Chapter 116: Underneath the Surface
Chapter 116: Underneath the Surface
Vivian’s POV"Can you talk about something else?" I asked softly through the bond, curling tighter against his warm chest. "I don’t care what it is. I just... I want to hear your voice."
He gave me a small, silent nod. Then, to my absolute surprise, he didn’t speak he started to sing.
Softly at first. Almost unsure of himself. He kept his gaze averted, his focus entirely on my wet fur as he gently ran his broad hands through it, rinsing the thick strands with the cool river water. But that voice... gods, that voice. It was deep, rich, and laced with a quiet sorrow something raw, aching, and profoundly real.
I recognized the song almost immediately.
Underneath by Adam Lambert.
I had asked him once before what his favorite song was, and he had brushed it off like the answer didn’t matter. Now I finally knew why. Because the lyrics were too honest. Too open. They told the exact truth he tried so desperately to bury beneath dominance, silence, and duty.
He sang it as if it were the first time he was allowing another soul to hear his true pain. I listened spellbound, completely breathless. Each word was heavy with unspoken meaning. Each note pulled at the mate bond between us until I felt him completely.
No masks.
No titles.
Just Zaliver.
And he was beautiful. Not the kind of beauty that came merely from sharp features or piercing blue eyes, but the kind that sang quietly from the darkest shadows haunted, steady, and utterly real.
My heavy eyelids fluttered closed. His voice carried me into a profound stillness I hadn’t felt in days. For once, the chaotic noise in my head calmed, completely soothed by the melody of a man who, despite everything, loved me enough to sing his pain just to comfort mine.
Two broken souls, trying to heal each other in the dark.
I fell asleep wrapped in his arms, listening to a song that belonged to no one else but him.
Waking up cradled in Zaliver’s arms, with the gentle coolness of the river water lapping around me, felt like a strange kind of peace one I hadn’t known I desperately needed. My mind was quiet, and my body no longer ached like it had during the shift. The heavy exhaustion that had once clung to me like a second skin had completely lifted, replaced with a calm sense of rest.