~ ZEV ~

"You underestimate us, Sash," Zev said quietly. "We Chimera are very physical, yes, and we fight a lot. At least, to get a hierarchy established. But most of being Alpha has nothing to do with fighting—look at Kyelle. You think she's held that position as a female because she packs a punch? No, it's because she's smart and resourceful, and the Chimera respect her. For her mind, and her heart. And when they see you, they'll be even more impressed, I promise."

Sasha snorted. "I think you're a little biased."

He shrugged. "Even if I am, the thing you need to realize is that the males aren't immediately going to try and beat you up. They're going to respect you for the position you hold, for freeing them from Xar, and for being my mate. They'll respect you for being a female, and for the strength of character you've shown already. And perhaps the most important thing is, when the humans show up—because they will, soon—the Chimera will respect you because the humans will see you."

Sasha blinked. "See me? What do you mean? I'm not going to hide anymore?"

Zev shook his head. "No, more than that. Of course you're not hiding anymore. You're Alpha, and you'll have to negotiate everything with them. But that isn't what I mean. You're human, Sasha. You're one of them. You're not a creation they made—or bred. They don't have that perspective on you, of a… a tool. Whether they like that you're here or not, they'll see you, they'll listen to you, they'll know that you're a real person, because you're one of them."

"But… all they need to do is bring a gun and I'm powerless, just like you would be."

"Not with all the Chimera on your side," Zev said with a sly smile.

"Wait, what?"

"I told you, you'll be protected. If you're an Alpha that denies the humans access to Thana, the Chimera will follow you to protect our land, and stand as a barrier to you so the humans can't get to you."

"But… but the Chimera have been here for decades, you said. And in bigger numbers than you are now. They could have stood up to the humans any time they wanted, and they didn't. Why would they do that for me?"

"Because you're Alpha, and you aren't going to be manipulated by the humans," he said. "All the Alphas so far have come from the lab. We arrive already aligned with the humans. Even I was at the beginning—and they still removed me. Xar was blackmailed, and they used him up.

"We've all been manipulated and deceived from the beginning, I can see it now. But I couldn't back then. So I worked with the humans to keep them coming with their medicines, and their extra resources when it was a tough season.

"Of course, I can see now that it wasn't worth it. And I think I would have figured that out pretty soon if they'd left me alone. Maybe they knew that. Maybe that's why they moved when they did. The point is, I never called for rebellion—and Xar rolled onto his back so they could scratch his tummy…" he trailed off, his mind racing. He'd been about to say she would be the first Alpha to instruct her people to resist… but he was seeing something.

"Zev? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he breathed. "I'm just… I just got a glimpse…" he brought his eyes back down to meet hers. "I can see what we need, I think."

"What?"

"You're human, Sasha. You're one of them. And they're accountable to that. So, you need to set some boundaries, but keep lines of communication open with them until we can figure out how to get the females out. You can go into their world and move freely. You have a support network entirely separate from the team… that's an asset I can't even… Sasha, that's huge. Once we figure out how to get the females out, we find a way to block the gateway to stop the team ever coming back. And then we can just… live." He took a deep breath. "Can you see it?"

Sasha's eyes were wide, but she nodded. "You're right. I can… So... I'll deal with the humans, you deal with the Chimera. Between us we can make this happen."

"Once we figure out how to get the females back," he reminded her.

She nodded. "I know. I know. That's… I don't even know where to start with that. But yeah… I see it, Zev. It'll be a whole new world here. But… how will we do it?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "But I know you're here and I trust you and… the rest we'll figure out. It's what Alphas do."

Sasha, whose heart had begun to race—making Zev's follow quickly, an interesting side-effect of their bond—rolled her eyes. "The thing you're forgetting is that I'm not actually an Alpha," she groaned, dropping her forehead against his chest. "You're the Alpha here, Zev. I'm just a… a hanger on."

"No, Sash," he said, tipping her chin up. "I'm not Alpha anymore. I'm second. A very, very submissive second," he said and flashed her a smile.

She caught his mood and grinned. "Submissive? You?"

He tilted his head. "What's the saying from the fairytales? Your wish is my command?"

"Oh, really? You're granting wishes now?"

"Definitely," he growled, sidling closer and pulling her tighter against him so she could feel how his body responded even to the little flirty smile she was beaming at him. "What wish can I help you with now?"

Starting at her temples, he clawed his fingers into her scalp and followed her hair down the back of her neck. Sasha shivered, and he almost took her mouth.

The tension he'd been feeling was quickly easing to be replaced with an entirely different kind of bubbling tension. One that wanted—no, needed—to be fed.

Alpha indeed.

No longer distracted, no longer drifting, Zev stared down at her, his hands fisted in her hair. "What's your wish?" he asked her, his voice low and throaty.

"You, Zev," she murmured. "It's always you."

Then she reached up to his neck, pulling him down into a kiss that blew away the last of the haze from his mind. And as he sank into her kiss, the warmth of her body against his, and the happy sigh she gave when he leaned down to kiss her neck… Zev thanked whatever Creator was responsible for this moment.. Because no matter what else was happening, he knew the day would never dawn that he didn't want her.