Chapter 45
I look up at him, confused. “What original plan?”
Ethan doesn’t answer, instead, he lifts his chin slightly, pointing at Marcus. He orders Kyle, “Get that piece of shit out of my sight and hand him over to the court, I don’t ever want to see his ugly face again!TM
“Yes, sir.” Kyle answers and drags Marcus away.
By now, Eli and Rafe have also snapped out of their earlier daze. However, Castor steps in front of them. “Your Majesties, please stay where or you might ruin the last hope for the Princess‘ woll”
Eli and Rafe exchange a look, but eventually, they choose to back down.
“Let’s get on with it while we have the Harvest Moon,” Ethan says to me,
Wha
you are
I haven’t finished my word, but Ethan has already grabbed my arm and used the dagger I’m holding to slice his forearm. Blood spurts out and he quickly places his forearm over the cauldron.
As if activated by
by the fresh blood, the golden glow of the Cauldron of Harvest brightens, making it more of a silver color now.
Ethan places his hand on the vessel, and in my widened eyes, I watch the blood from his forearm start to flow towards the cauldron and is absorbed by it
“To answer your question, Ariella,” he finally speaks as he continues to hold me tightly against his chest, “the original plan is me, since you don’t want to use Marcus‘ blood,”
So Ethan is trying to fill the Cauldron of Harvest with his own blood instead!
“Ethan! What are you thinking?!” I shout and try to place pressure on his wound, but he pushes me away. “You’ll die! No one can survive that amount of blood loss!”
“That’s why Castor is here.” Ethan nods at him
Castor places his hands on Ethan, letting loose a torrent of golden light.
“He heals while I bleed,” Ethan gives me an assuring smule. “No big deal.
Castor holds onto Ethan’s unwounded arm, but only after a little bit, thin sweat starts to form on the Duke’s forehead,
“How is it not a big deal?! You’re insane!”
Ethan doesn’t respond to my comments, so I glare at Castor.
Although a bit stressed due to the healing, Castor still decides to tell on his Alpha king and explains to me, “Ariella, don’t stare at me like that. I tried to talk His Majesty out of the idea, but he refused to listen to me. Later we found out Marcus was on the run and we realized that his blood could be a perfect alternative. Too bad that didn’t work out
I remembered Castor mentioned the lengths Ethan would go for me a couple nights ago. So this is what Ethan had planned to do to wake up my wolf all along?
For a moment, warmth flows through my heart, mixed with worry and guilt, making me at a loss for words.
“Don’t worry, Princess Castor winks at me. “As long as I remain concentrated, His Majesty is going to be okay.”
“Then shut up and do your work, Ethan says to Castor,
I step back hut my eyes can’t peel off from Ethan.
Although he makes it seem like it’s a piece of cake, there’s no way that’s the whole truth, otherwise, why would he need to involve Marcus to begin
with?
As Ethan’s blood flows into the cauldron, the bottom part of the cauldron starts to show a hint of scarlet, making the already stunning vessel even more awe–inspiring. It almost is like an indicator on how much of the cauldron is already filled.
As time passes, the scarlet tint slowly creeps up, gradually overtaking the cauldron’s golden glow. It feels like an eternity, but finally, the scarlet hue reaches the halfway mark. Despite my anxiety and uncasiness, everything appears to be progressing smoothly.until Ethan’s face turns pale and the cauldron’s glow turns into a bright shine.
The transformation occurs so fast that it catches everyone off guard, especially Eilan, whose knees buckle briefly. The only reason he doesn’t fall is
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Chapter 45
because I’m right beside him, offering the support he needs to stay upright.
As stunning the sight is, I can’t appreciate it, because suddenly, the blood starts to flood out from Ethan
five times
as fast as it has been.
By now, Ethan has regained his footing and his hand is still connected with the cauldron. However, regardless of his composed facade, I know he is suffering his suddenly paled face and the slight crease between his eyebrows betray his struggle.
“Shit!” Castor mutters under his breath as the glow from his palm intensifies. He must be pushing a large amount of healing power into Ethan in one go. While some color returns to Ethan’s face, it’s obvious that things are not going as well as they’ve hoped.
“What’s happening?” I ask in a panic.
“I’m healing as much as I can, but the cauldron is sucking his blood away too fast!” Castor shouts, panicked as well. He urges Ethan, “Your Majesty, at this rate-
Ethan interrupts him. “Keep going.”
The scarlet glow on the Cauldron of Harvest is three quarters now, but Ethan’s face is paling by the second.
I know exactly what Castor didn’t finish saying–at this rate, the cauldron will drain Ethan dry!
I reel from what is happening before me. This is insane,
Whar
rif Ethan dies from this? Do I still want my wolf at the cost of his life?
o it is not worth the potential father of my baby risking his life like thist
1 grab Ethan’s arm and start yanking him away from the cauldron but even in his weakened state I am unable to make him budge.
“Eli, kafe,” I call to my brothers. “Help!”
“No!” Ethan growls, looking straight into my eyes. “It’s almost there! Just a few more minutes”
He turns to Eli and Rafe and shouts, “If you want your sisters wolf, then stay the hell out of here!”
His words successfully stop my brothers in their tracks, but I’m not going to let Ethan die! I turn to Castor, “Castor, he’s your king! You don’t want him to commit suicide, right? Stop him!”
“Castor!” Ethan snarls. This is an order: do not end the ritual until the cauldron is filled.”
Castor grimaces, seemingly torn between his duty to protect his king and his king’s direct command, so he remains in silence and just focuses on pouring his healing energy into Ethan.
“Not Stop! Stop!”
Ethan’s face turns ashen, he starts panting and as he is collapsing, I quickly support him with my body, tears start to roll down my cheeks. I cry out,
“Ethan!”
The cauldron is at ninety percent, but the speed of Ethan’s blood loss is almost ten times as fast now. Even Castor is pale as a ghost. My brothers both run up, one holds up Ethan with me and the other provides support to Castor.
By the time the vessel is filled to the brim, Castor’s clothes are soaked through and his eyes are tightly shut.
Meanwhile, Ethan’s hand slips from the cauldron and his arm falls heavily to his side. His eyes roll back and his legs give in completely
“Ethan
Rafe and I quickly lower him to the ground, but my heart sinks–his body is as cold as ice!
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