~ SASHA ~

Bracing herself, Sasha nodded, her breathing becoming rapid and shallow, her hands shaking as she removed the last of her clothing and stood before the women, utterly vulnerable. She had to close her eyes when three of them approached and began running their hands up and down her body, into cracks and under lumps, then through her hair, fingers clawing to her scalp, parting the strands, as if they were grooming her.

Sasha trembled with cold and fear, and sheer disgust. But she made herself stand for the examination until all three women stepped back. When she opened her eyes the Alpha stared at her, considering.

Sasha opened her mouth to ask, but then remembered Zev's caution about manners. About expecting the treatment you deserved as Alpha, and she gritted her teeth. "You've seen that I'm not deceiving you. I'm going to dress now."

The Alpha didn't respond, but Sasha leaned down to pick up her carefully folded clothing and dressed as quickly and discreetly as she could. Zipping the fleece up the front felt like putting on armor. She swallowed back the last of her humiliation and met the female's eyes.

"I am the Alpha of those in Thana. All the clans," she said. "Your loss is grieved. They ache to have you back. We all do."

The female's expression didn't change. "Your mate has been here many times. He torments our wolf-sisters."

"No," Sasha growled. "He was forced, deceived, just like you were."

The female huffed. "We have lost dozens of wolf-sisters. Yet your mate still walks—and now bonds with you, apparently. Despite all those given to him before. He is capable of the bond. Just not with those who bonded to him. He is Chimeran, and yet not. He walks alongside the humans—"

"He does not!" Sasha hissed. "He freed me from their influence when I didn't even know they were in my life. He returned to Thana, was banished by Xar, and still fought to claw his way back to Wolf Alpha—and then challenged Xar when Xar tried to take me before we were bonded! His only thought beyond my safety is yours. That's why I'm here. He sent me."

The woman's upper lip curled. "An Alpha who can be sent by her mate?"

Sasha stepped right up into her space, ignoring the foot of difference in their heights to glare at the woman down her nose. "No! An Alpha who understands what she doesn't know, and works to learn it! I am here to try to free you, or at least, to learn how we can," she whisper-screamed. "I know humans. I know this world. But I'm still learning Thana. Zev is my advisor and my second, and yes I listen to him."

The female regarded her suspiciously, but she didn't challenge Sasha by pushing forward. They stared at each other, everyone else holding their breaths, waiting to see what would come of the confrontation.

"You might be Alpha," the female conceded eventually. "But if you believe you can free us from this place when you cannot even free yourself, you're stupid."

Sasha gave her a flat look. "I'm not suggesting they're going to hand me the keys to walk you out of here. I'm… I'm saying that I'm trying to negotiate for you."

"What could you possibly have to negotiate with these monsters?" she hissed.

"Zev. And our offspring."

The female drew back, her face twisting into a snarl. "You would give up your own firstborn to these… these animals?! You are no better than—"

"No!" Sasha growled back, lowering her voice. "I can use the… the promise of our family—the Chimera they've wanted this entire time—to move them to… to… Look, I'm still figuring it out, okay? But trust me. I'm not talking out of my ass here."

The Alpha female stared at her hard. Sasha felt like she was naked again, but she held the challenging gaze. They had to listen to her. Had to believe her! She needed their help to know any weaknesses in their security, or—

"Can I turn around yet?" Nick called, his voice slightly muffled by his own hands.

Sasha's stomach sank. "Yes, you can," she called back without turning away from the female Alpha.

They regarded each other and the woman began to draw back, shifting her weight. Sasha realized none of this would matter if she didn't get this woman on side, so she put a hand on her arm and hissed, "What's your name?"

The female froze, her expression hardening. She looked down at where Sasha touched her.

Sasha removed her hand, but didn't give her more space. "My name is Sasha," she said, determined, touching her own chest. "Zev is my mate." She flattened her hand over the spot where her body felt hollow with the loss of him. "Our goals are good. Not to harm you. But when we have a chance to make a difference, you can't back away from it. You have to believe that we're really working for your good."

The woman snorted air from her nose, but Sasha shook her head.

"I get why you don't want to believe me," she whispered urgently. "I understand that you've been tricked and lied to and coerced and… and everything else. But this isn't that. I'm not here to help them! I'm here to help Chimera. If something changes, if something is different, if freedom is offered, take it. Don't keep yourselves locked up out of fear!"

"We do not live in fear," she snarled. "We live under threat, and we live at the mercy of these… these creatures."

"And we want to free you from them," Sasha hissed back. "But until I know exactly how this place works, and exactly what they're doing with you, I can't be sure that my plan will work. Please! Help me to help you!"

The three females who'd stepped forward to examine Sasha inched closer, their bodies hugging against the Alpha, putting their strength behind her. Sasha met eyes with each of them. "I have been nothing but honest with you," she whispered. "You have to listen. We're in this together."

There was a tiny murmur then, little more than a breath. As if the wind rustled through the leaves overhead. But the air was still. Sasha couldn't make out any words, but she saw the lips of the women moving, all of them whispering to each other below the level of her hearing. They'd clearly spent enough time around humans to have learned their limits, and now they could communicate without sharing what they didn't want known.

There was a back and forth as different women spoke and the Alpha listened. Sasha wanted to groan with frustration, but finally, the Alpha female nodded slowly and the others went still.

Sasha watched her warily.

Finally the woman pressed her lips to thin lines, looked at Nick over Sasha's shoulder, then back to Sasha, offering her hand as a human would, to be shaken.

"My name is Vayl," she said tightly. "I am the Alpha of this female Clan. I acknowledge the Alpha of Thana."

Sasha heaved a sigh of relief, but Vayl's face went hard.

"But I do not submit my power to her.. The Clan does not offer her authority."