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Sasha was only confused as Zev—still holding her close—whipped his head around and began to growl a low, rumbling putter in his chest that didn\'t ease away.

"You\'re too late!" he spat at whoever had spoken. "She\'s claimed and declared!"

"The King is never too late."

Oh fuck. It had to be Xar. She couldn\'t see over the crowd, but Zev could, and his face went rock-hard, the muscles at the back of his jaw flexing like he ground his teeth.

"The King did not present his challenge," Zev said through his teeth, the words dissolving back into the growl.

"It is the Alpha\'s prerogative when the female has not mated before—"

"She has. She is mine, in every sense of the word. Scent the bond if you have to. It\'s different, fainter than the Chimera—but it\'s there. Even she can feel it. We completed it years ago—it\'s how I\'ve known all this time—"

"No one cares about that tale you tell yourself, Zev. We care about the survival of our species. We care about upholding the hierarchy. We care about the future. Stop burying yourself in the past."

Zev\'s hands tightened on her, but he began to turn away, pushing her behind him as he did so.

Don\'t let go, he said in her head. We can\'t give him any reason to justify coming for you.

"But I\'ll only deny him anyway," she whispered.

You don\'t understand, you can\'t. If he lays claim to you—as Alpha of All—he gets you unless I challenge him for the throne. But it shouldn\'t even be a possibility—he\'s mated already. He has no right to claim you. The male is insane!

Sasha\'s heart sank, and the boiling crowd around them suddenly made sense.

Everywhere she looked men stood, staring between Zev and Xar, obviously at a loss.

"She is not yours to take—King or not. You are already mated."

"My mate is dead," Xar spat. "My body grows cold for being alone. I would take her and begin again."

A roar of protest went up from the crowd. His statement flew in the face of every Chimeran tradition—not to mention how the matebond worked.

Zev shook his head and Sasha could feel the frustration and compassion rolling off him equally.

"Xar, you can\'t do this," he said softly, gently, though he still spoke through his teeth. "You cannot claim a second mate."

"I do not," he said, strutting through the crowd towards them, a triangle of men following in his wake—more tigers, Sasha supposed.

They were the only clan that hadn\'t had a male dance for her, she realized.

Then the crowd opened and he stood there, just feet from them, face flush, and eyes flashing with the light of something eerie. His burnished skin looked almost gray in this light. He carried more wrinkles than any other Chimera she\'d spoken to. But despite his receding hairline, he moved with strength and grace, in a rolling, catlike stride.

Zev had one hand back to keep Sasha behind him.

Whatever you do, don\'t let go, he whispered in her head.

Nodding, Sasha gripped his waist and waited. She wouldn\'t let go.

Xar stood casually, but peeled off the fur around his neck, and then the robes, dropping them to the ground behind him.

His body was remarkable—a rounded stomach and some slightly sagging skin the only sign of his age. The rest of him seemed just as strong and vital as Zev, his shoulders thick and rounded with muscle.

He let his eyes linger on Sasha—she could feel like it an icy breeze fluttering through her hair.

"Let her go so I can entice her," he growled.

"No," Zev said, emphatic. "Absolutely not. She is mine."

*****

~ ZEV ~

Xar\'s eyes snapped from Sasha\'s face as she peered around his arm, to Zev\'s and he gave a great, rolling growl that vibrated the earth under their feet.

"Do not test me, pup," he spat. "You might be ushered in by your traitorous clan, but you are not welcomed by me. I do not acknowledge your claim to her. And as Alpha of All, the matebond can only be affirmed by me.

It wasn\'t entirely true—the Alpha didn\'t have to scent the bond themselves. But unless they acknowledged it, it would remain in question for the Clans.

But Zev had never heard of the Alpha not accepting a claimed and declared pair—not when the proper rituals had been met.

What the fuck was going on in Xar\'s head?

Then the Tiger, as if he\'d heard the question, smiled at him. "You left, Zev. You abandoned your people—and your so-called mate. So perhaps you have not yet realized. But things have changed. You are no longer the big brother to the clans. You are no longer the friend of the humans. Your power has been stripped.

"I, on the other hand, hold all of it. And I am telling you, as Alpha of All, that that female is not yet claimed, and you will step aside to allow me to show devotion and provision, and tempt her to my side."

"She will never be tempted by you," Zev snarled.

Xar huffed a short laugh. "Then she will be required to attend my side, anyway. She is, after all, under my protection. Unless you\'d like me to release her to the humans?"

Protests and gasps rose around the clearing. Zev went rigid under hands.

"No, Xar," Zev growled. "You will not put her in any harm. Ever. You will not put anyone in harms way, ever again."

Dunken appeared suddenly, positioning himself to Zev\'s right, and when she turned she found Lhars to his left. Then Yhet stepped up to hover beside Sasha and gave her a glance from the side, but didn\'t say anything. But she\'d never seen the look on his face before.

He looked… fierce.

"You have no power here. I am Alpha!" Xar snarled.

"Then I will take your power and make it mine," Zev growled back.

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