~ SASHA ~

Sasha spent fifteen minutes with that group of females, finally lighting on the idea of appointing mini-alphas. She asked the brunette, and the female she'd been speaking to when Sasha arrived, to split the group into two parts.

"Each of you will form a clan," she said, praying she wasn't going to create more confusion by using the terms wrong. "The alpha, a second, and the rest of the group will file through—whenever an instruction is given to the alpha, they pass it to the second, and so on. Make sure everyone knows who they're listening to, and who they're passing information to. We can't afford for anyone to be left out, or forgotten."

The brunette—Pysa, she learned—caught on quickly and started answering questions and arranging the women. As soon as Sasha was certain that group was in good hands, she walked out and approached the next. Then the next.

She gathered individuals and brought them into the clusters, explaining over and over again that the humans claimed they would be returned to Thana that night. That she couldn't be certain, but they had to prepare.

She got better, faster, at using the right terms and painting the picture of the hierarchy and why it was needed.

And she told them about the gateway over and over, emphasizing to the leaders how crucial it was that they identify any females who hadn't been through, or who didn't remember it, to ensure they understood.

"When you enter, you'll be alone. But you're safe. As long as you keep your mind on your goal, you're safe."

It was satisfying, Sasha realized, to watch the faces around her shift from fear and uncertainty, to hope, then to determination.

And the more of the females she spoke with, the more her own hope and determination grew. But as she stepped away from the fifth group she'd approached, turning to make sure all of them had heard her answering their questions about Thana and the males, her mind was only half on these poor, frightened females.

Prickling dread haunted her every step. She could feel the eyes on her, following her progress.

And she couldn't stop wondering if she was feeding all of these women a lie—effectively organizing and easing the jobs of the humans who were actually going to take them… where?

Sasha couldn't even bear to think.

She kept looking back to Nick and finding his eyes on her, though his face was an unreadable mask. Then she'd look up, above the sides of the arena, to the handful of men and one woman who stood at the end on the bleachers, in front of that boxed in room, all of them watching the women below. Watching Sasha.

They couldn't hear her, she knew, but it still felt like… like they were there to stop this from happening. She kept waiting for one of them to pull out a gun and start shooting. Or to make an announcement that the whole thing was a joke and start herding the women back to the sanctuary. Every time she imagined it, she wanted to stop. Didn't want to help them. But then she asked herself what choice did she have?

If Nick and Nathan were telling the truth, these poor, traumatized women were about to be shipped back to their home. And it would be completely overwhelming for them. She couldn't afford to get them that far, then lose some of them to the gateway.

But if they weren't actually headed to the gateway… if the humans were deceiving her into doing their jobs for them…?

Sasha's stomach cramped and she stopped walking for a moment, just to breathe. She was beginning to think Nick hadn't been lying about their messing with her hormones. This period was feeling so much more painful than usual for this stage. But she'd had cycles like this before. Always after a disruption.

The question was, would she take the supplements they said they'd give her? Would she risk that they were controlling more than just her hormones?

She still hadn't decided. She hadn't had time to think about it. She still didn't know how any of this was going to go.

For a moment the whole picture washed over her and she almost couldn't breathe.

If this was real and these women were about to return to Thana, everything was going to change. Everything.

But it also meant humans were going with them. She looked at the gathering above the arena again. Were the two humans among that cold, calculating group? Nick had said they'd send someone medical along—that they were still worried about that illness that had rushed through the Chimera years earlier. But again, she couldn't know how much of it was truth, and how much were either lies, or half-truths. She didn't doubt there would be a medical staff member sent through. The question was, why? Would it be someone there to help them all? Or someone lacing drinks and food with whatever these people wanted the women to ingest?

Even the thought made Sasha's teeth grit. She wanted to get her hands around the throat of Nathan and squeeze until he stopped breathing. She had to look down and breath and collect herself before she started screaming at the people above them, staring down like little gods from the clouds.

That was how they thought of themselves, she realized. They really thought this was good. That they were doing something awesome. They thought their ruthlessness was simple determination. They thought their callousness was professionalism.

At least, that's what they told themselves, she was sure.

They were psychopaths, all of them.

Sasha looked around her then, at all the women—some of them looking a little less stressed now. Some still huddled together in fear.

These were real people. However they had come into existence, they were real, sentient people. Conscious and independent. They had minds and hearts. And they needed help. They were going to be relying on her, and there she was having an internal fit because she couldn't figure it out even for herself. She wanted to weep.

But she wouldn't.

Swallowing back the pinch in her throat, Sasha raised her head and set her path towards a small cluster of females on the opposite side of the arena from that first group. There were only four or five of them, looking over each other's shoulders, their eyes too wide. If none of them were strong enough to lead, she'd find someone else.

Unless all she was doing was helping the humans move them further into a lie?

Sasha sighed and shook off the disturbing thoughts. She didn't have any choice now but to hope and pray for the best.. So as she approached the next group, pray she did.