If you'd like to see images that remind me of the characters in this book, Thana, and the gateway, friend me on Facebook! Got to linktr.ee/aimeelynn to find me. I have a Character & World Aesthetics album in my photos!

*****

~ SASHA ~

"I want to go back to my world," Sasha breathed to herself as she stepped into the wall of the cave. She could still feel Zev with her as her foot landed in the Gateway and her jaw dropped open.

She stood in a tunnel that swirled over her head like water, it's surface rippled and faceted. Yet beneath her feet it was hard as stone and slick as glass. As she turned her head and looked around, trying to take in the beautiful, impossible place. The gateway seemed to ripple like moving water in the corners of her vision, but wherever she looked at it directly, it remained still.

The glass—or whatever it was—glowed as if light shone from behind it, urging her deeper. Ahead, the tunnel rolled into other shafts and gateways, turning off in other directions. But those tunnels remained dark.

Fascinated, Sasha took a step forward—and immediately stumbled, sucking in air against the tearing pain in her chest.

She cried out, clutching at her chest and trying desperately to breathe as the piece of Zev that had nestled within her since the bonding was torn away, leaving a gaping wound in its place.

"Zev!" she screamed, falling to all fours, gagging and heaving as she almost lost her stomach. The tunnel around her seemed to swirl and cascade, the walls moving far closer to the center of her vision.

Even as the pain began to ease, Sasha's entire body trembled, half-from the tearing loss that stung and ached, half because she was terrified she'd just broken the bond—and what did that mean?

Shaking, tears running down her cheeks, Sasha pushed to her feet. She looked over her shoulder to find a darkened tunnel leading back to the cave—she assumed. The light from under her feet, the light that had glowed within the walls, seemed to flicker and crackle now, rolling, shooting back into the dark, then forward again, like lightening under her feet and over her head.

What if she'd broken the bond. Would it come back when she returned to Thana? Did this mean they couldn't leave each other, or use the gateway without losing each other?

She took a hesitant step back, her resolve wavering. She could go back, make sure that the bond would return when they were in the same world. Make sure that he was okay. Then leave again…

But would she?

She turned again, facing back up the tunnel in the direction the light was leading. Had led. It had changed now. It was still there, but not as brightly, those crackling shafts of light zipping around over her head and down the shaft behind her.

What was it Nick had said? She couldn't question. She couldn't waver. She had to know where she was going or the Gateway would take her somewhere else.

She had to do this.

With a sob of pain and fear, pleading with Zev to forgive her, Sasha closed her eyes and focused her mind on her destination.

She had to return to her world. She had to find the females. She had to understand what the humans were doing so she could make a plan and bring it back to Thana, and save their people. She had to. She had to… even if it put the bond at risk. Because without the safety of the Chimera there would be no Zev. No chance for a bond.

There would be no Sasha, for that matter.

Swallowing the tears that threatened to overwhelm her, Sasha took a step forward, away from Thana. Away from Zev. The tunnel seemed to throb around her, the light within its walls beginning to grow and seep back towards the ceiling.

She took another step and it became brighter still.

So, with one final prayer for forgiveness, Sasha started forward, holding the emptiness in her chest. Praying that it wasn't permanent.

Praying that she'd find the answers they needed to make all of this worth the price.

*****

~ ZEV ~

Sasha disappeared from his mind first. He felt the connection close and knew she couldn't hear him anymore.

After the howl, Zev had slumped back into his pillows, cursing and pleading with the Creator to keep her safe. For Nick to be on one of his saving missions, not a sinister plot.

But before he could even finish the thought, pain—glittering and cold, like a blade—sliced into his chest, right over his heart, that was beating so hard it threatened to explode.

"Wha—SASHA!" he cried, gasping, groaning, clapping both hands to his chest, sucking at the air as something dug between his ribs and tore out a piece of his flesh. He tried to fight it, to wrestle the thing that was stealing from him, but then cried out as something was ripped from the center of his soul.

"What's wrong? Zev? What's happened?" The healer darted in from the next room.

"I… my chest… I…" Zev rasped. He looked down at one trembling hand, expecting to see it come away with blood. But though his fingers trembled and his chest screamed as if someone had plunged a hand in and snapped off a bone, tearing it out through his skin, there was nothing there.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

The place in his chest that had been inhabited by Sasha was… a hollow, whistling gap.

What the hell? What the ACTUAL FUCK?

He sat bolt upright, his side and ribs lighting up in pain, but it was nothing compared to the jarring emptiness in his heart.

"Sasha!" his voice tore from his throat in a guttural scream as the healer leaped on him, trying to push him back by the shoulders. But the pain powder he'd been given was beginning to work, and he was blind with terror.

He was losing the bond. He was losing Sasha!

NO!

He fought with the healer, wrestling to get off the bed and to his feet. He had to go after her. He had to—

The door flew open and Zev caught a bare glimpse of dark hair and sharp eyes flowing across the room, before a second set of hands and a much heavier body pressed in, helping the healer.

Zev snarled. "Let me up! I have to go her! We're losing the bond!"

"Zev, no! You have to stop! You're going to hurt yourself and then you won't be able to help her at all!"

"Zev, stop. You're Alpha now, you can't leave!"

"LET ME GO!" he snarled with every ounce of the Alpha authority he possessed.

Both males shuddered and released him, the healer dropping to a knee, though Lhars managed to keep his feet, his eyes not meeting Zev's, but his lip curled back as Zev pushed himself off the bed.

The moment his feet hit the floor, the entire world tipped sideways and he had to grab the bed to keep himself from pitching forward, straight into Lhars' arms.

"You can't go anywhere, Zev. You're too weak!" Lhars growled.

Zev chest heaved and he put a hand to it, still leaning on the bed, gripping it with his other hand to keep himself upright. He shook like a new spring leaf, panic screaming in his head.

She was gone. She was gone.

She'd been inside him, a part of him. And she was gone.

Zev groaned and pushed to his feet, stumbling forward towards the door, his body screaming at him in pain.

"Where are you going?!" Lhars barked.

"The Gateway," Zev growled. "I'm going to kill Nick, and bring Sasha back. Or die trying."

***** END OF VOLUME ONE *****

Thank you so much for you support of Zev and Sasha.. This book was a real risk for me, and it's been such a joy to have you come along for this crazy ride. To say thank you there will still be another FOUR chapters released today—one every 30 minutes starting NOW!