Chapter 54: Female

~ ZEV ~

Zev held Xar's gaze for a long second before answering. "She isn't just any human," he said simply.

"Oh, of course. She's a… special human?" Xar said. "Let me guess, your precious Nick has singled her out as just the right companion and now you're to return here to rule—"

"It's Sasha, Xar," Zev said flatly. "There was no plan. And bringing her here was in defiance of the team, not at their urging."

Xar stopped, staring at Zev, examining him. Zev felt like a mouse under the eyes of a cat—until he remembered his own rule. He raised his chin and held the Tiger's gaze and let him see it too.

There was never a mass-kidnapping under Zev's rule. He'd been barely twenty when he took Alpha, which by human standards was very young. But the Chimera leaned into their animal roots more heavily than the team had originally understood. They matured faster, hit puberty earlier and developed quickly, reaching full adulthood usually by the age of sixteen or seventeen. At twenty, Zev had held his own with near-thirty year old humans.

Now, at almost twenty-five, he was stronger than any human he knew, though he hadn't met them all. And he had been trusted by the humans with operations and secrets far in excess of his original role.

He was strong, capable, a decisive and powerful leader… and he wasn't scared of Xar.

And Xar knew it.

Which was precisely why Zev didn't like the expression blooming on the old cat's face.

"You bring us a gift!" he said to Zev, nodding his approval. "A female, a blessing to increase our numbers."

Zev gave him a warning look. "She will have offspring only at her choice."

"Or the Creator's," Xar nudged him, with a malicious smile.

Zev wanted to bite something. It had been an ongoing debate between them when Zev was Alpha. He believed the Chimera were soulless and needed to live as if their last days breathing this air were there last forever. Where Xar was convinced life did not begin without the Creator—that whomever had made the humans had also willed the Chimera to be. That their beginnings in the laboratory were merely a unique spark. That life could not begin without the Creator's will. The same Creator that made the humans.

They'd never resolved their differences on it.

"However, or whenever life begins, it will be her choice," Zev said through his teeth. "She is not a gift for you."

"No, of course not. I'm far too old," Xar said, his smile growing.

"The choice of who she takes as mate belongs to her," Zev insisted.

"You think I would force a female to take a male she didn't measure?" Xar growled, no longer smiling. "Do you accuse your Alpha—"

"No," Zev said. "I do not accuse. I clarify for her sake—and for any that would think to display for her," he said raising his voice and turning to scan the crowd of males around them. "She is mine."

Xar's face went serious. "You are mated?"

"Not yet."

"She hasn't chosen you?"

"Not yet."

Xar smiled again.

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"Then it is not your declaration to make," he said pointedly.

"She doesn't understand the traditions and customs. I speak for her only to protect her."

"Is she over the age of maturity?"

"Yes."

"Very good," Xar purred, a flash in his eyes that made Zev's stomach chill. But the old tiger only turned to the rest of the males as well. "The female will be left to make her own choice. If you choose to display, you respect her choice as you would any Chimera."

Zev didn't know why the declaration made him uneasy. Had he been in Xar's shoes, he would have made the same statement.

"Please, Sasha, come here so I might meet you," Xar said then, smiling warmly.

Zev, distinctly uneasy, turned to see her look at him uncertainly. But he couldn't see a reason for her not to meet the Clan Leader. She would have to at some point—and to do so publicly would be far less likely to end in any kind of problem. So he just nodded to reassure her, then held his hand out as she weaved between the males. Those who were unmated followed her with their eyes, leaned in as she passed. She was clearly unsettled by their nearness, but either she remembered his little instruction before they arrived, or she was just strong enough to push ahead anyway.

She took his hand as she reached him and stood next to him, nodding her head at Xar.

"Sasha, this is Xar. He's Clan Leader. All the other Alphas report to him. Kind of like a King."

"Hello," she said politely, but her hand was trembling in his. Zev squeezed her fingers.

"It is lovely to meet you dear," Xar said, leaning forward to take her hand. He'd had enough contact with humans to use impeccable manners, but his eyes… his eyes followed her like a cat on a mouse. "May I ask how far beyond your first bleeding you are?" he asked casually.

Sasha's head jerked back and she looked at Zev, who sighed but urged her to answer him. She blinked a few times, but turned back to Xar. "I was thirteen when… I first… bled," she said, and he felt her recoil.

It made him sick. He held her hand tightly, glaring at the cat.

"She is fully mature, Xar, and you know it. Stop trying to put her off balance."

"You are a traitor and a human agent, Zev," Xar said without taking his eyes off of Sasha. "You do not give orders to me. Sasha," he said, his voice brighter—and less authentic—when he addressed her. "Have you ever given birth?"

"I… what? No!"

"Pity," Xar said. "There has been a rash of infertility among the females here as well. But that does not mean with the right mate she couldn't—"

"She hasn't had children, because she hasn't been mating, Xar. Move on. Your questions aren't necessary. I wouldn't present her as a female if there were issues."

Xar turned to look at Zev slowly, all hint of pleasure or warmth gone from his features. "You do not present her at all, Zev. She is an adult, human female, unmated, and in our world. She will be Chimera, or she will go home."

"She's here because the humans want her dead—or at least, locked up. I had always known Thana was a haven for us, a sanctuary. I believed bringing her here would assure her safety. Was I wrong?" Zev snapped.

"Oh, no. Not at all," Xar said, one side of his mouth sliding up. "We will keep her here—even hide her from the humans."

"Good."

"But if she is to be here, she must become one of us. And our females must take a mate when they turn twenty, if not before.. It is the only way we can assure the future of our people."

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