One of the wolves nearby scoffs. “What do we want? You really don’t get it, do you?”
I ignore him and focus on her instead. “Answer me.”
She doesn’t move and doesn’t react, but I feel the change in her, along with the magic holding me down like a dome overhead. It presses in around me again, tighter than before, as it coils under my skin, locking everything down.
My breath stutters, and I try to keep myself from succumbing to it entirely, but after just regaining consciousness, I feel weaker now.
“I’m Rhea,” she says quietly, more like a secret.
My brows furrow, confused by her involvement and the way she seems disjointed from the others. What’s the point of telling me her name in the first place?
“Why are you doing what they want?” I ask, trying to understand what’s happening around me.
A spark of something unreadable crosses her expression, then it’s gone almost instantly. I still saw it, and that’s what matters.
“Stop talking and keep her under,” another wolf snaps as he steps closer, pointing a finger at Rhea. “We don’t need a repeat of earlier.”
“I know what I’m doing,” she replies, her tone clipped now. It immediately catches my attention and doesn’t go unnoticed by them either.
“You’d better,” he presses with cold intentions in his eyes. “Because if she breaks loose again, it’s your head.”
Even if reluctantly, she corrects herself and stands in near perfect silence while making sure the trap holds. She’s tense and uneasy, but constantly looking at me.
My gaze sharpens as the pieces start falling into place. “They’re threatening you.”
Rhea averts her eyes, surely to keep the others appeased, but her control tightens just a fraction, and it serves as enough of an answer.
Something cold settles in my chest. “So that’s it, you’re just going to do whatever they say?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It never is,” I mutter.
One of the other wolves scowls in our direction. “She does what she’s told, or she gets put down. Same as you.”
I turn my head slightly to glare at him. “Try it.”
He grins. “Don’t tempt me.”
“Enough,” another shifter snaps, sharper now. The others hesitate, as if he has some sort of authority, but that doesn’t mean they respect him any more, as they grumble to themselves. The wolf rolls his eyes but backs off a step.
They’re obviously working together, but without an Alpha, they don’t have proper ranks. It seems precarious at best.
I shift my attention back to her. “They have others, don’t they?”
She hesitates for a beat, and that’s all I need.
“How many?” I press.
“You sure love talking,” one of them cuts in. “It doesn’t matter how many are here…you’re not leaving until the buyer comes.”
My stomach twists as that word sinks into my skin. “Buyer?”
“Yeah,” he says. “You’re worth a lot more than we expected.”
“You already sold me once.”
“Technically, yeah. Now we get to do it again,” another says as he smirks to himself. Regardless of their potential differences, the others all look satisfied with this notion.
