"What are you wanting then?" Hendrix asked. He paused for a moment and then continued. "Name your price." My eyes blinked up at him, my brain struggling to understand why he would offer something like that.
The witch's gaze grew greedy at the desperation heavy in the air, and she made a humming noise. "A drop of your blood will do," she said happily.
I heard River and Caspian try to stifle their gasps. An Alpha's blood was precious, imbued with power from the Moon Goddess herself. But add in the fact that there was something more to the three of them, powers I'd never heard existing in any other shifter, what she was asking for was a steep price.
I expected Hendrix to refuse, even after he told her to name her price. There was no telling what the witch would do with the drop of his blood.
"Very well," Hendrix said through gritted teeth, not even hesitating for a second.
"I want a drop of blood from all of you," she clarified, sensing the power she held at that moment.
Maybe I was going to die.
It was one thing for River to rush and get this woman on Hendrix's order, but for River to give up his essence in exchange for my life, for him to endanger himself…
"I agree," responded Caspian with no hesitation.
"I accept your price as well," echoed River. Looking around at everyone, the only person that seemed shocked by River's sacrifice was me.
I put that away to examine for later, if I survived.
"Heal her first, and then you'll get your payment," ordered Hendrix.
The witch laughed, sounding far younger than what her appearance would suggest. "I wasn't born yesterday, young pup. You'll give me at least a partial payment or nothing is going to happen."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caspian reach for the gun around his waist, but River grabbed his arm before he could unholster it.
"You can have a drop of mine first," said Hendrix, and the witch grinned victoriously.
I really didn't like this woman.
She hustled over to him, her orange eyes beginning to glow as she pulled a small glass vial from her pocket.
Convenient.
The witch held the vial in one hand while she began to circle her other hand in the air above it, peering up at Hendrix greedily.
My gut swirled with dread as I watched them. I couldn't let him do this.
"Hendrix, don't," I whimpered out in a raspy voice. But it wasn't very effective since, at that moment, blood began to pour out of my nose. That was a new symptom. My whole body started to shake, and I began to froth from my mouth. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as my shaking intensified.
There was shouting, and then hands were on me, pushing me to the side. The shaking seemed to last forever, and by the time it finally stopped, I was ready to die.
"Do it," I heard Hendrix roar.
"This blood freely given, to use as I would choose," the witch began to chant over and over again.
I watched in shocked horror as an orange glow spread from the vial to the hand that Hendrix was not holding up. Hendrix gritted his teeth like he was in pain, and a bead of sweat trailed down his face. His hand began to shake, and my eyes widened as I saw a single drop of blood pulled from his pointer finger, traveling through the orange glow until it dropped into the vial.
The witch stopped her chanting and quickly plugged the top of the vial, the orange glow disappearing.
Hendrix dropped his hand and clenched his fists before taking a step away from her.
"You got your payment. Now help her," he growled, and even an inch away from death, I could tell that he would have killed her right then under any other circumstance. The red glow in his eyes was rivaling the orange in hers.
Now we just need the rest of the rainbow, I crazily thought, since obviously, my brain wasn't working correctly.
The witch had the audacity to wink at him before striding over to me, and Hendrix's teeth began to extend before he turned around with a curse.
She sank to her knees beside me, much more agile than I would've expected for a woman of her age, pursing her lips as she looked me over.
"Our healer said her sickness was coming from those bands that prevent her shift."
"You chained your little pet, and now you want me to save her?" the witch said, sounding amused.
I hated her even more.
"We didn't put those on her, witch," River growled. "It was her old pack. They put it on her after-"
"After I was rejected," I finished for him in a gasp, wanting the witch to know the whole story...just in case she needed it.
"Times are indeed changing if a pretty little thing like you is getting rejected," she remarked callously.
The pain that I used to feel when reminded of my lost mate...wasn't there. Maybe it was the fact that I was dying...or maybe it was...them. The three complicated Alphas who'd kidnapped me.
The witch tapped on the band, and a shot of pain rushed through me. I moaned feebly, and the guys flinched like they wanted to jump to my aid.
"Easy, pups," she said distractedly, studying the bands closely. She murmured a few words in an unfamiliar language, and this time it wasn't just a shot of pain that I felt--it was a deluge of pain like I was being stabbed all over my body, a hundred times at once.
I was dehydrated, so there were no tears to cry. Instead, my body was just wracked with sobs, and my violent scream ripped through the air.
"Well, that didn't work," the witch muttered, sounding amused and showcasing what a raging psychopath she actually was.
"What the hell was that?" Caspian raged.
"It's not a precise process," she snapped back at him, sounding annoyed.
For the next half hour, she tried spell after spell...and none of them worked. And all of them were painful.
She stood up. "Where's my trunk?" she asked imperiously. "I need to look at the books I've brought."
"It's over there," snapped River, pointing at a worn trunk lying just outside the boat. He walked her over there as Hendrix and Caspian knelt down beside me.
"Just a little longer, little wolf," Hendrix murmured as he swept some of my sweaty hair out of my face.
"I have to tell you something."
My fingers twitched towards his hand, and he got the memo, moving his hand so it enveloped mine.
"Just in case I don't get the chance...I'm glad you rejected her. And I'm glad he rejected me. Because it meant you all got to be mine, for at least a moment," I whispered, the words so faint I wasn't even sure that he and Caspian could even hear them.
"You are mine—ours," Hendrix amended with a glance at Caspian. There was a glint of humor on Caspian's face, but it was quickly replaced by the worry and fear that had been present since I'd fallen ill. “I'm glad you've finally realized that.”
I snorted, and another gush of blood rushed out, effectively ruining whatever moment I'd been creating.
There was another word on my tongue, one that threatened to burst out. I clamped down on my tongue, too prideful to say such a thing even in the face of the end.
And besides, that wasn't what this really was. Right?
My body started seizing again, and that was the end of that.
* * *