Chapter 152: Ritual - Part 1

~ SASHA ~

Sasha and Kyelle passed through the village and into the forest without an issue. They were headed to an area in the forest Sasha had never visited. She pulled the fur wrap Kyelle had given her around her shoulders more tightly and rubbed her hands together, though she was more nervous than cold.

She'd hadn't been able to shake off the grief and insecurity completely, but she knew this was a day she wanted to remember and enjoy. And she wasn't going to do that if she only focused on what she didn't have. So when the time finally came to leave the house, Sasha reminded herself that Kyelle was suffering a much greater loss than her that day.  After all, Sasha was getting Zev.

The afternoon was overcast, which made her nervous, but Kyelle lifted her nose to the wind and said no, the snow would not settle in for another day or two. She and Zev would get to their solitude before they had reason to worry.

Kyelle's eyes slid away from hers when she mentioned the solitude and Sasha's heart squeezed in sympathy. But she'd seen the alarm in Kyelle's eyes when she tried to raise it, so instead she turned the conversation back to the ritual.

"So, except to deny anyone who wants to entice me, I stay silent until Zev's finished with any challenges, and once we're touching each other, we don't let go?"

Kyelle nodded. "And if there are any true challengers, you let Zev handle them. All you have to do is deny them. Give them no invitation."

Sasha felt like she better understood what that meant now, but it still made her stomach trill with nerves because she'd gotten it wrong so many times when she wasn't thinking.

They didn't talk much more, though Kyelle held her arm and made kind reassurances about how easy this day would be compared to what they'd been through so far. But as they walked through the thick trees, in half-shadow because the sun was so much dimmer behind the clouds, Sasha began looking ahead. Looking forward. Needing to be near Zev.

"How long will it take, until we touch each other?" she'd asked carefully.

"It will depend how many wish to display for you—and that will depend on how good of a job the Alphas have done with supporting Zev's claim of you."

Sasha sighed, but didn't ask anything else. The trees opened suddenly ahead, cold winter light pouring between them, and a warm glow.

The bonfire, she'd forgotten.

The air here was crisp and fresh, but the scent of barbeque hung in the air as well, and curls of smoke were visible in the dark branches of the trees.

She'd forgotten about the feast.

Kyelle gave a grim smile. "The only thing that is needed to ensure a strong gathering of males is to bring good food," she said, her lips twisting into a half smile. "Or females. Good food, or willing females. Remember that, Sasha. It is wisdom my mother gave me."

Sasha snorted, but it was true, she realized.

She was about to ask if Kyelle's mother was still alive when they broke through the last line of trees and as the entire clearing was revealed—a massive, crackling bonfire, two cook fires either side of it, crowds of athletic men swathed in furs, and there, almost directly opposite where she entered, a cluster of men—males, she reminded herself. They called them males.

She thought she saw Zev's midnight black hair in the center, but all the males were bent forward, looking at something someone held between them.

Then the men nearer them, gathered around the bonfire, saw them and began to call.

As a chorus of howls, roars, and calls filled the cold winter air and echoed through the trees, that shining black head snapped up like she'd shouted his name. Zev found her with his eyes immediately—and his mouth dropped open.

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He looked so delighted, Sasha almost started crying.

Zev took a step toward her and a hand slapped to his chest—Dunken, she thought. But Zev didn't tear his eyes from her, shaking his head in disbelief.

You're stunning, Sasha. Absolutely stunning.

She mouthed "thank you" and hoped from this distance he could tell what she'd said.

Then the males around him spread out and Zev's body was revealed, and it was Sasha's jaw that dropped.

Zev was naked from the waist up, his deep olive skin oiled and painted in designs from neck to toes in bright blue paint. Sasha could make out a thick necklace of teeth hanging around his collarbones that disappeared over his shoulders. The ivory of them setting off the blue all over him—fangs and claw marks on his belly and sides, and intricate, jagged patterns that were somehow beautiful and frightening at the same time, swirled all over his arms and chest.

His eyes locked on hers and the smile fell off his face as he watched her be led to her position in the clearing.

Sasha… his voice was a bare whisper in her head. You're so beautiful.

She wished she could tell him how handsome he was—so big and beautiful, muscular and strong. Everything about him screamed strength and power, and the flames that had lit in his eyes when he saw her…

Sasha's belly flipped and she wanted to cross her legs.

She really, really hoped this ritual didn't take a long time. She wanted to get straight to the solitude.

Then someone tapped Zev on the shoulder and he jerked to look, wincing and laying a hand over his ribs as he turned to answer a question.

Sasha frowned. She knew he was going to heal before he had to fight anymore, but this vulnerability worried her. He seemed so strong, as if the pain shouldn't touch him. Which meant the pain had to be significant.

"Don't worry for him," Kyelle said quietly. "He has healed from far worse."

"I know. I know," Sasha replied, but she was trailing her gaze up and down his body, and Zev had taken a stance—his feet shoulder width apart, hands at his sides, but poised as if to grab something, chin low, and his eyes fixed on her out from under his heavy brows.

Except for the human cut of his hair, Zev looked like a tribal warrior, sent there to steal her away. And she wanted to be stolen.

Please, Lord, let her get stolen.

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