~ ZEV ~

“How long did it take Xar to get to the top?”

“Getting to the top wasn’t the problem,” Dunken muttered. “It was keeping it once he was there. His darkness has started and he’s… I don’t know, Zev. Sometimes I think he’s fine, and other times I wonder if he’s going to snap. Remember that Hare that—”

“Yes, yes, I know what you mean.” Zev cursed under his breath. Darkness, or mourning, was what they all called the debilitating grief that followed a Chimera after the loss of their mate. In rare cases the Chimera didn’t waste away, but their minds broke. There had been a hare a few years ago… Zev shook his head. “How is he holding Alpha if he’s that loose?”

“It’s not all the time. The humans come and they do something. No one knows what. Some kind of medication? He always settles down after they’ve been here. But then a few weeks passes and he’s on edge again.”

“And he blames me for all this?”

Dunken gave him a quick look. “Yhet told you?”

“Barely. I didn’t want him to talk about it in front of Sasha. She doesn’t understand it would have just frightened her.”

“She doesn’t know that you were Alpha?”

Zev huffed a humorless laugh. “She didn’t even know I could shift until a few hours ago.”

“What?! Zev—”

“Look, we can’t change it now, okay? She’s strong. I’m telling you, she can handle this. But I thought I was walking into the City to take my stripes, then go back to my life. What you’re describing…”

“The darkness was taking the males faster in the city. Being so spread out and isolated in our homes… it wasn’t good for us. We moved to the village two years ago and it’s improved things.”

Zev shook his head in disbelief. “This is incredible. I knew they were lying… but this?”

“Why did you leave, Zev?” Dunken said through his teeth, his hands clenching to fists at his sides again. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t thinking, I was forced,” he said. “But… but he had me convinced it was going to be better for all of us. They told me that the females were volunteers. And none of them ever told me.”

“For a chance to mate with the Alpha? Of course not!”

“No, Dunken. You don’t understand. Their world isn’t like ours. The females aren’t free like they would be here. It’s not healthy and… I told them. When I noticed how pale everyone was, and how listless… I told Nick that they were killing them. He said there was no choice. They couldn’t risk any of the humans learning who, or what, they were. So they were all… contained. But this? I had no idea!”

“But you were obviously free?” Dunken asked.

“More free than that. But I had the training and practice in the human world. They were all too… Chimera. They would have been noticed. Not to mention that they wouldn’t be used to controlling the shift. And if the human’s saw any of their animals in the city, they’d shoot them. I know they would.”

Dunken shuddered. The only thing the Chimera feared in the humans were their weapons. But those weapons made humans the strongest predators. They’d proven that more than once. Zev thought he’d done a good job of smoothing lines of communication and alliance between the Chimera and humans, but if they did this after they took him out…

“You should never have left,” Dunken rumbled.

Zev sighed. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have done it. But truly, I’m not lying to you Dun, when I left I believed it was going to save Thana, not hurt it.”

Dunken snorted. “Always the naïve believer. I told you Nick cannot be trusted.”

“I believe you. Now,” Zev said reluctantly. “But quickly, you have to paint the picture for me so I can figure out how to play this with Xar. He took dominance, but he’s had to keep fighting for it? The Tigers haven’t backed him?”

“Of course they have, but their numbers are so few now—and many of them would like to see one of the twins take the staff. But Xar is still physically so strong… it’s been very difficult, Zev. And not good for any of us.”

“How often are the humans coming through?”

“Sometimes every month. Sometimes five or six weeks. But never longer.”

Zev growled. When he left the humans had only entered Thana once per season—every three to four months. And they never ventured off the trail.

“Have they lost their fear of the creatures?”

“No,” Dunken spluttered. “They have killed most of them.”

“What?!”

“You have no idea, Zev. We are a people in chaos. Food resources are low. We have only a handful of females—the weakest in mind or body, and all of them mated, or unable to reproduce. Only two that aren’t soon going to be too old to bear offspring within a couple years. We have tried to hide the offspring, but the humans come too often now—they always know when one of the females is pregnant. And even if they miss the birth, they track them down when they arrive—and if the babe is strong, they take it. Especially if it’s female.

“We are losing numbers. And the tensions between the males is increasing as more and more of them sink into the darkness. Even those that were too young to have mated, or who hadn’t found their mates, are affected.

“Xar has kept the humans happy so that they will continue to help us. I do not like it, but I understand why he does it. And they have helped him a great deal. I suspect without them we would already have lost him to the darkness. And many others without the food and medical supplies they bring. But even though I am grateful for that… I cannot help being angered because they are the ones who put us in this position.”

Then he looked at Zev from the side. “Them, and you,” he said quietly. “I know you did not mean for it to happen, Zev. But there is no denying that your actions brough us here. And Xar has already declared that if you ever return, you will be punished.”

Zev shrugged. “I can take a flogging.”

“No, Zev,” Dunken said with a quick glance over his shoulder. “He means a true punishment. I fear that if he sees you… he may welcome you as a brother, Zev, because he does not want you to challenge him. But watch your back. His anger is an evil thing now.. If he gets the chance, I believe he will kill you.”