Chapter 47: Sweet Hickeys
Chapter 47: Sweet Hickeys
Vivian Grey’s POV"I miss him," I muttered, arms crossed over my chest like that would somehow hold me together.
Hannah just rolled her eyes and kept checking stock, scribbling something on her clipboard without even looking up. We were tucked away in the back room of her shop, where all the good stuff stayed hidden from customers. I was slouched on a stack of unopened boxes, which was about as glamorous as my morning had gotten.
"I’d be more surprised if you didn’t miss him," she said matter-of-factly. "But come on, Viv. He said he’d call the moment he landed, and then every two hours after that. Chill. You’ll hear from him soon."
"I know, I know," I sighed, shifting restlessly. "But try telling that to my wolf. She’s freaking out. She keeps feeding me all these awful images, what if there’s a storm and the plane goes down? I don’t even know if he can swim." I groaned. "Oh goddess, I didn’t even check his suitcase. What if he runs out of clothes or forgets something important? He cannot walk around naked in another country. I will murder him."
That last part came out as a grumble to myself, but Hannah heard it anyway and did not look even slightly sympathetic.
I’d never felt this wound up over someone leaving before in my entire life. The second Zaliver disappeared into that plane, it was like a cord inside me had been yanked tight, snapping against my ribs and making it hard to breathe. I knew it was irrational. Zaliver wasn’t exactly helpless. If anything, he was the kind of Alpha who could handle himself, me, and the entire plane if it came to that. But none of that logic was doing a single thing to soothe the panic clawing at me from the inside.
My wolf wasn’t helping at all. She’d been pacing since we got here, restless and edgy, occasionally throwing me disaster scenarios I hadn’t asked for and didn’t want. I shoved her back as gently as I could, which is to say, not very gently at all.
"Ugh, females," Hannah muttered, then pointed a sharp finger at me. "Breathe, Vivian. I am not going to be the one who has to explain to Alpha why his mate dropped dead of a panic attack in my stockroom. He hasn’t even properly marked you yet, but I guarantee he can still feel you spiraling like this. So either breathe in and out, or die quietly and give me enough time to get me and Mark the hell out of here before they find your body."
Her face was flushed with frustration, but behind the sass, I saw understanding in her eyes.
"Die quietly? Wow, love that support," I said sarcastically, but I took a deep breath anyway and let it out slowly, closing my eyes.
It helped a little. My wolf curled in on herself, still uneasy, but less frantic now.
"There we go. Good girl," Hannah said, patting me on the head like I was some misbehaving pup before she returned to her clipboard. "Now sit tight and let me finish this up so we can head out."