Chapter 165: Just a Matter of Time

~ SASHA ~

She and Zev had been ushered to a wide tree trunk laid alongside the bonfire.

It wasn't until they moved that Sasha remembered the dress—the beautiful dress, now dirtied from her roll in the dirt, and bloodied by the wound on her arm. But there was nothing she could do about it. Zev was still looking at her like she was a present to unwrap, and that was all that mattered.

Zev… She was worried about him.

It was half an hour after the fight with Xar, yet his skin was still sheened in sweat, and he was beginning to look at little pale.

But as they sat alongside the fire and were brought platters of food—succulent, barbequed meat, dried fruit, and a strange dry cake that crumbled and dissolved on her tongue—the healers stood behind them. One of them had already cleaned and wrapped Sasha's arm, while the other still worked on Zev's side.

He flinched and grunted, paling further when the male treating his side apparently wasn't gentle enough. But when she looked at him, worried, he only winked.

Don't worry, he said in her head. Nothing's going to keep me from enjoying you tonight.

She hadn't even thought about that—she was still trying to get her head around the fact that everyone was treating her like some kind of Queen—bowing and submitting, offering her help, taking her suggestions as orders and…

The whole thing was just surreal. How could these people possibly take orders from her? A human? And a weak one, at that.

She'd hissed that to Kyelle as they were walking to the bonfire, and Kyelle had smiled the first genuine smile she'd seen all day.

"Female alphas are different. We rule differently, and the males… they will be more peaceful under you, Sasha, if you can keep control."

"How do you figure that?"

"Because, they do not see you as an opponent to be dominated—or dominated by—but as a partner to be followed. You are different enough to be watched and measured, rather than challenged. And as a healthy female, your ability to reproduce is heralded in our people. Trust me, Sasha, I never would have suggested this, but as it's happened… I can see the Creator's plan in it."

Sasha had frowned, uncertain of that—the whole thing seemed like one big clusterfuck of misunderstanding to her—but she could only fight one battle at a time.

"They need to be following Zev, not me," she'd whispered. "I don't know the first thing about how to do this!"

Kyelle had shrugged. "I would say you are about to find out."

Then Kyelle had drifted away, claiming she would make sure their meals were brought quickly, and the best cuts.

So Sasha had clung to Zev's arm until they were both ushered to the log, where the food and the healers had come and now…

Now she just needed to make sure Zev was okay. She didn't like the way he looked.

"Don't worry," he said around a mouthful of food. "They'll give me some powders that will ease the pain. I'm only shaky because of that."

Shaky? He was shaking too?

She looked at his hand, one holding the plate flat, the other reaching for another strip of the meat—and sure enough, it trembled as he folded the meat around one of the strips of dried fruit.

"Zev!" she gasped, alarmed. "We need to get you laying down!"

He grimaced and took another bite, wincing as the healer began wrapping his ribs. "Not yet," he said. "Your strength as Alpha will, at least in part, rely on mine as your mate. We're a unit now, Sash. I can't let them see that I'm weak. We're going to be gone for a few days. They have to be completely certain that we're coming back strong and ready to lead."

"Going away? I mean, I'd love that, Zev, but should you be travelling? Maybe we should just spend a few days at my house and—"

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"No!" he said quickly, snapping his head to face her, his eyes firm and flashing.

Sasha jerked her head back. "Okay, okay… I didn't mean… what's wrong, Zev?"

Zev growled and shook his head. "You don't understand, Sash. For wolves… the solitude. It's necessary. It cements the bond and… just, trust me, we aren't skipping it."

"You're right. We won't. We'll just take it slow when we travel, that's all. And they're going to give you some painkillers?"

He nodded. "And they've poulticed the cuts. It will heal quickly—must faster than my bones."

Bones? He'd had broken bones? "You're ribs are broken?" she asked, aghast.

"They are now," he muttered. "I'm just grateful we got through that. It could have been far, far worse, Sash. So don't worry. Things are going well. And pretty soon…" he swallowed his mouthful and turned to meet her eyes, his bright blue eyes, so light and glowing, piercing hers. "Soon we'll be alone. Finally. Fuck, Sash, I've waited for this day since I was nineteen."

That was right. She couldn't believe it. He was right.

Meal forgotten, she put a hand to his thigh and squeezed, still holding his eyes. His twinkled and danced at whatever he saw in hers.

Zev leaned in then, taking her lips softly, so softly. "Just a few hours," he whispered.

She nodded when he pulled back. But the truth was, at that point she could have said to hell with this alpha shit and just… left.

But they sat through speeches, hip to hip, thighs pressing against each other, the nerves in Sasha's stomach fluttering higher and higher as the sun drifted lower behind the trees and the shadows deepened, and suddenly the fire was a necessary warmth.

Then, with only one huffed breath against the pain, as the drums—which, Sasha suddenly realized, had been pounding the air this entire time—began to pick up their pace, and other strange instruments joined them, Zev stood and opened his hand towards her.

"May I have this dance?" he asked quietly.

Sasha's mouth fell open. She looked around. "But… no one else is dancing."

"Does it matter? I want to dance with you, Sash. This is our wedding day."

Impossibly, Sasha's heart soared and dropped at the same time as it all came rushing back.

He'd remembered. Holy shit, he'd remembered.

Fighting tears of joy, Sasha slid her hand into his and he pulled her to her feet to lead her to a clear space on the grass. Her heart drummed against her ribs even as the tears threatened to spill over. He pulled her into his chest, wrapping one of her arms around his waist and holding her other hand at his shoulder.

Then, as they swayed together, he stared down at her and smiled. "You're so beautiful."

He'd remembered. She couldn't believe he'd remembered.

Sasha wanted to weep with joy. He really was the Zev she'd always known.

*****

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