Rise of the Dark Alpha

~ SASHA ~

Sasha went cold. She didn't take her eyes off of Xar, whose smile grew as the males around him raised their voices and howls in a chaotic response to his statement.

They didn't know about the breeding thing? Well, she supposed if they hadn't known he was leaving, they wouldn't have known why. But obviously the idea offended them even more than it had her. How could that be?

"Did you know?"

She turned to look at Dunken, who was staring at her, his face an expressionless mask.

"I thought I did, but… the way they're reacting… what do they know that I don't? Why are they so upset? I thought guys thought it was cool when other guys had a lot of women?"

Dunken shook his head. "If he's taken females that already have mates, it's a violation—whether the females were willing or not. And if he's taken females that don't have mates, that haven't bonded to anyone else… if they've taken the bond to him… multiple females bonded to one male is… sick." He spat the word. "If he has left no females for any other male Chimera, he has doomed our people to death."

"No, he wasn't… he said it was for the opposite of that. That they told him they needed him to do this otherwise the Chimera would die out. And he never talked about taking anyone else's mate…" Had he? Had they even had a chance to get into it? That whole night was a blur to her. "Would he know?" she asked. "If they were someone else's mate—would he know if they didn't tell him?"

Dunken nodded once, emphatic. "You can smell it."

"He wouldn't do that, I don't think. He would have told me." Wouldn't he? Certainly the Zev she knew five years ago would have. He was unswervingly honest—to the point that he offended people at times. He'd never had the same sense of manners that everyone—humans—had.

If he was being honest with her that she really knew him, that he was the guy she'd fallen in love with, then she knew—she was certain—he wouldn't have done that to other men. To their mates. And she was certain he would have told her if somehow he'd been forced.

The question was, was he still honest? Had he told her the truth about all of this? Or did these people know something she didn't?

"He said it was always in his wolf form," she blurted. "I don't know what difference that makes, but—"

Dunken turned back to the hole and the sight of Xar through it. "Well, firstly it means that he only ever mated female wolves, not others. So Xar's statement leaves an implication that is untrue."

They both stood there for a moment. She could tell the guy was thinking something through.

"Zev is a good male," he said finally, though his jaw twitched. "I think this story is false, or exaggerated. A lie."

"It's… not a lie that they've been using him to breed."

Dunken nodded without looking away from Xar, who was stalking back and forth in front of the crowd, his arms flying in big gestures, his mouth open to shout words she couldn't hear over the other men—but whatever he said, it was feeding their rage.

Dunken sighed and she turned to look at him again.

The male, with his odd eyes and large stature was handsome, she realized. Other men always faded in her eyes in comparison to Zev. But on an objective level, she could see that he was the kind of guy her friends would have noticed if he'd walked into a bar at home, or visited the office.

But there was a darkness to him, too. An edge that made her slightly uneasy. Like Zev, he seemed to carry death with him. But unlike Zev, she wasn't entirely certain it would never be directed at her.

It struck her, then, where she was. How utterly vulnerable.

She was in a place she didn't know or understand, surrounded by hundreds of men who had no loyalty to her—no reason to care for her. And there were political and power dynamics at play around her that threatened even the strongest among them.

There were people here with weapons that intimidated these men—these men who were massive, and strong, and so much more capable than any other men she knew. It was like their senses made them able to see more of the world, or something. In a sixth sense kind of way.

As if he read her mind, Dunken gave a small grunt, then spoke without looking away from the scene outside.

"You do not need to fear me, Sasha-don," he said quietly. "You are the mate of my former Alpha, and the male I believe was destined by the Creator to lead us. No matter what his flaws might be, I do not deny that his strength here was far healthier than Xar's. And I would welcome his return to Alpha. He claims you as his mate, and that is all I need to know to protect you."

Then he did turn to meet her eyes. "But while I might be trustworthy, others here are not. They hide their true desires, and cage their minds. They are influenced by powers from your world, and we cannot know what they have been promised. You are safe with me, with Yhet, and a few others. But trust no one else. Not if you wish to survive these days. The males will display for you—now more than ever. This is Zev's betrayal to them, and in their eyes, to you, whether you see it that way or not."

"Oh, I see it," she said dryly. "I just… I'm still processing."

Dunken nodded. "Then understand that they believe you have reason to abandon Zev as your choice, and they will be working doubly hard to catch your attention—more of them will stand in his way, now. And more will attempt to attract you. If you are certain Zev is your chosen male, you must be strong. You cannot waver. A wolf will not give up on his prey easily. And these wolves have three years of tension and disappointment to fuel them."

Sasha's stomach sank as Dunken turned back to the hole, as if that was all that needed to be said. But she was left with a spinning head, more questions asked than answered.

And none of them could be answered by anyone but Zev.