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Shit.

SHIT.

Breath heaving, bracing himself on the bed he scrabbled at Sasha\'s mind, but she was holding him out, so in desperation he reached for Lhars.

GET HER OUT OF THERE. NOW!

But Lhars was holding him off as well and Zev\'s stomach went cold and he cursed under his breath. What was Lhars doing? Why would he shut Zev out at such a crucial time—was he setting Sasha up? Was this his work?

The healer walked in, saw Zev rolled onto his side and rushed to the bed. "Zev, no, you can\'t—"

"She\'s going to leave with him! She\'s going to get herself killed!"

"You can\'t help. You\'d never make it and if the wound opens again and gets infected again—you need help, Zev! You can\'t move!"

Then Zev blinked. Of course. Of course. He needed help. Yes. The male was right.

As the male rolled him onto his back and muttered to himself, Zev closed his eyes, tipped his head back and howled, and on the resonant call of his howl he sent as far and wide as he was able.

He shook with the effort of reaching—as many minds and hearts as he was capable of touching, every wolf within hearing. He howled, and they heard it in their minds, and in the air.

Their Alpha called for them. Their Alpha needed them. The Alpha\'s mate was in danger.

Howls rose across Thana—discernable to Zev\'s ears, as well as his head and heart. He choked on the emotion of their response, wolves dropping the things they were packing and turning on their heels, howling, then leaping into their beasts and beginning to run to their Alpha.

The healer listened to Zev howl, then heard the responses outside and took a deep breath. "Well, that\'s one way to do it, I suppose."

"I need everyone—I can\'t know how far away they are."

"You need to conserve your energy. Reaching that many at the same time—"

"There\'s no choice."

The door flew open and three wolves galloped in, shifting to their human forms mid-step and trotting to Zev\'s side, naked. They\'d obviously shifted in a hurry not removed their clothing—or just thrown it aside. Zev didn\'t care that they were naked. But if they had to shift back in front of Sasha…

Right at the front was Jhon and Zev sighed with relief to see his friend. But Jhon\'s face was a mask of worry and fear.

The three thumped to Zev\'s side and stood, poised, ready for instruction. Outside, Zev could feel the others coming, gathering, all of them ready to serve.

"Nick is here," Zev said hoarsely, his eyes locked with Jhon\'s, pleading for his friend to take this seriously. "He\'s convinced Sasha that she needs to go with him—that as Alpha she has to meet with the humans. She\'s not remembering his manipulation. You have to get her out of there. I don\'t care what it takes. Try and beat them to the gateway, cut them off. Take Nick out."

Jhon nodded once, but his throat bobbed. "Take him out… you mean…?"

"Kill him," Zev said on a growl. "I\'m done letting him play with our minds—and I won\'t risk her to them. If she goes down to the human plots, we all do."

Jhon paled. "That will be… that will be war, Zev."

"We don\'t have any choice!" Zev snarled. "I\'d do it myself, but he\'d beat me right now. If you can\'t stomach it, I\'ll find someone else—"

"No, no. I\'ll do it. I just wanted to make sure you understand what you\'re doing."

"Of course I do! No one understands this better than me!"

Jhon nodded again. "Okay. We\'ll do it. Does he have weapons?"

"No. I think they\'ve been removed from him. But Lhars and Dunken and Yhet are with her, a few of the creatures too—Ernie\'s there. He\'ll help you, no doubt. I\'m surprised he\'s kept his claws off Nick this long. Lhars must have really dominated him."

"Lhars is with him? Why not have him—"

"Because I don\'t trust my brother\'s intentions. And if I rely on him in this of all things… just trust me. Nick will have the right words to stop you\'ll. He\'ll have the reasons you can\'t. You can\'t listen to him, do you understand?"

"I do," Jhon said solemnly. "Don\'t worry, Zev. We\'ll bring her back."

"Thank you, thank you." He was near tears and embarrassed about it, but Jhon just slapped his good arm and tipped his head at the others, towards the door.

Zev\'s nerves spiked as they ran out the door and walked into the crowd gathering outside, sharing scents and letting them all know what was to happen.

Zev, still linked with the wolf minds, could see them—some slavering, and ready, others fearful and reluctant. He grimaced, wishing he could have just done this himself.

But a little voice in the back of his head asked the question… was he really strong enough? He loved Nick. Always had. Nick had saved his life more than once.

But he\'d also stolen it away.

And it was past time that Zev broke free of him. Maybe it was God\'s mercy that he couldn\'t physically fight on this day. Maybe it was the devil playing with his life. Zev didn\'t know. All he knew was, he refused to let Sasha be taken into their hands the way he was.

That would destroy everything.

Choking on his anger and fear, Zev dropped his link with the wolves and turned back to Sasha, scrabbling at her mind, whining when the door didn\'t open.

He knew she could hear him and he screamed at her to stop. That she couldn\'t do this. Please!

But he could feel her pulling away—keeping him at arm\'s length. And moving.

She was moving.

Dear God, she was going with him.

They had to get to her, now! With a snarl, he reached for Jhon\'s mind again, growling his instructions to hurry, hurry!

And hurry they did. But would they reach them in time? Sasha was slow, but they were far closer to the cave than to the village.

Please… he prayed.. Please don\'t let her cross.