Page 17 of To Challenge a Wolf

“Not years,” Blaine said, and he chuckled again when she gave a loud sigh. “But days, yes. A week, maybe.”

“And this is the real reason you take time to sleep. It’s not mental health maintenance; it’s avoiding hibernation.”

“It’s both, Viv. We just rarely reveal the second reason to humans.”

A chill traced her spine, and her pacing stalled. Hibernation so deep nothing could wake him? His speed and strength, his heightened senses and resilience to injuries—none of it would matter. If a human wanted a vampire dead and could manage to confine him, keep him awake long enough…if the wrong humans learned this information…

“I can’t believe you told me.”

“You know I trust you.”

“But…this…” She closed her eyes and forced herself not to imagine Stone coming after Blaine. She thought through her new knowledge and tried to apply it to Blaine’s current state. “If you know you’re in danger of going into this semi-dead sleep, why aren’t you going to bed and staying there as long as it takes to get your eight hours in?”

“It’s a vicious cycle at this point. The longer I’m awake, the harder it is for my body to let go of consciousness. I’m alone in my house, Viv. If I didn’t wake up for days, what’s to keep someone from breaking in and finding me as helpless as Dracula in his coffin?”

“Oh gosh.”

“Now don’t go thinking I have lethal enemies staking out the house. To my knowledge nobody living wants me dead.”

She gave another gusty sigh. He really could read her mind.

“It’s all subconscious, reflexes and precautions honed over lifetimes. Plus I’m more prone to insomnia than most vampires I know. And before you ask, no, I don’t know why.”

“Have you had to hibernate before?” she said quietly. Poking into his past, even generically, felt risky at the moment.

“Not since well before you were born.”

What could she do? How could she help?

“Vivian. You’re supposed to worrylessnow, not more.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“I just explained why you can’t fix my situation as well as why you don’t need to. I’ve been dealing with this for a very long time, and I always survive it.”

But he’d just admitted his instincts were afraid of an attack while he slept. He’d just admitted he struggled with this particular vampire quirk more than others did. She flopped onto her back on the bed, and the springs creaked. Male logic wasn’t always logical.

“Can you call someone? Another vampire, someone who knows the secret already. Ask them to come over so your subconscious doesn’t feel alone.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“You’re so prickly with each other. I don’t get it. Wolves in a pack are like blood brothers. Vampires are like…estranged siblings.”

“Vampires are independent individuals.” Blaine’s voice gained an edge, as it always did when she compared his kind unfavorably to wolves.

“Wow, really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“We’re not always distant with each other. But we tend to have a lot more history between us to complicate relationships.”

That did make sense. Again she itched to find out how many years of history Blaine might have with any given vampire. Decades? Centuries?

“Anyway we’re off-topic. I don’t even know how you got me to talk about that.”

“It’s called friendship,” she said. “It might also be called nosiness.”

He laughed softly, a sound like tenor bells. He was quiet for a comfortable minute, then said, “This cookout tomorrow, please text or call me when it’s over. Or anytime, if you need anything.”

“Will do. And you try to sleep tonight.”

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