Chapter 338 Welcome to Thana  

~ ZEV ~

"Here to help us, huh, Nick?" Zev growled over Nick's shoulder, shaking the man he'd called father like more guns might fall out of him.

"Those aren't for you," Nick said through gritted teeth. "I need to protect myself from… the others, since you won't."

"You heard her order them all to leave you alone."

"I didn't know if she'd do it."

Zev whipped him around and stared down at him, his lip curling up to reveal his teeth. Nick met his eyes and didn't waver, but he was trembling.

"My mate is the most honest and good-hearted person you will ever meet—and she's going to treat you better than you deserve. So you will be protected, Nick. But the day she tells me you aren't anymore? I'll be the first to take your throat you lying, thieving sack of pus."

Nick's forehead pinched into lines. "Zev, what happened? I've always been your advocate. I've always been the one to help you, why would you turn on me?"

Zev shook his head. "The fact that you can ask me that with a straight face just proves my point," he muttered and ignoring the man's pleading, continued to search Nick—locating a blade at his ankle, and a taser in the inside pocket of his jacket.

Shoving Nick away, he turned to offer the weapons to Sasha, who frowned at them. "Destroy them," she said quietly. Then looked past him, to Nick. "I don't trust him. Check his devices and his bag."

Zev turned back to Nick and reached for the bag the man had brought out, but Nick grabbed for it first, clutching it to his chest. "You can't remove this from me, if I don't have these things I can't report and then they'll come through and we're all dead!"

Zev snarled and grabbed the handle of the bag, but Nick came with it.

"Listen to me, Zev!"

They stared at each other, nose to nose, the bag crammed between them. Zev trembled with restrained rage. He couldn't believe after everything else they'd been through, he had to deal with Nick. Here. In Thana!

He grabbed Nick by the jaw and started walking him back towards one of the larger trees. Maybe one of the branches would be broken off and he could impale him—

"Zev." Sasha's voice was quiet, hushed—pleading, almost. But also firm.

He stopped pushing Nick back, but didn't let him go.

"Nick, let go of the bag," Sasha said with quiet authority. "You know you can't fight all of us."

Nick stared murder at Zev, but he released the bag and Zev yanked it out of his hands, turning his back to show Nick exactly what he thought of this man who had lied, cheated, and then stolen his mate away.

Fuck. He needed to be with Sasha and just… breathe.

Digging through the bag, he pulled out several devices, one he recognized, two he didn't. There was a box of tiny packets that felt like they contained pills or some other small pieces. And a handful of tools that either had medical purposes or were designed for medieval torture.

He wouldn't put it past these bastards.

"That's his tablet," he said handing the device he recognized to Sasha. "He uses that to log intelligence, communicate, and in the human world, it would track, too. I don't think they can do that here."

Sasha looked at the small tablet, the thing he'd been using when they were at the compound. But when she tapped the screen it stayed black.

"It's turned off," Nick scowled. "Gotta save battery power, and we aren't sure how the Gateway affects them."

"What are these?" Zev asked him, holding up what looked like two small, but overly narrow cellphones.

"Communicators," Nick said reluctantly. "They'll allow two people here to communicate with each other from a distance. But only if your retina is already cleared for security. So don't get any ideas."

Sasha's eyes snapped to Zev's and he asked in her head.

So, he doesn't know we can do that?

No, she replied, but looked back to Nick. At least, I don't think so.

"What are those?" she asked, pointing at the metal tools Zev had dropped in the snow next to the bag.

"Medical tools. You'll have to ask Patty. I was given them to carry."

Patty was the scientist who hadn't made it through the Gateway. Given what Sasha said, Zev guessed Nick had played with her head and diverted her somewhere.

Cold, fucking murder, that's what that was.

"Why does the team need medical tools here, Nick?" Sasha asked more calmly than he would have. Fuck she was beautiful.

"I told you, you'll have to ask Patty. My orders are for information. But in her defense, I'll say that we are tasked with making sure if there are any needs here, medically, that we provide them."

"And the pills?" Sasha asked, pointing to the box Zev had placed on top of the bag.

"Those are yours, Sash," Nick said as if the answer should have been obvious.

Something inside him snapped. Zev snarled and grabbed Nick by his jacket again, bearing him backward.

"Zev!"

"Let go, Zev, she knows it's—"

"You do not call her by my nickname you foul fucking pig snout!" He slammed Nick backward into the tree, forcing the air out of his lungs, but the older man wheezed, then sucked back in and grabbed Zev's shirt in both hands.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I want you dead, that's what's wrong with me!"

"Why, because I got your mate back for you? Because I got her here intact when they wanted to implant her? Because I convinced them that her fucking wholesome idealism might actually work? Get your head out of your prick, Zev—she wouldn't be here if it weren't for me and you know it! She wouldn't have lived through last year, and she definitely wouldn't have made it out of the compound in her right mind. For fuck's sake, where's your critical thinking? I taught you better than this!"

The snarl that ripped out of his throat came from the belly of his wolf. He heard several gasps from the females behind him, but he just slammed Nick back against the tree again, cursing that there definitely wasn't a broken branch to impale him on.

As Nick croaked and wheezed, his eyes watering while his body tried desperately to suck in oxygen, he leaned into the male's ear and snapped his teeth. Nick froze.

"I discarded everything you taught me the day your guy shot a bullet at her," he breathed in Nick's ear. "The only reason you're alive is because she's ordered it. It'll take one word from her, Nick. Just one." He paused, letting that sink in. "You can't run fast enough. Remember that."

Then he patted his former surrogate father on the shoulder and left him there against the tree, wheezing, while he returned to his beautiful mate, whose mouth was frowning, but her eyes… her eyes shone.

"Let's go," he said, letting her feel the heat that roared in his gut just because he was looking at her.

She glanced once at Nick but then turned to fall in step with Zev to trail the group of females just about to wind down the mountain trail.

"Wait!" Nick rasped behind them. "You can't…. leave me… unarmed…. Ernie!"

"Better grab your bag and get moving," Zev called back. "It's survival of the fittest here, Nick, remember?" Then, as he put an arm to Sasha's back just to be in contact with her, he looked back over his shoulder. "Welcome to Thana... Dad."