~ SASHA ~

Sasha chewed her lip and looked at the passing highway and surrounding forests and grass. She had to keep forcing herself to make her hands relax because they kept clenching into fists in her lap the moment she stopped focusing on them.

"I know this is a lot, Sasha, but we don't have a ton of time. They're going to expect to see you pretty soon after we arrive."

She nodded, keeping her face as blank as she could. "Okay, so tell me. What do I need to do to make sure they'll send me back."

"They need to be certain you aren't working against them."

Sasha snorted. "How can I know if I'm working against someone when they don't even tell me what they're doing?" she said, keeping her tone as dry as she could make it. "I stumbled into this. I had no idea what was going on. All I hear is you saying you intended me for Zev right after you tell me you would have killed me if he hadn't left. And you want me to be loyal to that?"

"No, no that's not what I said," Nick said, his lips twisting in frustration. "I said we made Zev exactly the way he is."

"And that I was the endgame!"

"I said your relationship was the endgame. We couldn't know which human is would be that would inspire the bond. But once he'd focused on you, we paid attention and started preparing."

"And manipulating my life, apparently."

"It doesn't make you special, Sasha. The men I work for manipulate entire populations. You're just a pawn in their game."

"Comforting. Thank you," Sasha said sarcastically.

Nick chuckled again. "I know I wasn't at my best when we met, Sasha, but I have to say it's refreshing to speak with someone who isn't terrified of me."

"Oh, I'm terrified, don't you worry," she said quietly, still looking out the windows. "This whole situation, this whole threat just feels so extreme, it's surreal. I mean, a couple weeks ago I was walking through my day feeling sorry for myself and calling myself pathetic for missing Zev. Now he's my mate—not my husband, my mate—and I have an entire population of shape-shifting men I can give orders to. It… doesn't quite compute."

Nick tipped his head. "I find it interesting that they were so fast to accept you."

"It's because of Zev," she said, without hesitation. "I know it. They already see him as their leader. They just embraced me as part of him."

"And yet, you outrank him right now."

Sasha shrugged. "I don't understand how it all works yet, but yes… that's what I gather. Though I hope to change that soon. Assuming I can get back there to talk to them all." Then she finally turned and met Nick's eyes in the rear-view mirror. "So if we get there and you throw me in a prison cell, just know that I'll never believe another word that comes out of your mouth."

She didn't believe most of them already. But she did sense, as Zev had told her, that there was something in Nick still capable of caring about others. Specifically, Zev. Because of the asset he was, or because of who he was, Sasha still wasn't sure. But if Nick valued her mate, that meant she could use that as leverage.

"So you didn't know me when Zev went to my high school? But you all decided I was the one after we started dating?"

"We watched," Nick said carefully. "It was always the ultimate goal to have Zev find a human mate, or mates if he was capable of it. But he was so young and there were still so many pieces of him that still hadn't reached the fullness of what he'd been made to be. We didn't know what was going to change for him when he did find his mate. And while he was here, we had to make sure he wasn't going to accidentally start popping out Chimera babies and freaking the human race out.

"But yes, it became clear pretty early that you were the one for him. That we had succeeded. Finally with Zev we have a male who can walk among humans without being noticed for anything other than being a superior male. We finally have a leader who can fulfill normal mating rituals, and yet still bond. And that means that he can produce offspring."

"So, you're certain he wasn't fertile for Chimera?"

"Absolutely. He told you what he's been doing the past three years. We're now certain he isn't fertile for anyone he hasn't bonded with. But you… you're his mate. He'll make babies with you."

"Not this month he won't. And we can't make babies if we aren't together. So if you're serious about this, you better be motivated to get me back there."

"I am. I'm motivated to have left you there in the first place. You really think I went there for shits and giggles, Sasha?"

"I think you do whatever you have to do to get what you want, Nick. And I think Zev trusted you and your judgment far too much. I won't be making the same mistake."

He met her eyes in the mirror again, no smile this time. "I can't decide if that's a compliment to your strength, or your stupidity," he said calmly. "No one understands the shitstorm you're standing in better than me, Sasha. If you really want to navigate this, you need me on your side."

"You just told me you weren't bluffing when you told Zev you'd kill me."

"I wasn't. Because if the order had come down, I would have done it. I would have regretted it. But I would have done it."

"Then perhaps you can understand why I don't trust you."

"And yet, you know Zev does. And, no offence, but he's spent a helluva lot more time with me than you have."

"Zev trusted you to a point. But he'll lose the last crumb of it when he finds out you always wanted him with me, but kept him from it."

Nick shook his head.. "Not once he learns why," he said firmly.