Chapter 212: Don't die on me.
~Alexis POV~
We were halfway back to camp when everything went wrong. The pain in my ribs got worse with every step. My head felt dizzy and I could taste blood in my mouth.
"I'm okay," I told Cassius when he asked. But I wasn't okay. Not at all.
My legs started to shake more. The world began to spin around me.
"Alexis?" Cassius's voice sounded far away.
I tried to answer but no words came out. My knees gave out and I fell to the ground.
"Alexis!"
"Stay with me," Cassius said. He was kneeling beside me now. "Don't you dare die on me."
I wanted to tell him I was trying. But I couldn't speak anymore.
"Damn it," he said under his breath.
Then I felt his hands on my face. "I'm sorry. This might hurt."
Something warm touched my lips. It tasted like salt. Blood. He was making me drink his blood.
At first I tried to turn away. But then I felt it working. The pain in my chest started to fade. My breathing got easier.
The warm feeling spread through my whole body. My cuts and bruises began to heal.
After a few minutes, I could sit up again.
"Better?" Cassius asked.
I nodded. "Much better. Thank you."
He looked relieved but also confused. "Why are you so weak? When I saw you at the castle in Mesodomica, you were strong. You had power."
I looked down at my hands. "I gave it away."
"What do you mean?"
"My internal flame. I gave it to Gwen to help her. She was dying and it was the only way to save her."
Cassius stared at me. "You gave away your power? Your life force?"
"Yes."
"That was stupid. You could have died."
"She's my friend. I had to try to help her."
He shook his head. "And now you're weak. Vulnerable."
"I'll get stronger again. Eventually."
"Will you?" He didn't sound sure.
Before I could answer, we heard voices coming through the trees.
"Captain Reed said they went this way!"
"Find them! Don't let the traitor escape!"
Cassius went very still. "We need to move. Now."
He helped me stand and we started walking fast through the forest.
But the voices were getting closer.
"There!" someone shouted. "I see them!"
We started running but it was too late. Soldiers came out from behind the trees all around us.
Captain Morris was leading them. He had his sword pointed at Cassius.
"Well, well. Look what we found," Morris said with a mean smile.
"Morris," Cassius said calmly. "What's the meaning of this?"
"Don't play dumb with us, traitor. We heard everything."
My heart sank. They had been listening when Cassius gave me his blood. When he told me about Mesodomica.
"Mesodomica rats," another soldier spat. "Both of them."
"We should have known," Morris said. "You were always too soft with the prisoners. Too protective of this one."
He pointed his sword at me.
"Now we know why. You're a spy. Both of you."
Cassius stepped in front of me. "Morris, you're making a mistake."
"The only mistake was trusting you."
Morris looked at the other soldiers. "Kill them both. Don't let them live to report back to their real masters."
There were about twenty soldiers surrounding us. All of them had weapons and five shifters.
Cassius had one sword. This was bad.
"Stay behind me," Cassius said quietly.
"There are too many of them," I whispered.
"I know."
The soldiers started moving closer.
Cassius drew his sword. "Last chance, Morris. Walk away."
Morris laughed. "You think you can fight all of us?"
" Yes, I can try."
Cassius spun and ducked and struck faster than I thought possible. His sword was everywhere at once.
Soldiers fell around him one by one. But there were so many of them. And he was just one man.
A sword cut across his arm. Another sliced his leg. Blood ran down his face from a cut on his forehead.
He was getting tired. I could see it.
"Cassius!" I screamed as three soldiers attacked him at the same time.
Somehow he managed to fight them off. But more kept coming.
Then I saw Morris sneaking up behind him with a spear.
"Behind you!" I yelled.
Cassius turned around and caught the spear. He broke it in half and stabbed Morris with the sharp end that has silver in it's tip.
Morris fell to the ground and didn't get up.
The remaining soldiers looked scared now. Half their number was dead or wounded.
"Run," one of them said. "This is madness."
They turned and ran back toward camp.
Cassius stood there breathing hard. Blood dripped from his wounds onto the ground.
"We have to go," he said. "They'll be back with more men."
"You're hurt."
"I'll heal. We need to move now."
We started running deeper into the forest. But I could hear horses behind us. They were following our trail.
"This way," Cassius said.
We ran until we came to a small clearing. Cassius stopped and started taking off his clothes.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"The only way we're getting out of this."
Then he started to change.
His body grew bigger. His face stretched out. Hair sprouted all over his skin.
In seconds, a huge black wolf stood where Cassius had been. The wolf looked at me with familiar blue eyes. Then it lowered itself so I could climb on its back.
I had never ridden a wolf before. But I didn't have a choice. I climbed onto his back and held tight to his thick fur.
The wolf took off running.
We flew through the forest faster than any horse could go. Trees and bushes blurred past us.
I could hear the soldiers shouting behind us but they were getting farther away.
Cassidy, Cassius's wolf as he had introduced himself, ran all night without stopping.
Cassidy stopped by a small stream and lowered itself so I could get off.
Then Cassius came back into his human form.
He was naked and covered in cuts and bruises. But he was alive.
"Are you hurt?" he asked.
I shook my head. "No. You saved me. Again."
He walked to the stream and splashed water on his face. The water turned pink with blood.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"Now we run. They'll send word to all the camps about us. We're enemies of the kingdom now."
"I'm sorry. This is my fault."
He looked at me. "No. It's mine. I should have been more careful."
"Why did you save me? You could have let them kill me and claimed you were still loyal."
"Because I couldn't." He said it like it was obvious.
"But I'm from Mesodomica. Your enemy."
"And you're my mate."
There was that word again. Mate.
"What does that mean exactly?" I asked.
"It means I would die before I let anyone hurt you. It means you belong with me, no matter what side of a war we're supposed to be on."
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