Ch. 101..110

Chapter 101

She woke to find Zev staring down at her, his long, dark lashes outlining his eyes—which looked an even brighter blue than usual because his jaw was deeply shadowed by two days growth.

"Hey," she croaked, then realized she was leaning against him and sat up. "Sorry!" She rubbed her eyes and looked around. Dunken was gone and they were alone.

Her stomach trilled.

"I hope you slept okay. It wasn't the most comfortable bed."

"Are you kidding, laying on you is the best bed I can—" she clapped her hand over her mouth and stared at him wide eyed.

Zev's smile beamed, his eyes twinkling. "Well, same here," he said, then leaned in to kiss her.

Sasha whimpered a little bit and put a hand to his neck as the kiss turned soft and probing. She was the one to pull back, Zev's eyes opening more slowly to meet hers.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

She nodded. "I'm just… very aware of… everything," she said lamely. "This whole thing, Zev—what's happened to you since you've been gone, what's happening now. It's a lot."

He nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. But I'm going to clear it all up. I've been talking to Dunken. I'm going to have to challenge Xar and take Alpha," he said. "He's determined to remove you from me—I don't know why. Maybe just because he lost his mate and he can't stand the thought of someone else finding theirs. I don't know. But for whatever reason, I can't leave you here without me for so long. Dunken's going to help me, and some of the others will too."

"Help you do what?"

"Help me challenge him up front. Force him to acknowledge me. So I don't have to make it through all the other layers of the hierarchy first."

Sasha blinked. "If that was an option, why didn't you just start there?"

"Because it's risky. Fighting for dominance… it generally doesn't end in death, Sash. We do it to prove our strength, to find which of us is more determined, stronger—who has the most support from the clans. But if I take Xar out this way… he'll try to kill me. And he might not submit until I kill him. I hope it won't come to that. But at least it means we'll be together sooner, right?"

"Kill you? You'd kill him?"

"I don't want to," he reminded her. He turned to sit face her, cross legged in the dirt. "I didn't want any of this. But he's set me up now. The males… they're coming for you, Sash. As soon as you appear out there they're not going to hold back any more."

"They were holding back?"

Zev snorted. "A lot. The Alphas especially. They've been watching to see what would happen. But now… now they'll actively try to seduce you, to sway you from bonding with me."

"But… we're already bonded."

"It's a different kind of bond, Sash. Most of them don't even realize we have it. It doesn't smell the same. Until they see us together and we're past all this dramatic bullshit, they aren't going to recognize it. So just prepare yourself. You're going to gain a lot of male attention in the next twenty four hours."

"Why twenty-four? What's happening?"

"I promised I would give Dunken twenty-hours to spread the information, the truth, about what happened with the females so the Chimera that are willing to listen will be less likely to stand in my way. But after that… tomorrow night at the latest, I'm taking Xar down."

Sasha's heart swelled, half in pride at his confidence, and half with fear.

Her mind filled, suddenly, with visions of him fighting the way he'd fought that thing back in the parking lot—no hesitations, ruthless, snapping its neck in the end.

He would do that to Xar?

For her?

She couldn't decide if it was endlessly romantic, or the sickest thing she'd ever heard. Maybe both?

"What is it?" Zev asked suddenly, putting a hand to her arm. "What were you just thinking? Why do you smell like you're pulling away?"

"I don't want you to have to kill anyone, Zev! We should be able to just… to just walk into this… whatever we have, without someone else having to die for it."

"No one else will die unless they forced me to it, Sasha. But Chimera are not humans. Our traditions are different. If a male challenges you to the death, there is honor in it. If two are so strong that they can't beat each other without stealing life it means the Chimera was a strong adversary, and they'll be remembered for it."

"Doesn't he have kids, though? Didn't you say—"

Zev raked a hand through his hair, his face tight and disturbed. "I told you, Sash, I won't kill him unless it's the only way to live myself."

"Do you promise?"

"Promise what?"

"That you won't kill anyone unless they force you to? Unless they're going to kill you if you don't."

"Yes," he said simply, his brow lined. "Sasha I take no joy in killing anyone, ever. I will never take a life unless there's actual need. I can't say the same for Xar, though. He seems to be very invested in putting me in positions to die without dirtying his own hands, the fucker."

Something passed behind his eyes then, something that dragged him down and away—the same way he'd looked before he started shaking earlier. Sasha didn't even think about it, just reached for him, putting a hand to his neck and leaning close.

He blinked and focused on her, his smile creeping up hesitantly as he measured her for her intent.

Sasha swallowed. "I don't understand everything that's happening, Zev. Not here in this world, and not to you. I feel like what we need is time to just be together and talk. But I want you to know that I think… I believe in us. I want to be with you—I just feel… nervous. So if you promise me you won't go killing people who don't need killing, I'll promise you that… I'll keep my promise that I'm never going to give my heart to someone else. Okay?"

He stared, searching her eyes, and that glint of fear or rage whatever it had been, faded from his gaze.

"I was deceived, Sash. I was manipulated, and I wish I'd never left you. But you have my word—I won't kill anyone, except in defense of my own life, or yours. And once this is behind us… we're taking a break together, completely alone so we can be together and… just be. You're mine, Sasha, whether they recognize it or not. And I'm going to show you. I'm going to make sure there's never another day in your life where you have to doubt it."

Then he kissed her, and Sasha's heart wanted to explode.

 

Chapter 102

A strange dynamic settled into their little dirt and rock hidey-hole after those words.

Sasha found her heart fluttering and her body tingling as, whether they sat and talked, or stood and looked out of the view holes, they moved around each other with a new awareness.

When she leaned into the view hole, Zev moved to stand behind her, his body brushed hers every time he moved, one hand resting on the side of her thigh when he pointed with the other as he leaned over her shoulder to point out a landmark.

The back of her neck washed in goosebumps when his breath fluttered in her hair.

His voice got deeper.

Her stomach got butterflies.

And even though neither of them said anything about this strange, delicious tension, their eyes followed each other every time they moved around the space.

The morning passed into afternoon. And afternoon passed in endlessly slow hours, as they watched and waited for the humans to return and free the Chimera from their enforced confinement in the village square. But as the sun began its slow descent back towards the horizon, Sasha wished it would crawl even more slowly as her awareness of every ridge and ripple of Zev's body became more heightened. As every time his eyes raked down her form, she felt the look like fingers on her skin.

Their words got slower, the pauses in between got longer, and the tension crackling between them seemed so electric that Sasha felt like touching him would raise her hair off her shoulders.

It got darker in the fox hole as the sun fell to the level of the trees and deep shadows were thrown over their hiding place—and the square.

The males in the village were becoming restless, but Xar had disappeared with the humans, helping them, Zev said with a growl.

As early evening arrived, she'd just looked out of a view hole again to see if there was any movement, when she turned around to find Zev standing a foot away from her, staring down at her, a strange light in his eyes.

Not a strange light. A very recognizable light. A light that burned in heat.

Sasha swallowed hard. For a second she let herself remember that afternoon when they were little more than kids… Then she shook her head and turned back to the view hole, ignoring the slump in his shoulders when she did it, forcing herself to concentrate on something other than the desire wafting off of Zev like heat ripples off a desert road.

But then the hairs on her arms did stand up—and not because she wanted Zev as much as he wanted her. "The humans are back," she whispered.

Zev cursed and leaned over her to peer out, his jaw tightening as they watched the three humans, Xar, Lhars, and a couple other Chimera walk back towards the front of the square to address the now rippling crowd.

Sasha couldn't follow everything that was said, but it was obvious from the human's frowns, and Xar's tension, that they hadn't found anything.

The humans addressed the Chimera briefly, explaining that they would be returning the following week, but that if anything was found or either Sasha or Zev identified before then, that Xar had a way to contact them and they should tell him.

Sasha frowned. "How would he contact them?"

"He must send someone through," Zev whispered. His warm chest was against her back and she felt his voice rumble against her shoulder blades. It made her mouth dry.

It was dusk by the time the humans said their farewells and started on the hike back to the cave. Sasha expected that the moment they were out of sight the Chimera would scatter. But instead, the cooks lit the fires and everyone seemed to settle in—the males gathering in clusters of deep discussion.

"Why don't they move? Why aren't they leaving?" Sasha asked a few minutes later.

"Because they don't trust the humans to actually leave," Zev said darkly. "They'll stay there until the guards return and confirm they've passed into the gateway. That's when everything returns to normal."

"But… that will take hours!"

"An hour or two," Zev said, his hands coming to rest on her hips. "They'll shift to run back, so they'll return a lot faster than they'll take to get out there with the humans on foot.

Sasha groaned. "Two hours?"

"Maybe less. Why? Are you sick of me?"

"No, of course not!" she turned around to reassure him, but instead, she froze.

Zev was right behind her and when she turned, it was to find him grinning down at her. His big hands rested on her hips. When she froze, he tightened his grip and pulled her closer, dropping his chin so they were almost nose to nose.

Sasha swallowed hard.

"We better make the most of it," he whispered, then raised his hand to comb her hair back from her face.

She licked her lips and his eyes dropped to her mouth. A tiny, tiny growl puttered in his throat.

She put one hand to his chest—flat on that broad, steely plane under his collarbone. She was hesitant, her fingers half-curled. Not because she didn't want touch him—she ached to do it. But because… something held her back.

"Sash?" he breathed.

"Yeah?"

"I really want to kiss you."

She snorted. "You already have. Several times."

"No, I mean… I want to really kiss you." His breathing was becoming more rapid and his eyes locked on hers, full of his intention and the weight of what he meant. "I don't want you going out there to face those… those… dogs in heat without knowing exactly how I feel about you."

Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. "I… I do know," she rasped.

But Zev shook his head. "No, you don't. You're still questioning. And I get it. I do. But I can't stand the idea that you're going to be walking around for the next day without me and maybe those questions become doubts, or maybe someone else catches your eye and… I just need to show you. Please."

He'd leaned in so close she was having trouble focusing on his eyes. Somehow her hand had come up to his neck. She curled her fingers against his cheek, let her nails catch on the scruff of his jaw so the scritch of them echoed in the silent space.

"What… how would you… what is it you want to show me?" she asked breathlessly, everything within her pulling towards him, urging her lean into his chest, to take his mouth, to take him into her body and never let him go.

His hands were at her back now, their bellies pressed together and tingles chased themselves up and down Sasha's thighs.

"This," Zev said, his voice deep and rough, then he took her face in his hands, and laid his lips on hers, so softly.

At first, as she opened to him, her heart fluttered with simple longing, a wave of heat that had always been right on the edge of her consciousness when Zev was around.

But suddenly, images bloomed in her head—images she didn't know. Pictures of herself… herself at seventeen, and eighteen—and alongside them, feelings… Zev's feelings.

Her impish smile over a plate of syrupy French toast and the warmth it drew in his chest to see her happy. Her eyes sparkling when they passed in the hall at school and how it made him feel like beating his chest.

Her head thrown back and her mouth open with sheer pleasure as their bodies rocked together, and the overwhelming wave of devotion that threatened to break his ribs—

"Zev!" she gasped, pulling away. "Stop it! That's not fair!"

 

Chapter 103

It felt like Sasha was tearing off his skin when she pulled away. But he let her take her space and made himself meet her eyes.

Thinking about how the males were going to see her now—as a challenge to him, as well as a prize to be won—had kicked his instincts into gear and everything within him fizzed with the desire to take her, to own her before all the Chimera. His Alpha wanted to howl his possession—and dominate her so she'd concede to his claiming.

But he'd always sworn he'd never use that against her.

"I'm not trying to manipulate you, Sash," he murmured, tracing that gorgeous line down her neck with his thumb. "I want you to see my thoughts, my heart. I want you to know. If you're alone tonight and thinking about me, I want you thinking about how much I love you, not how much I hurt you."

"But you did hurt me, Zev!"

"I know. I know. I'm not saying you can just forget about that. But… fuck, Sash, let me show you why. Let me show you how it was—and why I did it, so you can at least understand."

"I… okay," she whispered, staring at him, her eyes wide pools of warring fear and hope.

He cupped her face with his hands—physical connection would let him communicate the feelings more deeply—and stared into her eyes. "I never wanted to leave you for a second, Sash. You have to know that. Not once."

She bit her lip as he shared his memories…

…That conversation with Nick, and the horrifying images he'd had in his head of all the ways Sasha might die or get hurt…

Her breath sucked in when she saw the graphic way he imagined that teacher taking her.

Then he showed her the day the Team had arrived in Thana, when he was tall and proud as Alpha, so full of his power he was preparing to resist their use of the gateway, to give himself to the Chimera completely… but they'd lost three offspring in as many months, and the Team were helping the mothers recover. And then they'd convinced him that he had to visit Nick, that there was something they'd found that was life and death for the Chimera.

He'd been so stupid to trust Nick… so na?ve.

But he'd seen it with his own eyes—the Chimera in the lab, wasting away. The strange mutations that were occurring because fully adult Chimera had somehow flipped a switch in their genetics and the Team didn't know how to switch it back. How it was only a matter of time until someone in Chimera mutated as well and the only way they could study this was to have offspring, more offspring. To study the development of their genetic codes as they aged and identify what had changed in these individuals…

He'd been terrified, asking Nick if he was at risk.

"No, no. Not you. But you're the only one, Zev, that's the point. We got something different with you and we don't know why, or how. You have to pass on your genetics and we have to hope that's what will save them. Because you're the only one who doesn't have the marker for it, and…"

He'd descended into scientific jargon then that Zev had been too stressed, or too distracted to take in. But he understood enough to know… the Chimera that were Zev's age or younger were going to start dying. And unless the Team could figure out why, it spelled the end of their people.

"If we can't turn this around, our owners will pull the plug on the program. We'll have to abandon Thana and leave you all to die. We have to prove we have an antidote to it, Zev, and you're it."

And he'd stood there, knowing it meant leaving his people, understanding that Nick was scared—but also putting pressure on him. He wasn't unaware. He was just… willing to be convinced. Because then he used his own leverage for his own means. Because in the end, he was his "father's" son.

"Give me Sasha," he said gruffly, a trickle of his alpha authority resonating in the room.

Nick gave him a sharp look because he recognized it. But he didn't say anything.

"You can't have her, Zev. She's not yours."

"You know what I mean. Make me her watcher."

"Do I look like an idiot?" Nick laughed—too hard.

Zev didn't even crack a smile. "No more photos. No more videos. I want access."

"The minute you show up in her sphere they yank her, Zev, I told you."

"I don't mean that I'll talk to her. I just mean, you let me be the one handling her case."

Nick eyed him suspiciously. "You're telling me you think you can watch her without touching her? Without talking to her? Bullshit."

"It'll be easier than this," Zev snapped. "Always wondering where she is, what she's doing, if she's safe. At least if I'm watching, I have access. I can make sure she's okay—your guys can't even tell if she's distressed. I can!"

"The only reason we're watching her is to keep you away from her, Zev," Nick pointed out.

"So, call it… therapy. You let me take care of keeping her safe. I do what you need…"

"And stay no contact?"

"None. She won't even know I'm there."

Nick's jaw rolled. "Then you're going on operations, too. You have to learn how to track in urban environments. And if we train you in that, we need to use you or they'll yank our funding."

It had tickled in the back of his mind, then, that Nick had rolled over far too easily. That maybe this—getting Zev active in the covert operations, their original goal for him—had more to do with why they were pulling him out of Thana than Nick was letting on.

But he hadn't examined it. He'd been too full of his own arrogance and knowledge. He was twenty-one years old, stronger than any human male he'd ever met, and he was going to get to see Sasha, in the flesh, for the first time in two years. He'd stifled his instincts and not let himself question.

And it had brought them all down.

But it had also brought him back to Sasha…

 

Chapter 104 -

It was alive in her head. All of it. She could feel the tension in Zev's chest, smell the stale cigarette smoke that still clung to Nick's jacket even though he wasn't a smoker. She could feel the fizzing tension in the older man.

And she could feel the ache in Zev whenever her face popped into his mind.

While he negotiated with the man who felt like the closest thing he had to a father, she could feel his nerves—and his hope, because he'd spoken her name and Nick hadn't shut it down. After two years… he imagined seeing her, watching her smile, making sure she was safe… and how even that little bit felt like it filled a hole in his chest.

Then she felt the bottom fall out of his stomach when he asked himself if she'd found anyone else yet.

And as she watched through Zev's memory, through his heart, she saw the wary glint in the other man's eyes.

She saw the flash of triumph when Zev agreed to train for the covert work in the city. And she felt Zev discard the niggling worry that he was being manipulated, because the thrill he felt when he thought of seeing her was so overwhelming, nothing else mattered.

Standing there in that little dirt hole, Sasha wanted to fold into a ball and weep for what they'd both lost. She wanted to slap him in the face and ask how he could have been so easily fooled—and she wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him silly for being willing to make himself so miserable just to keep her safe—and his people, too.

They'd used his soft heart and generous nature against him. She could see it. It was something they'd argued about a few times when they were young. She'd watched him to be kind to girls that were only trying to get him away from her—but he didn't even realize. Because they didn't flirt. They cried. They didn't act angry or jealous of her, but like she was a friend.

They didn't touch him, they just yearned with their eyes.

She'd known from the very first day that he was far too trusting of their motives, but he'd been hurt when she tried to tell him that they were fooling him.

And now she'd just watched the men in his life do the same thing.

She'd been so hurt for so long, and had so many people telling her all the ways he'd fooled her, she'd stopped believing in his heart. His heart that she knew—that she understood.

No matter how strong he might be, Zev was a lover. He was her lover. Of course he would have taken steps to protect her if he was certain her life was in danger. And she knew it had been. Probably still was. Those images in his mind… she'd felt them. They were real. Things he'd known and seen and… things that had changed him.

When that man, Nick, told him about those other men, the conviction in Zev's heart was real, and unwavering.

The man wasn't lying.

Of course he would have left if he'd thought that's what was waiting for her if he didn't. Of course he had.

"Oh, Zev," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't believe in you."

*****

~ ZEV ~

He blinked back to the present and realized Sasha was weeping. Had he squeezed her too tightly? Let images from his operations bleed through—or worse, the breeding arena?

"Shhhhhh, Sash. Please don't cry."

But as he searched her eyes, shining, her eyelashes fluttering as she tried to blink the tears away, she rasped, "Oh, Zev. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't believe in you."

Stunned, he gaped at her. "What do you mean? I was the one who left. I knew what that would do to you. Sash, I just wanted you to see that I really thought I was protecting you—"

She threw herself into his chest. He wrapped her in his arms, dropping his lips to her hair.

"Hey, hey, you weren't supposed to cry."

"I could feel it, Zev," she whispered against his slick, black shirt. "I could feel how much you love me. How hard it was for you… that's what it was like for me too. Except I didn't understand." She covered her face and pressed herself into his chest and Zev felt his own eyes pinching at her grief. "I'm sorry I listened to those people who didn't know you like I did. I'm sorry. I knew—when you first left I knew, I knew something had to have happened. That you'd never leave me unless you'd been forced, or… or…" She dissolved into sobs and Zev's heart twinged with pain.

"Sash, don't cry. Please, baby. I just wanted you to be certain of me."

"I am," she blubbered, pulling out of his chest. "I still want to kick your ass for leaving without telling me, but… but I get it… And I love you too, Zev. I love you too!"

His mouth fell open. She'd said it hesitantly. She'd talked about her love in the past tense. She'd even talked about hope for the future. But this… this was the kind of love she'd given him for a year and half before he left. It was all of herself. No barriers. She'd surrendered herself to him then, and she did it again now, throwing herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face there, under his chin, begging him to forgive her for not holding on to what she'd known.

His throat pinched and he swallowed over and over, his chest expanding with hope and love and… a little bit of fear.

Because she really was here. It was his dream come true. And there were so many things in this world that threatened to turn it into a nightmare.

But instead of focusing on that, he pulled her in tight and stroked her hair, shushing her and wiping her tears when she looked up at him.

She was back. And she was his. Finally.. She was his.

 

Chapter 105

Zev could feel it in her—and scent it, too—the way she'd stopped holding herself back. Hope roared in his heart like a feast bonfire, crackling and dancing, screaming to anyone who was watching that she was there, and open, and fully his.

And then she took his face in her hands and pulled him down and she devoured him—her lips on his, her tongue searching, her breath breaking in near-sobs, half-cries as she sought and sought.

Her onslaught was so intense, so immediately, Zev was taken off guard. It took him a moment to register her fingers clawing into his scalp, her mouth open and warm, pulling him in.

But then he caught her scent, and that hot thread of desire woven between the exhaustion and confusion and tension—everything else falling away in the face of that heat as it rose.

She whimpered, and something within him snapped.

Leaning down to circle her back and pull her in tight, he tilted his head to take her mouth deeper, his breath thundering against her cheek.

Her hands scrabbled at his back, like she wanted to pull him into herself—and that thought brought an image of her on that one, glorious afternoon they'd shared… her flushed skin and hooded eyes, her hair mussed and falling over her face, her mouth open and calling his name.

With a growl, Zev pulled her up into his chest, off her feet, walking her backwards to the stones that made the wall behind her and sitting her on the edge of one boulder, positioning himself between her knees so she wouldn't slip—and she couldn't escape—with a groan he fisted her hair and pulled her head back, dropping his chin to kiss his way down her jaw, to her neck, nipping at her skin and tonguing the space behind her collarbone when she arched back and offered him her throat.

It was a picture, a gesture, so deeply intimate and trusting, Zev had to take a moment. To stop and take her in. He raised his head, his chest heaving, jaw slack and looked at her. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling, her arms extended because her fingers were laced behind his neck.

Unable to resist, he traced the line from the point of her chin, down her throat, the arch of her neck, to that hollow between her clavicles, and a low growl of approval puttered in his throat that shifted to a deep call—rough and rasping, a resonant cry of mate to mate, her name in the language of wolves. His heart's song.

Sasha's body twitched and she gasped, her eyes flying wide. "What was that?" she whispered, blinking like she'd been happily shocked, one hand on his neck, the other sliding down to palm his chest.

Zev shuddered. "That's what you sound like in my heart," he rasped. "Because I belong to you. That's the sound my heart makes when I think of you."

Her brows rose and she looked like she might cry again. But Zev wouldn't let her fall into grief over what they'd lost, or where they'd been. Desperate to be close, always closer, he pulled her face up and took her mouth.

He needed her. Needed to claim her. She was his. The idea of another male displaying for her, touching her, brushing her skin—

Zev snarled and his fingers on her back tightened.

She gasped again and her fingers clawed into his shoulders as he ground against her. "Zev! Dear Lord—"

"Please, Sasha, I can't have them scent you and touch you… you're mine," he groaned, then dove to suck on the spot her neck met her shoulder.

Her breath shuddered out of her and she clung to him again. "I thought you said… if we did it… they could… tell and… problems?" she stammered.

Zev smiled against her skin and sucked harder, growling again when goosebumps rose under his lips. It was warm in the small room and she'd taken her jacket off earlier, so he only had to pull at the neckline of her shirt to bare her shoulder completely—and the top swell of her breast where her skin was pale and so, so soft.

"They will," he rasped, taking her mouth, then speaking against her lips. "But I don't care. I have to… the other males… you can't…"

"Agreed," she blurted, then sighed when he moaned and grabbed her hips, pulling her hard against him as they rocked together. Her breath caught and one of her hands pinched on his bicep, her nails digging into his muscle as she fought the pull to be nearer.

Desire jangled in his veins and his body stood to attention at the sheer beauty of her. He couldn't stop stroking—her hair, her back, down her side, gripping her hip, clawing at her back—and everywhere he touched, she arched into it, like a cat.

That had to be the first time he'd thought that word with a groan of desire.

Then they found each other again with lips and tongue, and he was lost in the heat of her breath, and the tiny cries she made when his hands found the hem of her shirt and slid underneath it, her skin prickling and rippling under his touch as he slowly, slowly pulled it up, his hands sliding up her sides until she lifted her arms, then he stroked up those too, taking the soft woolen fabric up until he had to tug it past her chin and her hair was dragged off her face and up, to cascade down around her shoulders and breasts.

Her nipples stood up, hard and rosy, calling for his touch.

Holy shit. She wasn't wearing a bra.

He gaped down at her, struggling to take her in, to believe she was really there and offering herself, that they were going to do this here, with the entire Chimera just a hundred feet away and…

And that's when it hit him.

An entire village of males just one hundred feet away, and his mate half naked and stinking of desire.

His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. "Put your shirt back on!" he hissed, scrambling to unwind it from the fist he had in it, ready to toss it over his shoulder. "They're coming!"

"What?!" she whisper-screamed. "Who's coming?"

"Half the fucking village—Zev, what the hell were you thinking?!" Dunken growled, his head popping up from the hole over the trail.

Sasha shrieked and threw her arms around herself to hide her breasts, hissing at him to give her back the shirt.

But a deep, rolling snarl of protection and possession erupted from Zev and he whirled, putting himself between her and Dunken, one hand lashing out to grab his friend by the throat and pull him up until they were eye to eye.

Dunken's face was red and he coughed, but he didn't fight.

"Get. Out!" Zev roared in a guttural snarl, tossing him back down the hole and leaning over it, his teeth bared.

Dunken, coughing and his eyes red, glared back at him, but didn't back away.

"They can smell her, Zev, and they're coming.. Get your head in the game otherwise you're going to die."

 

Chapter 106

A single, slavering howl rose outside, quickly followed by a hundred more.

"Shit. SHIT."

Zev snapped his head around to make sure Sasha was covered, then peered out of one of the view holes. Sure enough, the males were moving away from the square and towards the fox hole—some, those with mates, or too old to care that they didn't have them—were trying to slow the others, to distract them. But the wolves paced the line of males that were attempting to hold everyone back and the numbers were growing. They would be there soon.

"Shit!"

"What's going on?" Sasha's head popped through the neck of her shirt and she yanked it down, her cheeks bright red and eyes shining. She was shivering with both desire and fear, and his wolf wanted to howl—and to snarl. To claim her. To fight and win.

"They could smell your desire for me," he muttered, stalking to another view hole to peer out again. "They're coming to display for you. And if I don't let them, they'll gang up and kill me."

"WHAT?!" Sasha scrambled off the boulder and pulled him to face her. "What the hell, Zev?! Then let them do their displays or whatever! I'll just say no!"

"I can't do it, Sash. You don't understand—I can't let them touch you like that."

"I won't do anything! I don't want any of them!"

"I know, but… I know… but it's just..." With a tortured growl, his hands fisted and his body shivered as his mind showed him all the ways she would be touched. All the scents left on her skin. All the ways her head might be turned…

He shook his head. He had to think! He couldn't let his wolf take over, he'd end up fighting the entire pack on the spot—and he'd lose. He was good, but not that good. Not against whole crowds of wolves at once.

Zev shuddered. He had to keep it together. He had to be careful.

He had to win her.

"Let me do this. Tell me what to do! I can handle it!" she said hurriedly, picking up her jacket and was putting it on.

Zev's chest wanted to crack open at the scent of resolution and determination that rose from her, the set of her jaw. She wanted to fight for them too.

Holy fuck he loved her.

"Zev," she said, her eyes flashing. "You can't do this alone. Let me help or… whatever it is I can do. Just tell me."

A tiny whine broke in his throat, but he knew she was right. He had to let her do this, no matter how it tortured him. She was zipping up the jacket like it was armor when he took her by the shoulders and leaned down to hold her eyes and let her see how serious he was.

"Listen," he muttered. "You get out there and you head straight for your house. You just start walking and let them do what they're going to do. If they stop you, you pause and take the display, but then you move on."

"What are these displays?"

Zev blew out a breath. "They're going to touch you and scent you and tempt you. They're going to attempt to seduce you."

Her eyes went wide. "Touching? Will they… try to… undress me or—"

"No! No!" he rushed to reassure her. "They want to show themselves off—try to catch your eye. They may even fight in front of you to prove their strength and hope that you'll choose them. Touch is natural for a Chimera. We are free with our bodies. Their touches will be to tempt, not to violate. But… You can't do anything. You can't smile. You can't speak. You can watch—you have to watch—but then you walk away."

"I'll just ignore them—"

"No, Sasha, listen. They won't stop now. They think I betrayed them and removed the other females from them. They do this as much to challenge me as to tempt you. You have to see them, you understand? They have to see you seeing them—but then when they're done, you turn away or walk away or… you just make it plain that you dismiss their attention. One by one. And if you find them attractive… they'll know. So even if they… even if they make you desire, you shake your head and move on."

"Zev," she said softly, one hand on his chest, "I don't want anyone else. I just want you."

He groaned and stole a brief kiss, letting his tongue curl to hook her lip, then rested his forehead on hers, both hands in her hair. "You can't lie about this, Sasha. Attraction is chemical. I won't… it isn't a betrayal to notice a handsome male. But choosing… choosing not to entertain his interest. Choosing not to linger… please don't linger on any of them."

"I won't." She shook her head. "I won't, Zev."

He swallowed and nodded. "And if Lhars, or any of the other Alphas display you have to watch them. You have to be seen to consider them, you understand? You give them your full attention and you watch."

"How will I know who the Alphas are?"

"You'll know because all the other males will back off when one of them steps in to take your attention. And they have to be acknowledged. But only acknowledged, not pleased, you understand? If they question, you answer, but you don't smile—you don't give anything! Not even manners!"

She stroked his neck and chest, shushing him. "I won't. I promise I won't. Relax, Zev. I don't want them. I'll just tell them all no. Please… please don't try to fight them all. You don't need to."

He grimaced. "I might not have a choice. The Alphas don't have to acknowledge me yet. I'm unseen to them. If I jump one of them, the others will come to their aide—"

"Then you stay here and I'll go out there and we'll get this out of the way and then… tonight… you'll be at the bathing pools again?"

"Oh, fuck, Sash—"

"Please, Zev. I can do this. Let me handle it."

"It's a good idea, Zev," Dunken said, still standing on the ground below the entrance hole. Zev shot a glare at him over her shoulder, but his friend only rolled his eyes. "You can't win this by getting yourself killed, Zev. If she's going to be your mate, you're going to have to trust her sometime."

"It's not her I don't trust," he growled. "It's—"

Dunken ducked down suddenly, then popped back up. "They're almost here. The ranks are breaking. She needs to get out here so she has space, otherwise this will get ugly."

Zev snarled, but forced himself not to leap down the hole and confront the first of the males to reach the fox hole. Instead he turned back to Sasha, taking her face in his hands and kissing her, then pulling her into his chest.

"I'll be there," he said. "I won't interfere, but I'll be there. Just look for me. I'm not leaving you," he whispered into her hair.

She nodded and her heart sped up.

"I'll watch too," Dunken said. "I can step between if they start fighting near her."

Zev slumped. "Thank you, friend."

Then he met Sasha's wide, worried eyes again and gritted his teeth. "Go," he said. "Just… choose me, Sasha. Please.. Choose me."

 

Chapter 107

Dunken helped her keep her feet going down the hole to get outside.

It was brighter outside—still dusky, but more light than there'd been in the fox hole. The land dipped down to that little creek, then back up the other side. She could hear howls still rising—louder out here—and growls and barks. Were they going to do this displaying in the wolf forms she wondered nervously.

"You're a good female, Sasha," Dunken said as he led her back up the land on the other side of the creek, and towards the pile of boulders and trees, toward the village, the direction that even she could hear the footsteps and voices approaching from. "Just be resolved that they aren't for you. Like Zev said, don't smile or be inviting. The rest is up to them."

She nodded, but her breath was coming quickly and her heart trilling as they climbed the pile of boulders and began leaping from rock to tree trunk to rock down the other side.

Sasha stopped for a moment to breathe once she found a flat top on a rock where she wouldn't lose her balance. She looked up towards the village and cursed.

A crowd of men was spreading out in front of her, pushing past the few that had their backs to her and were trying to slow the others, breaking through that line, those at the front began to run—fast, faster than she'd seen a man run before—and reached the bottom of the rocks where she stood within seconds.

Sasha wasn't sure what she'd expected when Zev said the males were going to display, but it wasn't that she would be mobbed by a hundred men or more, all pushing each other aside to draw closer, their eyes alight with an edge that chilled her, while animal snarls and howls broke the deepening dark.

Dunken returned to her rock and stood at her shoulder. "They will touch, but they will not… violate you," he repeated. "You are not unsafe. Zev is not the only male that would defend you if anyone didn't respect the boundaries," he murmured.

Sasha nodded. "So I just… walk out there?"

The men stood in a dense crowd, watching her. She swallowed hard.

"Do you know the way to your house from here?" Dunken asked.

"Sort of. I mean, it's that way," she said, flapping her hand vaguely to the other side of the village and a little right.

Dunken nodded. "You see where the peak of the mountain rises between the tops of those two trees?"

"Yes."

"Following that line will lead you to the edge of the village, to the trail behind your house that leads to the bathing pools. You'll be able to find it from there."

"Thank you," she breathed.

"Good luck," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice which was so rare that she turned to look at him.

His face was completely straight, but she couldn't shake the feeling he was on the edge of laughter. "What's funny?"

"You'll see," he said, his lips twitching up on one side.

Sasha gave him a flat look, but he lost the twinkle in his gaze and nodded tipped his head towards the men.

"Delaying will only heighten their anticipation," he said quietly. "Best that you… give them their moments."

Sasha blew out a breath, then stepped off the rock and down one, two, three boulders, and over a dead tree until her boots crunched in the snow on the ground.

The males inched forward, making a hesitant semi-circle around her, watching her as if waiting for a signal. But she didn't know what it was they expected, so remembering Zev's warning to just keep walking for home, and Dunken's directions, she fixed her eyes on that mountain peak, and was about to step forward, when a deep, guttural snarl rose behind her, echoing across the near-silent space. The males didn't move, but they all tensed and some eyes flickered up, over Sasha's shoulder.

Sasha turned quickly to find in the waning light, the form of Zev stepping down to the boulder where she'd stood a moment earlier, his body disappearing in that black suit against the deepening dark of the forest beyond. But his eyes…

His eyes glowed, catching the light and reflecting it back like a wild-animal in the dark.

Sasha's heart leaped, but she knew she couldn't run back to him—if she threw herself into his arms, she'd be forcing him to fight for her and she didn't want him to have to fight anymore. So she took a deep breath, turned back and stepped forward towards that peak.

Surprisingly, seeing the course she took, the men all shifted, making space for her to walk through the crowd as she approached the line of them.

Sasha blinked. Had Zev been wrong? Did they, perhaps, not want her at all? Were they just going to let her walk through them and head to her house?

But just as she reached the first line of men and stepped in between them, they closed ranks behind her until she was completely surrounded and while the space in front of her was left clear, the men in the direction she was going did not move to make room for her to pass.

She frowned, but remembered that she wasn't to speak or invite anything from them, so without any other option, she just kept walking.

Ten feet before she hit line of men that would block her path, one of them stepped from her right to stand in front of her.

He was shorter than Zev, but heavily muscled if the breadth of his shoulders was anything to go by. Swathed in furs, she couldn't see much beyond his face.

But then he flashed a smile, his teeth and eyes white in the dark and he bowed slightly from the waist, dipping his head.

Then he reached back with one hand to pull his thick shirt—jacket?—from behind his neck and tugged it forward, over his head, and off until he stood in front of her, naked from the waist up, his muscles—just as ridged and defined as Zev's—gleaming in the moonlight.

Sasha swallowed as he prowled forward, his eyes locked on hers.

Chapter 108

There was a moment, before the male brushed up against her, that Sasha almost laughed. As this rippling god of a man stalked towards her with the rolling gait of a predator and it occurred to her how ridiculous this would look to anyone from her life. For a split-second she saw herself through eyes of someone from her world: A young woman, alone, surrounded by strong and handsome men who were, apparently, going to be offering a free strip show…

But the male was deadly serious, she could see, his eyes bright and smile flashing. And as he moved, he sucked in his stomach, moving his arms and chest to make his muscles ripple.

That hysterical laughter tried to bubble in her throat as the male finally reached her, walking right up to her toes. He stopped in front of her, forcing her to stop walking as well, and they stared at each other.

She almost opened her mouth to ask him what he wanted, but she remembered Zev's warning not to speak, and clenched her teeth. No matter how awkward—or hilarious—this might be, she needed to just let it happen around her.

Then she swallowed as the guy lifted one of his hands to stroke the underside of her forearm, his fingers trailing down the inside of her sleeve, from her elbow to the wrist.

Sasha's breath caught in shock, and his eyes flashed again.

"I am Erghan. A hunter. A wolf," he said, his voice low and husky, eyes hooded. "Strong and healthy. You will never go hungry, but fill those holes in your cheeks and the rounds of your ass, plump and ready for summer."

Sasha blinked—was he saying she was too skinny?

But before she could consider that, the guy leaned in and whispered, "… and for babes."

His eyebrow levered up to make the statement suggestive, and Sasha had to cover a spluttering laugh with a cough.

Not to be deterred, the male slipped to her side, facing her, his chest brushing her upper arm, then shoulder-blades as he circled her, inhaling her scent.

"Your scent is heavenly, like the Jasmine blossoms in the spring—"

But Sasha had just realized that by moving, he'd given her some space and she could walk forward a few steps. So she did.

The nearest males howled, laughing and teasing the guy who hadn't followed her, but was apparently now the target of jeers and jokes as she walked away from him.

He didn't stay at her back, didn't follow when she moved.

Was that all it took? Did she just have to stay quiet and walk away from them? She could do that!

Stifling a smile she kept walking, one foot in front of the other, until she reached the first line of men who now blocked her way. The guy directly in front of her met her gaze, his arms folded across his chest. He was older than Sasha, his temples just barely peppered with gray. His eyes were ice-blue and his dark hair mussed. He stood head and shoulders taller than her, and rather than the showy flattery of the previous guy, his smile seemed… quietly confident.

"You're very beautiful," he said in a voice like honeyed butter. Sasha swallowed and waited, forcing her face to a flat, expressionless gaze as the guy leaned into her space without unfolding his arms. "The young are not strong enough for you, the old do not have enough life left in their pricks. You need a true male, strong and certain of himself, young enough to father, but old enough to match your will. I am a scout, and a woodworker. I fight to keep others safe and will protect you." Then he dropped his voice to a whisper and leaned into her ear. "And I have very talented fingers," he rasped, then turned his head so his nose brushed the corner of her jaw.

Sasha flinched, not expecting the intimate touch, though he'd kept his arms folded and wasn't reaching for her.

It was instinct to side-step him, to pull away from the invasion of her space and move around him, and once again the men howled and laughed, shoving and jostling the guy who had tried to attract her. Sasha stepped into a gap between the men, and once again they opened to let her pass—and once again only allowed her a short amount of space, opening in a circle around her to let another male step forward.

For the first five or six, it was almost comical—the stripping of clothing, the seductive voices, the sparkling eyes and flexed muscles. When Kyelle had said the males would display, she hadn't been exaggerating. One even stripped down to what she could only describe as a loin-cloth and began to dance.

The urge to laugh closed her throat and brought tears to her eyes. For a moment she closed them, wondering if this was all some stupid, erotic dream her frustrated body had conjured because she wanted Zev so badly.

But no. When she opened her eyes, the men were all still there, and she was still walking slowly through them—and now she could feel eyes on the back of her neck.

Eyes that yearned and burned. Eyes that she knew, if she turned, were the brightest blue, outlined in another blue so dark it was almost black. Eyes that shone in the dark because they picked up so much light. And that sat in the most handsome face she'd ever seen, over a chiseled jaw that she yearned to curl her fingers into again.

Thoughts of Zev had her turning her head to find him, hear heart beating faster, and that space between her thighs throbbing when her mind turned back to way he'd kissed her in the fox hole. To how close she'd come to—

"No, Sasha!" her favorite voice growled from somewhere behind her. She turned to find him, to ask with her eyes, when Zev's voice bloomed in her mind: You can't let yourself get aroused—it will only encourage them!

Sasha blinked as something shifted in the crowd, and suddenly the males pulled in around her, closer, their eyes predatory.

 

Chapter 109

Watching those males touch her and stroke her, whisper in her ear, leaving their scents on her, it had all conspired to make every muscle in his body tense and his jaw ache because he clenched it so hard his teeth wanted to crack.

He'd stayed at the back, behind the last line of males to watch over her and make sure she remained safe. But it was costing him more energy to hold himself back, to not roar into the fray and beat all these males away from her.

Then Joyte ran his nose along her jaw and she startled—out of fear or discomfort.

A low growl began in Zev's chest and several of the males in front of him flinched. They were low enough ranked to be forced to acknowledge him, and they knew that sound. Knew that it meant he was on the edge of violence.

They submitted their positions in the pack and let him draw closer, deeper into the crowd, until he was only a few rows behind her.

He shouldn't be there. He knew he shouldn't. Dunken had hissed at him to leave when this began. But this was only going to get worse. But he couldn't remain so far away when she was uncertain. He couldn't let her feel that he'd abandoned her to it. The males wouldn't harm her, he knew. But he also knew in her world that those touches, this kind of uninvited attention, would be cause for alarm. She needed to know she had someone there who understood, and would help if it became too much for her.

The lower ranked males had already given away and those who stepped forward now were becoming bolder—one even danced. He was beautiful in his forms, and his body an excellent example. In any other circumstance Zev would have laughed, knowing how the male impressed the Chimera, yet left Sasha baffled. She stepped beyond him without a word, completely unaware that that simple gesture had just kicked the competitive nature of each of the males into overdrive.

She was a true challenge, and the pack blood boiled for her.

But none of them knew her as he did. They misunderstood her signs because they read her as they would read a Chimera.

Her averted eyes and hurried dismissals were discomfort—that tang in her scent, frustration and a blade of fear. But the males took it as if she sought someone else. As if she had not yet found the male that could hold her attention.

Which, he supposed, was true. Because the attention she wanted was his.

He let himself linger on her then, watching the back of her neck as she hesitated, looking for a way forward while all the males inched closer.

His teeth set against the desire to leap into the crowd and fight for her, he only watched. Caressed her hair with his eyes.

She dropped her chin and her shoulders rose and fell, as if she'd taken a deep breath. Had they been alone, he might have whined, to feel her pain with her—to let her know that she was not alone. To encourage her not to give up.

But then the entire pack froze as her scent rose among them, tantalizing and sweet.

The hair on the back of Zev's neck stood up as every male around him tensed.

No.

That musky, gorgeous aroma of her wanting, the scent he'd been bathed in back in the fox hole—his favorite smell in the world, but not here. Not now.

He almost said her name, had to swallow the word. But then her scent spiked and despair broke in his chest.

"No, Sasha!" he snarled under his breath. Too quiet, he thought, for her to hear him. But she startled and looked over her shoulder, searching for him, he was certain.

And as the males closest to her began to pant, he growled in her head, 'You can't let yourself get aroused—it will only encourage them!'

But it was too late. Too late.

Zev growled again—and rose into a snarl when the males behind were drawn forward. They fell back again, submitting, but it wasn't enough.

The males nearest her, those of higher rank, had caught the wind of her desire now, and they closed in, jostling each other, snapping and whining as they wrestled to get closer.

Sasha gasped when a fight broke out between two, just feet from her, pulling back in fright until she ran into other males on her other side and disappeared from his view behind them. Had she tripped? Or been embraced?

Zev cursed under his breath.

None of the males would hurt her—they wanted her to see their strength, their willingness to provide, their capability—but in her world this would look like chaos. It would look like the lone female was at highest risk.

And the truth was, he couldn't discount it. The males had no desire to hurt or alarm her, but when their instincts took over and they began to fight with real intent? If they shifted and fought as wolves? Sasha would not respond as a Chimera female—she would not stay in place to watch, examine how the males dominated one another.

Sasha would try to escape and in so doing, might put herself in the path of others who fought, or hadn't realized she was so close.

Zev's heart thundered in his chest. He snarled again—not holding back, warning any who were close that the Alpha was there and would not accept any harm to her, for any reason.

But he was no longer surrounded by the weak males. He'd ventured into those who were ranked, and highly sought. Those who could look at Alpha in the eye and own their own strength before him.

Those who knew he hadn't yet earned back his authority.

Around him a dozen males whipped to face him, their snarls answering his.

"No!" Sasha cried when she saw their attention shift and followed their gazes to Zev. "Don't fight!"

But none of the males would heed that. Zev stood, feet shoulder width apart, hands out from his sides, eyes darting to see how would be the first to challenge him—because it was too late to avoid now, he knew.

Heart sinking in his chest—and slamming against his ribs because she was his!—he readied for the assault, eyeing the nearby males and measuring who was lowest among them.

"Who's first," he barked, flexing his hands and sinking his weight lower so he could move quick as lightening.

Two males eyes flashed and one opened his mouth. Zev was beginning to turn, to face the first contender, when a familiar voice rose, flat and drawling, from Sasha's other side.

"I am," Lhars said. "Enough of this hierarchy bullshit, Zev.. You want her? You have to get through me."

 

Chapter 110

When the fight broke out just a few feet away, it was reflex to flinch away. But she'd tripped, disappearing into the forest of thick, muscular bodies and headed for the dirt, until her arms were caught by strong male hands, holding her elbow and upper arm until she found her feet again.

It wasn't until she straightened and pushed her hair back off her face with an embarrassed, reflexive "Thank you," that she realized who'd caught her.

Lhars stood over her, his hands still on her arms, his hair falling over his eyes so that he peered through it over the knowing smile on his angular face—a face just as handsome as Zev, she realized, but slightly thinner, slightly harder.

Where Zev was a lion, Lhars was the fox. Though she doubted either of them would appreciate the comparisons.

Then her stomach sank, because she realized she'd thanked him without thinking, and that was probably one of things Zev had meant about not giving them anything.

She straightened quickly and pulled her arms out of his grip. He let her go, but his smile widened.

He seemed completely unconcerned with the snapping, snarling fight that was taking place just feet away, instead tilting his head and holding her gaze.

She couldn't ignore him, she remembered. But she had to be very careful not to smile. Or… invite him closer.

She swallowed.

"Very good, Sasha," Lhars murmured below the level of noise from the crowd. "He's watching."

"They're all watching," she snapped back.

She'd meant it as a warning to him—but a quick scan of the nearby males revealed why Lhars' smile had broadened further.

"That's because they know they don't stand a chance against me," he said, his voice a low, husky growl, softened only by the smile.

"The last time I heard a line like that I was twelve and the boys were fighting over a candy-bar," she sneered.

But far from being put off by her hostility—or offended—Lhars only raised a single eyebrow in a question. "A… candbar? That is… a sweet?" he said good-naturedly.

"Chocolate," she conceded, off-balance because he wasn't responding the way she expected, and she wasn't sure what to do to make her intentions clear.

"The comparison is not flattering to you, Sasha. You should value yourself so much more highly than a simple snack—even a tasty one," he quipped and Sasha wanted to scream. He was supposed to be able to see that she didn't want him… not act like he was volleying flirtation back to her!

He leaned closer, "You have probably observed by now that we males never truly grow up… we simply become more discerning about the treats we're willing to fight for," he said slyly. But then his face turned serious. "Are you certain, Sasha, that my brother is the male you want? The male you need?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation, warning him with her eyes. But he didn't let her continue.

"Don't be angry," he said softly. "I stepped in to gain you some breathing room." Then he opened a hand to indicate the crowd.

Sasha blinked and looked around. He was right—all the males that had been closing in on her, whose eyes had gleamed, and their bodies leaned in, had all stopped moving closer. Were giving them space. She stood toe-to-toe with Lhars, but the wall of males around her had edged back to give them room.

She didn't know whether to thank him, or scream in fear. But before she could decide, the guys nearby all turned their heads and, grateful for a reason to look away from Lhars, Sasha turned too.

Adrenalin flooded her veins when she followed their gazes to find Zev, hunched and glaring at a huddle of at least ten men closing in around him.

"No!" she cried. "Don't fight!"

He was braced and cocky, his eyes narrowed and hands held out from his sides.

"Who's first," Zev barked, flexing his hands and sinking his weight lower so he could move quick as lightening.

Sasha's hands flew to cover her mouth—he couldn't do this! They were going to kill him! Even he'd admitted that having too many of them at once was a death sentence, it was why he'd let her walk into this.

She opened her mouth to call to him, to beg him not to fight, when that familiar drawl sounded from right beside her.

"I am," Lhars snapped loudly. "Enough of this hierarchy bullshit, Zev. You want her? You have to get through me."

*****

~ ZEV ~

It was a stunning move from his brother—one Sasha wouldn't understand, he was sure. One that threw Zev into a world of confusion.

As Alpha of the wolf pack, to even speak to Zev was to acknowledge him—which meant that all the wolves had to. It immediately strengthened Zev's position in the pack. And then to challenge him instead of allowing the others to kill Zev off for him?

With that one statement, Lhars had simultaneously declared his interest in Sasha, acknowledged Zev as a contender for her, and stopped any other male stepping between them, and because he'd challenged Zev directly instead of leaving Zev to challenge him, essentially placing himself as the lower wolf on the hierarchy.

Why was his brother helping him?

Zev straightened, gaping at Lhars as the wolves between them all drew back, opening the path between the two Alphas, their pants of desire shifting to bloodlust.

Disappointed thought they might be, they couldn't wait to see who would win, and who might die.

Sadness throbbed in Zev's chest that it had come to this. That his brother's rage and jealousy might force Zev to end his life if he didn't submit. For a moment he almost grieved, almost conceded his gratitude, though it would have strengthened his brother's authority.

But then Lhars smiled and drew a single finger down the outside of Sasha's arm. A gentle touch—and highly possessive.

As Sasha yanked her arm back, rage and power exploded in Zev's chest. He flowed forward snarling, "It's your funeral."