Rise of the Dark Alpha

~ SASHA ~

They lay on a fur in the sparse winter grass of the meadow under a crooked-branched tree. Sasha sat with her back to the tree's trunk, while Zev lay on his side, leaning on one elbow, his head at Sasha's hip.

They were eating the fruit and dried meat Zev had brought, but Sasha's mind was more on the sheer beauty of the place. She hadn't been able to see it last night when they came through in the near-dark. But now… now the wide, sloping bowl between three snowcapped mountains that stood over it like guards, called to her.

This place was gorgeous even now, with the grasses dry and sparse among banks of snow, the landscape dotted with twisted trees and jumbled boulders that must have been pushed into the wider areas of the valley by floods many years earlier. She couldn't imagine the beauty of it when the grasses were green and lush, and the trees covered in leaves.

There was a river on the other side of the valley—too fast moving in the spring and harvest seasons to cross, but slow now, though so cold he said she'd likely lose a toe if she tried to cross it. Sasha wasn't tempted, but she'd already made him promise to bring her back during the summer.

"This is Yhet's favorite place, that's why he built his home here," Zev said quietly. "But he can't stand to be here now, so he circles around when he's travelling. He's only been in the cave a handful of times—he says his grieving gets worse when he goes there. So he said he'd love for us to use it. He said… he said it's a place full of love so it would make him happy if we filled it that way again."

Sasha wanted to weep for the dear man who'd given them such a beautiful place to visit and rest. She made a mental note to figure out something to give him as a thank you when they were back.

Sasha picked up a handful of berries from the bag Zev and brought, put one in her mouth then turned, holding another out for him.

Zev looked up at her without raising his chin, his eyes alight with mischief. She raised an eyebrow. "I'm offering to feed it to you, that's all," she said, smiling.

He made a face like she'd ruined his fun, but opened his mouth so she could pop the berry in. He caught her finger, though, as she placed it on his tongue, and sucked on it, catching her hand so she couldn't pull away until he was done.

She was ashamed of how she shivered, but Zev only opened her hand and kissed her palm, before closing her fingers over the spot and giving it back to her, then reaching for more meat as if he hadn't done anything sweet at all.

Sasha's heart spun in place.

Then Zev put a hand on her ankle, his warmth bleeding through the gap between her leggings and her shoes to warm that strip of skin. He curled his fingers between the leather of her leggings and the top of her shoes, running his fingertips back and forth over that chilled skin as they spoke.

She cleared her throat and made herself focus. But all there was to focus on was the beauty of the scenery, and the beauty of her mate… and her mate was a lot warmer.

Then Zev pushed up to all fours and straddled her legs to put his face in hers, smiling, his eyes dancing.

"What are you doing?" she said, eating another berry, then popping one in his mouth as well.

When he'd finished chewing he tipped his head. "I was just thinking… you know… discovery of new places… new mate… we have an opportunity right now that we probably shouldn't miss."

"Out here?" she squeaked.

"We're alone," he said, one eyebrow up.

Sasha looked around, surprising herself by actually considering it. There were some long grasses over there that would hide them if they laid down…

She eyed Zev, her heart beating faster as much from nerves as excitement. "I don't know…"

For an answer, he leaned in to kiss her, taking her mouth with his own open and soft, teasing her tongue with gentle strokes of his own, his breath rushing on her cheek.

For a moment she got lost in him and almost threw caution to the wind—but just then she grabbed at his jacket to pull him closer and accidentally brushed his sore side. Zev winced and broke the kiss, then caught himself and turned back to her, but by then Sasha was already glaring.

"We are not doing this out here. You need to be careful and you need to go find some of that bloodwart or whatever it is. That's why we're here, right?"

Zev's lower jaw jutted out. "But Sash—"

"No, Zev. I'm not touching you out here. You need to rest and heal. I'm not jumping you out here so you're bleeding everywhere again. We need to stop."

He sat back on his heels, on her shins, his face serious. "I will bleed to death before I'll stop making love to you," he said, his voice low and rough.

"Well, the way you're going, you might get that chance!"

Zev growled and Sasha bared her teeth at him.

"Go find the bloodwort—that'll stop the bleeding, right?"

"With time."

"Well, you better find it quickly, I guess," she said, folding her arms to make her point.

He argued a little more, but she knew he knew she was right, and pretty soon he did stand up and dust off his furs. "Fine," he pouted. "I'll be in that thicket over there," he said, pointing off to her right and across the grasses. "I need to find mossy rocks, and they're only going to be near the river, or under the shade of trees."

"Sounds good. I'm going to stay here and take a nap," she said, winking. "Get some rest so I've got energy later."

Zev snorted and started walking. Sasha held the smile, but now that she watched him closely, she didn't like the way he was holding himself—as if he couldn't move as freely on that side. She would keep watch for the bleeding and the pain, and force him to go back to the healers if it got worse.

She hoped it didn't get worse.

She sat there for a long minute just listening to the rush of the river in the distance, and the rustle of the grasses when the breeze blew through. The dead grasses were thin, but still fairly tall, and with so little sleep the night before, the waving of the stalks became hypnotic.

She folded her arms across her chest and curled the bottom of the fur up over her feet an ankles, then let herself rest, her eyes first blinking slowly, then dragging closed.

She'd hear something and open them, shift her seat, blink—she didn't really want to actually sleep—but as she sat there, she'd drift again.

Then, just as she was actually drifting off, there was a soft sound of a foot on a rock—as if one of the rocks had slipped and knocked into another.

Hoping it was Zev returning with the bloodwort already, she opened her eyes and looked around—to find herself frozen in the gaze of a massive bull thirty feet away, it's head down so its eyes only just peered over the grasses, but its horns, U-shaped and pointing for the stars, long and wicked and… were they stained in blood?

Sasha blinked and blinked, but the bull didn't go away. Her heart began to race, pounding on her ribs and sending jangling alarms to the rest of her body. There was a freaking wild bull out here and it was probably dangerous. Fuck!

She wanted to call for Zev, but was afraid the loud noise might startle the bull and cause it to charge.

How was she supposed to outrun that kind of animal? She couldn't possibly. Did she need to climb the tree?

Unable to think of anything else even resembling a plan, she started slowly pushing herself up, to get her feet under her, never taking her eyes off the animal. But as soon as she did, the bull's head rose… and rose…

Sasha's mouth fell open as the bull straightened until it had to be at least eight feet tall, that thick black head and neck rising above the level of the grasses to reveal a massive, heavily muscled, very human looking body.

The thickest, strongest human body she'd ever seen.

And then it snorted.

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