The swimming potion worked through my system, familiar now after so many uses. My lungs stopped burning for air. My eyes adjusted to the dim blue light. And there, waiting in the shadow of the ship's hull, four shapes materialized from the darkness.
"Something's wrong." Kaelan's voice was immediate, cutting through the water with crystalline clarity. His dark eyes scanned my face as he pulled me against him, his arms wrapping around me like he could shield me from the entire world. His scales were cool against my skin, his tail curling protectively around my legs, and his expression held a sharp concern that made my chest ache. "What happened?"
"The scent blocker." The words came out thick, choked, and I had to swallow past the lump in my throat before I could continue. My fingers curled into his shoulders, gripping the hard muscle beneath his skin like he was the only solid thing in a world that kept shifting. "I dropped it. The bottle broke and I lost almost all of it. It spilled everywhere and I couldn't—I tried to save it but it just?—"
All four of them went rigid.
The change was immediate, visceral. Kaelan's arms tightened around me until I could barely breathe. Riven's golden eyes blazed like molten metal, his scars standing out stark and white against his suddenly pale skin. Vale's silver hair floated around his face like a storm cloud, his beautiful features gone sharp and dangerous. Thane's golden-brown eyes flooded with tears that mixed with the salt water around us.
"How much is left?" Vale's silver eyes had gone hard as diamonds, his usual teasing edge replaced with something cold and calculating. His voice was clipped, precise, nothing like the playful silk I was used to.
"Two doses." I couldn't meet their eyes, couldn't bear to see the fear and rage I knew would be reflected there. I stared atKaelan's chest instead, at the dark scales that covered his skin, at the way they caught the faint light filtering down from the surface. "Maybe three if I stretch it thin, but it won't be as effective. It's already not working as well—I could tell today, the way they looked at me. And the swimming potion..." I pulled the small vial from my pocket, held it up so they could see the meager amount of liquid inside. "One dose left. That's it. That's all I have."
Silence. The kind of silence that felt like the moment before a storm breaks—heavy and electric, crackling with barely contained violence.
"We take her." Riven's voice was a growl that vibrated through the water, so deep I could feel it in my bones. His golden eyes were blazing, his scarred face twisted with a desperation that made him look half-feral. His claws were extended, gleaming like curved blades in the dim light. "Now. Tonight. We're not waiting anymore."
"Riven—" Kaelan started, his voice carrying the weight of command, but Riven surged forward, cutting him off. His massive body cut through the water like a blade, his tail propelling him close enough that I could see every line of anguish carved into his scarred features.
"She has THREE DAYS MAX," his voice cracked on the words, breaking like glass, like my heart. His hands clenched into fists, claws biting into his own palms until thin ribbons of blood spiraled into the water. "Three days before every alpha on that ship knows exactly what she is. Three days before they—" He couldn't finish. His whole body was trembling, vibrating with barely contained violence, every muscle coiled tight as a spring about to snap.
"He's right." Vale's voice was soft, but there was steel beneath the velvet, sharp enough to cut. His silver eyes moved between us, calculating, assessing. "We can't send her back up thereknowing what's coming. We can't let her walk into that, not when we could stop it. Not when we could take her right now and?—"
"She hasn't chosen." Kaelan's voice was strained, cracking under a weight I couldn't see. I could feel the tension in his arms, the way every muscle in his body wanted to agree with them, wanted to snatch me away and never let go. But he held himself back, held them all back, because of something that mattered to him more than his own desperate need. "She hasn't decided yet."
"She's wearing my pearl." Vale's silver eyes found mine, bright and accusing and desperate all at once. His hand gestured to where the pearl still rested in my braid, tucked among the shells and my own tangled hair. "She's had all our mouths on hers. She let us braid her hair, scent her skin, mark her as ours in every way that matters. What more does she need to?—"
"She needs to SAY it." Kaelan turned to me, and the raw need in his dark eyes made my chest crack open like that bottle on my floor. His hands cupped my face, thumbs brushing my cheekbones with devastating gentleness despite the violence coiled in every line of his body. "Lily. Do you want to stay with us? Not because you're running from something worse. Not because you have no other choice. Not because we're the lesser evil." His voice broke, actually broke, this ancient powerful creature coming apart at the seams because of me. "Because you WANT us. Because you want this life, this pack, this—" He sucked in a shuddering breath. "Forever."
I opened my mouth. Closed it.
The word was right there, balanced on the tip of my tongue. Yes. Of course yes. What other answer could there possibly be? These creatures had shown me more kindness in weeks than I'd received in years. They'd held me while I cried. They'd sworn to destroy everyone who'd ever hurt me. They'd kissed me like Iwas precious, like I mattered, like I was the center of their entire ancient universe.
But something held me back. Some small, scared part of me that had been running for so long it didn't know how to stop. That had been hurt so many times it didn't know how to trust that this was real. That had learned, over years of painful lessons, that good things always came with a price, and the higher you flew, the harder you fell.
"I..." My voice was barely a whisper, lost in the vast blue dark around us. "I need more time."
The pain that flashed across their faces was devastating.
Thane made a sound like something breaking—a whine, high and keening, that cut through the water like a blade through flesh. His golden-brown eyes flooded with fresh tears that streamed down his face, mixing with the salt water until he was crying an ocean of his own. His hands reached for me, then pulled back, like he wasn't sure he was allowed to touch anymore.
Riven turned away, his massive shoulders shaking. I could see his reflection in a nearby formation of dark coral—his face twisted in agony, his claws gouging furrows into his own arms, blood spiraling into the water in thin red ribbons. His tail lashed violently, sending eddies of water swirling around us.
Vale's sharp edges went jagged, lethal. His beautiful face hardened into something cold and dangerous, his silver eyes going flat and dead as old coins. His lips pressed into a thin line, and I could see the effort it cost him not to say something cruel, something designed to wound because he was wounded.
Kaelan just stared at me, and I watched something in him crack. Not break—not yet—but crack, like ice forming on a winter lake. His dark eyes went wet, though no tears fell. His jaw worked silently for a moment before he spoke.
"Then we get more time." His voice was rough, scraped raw like he'd swallowed broken glass. "We go to the witch. Get more blocker. More potion. Whatever it takes."
"The witch?" I looked between them, a chill running through me at the mention of her. They'd told me about her before—the ancient creature who lived in the deepest trenches, who traded in things more precious than gold. I'd hoped I'd never have to hear her name again. "You said going to her was dangerous. You said the price?—"
"The price doesn't matter." Riven cut me off, his voice fierce, burning through my protest like a torch through darkness. When he turned back to me, his golden eyes were blazing with an intensity that made my breath catch, that made my omega sit up and take notice despite my fear. "Whatever she asks, we'll pay. Whatever it takes to give you more time, we'll pay it."
"But you told me she takes what matters most." My voice broke on the words, cracking like the bottle that had started all this. "That she finds the thing you'd never willingly give up and demands it as payment. What if she asks for something you can't replace? Something you'll regret? Something that?—"
"No." He moved closer, his scarred hands cupping my face with a gentleness that made my heart clench so tight I thought it might stop. His thumbs traced my cheekbones, wiping away tears I hadn't realized I was crying. His golden eyes bored into mine, fierce and desperate and absolutely certain. "You don't get to argue about this. You don't get to feel guilty. You asked for time, and we're going to give it to you. Whatever it costs."
"There is nothing," his voice was absolute, ringing through the water like a bell, like a vow, like a promise carved in stone. His forehead pressed against mine, his breath warm on my lips, his whole world narrowed down to the space between us. "Nothing in this world or any other that matters more than you. Nothing we wouldn't give. Nothing we wouldn't sacrifice." Hisvoice dropped to a whisper, rough and broken and beautiful. "Do you understand? You are everything. Everything."
