Chapter 139: Challenger

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~ ZEV ~

"Seriously, Kyelle?" he spat a moment later. "After everything we've been through, you'd send one of the males after me?"

Kyelle's face was guarded, blank. She wasn't smiling anymore, and she folded her arms defensively. "I didn't say that. But the Clan… females are extremely valuable these days, and as a human, she can breed with any of the males—"

"They will not touch her!" Zev snarled, stepping into her, his teeth bared.

Kyelle didn't flinch. Her gaze went cool and calm, a mask she'd built over the years navigating Alpha challenges with the males for so long.

No one could do "unconcerned" like Kyelle when she wanted to.

"I did not say they would touch her," she said, her voice even and cold. "I simply acknowledged the draw of having an unmated female—"

"Claimed, Kyelle. Claimed by me and you know it. She is my mate and I will not—"

"Is she, though?" Kyelle asked quietly, a hint of her vulnerability bleeding into the words in the form of a slight quaver in her voice.

Zev blew out a breath. "Yes," he said, his voice low and rough. "She is. I told you that years ago."

"You told me that you were uncertain. That you thought… that there had been something different with her. But you can't make the matebond, right, Zev? Isn't that what you've said all these years? That you don't have the capacity. That they made you different. So there was no… no point trying to form it—"

"I was wrong. I've learned a lot in the past three years—as I'm sure you have as well. I'm sorry you were hurt by all this Kyelle, if there'd been a way to warn you, I would have. But it came as a surprise to all of us. So please… speak plainly. Are you sending a male challenger for her? Because if you are, I will not go lightly on him just because he's yours. You know I'll take down any male you could bring against me."

"I do know that," she said, nodding.

Zev frowned. "Then what—"

"I'm not sending a male against you, Zev. This is… different."

"Different? What's different? How?" For a moment, his relief that she wasn't going to send a challenger that he would have to hurt, broke through his anger. Genuinely confused, Zev didn't hold the edge in his tone. He spoke as a friend and a brother who wanted real answers.

And Kyelle's eyes softened too. Instead of the cold detachment she'd shown seconds earlier, he saw the pinch, the vulnerability, the fear in her… and the desire.

Zev took a subconscious step back. "Kyelle—"

"I know your fears, Zev," she said in a breathy voice, her hands clutching the hem of her blouse. "Better yet, as a Chimera and an Alpha I understand them. I can… I understand you."

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Then she gripped the shirt tails and pulled it up, over her head, baring herself and pulling the shirt through her hair until it fluttered to the wooden floor behind her, and her hair settled in waves around her shoulders.

Zev's stomach sank as she started on the buttons of her leather pants. "Females don't display for males," he growled, frustrated with her for putting him in this position, and aching for her that she had convinced herself she should.

"You are the most powerful Chimera for generations," she said, her voice low and shaky as she removed her pants and threw them aside as well, placing her hands on her hips and displaying her body, turning to watch him over her shoulder, then all the way around to face him again. "You are the most desirable male in the clans. I know your fears, Zev. I know you fear offspring, fear what they might be. I cannot give you young, there is no risk. You will never have to face fathering a soulless creature of the dark.

"I am Alpha—tried, and proven. Having me at your side would only strengthen your position, not only with the owls, but with all of the Clans."

"Kyelle—"

"I am your friend, but I am also more," she whispered and stepped up to stroke his chest.

Zev shook his head and stepped back, but she followed him and continued to display. Zev set his teeth and glared. He didn't want to turn his back on her, to lower her that way. But she was pushing hard. He might have no choice.

"No, Kyelle. Don't do this. This isn't the way it works. Males display for females—"

"Your strength and position among us means you deserve more than any normal Chimera, Zev. I am not too proud to put myself out as an Alpha and a female. I can offer you wisdom and status. I can offer you the comfort and knowledge of an old friend. I can offer you greater sway among the secondary Clans. What can she offer you? She is weak and needs protection. She does not understand our traditions—"

"You break our traditions yourself, right now!" Zev growled.

Kyelle tipped one shoulder. "As a female Alpha the precedent is unclear," she said, dismissing him, but he saw her waver again, her confidence waning.

"Kyelle, please. Please don't do this to yourself. Don't force me to… I don't want to hurt you."

She stopped displaying her body for him, dropping both arms to her sides, her hands in fists. Her eyes were pinched and her jaw tight. She looked older, suddenly and Zev held her gaze, silently pleading with her to stop. To step back.

But then she raised her chin in a demonstration of trust, locked eyes with him and stepped up to him, pressing herself into his chest. "Zev, please—"

With a snarl, Zev turned his back, his breath heaving. He hated hurting her. Hated lowering her this way! Why was she forcing him to do it! "I do not see you, Kyelle," he muttered through his teeth. "I do not receive you."

A tiny sob broke behind him and his shoulder's slumped. Fuck, he hated hurting her.

The warmth of her body, the soft press of her leaned into his back, and she put her forehead between his shoulder blades. Zev tensed to step away, but she wrapped her hands around his stomach, her fingers splayed, and held him there.

"I'm sorry," she breathed. "I couldn't… I had to know for certain. I won't push again, Zev. I promise."

Zev raked a hand through his hair, then shook his head, peeled her hands from his stomach, and stepped out of her arms. "Get dressed," he said without looking at her, his voice dead. "We need to discuss the ritual."

*****

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