Chapter 74

Lauren

The little red pill sat in the center of my palm, looking entirely too innocent for something that promised a week of pain and chaos.

Liam’s words echoed in my head: “Take one every morning. And… hold on.” Not exactly comforting instructions.

I exhaled, rolled my shoulders, and swallowed it dry.

It burned going down.

I sat there, waiting for something dramatic to happen—lightning, maybe? Sudden nausea? Explosive transformation? But nothing. Just the dull hum of my bedroom and the distant sound of someone walking downstairs. I sighed. Maybe Liam had been overhyping this whole thing.

Or maybe not.

The first sign that things were different came as I stepped into the hospital for work. I’d barely gotten through the doors when sound exploded around me. It was like someone had turned the world’s volume up to eleven.

“…her blood test results came back abnormal.”

“She’s been running a fever for three days—”

“…going to propose next weekend. Think she’ll say yes?”

“Can you believe Dr. Patterson wore that tie again?”

I clapped my hands over my ears, wincing as my brain scrambled to keep up. What the hell? These conversations weren’t even happening in the same room. They were behind walls, down hallways. I was hearing everything.

I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to focus, picking apart the layers of noise until I could make sense of my surroundings. My hearing had never been this sharp. Not even before I lost my wolf.

Liam hadn’t been exaggerating. The pills were working. And if my hearing was heightened…

I inhaled deeply and immediately regretted it.

The hospital was a nightmare of smells. Sweat, antiseptic, latex gloves, sickness—it was a lot. But worse, so much worse, was the scent of blood. I swallowed hard as my stomach twisted. I could smell it everywhere. Faint, underlying every other scent. It shouldn’t have been this strong. It had never been this strong.

I clenched my jaw and forced myself to breathe through my mouth. Focus on work. Don’t freak out. It’s just an adjustment period.

By lunchtime, I was barely holding it together. My head throbbed from filtering out constant conversations, and my stomach rolled at the overwhelming scent of food.

Daphne slid into the seat next to me, having gottan a job at the hospital after finishing her schooling. “Hey girl,” she hummed happily, her blonde hair sweeping over her scrubs. “It feels like it’s been forever! How ya been my favoirte romance protagonist?”

I just had to make it through lunch with Daphne, and then I could reevaluate how much of a mistake I had made.

Spoiler: Huge mistake.

Before I could answer, I made the mistake of inhaling and—oh my god.

“What,” I choked out, “are you eating?”

She blinked at me. “Tuna casserole.”

I gagged. The smell was aggressive. Like someone had let fish rot in the sun before drowning it in cheese and regret. And not in a goo way. Garlic.

“I can’t—” I shot up, chair screeching. “I need air.”

Daphne watched me in confusion as I bolted from the room. I didn’t stop moving until I hit fresh air outside. I leaned against the nearest tree, sucking in deep breaths. What the hell was that? I’d smelled fish before. I’d never wanted to commit a crime because of it.

My stomach growled. Loudly. Right. I hadn’t eaten anything since this morning. I needed food. Real food. Something fresh, something—

My body moved before my brain caught up. One second, I was standing on the sidewalk. The next, I was in the creek behind the hospital, ankle-deep in cold water.

“Look mommy! What’s that lady doing!”

“Come along!” The mother shooed her child away from the scene quick but I was too busy looking crazed in the water.

What am I doing?

And then I saw it.

A fish darted through the water, silver and sleek, and instinct took over. My hand shot out, faster than it had any right to be, and before I could even process what was happening, I had snatched it out of the water.

I was holding a fish.

A live fish.

And before my rational brain could stop me, I bit into it.

The taste of raw flesh and blood exploded in my mouth.

Why… as it so good.

“What the actual—”

A voice behind me sent ice through my veins.

I froze. Slowly, painfully, I turned my head, mouth still full of live fish, to see Alexander.

Standing on the bank. Staring at me. Looking equal parts stunned and…impressed?

The fish flopped weakly in my grip.

I spat it out.

“…This is not what it looks like,” I said.

His brows shot up. “Oh? Because it looks like you just hunted a fish with your bare hands and bit into it. At 1 pm. On a work day. You know we offer lunch in the cafeteria, right?”

I grimaced, dropping the fish back into the water. It floated belly-up for a second before darting off, traumatized for life. “I can explain.”

He crossed his arms. “Oh, please do.”

I wiped my mouth with the back of my sleeve, trying to gather my scattered dignity. “I was… hungry?”

He blinked. “So naturally, you ran into a creek and became a bear?”

More like a wolf…

“Lauren.” He stepped closer down the bank, eyeing me like I’d officially lost my mind. He extended a hand. “Will you get out of the river already? I’ll buy you lunch.”

“I’m fine,” I blurted out way too fast.. “Just… go back inside, Alexander.”

He blinked, then huffed a disbelieving laugh. “Yeah, no. You just tried to reenact a National Geographic special. What the hell is going on?”

I clenched my fists, pulse pounding. I couldn’t let him know about the pills. He’d demand answers, demand I stop. I wasn’t ready for that.

“I said leave.” My voice came out sharper than I intended.

His amusement faded, replaced by something more serious. “Lauren—”

“I mean it, Alexander!” I snapped, my own voice startling me with its raw edge. “Get out of here!” A fire burned under my skin, hotter than I even felt. “I don’t want to see you! Just leave!”

For a moment, he looked genuinely surprised—his sharp gaze flicking over me, searching. Then, with an exhale, he lifted his hands in surrender, stepping back onto the sidewalk.

“Alright, alright,” he muttered. “But next time? Maybe kill the fish first, unless you’re planning on scaring the patients, or becoming one.” He shot me one last unreadable look before shaking his head and walking off, a huff of scoffed laughter barely escaping under his breath.

I stood there, heart hammering, guilt creeping in—but before I could dwell on it, another voice rang out from the trees.

“Well, that was dramatic.”

Liam strolled forward, arms crossed, his usual smirk firmly in place.

I groaned. “Not now, Liam.”

He chuckled. “Oh, no. Now is perfect.” He tilted his head, eyes gleaming with amusement. “Tell me, was it the raw fish or the public meltdown with your Alpha that made your day?”

I scowled. “Shut up.”

Liam just laughed, shaking his head. “Come on! He took that pretty well!”

“I said shut it!” My teeth bared his way, before I flinched and covered them to his smirk.

“Oh, wow.” his head tilted. “Yeah, this is going to be fun.”