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He would prove himself to them again. He would. But just then he needed to Sasha out and away. He needed to smell her and touch her and hold her, remind himself that she was his, and prove himself to her. Because this was going to get harder before it got easier.

They broke through the last of the crowd and he rushed her, jogging, through the village towards the trail that would take them to his cave. It was work not to be impatient as she hurried after him, gripping his hand like a vice. But her breath was heaving and by Chimera standards, she set a snail\'s pace. If they didn\'t speed up, they weren\'t going to get any time in the cave to themselves, because Lhars would have located everyone and brought them there before they even reached it.

Zev halted suddenly, and Sasha staggered to a standstill, her chest heaving, but her eyes were bright and there was a small smile on her face.

Then he dropped to squat in front of her, giving her his back. "Hop on," he said, pointing to his own shoulder.

Her eyebrows popped up, but then she beamed. "Like when we were kids!"

He nodded and couldn\'t help beaming back. "Yes, exactly."

She scrambled onto his back and he gripped her thighs, bouncing her higher so her head was over his shoulder and her arms around his neck. "Ready?"

"Sure," she giggled. "I feel like I\'m about five, but—gah!"

She squealed as he took off in a run, her arms and knees tightening on him. Had anyone else\'s arm pressed on his neck like that he might have snarled. It would have been instinctive to remove the threat. But with her… with her it didn\'t matter. He trusted her and knew she\'d never try to hurt him. Her hands at his throat were a gift. It meant she was there, finally.

He couldn\'t make the trip as quickly in human form as he would in the wolf, but he didn\'t think she was quite ready for that kind of piggy-back yet, so he clung to her and ran, keeping her body as tight against his own as he could so she wouldn\'t be jostled too terribly.

"How… far is it?" she asked in his ear after they\'d been running for some time, her voice shaking in time with his pounding steps.

"Another ten minutes," he said quickly. "I need to get you away so there\'s no risk of another challenge. I\'ll have to meet with the Council soon, but… I just needed to be with you."

"I\'m glad," she breathed in his ear, her grip tightening again. "Can we be together now? I don\'t want to be alone anymore, Zev."

The words were so plain and spoke such volumes to him, he almost stopped running to put her on her feet and kiss her and prove to her she never would be again. But he knew they didn\'t have much time.

Curling his fingers into the back of her thigh, he said, "You won\'t be, Sasha. Not if I have any choice in it. I promise."

He felt her tense then and remembered other promises, other times. She didn\'t know he\'d still kept his promise to her—she thought he\'d given up.

"When I left… I never really left… Sasha," he said, his breathing coming heavier now from running and carrying her.

"What d-do you mean?"

"It was part of the deal that they protect you… I got reports on where you were and what you were doing. They kept security tails on you in case there was ever danger. And when I came back to the human world, I was able to… put stuff in place. So if I ever needed to get you out like this, I could."

"You were stalking me?!" Her voice got really high at the end.

Zev snorted. "No. I never snuck into your apartment to watch you sleep, or anything like that." Though it had been tempting at times. He could have done it. "I never listened to your phone calls, or anything. I just… made sure you always had someone close enough to help you if you needed it."

"And apparently close enough… to have guys in the p-parking lot of the buildings… next to my best friend\'s apartment?"

"They did that for me, not you," he muttered, turning on the trail to head deeper into the forest. They\'d reach the cave soon. "That guy was watching for me."

"And the ones that followed us?"

"They were following me—but they targeted you when they realized you were why I was there," he said reluctantly.

She didn\'t respond to that immediately and he let her chew it over before he gave her more.

"It was part of the deal that I ran your security detail when I came back. I mean, I\'m sure Nick did stuff I don\'t know about. But I\'ve been as close as I could be without actually making contact, Sash. I\'ve been keeping you safe, like I said I would. Remember those two guys in the parking lot when you went to that concert last year?"

She gasped, "That was you?"

"No, our guys took them. When they started following you and your friend, our guys watched and followed. And when you told them to leave you alone and they moved away, they were circling around. They were going to try and intercept you before you made it in the doors. Our guys took them."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"What did they d-do to them? I mean… they were just assholes. Not… not… what were they?"

"One had a record for sexual assault, and the other had a pending warrant for aggravated robbery. They weren\'t good guys, Sash. I made sure they\'d never come anywhere near you again."

"How?"

Zev blew out a breath and took the last turn in the trail before the stretch up to the cave. "They might believe that their actions that night put them under FBI scrutiny," he said carefully.

"You work for the FBI?!" she gasped.

"No! But… most people don\'t know the difference. When guys with technology and surveillance footage talk like law enforcement, people make assumptions."

"So… your guys aren\'t… part of the FBI or something?"

"No."

"Who are they then? G-government officials?"

"No," he said again tightly. "They are… powerful people. The kind of people that tell governments what to do… but you don\'t have to worry about that here, Sash. There\'s no government in Thana."

She was quiet for another minute as Zev pushed up the incline towards the cave, weaving around the boulders and trees that hid the trail from below, until they reached the cave mouth and he finally slowed to let her down from his back.

He was panting, though not sweating. Sasha was a little shaky getting to her feet, but he noticed she never stopped touching him—a hand on his back, or his arm. Their sides brushing when she turned to look at the cave.

"It\'s not much," he said. "But it will keep us dry and warm until I take you home later."

Then her eyes snapped up to him and her scent flushed with warmth.. "As long as you\'re with me, Zev… I don\'t think I care."