Chapter 306: Mid-Night Tea and Shadows

Vivian’s POV

Hot. Oppressively hot, and the kind of heavy warmth that clung to my skin like wet silk.

My eyes fluttered open, squinting against the faint silver glow filtering quietly through the sheer curtains. The bedroom was still cloaked in deep shadows, but that pale moonglow painted eerie, shifting shapes against the far walls. I blinked a few times into the dark, my brain still muddled and slow, like it had not quite caught up with the reality of being awake.

I was drenched in a light sweat, every single inch of my body feeling heavy with exhaustion, yet... it was not the normal kind of tired that made any sense. Something was off. A strange, nervous restlessness buzzed just beneath the surface of my skin.

I tilted my head very slowly, careful not to jostle the massive mountain of solid heat draped directly over me. Zahliver. One of his heavy, muscular arms was tucked securely around my waist like a steel band, while the other was thrown possessively across my chest. His long legs were completely tangled up with mine, anchoring me firmly down into the soft mattress. He looked... remarkably peaceful. His eyes were shut tight, his dark lips relaxed, thick black hair spilling in wild disarray across his face and onto my shoulder. All the intense tension I had seen gripping his posture earlier had completely vanished for the night, leaving behind only the boyish calm of a man deeply lost in sweet dreams.

If he was not unintentionally smothering me to death with his sheer size, this whole scene might have been deeply romantic.

But it was not just the overwhelming heat or the tight tangle of our limbs that had pulled me out of my sleep. No, it was something much deeper, something primal. I felt... hungry. At least, I assumed that was what my body was complaining about.

My stomach did not actually growl aloud, but there was a weird, hollow feeling blooming right in my core. I was half-annoyed at my own system for deciding that food was somehow more important than getting a full night of sleep, but fine. Food was a noble enough reason to be wide awake at this ungodly hour, I guessed.

Still, maybe it was not simple hunger after all. Maybe it was just my brain continuing to spiral out of control from everything Zahliver had revealed to me earlier. The kind of heavy truth he had shared does not simply settle quietly in a person’s mind. My racing thoughts must have dragged me out of sleep, demanding more time to process the terrifying weight of it all.

Great. Just what I needed right now. Middle-of-the-night existential dread.

Now all I had to do was somehow slip silently away from Zahliver without waking my sharp-eared Alpha.

Easy task, right? I mean, it was not like the legendary Lupus Deus possessed supernatural senses or anything.

Let me take over, my internal beast murmured gently in my mind.

She was the only part of my wolf side currently awake. My usual wolf, surprisingly, was still fast asleep, probably curled up comfortably somewhere deep inside me, mercifully quiet for once. Good. Her wild emotions had a bad habit of stirring up everything around her, including him.

I carefully loosened my grip on my own control, letting my primal beast take over my physical movements. She moved with quiet, effortless confidence, fluid where my human habits would have been stiff and clumsy.

Rather than trying to untangle us piece by piece like I would have attempted, she did something much smarter. She scooted my body even closer to Zahliver until my back pressed firmly into his chest, and then used that light pressure to roll us gently over his arm. He shifted instinctively in his sleep, his strong arms wrapping tightly around the extra pillow she smoothly slipped into my place.

I stood by the edge of the bed, watching him cuddle the soft pillow like it was still me. Adorable. It was a real shame I did not dare risk making the loud sound of a camera shutter on my phone.

Maybe if he stayed fast asleep later into the morning, I would sneak back in for a secret picture.

Once I made it quietly over to the bedroom door, opening it was simple enough. Tiptoeing down the grand staircase? Also totally fine... right until I spotted him.

Frank. Sitting smack in the middle of the third staircase step. He was curled up into a ball with a ridiculous little fabric sleeping hat flopped over one spiky ear, glaring at me with one sleepy black eye like I had just personally insulted his ancient ancestors. I gave his little spiky head a soft, gentle pat in silent apology and carried on down to the dark kitchen.

I did not even bother turning on any lights. My eyes adjusted easily to the dark, the familiar shadows of the house guiding my steps. I stood in the middle of the kitchen, blinking at the wooden cupboards like they personally owed me a satisfying answer.

What did I actually want to consume? A quick glance at the digital clock on the stove told me it was currently 2:45 a.m.

It was way too late in the night for anything heavy. Way too early in the morning for anything overly sweet. And honestly, I did not feel like chewing on solid food either.

Tea. That was exactly what I wanted. A warm cup of green tea.

I was definitely not in the mood to hear the loud microwave beep echo through the silent house, so I opted to do things the old-fashioned way. I set a small metal pot on the stove to boil and pulled out a fresh bag of green tea. I stood there watching the water slowly come to life, tiny bubbles forming along the bottom with quiet little pops.

Boiling plain water was pretty much the absolute extent of my culinary skills. Still, I considered myself fairly competent in the kitchen at least I had not managed to burn the whole house down. Yet.

Once the water felt "good enough" by my very precise and totally subjective standards, I poured it carefully over the teabag into a mug and hopped up to sit right onto the clean kitchen counter.

I stared out the wide kitchen window, the warm ceramic mug soothing my palms. The night sky was absolutely beautiful tonight. Bright stars were scattered across the dark canvas like glittering diamonds, with the full moon hanging like a watchful silver eye high above our territory.

I moved the paper teabag in slow, quiet circles through the water and simply allowed my heavy thoughts to drift where they wanted.

What did it even truly mean to have Fate itself as a sworn enemy?

Was that statement just dramatic poetic talk from Zahliver, or was it literal? Could a cosmic being like that actively twist the physical world around us just because he wanted to break us? Were we really that powerless to stop a god?

And what about the real Joshua? Was his soul really gone forever? Buried in the cold dirt? If so, who or what was currently walking around in his skin, sleeping inside our home, and breathing our fresh air?

I really did not like the dark answers my gut was whispering back to me.

And then there was Zahliver. How on earth was he supposed to handle a nightmare like this? Could he actually bring himself to completely destroy whatever physical shell remained of the brother who had once meant the world to him? I did not want to watch him fall apart under the crushing weight of that terrible decision. I did not want to see all the high emotional walls he had worked so hard to tear down for me come crashing right back up around his heart.

And then, a terrifying new thought slammed violently into my head.

What if I had to be the one to end Joshua?

What if the creature wearing his face turned on me when Zahliver was not looking? If I had absolutely no other choice if a moment came down to me or him could I actually do it? Could I take that lethal shot right in front of Zahliver, and somehow manage to live with the devastating aftermath?

The warm cup of tea trembled slightly in my hands, but I forced my fingers to hold firm so I did not spill a single drop.

I did not know the real answer to any of those questions.

But sitting in the quiet dark, I had a heavy, sinking feeling that one day very soon, I would be forced to find out.