deliberate nod. But I could tell right away that he did not believe me. Not entirely, anyway. He was definitely holding something back, guarding his true thoughts behind that calm Beta mask of his. I was just about to press him for a real answer when Vivian burst into the kitchen, her face a picture of absolute panic.

"I lost Frank!" she whisper-yelled, her brown eyes darting frantically around the room like she was searching for an assassin.

Both Albericus and I froze where we stood, staring at her like she had suddenly grown a second head. She threw her hands up into the air, completely exasperated with our lack of immediate motion.

"Well? Don’t just stand there like statues, help me find him!"

"How the hell do you even manage to lose a ra... Frank?" Albericus choked out, quickly scratching the back of his neck as he tried to catch his slip-up before she noticed.

I did not even bother trying to hide my deep sigh this time.

"I looked away for like a minute, I swear! I was just trying to put a tiny hat on him, and the very next second he was gone!" Vivian flailed her hands toward the living room in dramatic exasperation.

I gave her a flat, unamused look. "Did you follow his scent?"

Of course she had not. She had panicked and completely forgotten for a second that she was no longer a regular human. I watched the sudden realization hit her like a hard slap to the face. She froze mid-motion, then stood up straight, a sheepish look briefly passing over her features before she turned around and walked out of the kitchen without another word.

You dumbass, why didn’t you do that before running into the kitchen? I caught the irritated mutter from Vivian’s wolf echoing faintly through our mate bond.

Oh, I am the dumbass? That is rich coming from you. I do not recall you giving me any bright ideas when we first realized he was missing, Vivian shot back defensively.

Don’t try to blame this on me!

Their internal back-and-forth bickering bounced back and forth between genuine annoyance and playful amusement. I shook my head and let out a small sigh as I listened to their conversation, the corners of my mouth twitching upward against my will.

A few moments later, her clear voice rang out loudly from the other room. "Found him! Naughty Frank!"

Across from me in the kitchen, Albericus and I exchanged a long glance, and then both of us broke out into quiet laughter.

The dark tension from earlier completely drifted off as we settled back into easier, more comfortable conversation. I chose to let the previous topic about my brother rest for now, not wanting to stir that pot again without proof. Instead, we stood by the counter and discussed a few upcoming business matters pack-related issues, logistics for my upcoming absence, and what regional meetings needed to be covered by him while I was busy with Vivian. Vivian had disappeared upstairs to take a quick shower, but not before tying her heavy phone directly to Frank with a piece of blue string and muttering something under her breath about "GPS tracking" and "failed escape attempts."

I did not really understand her human logic, but I certainly understood her protective intent. I walked over and picked up the little hedgehog, who promptly curled up into a tight, spiky ball in my hand, and gently set him back down in his cage. Untying the phone from his back clearly, the tiny creature had zero chance of dragging that heavy object around anyway I refilled his food dish and fresh water bottle, making sure everything in his enclosure was fully stocked and secure.

By the time Vivian came back downstairs, she looked effortlessly radiant. She wore a simple navy-blue shirt tucked neatly into white jeans, with her usual comfortable black Converse on her feet. It really did not matter what she chose to wear on any given day; Vivian always managed to look completely stunning in my eyes. I handed her phone back to her without saying a word and watched as she immediately knelt beside Frank’s cage, poking playfully at him with one of the raw carrots from his food tray.

Was it actually possible for a tiny hedgehog to glare at a person? Because Frank definitely looked like he wanted to stab her with a lot more than just his natural spikes.

Albericus walked over and joined her on the hard floor, poking at the poor animal too. I rolled my eyes heavenward at the both of them acting like children.

"So, did you like my birthday present? Why am I even asking you that, obviously you loved it," Albericus said smugly, sitting back on his heels.

Vivian stood up smoothly and brushed her hands off on her white jeans. "Actually, I haven’t opened your box yet. I wanted to wait until you were standing right around here. That way, if anything scary jumped out at me, I could punch you on the spot." She headed straight over to the neat stack of gifts in the corner and pulled out the wrapped box from him.

I was genuinely curious myself. I had already personally screened all her other birthday presents beforehand to make sure they were completely safe. Overprotective of me, I know, but it was a deep Alpha instinct I had been trying hard to rein in around the pack.

"There will be no punching allowed. Especially not to this handsome face," Albericus said, gesturing dramatically to his own features. "My parents worked way too hard to create the perfect child. Now go ahead and open it."

Vivian eyed him warily, then looked down at the box with deep suspicion before finally peeling open the paper. The exact moment she saw what was sitting inside, she gasped out loud, set the box down carefully on a side table, and launched herself directly at him for a hug.

Albericus stumbled backward at first, caught entirely off guard by her sudden movement, but then he wrapped his arms tightly around her in return, laughing softly.

Something ugly and dark twisted sharply in my chest at the sight. I did not like seeing anyone else touching my mate, plain and simple. Not even my Beta, my best friend. I let out a low, warning grunt of displeasure from the doorway, but she was so excited she did not even turn around to look at me. So I grunted again, much louder this time.

"I do believe the traditional saying goes, ’Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.’ Do you like it? I decided to go for something new," Albericus said, smiling warmly at her.

"I absolutely love it! Thank you so much. And to think I was actually planning to super punch you," she said with a bright smile. She pulled back from the hug and walked directly toward me, carrying the box in her hands, her brown eyes glinting with pure amusement when she saw the dark, possessive expression on my face.

She reached into the box and pulled the item out to show me, and just like that, all my rising irritation vanished into thin air.

I looked past her over at Albericus, my lips twitching. "You knew exactly what you were doing when you picked this out."

"You like it, don’t ya?" he grinned knowingly.

I could not stop myself from smiling. Possessive bastard that I am, I had to admit to myself that it was a damn good gift for my future Luna.

"I am genuinely impressed," I said honestly, looking at the gift in her hands.

Vivian rolled her eyes at our exchange, but I felt her deep joy thrumming gently and steadily through our mate bond. She was happy, truly happy. That was all I ever needed in this life.

In the end, we were both completely satisfied with his present, though for very different reasons of our own.

"To the future Mrs. Azrala!" Albericus declared loudly with a broad smirk, raising an imaginary glass into the air.

And for once, I did not growl at him for saying it out loud.