Chapter 359 Right Where You Belong  

~ SASHA ~

Nick stared at her, his face blank, but his eyes were dark with suspicion.

"Well, anyway," he said finally when she didn't add anything, "maybe we can do more questions later, huh? I need to understand what I can do and when, and how. And I want you to guarantee me that I'm not going to keep running into your eight-legged friend every time I turn around."

"Ernie doesn't live in the settlement," Sasha said, stifling a mischievous smile. "As long as you stay within the confines of the Village, you have nothing to worry about. You start wandering, though…"

Nick wasn't amused. "So tell me where you consider the boundaries to be. This whole place is in a forest. What's the village and what's… not?"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," she said grinning.

That led to a frustrated Nick, needling her to give specifics and details, instructions on how and when he'd be allowed to walk freely, and whether he could approach Chimera.

Sasha spent a good half hour setting boundaries for him—both physical, and metaphorical. He could stay in the Village. He could speak to any Chimera that agreed to speak with him—but he wasn't to push, and he wouldn't ever use her name or Zev's to gain authority over someone.

"You're here to observe, you observe. We have nothing to hide," she lied. "But the minute I find out you're messing with people's heads you're done."

She made it clear to him with a list of restrictions. If Nick would listen and stay within them, he'd be allowed to make his own choices—after all, that was the best way to get the best kind of information to their friends in the human world, right? But if he continued to try to manipulate people, or deceive them, he'd be locked up. And if he didn't believe her, he could try her.

Nick put his hands up and nodded. "Fine, fine. I hear you."

"You don't antagonize me or Zev, Nick." She bit the words off, holding his gaze. Nick's face went blank. "You say you're here to help, then you help. Helping is not poking at him, or manipulating his emotions. It's not telling him things to motivate him in the direction that suits you. It's apologizing for being an asshole and a liar and offering to let him talk to you about the havoc you've wreaked in his mind—if he wants to. You don't push him. You don't poke him. And you don't use him."

"I don't want to use him. I want to make him stronger."

"Stronger for what, though," she said. "What's the endgame, Nick?"

Nick gave her a flat look. "Sash, you can't expect me to—"

Sasha vaguely registered a noise outside the shack as she stepped up to Nick, letting her arms fall to her sides and balling her fists as she pressed towards him. "You do not call me that. Ever."

Nick shook his head. "Sorry, sorry. It wasn't intentional. I shorten everyone's names—"

"Bullshit. And even if it's not bullshit, I don't care. You call me Sasha, or Sasha-don when the Chimera are around. Period."

Nick shook his head again. "This is all well and good, you being Alpha and all, Sasha," he said, emphasizing the last A. "But don't think the powerplay will work on me. You're playing on my field—you get that right? Even if you go ahead and let Ernie kill me, you think you've got real control here? You might hold their hearts, but my people own them—their minds and their bones. If you think I'm dancing to this Sasha-don tune, I'm going to laugh. Your people who follow you so willingly wouldn't even be here if it weren't for me. And you'd do well to remember that."

Sasha's anger flared hot, but before she could even open her mouth, the door flew open and Zev was there.

"I fucking heard that you asshole!"

"Zev," Sasha sighed. "It's okay, he's just—"

But Zev had Nick slammed up against the wall again. "I told you! I fucking told you. You hurt one hair on her head, I don't care if she begs me to protect you, I will eat you alive—you know I fucking will, Nick! You know I fucking will!"

For the first time that Sasha had ever seen, Nick's gaze flared with real fear of Zev. Maybe not Ernie levels of fear, but his eyes went wide and he lifted his hands.

Something Zev said had really touched a nerve between them.

"What are you—"

"Don't even look at him, Sasha. This fucker will lie as good as breathing. It's what he does. I will not let him hurt you."

"He didn't touch me, Zev. We were talking and I was setting boundaries—"

"It's not about touching you," Zev said through his teeth, slamming Nick against the wall again. The rickety shack shuddered with every blow, and Nick's hand gestures and attempts to soothe him got more frantic.

"I wasn't threatening her—I'm trying to explain the reality of the situation you all are in!"

"Shut up, Nick!" Zev snarled, and the sound was guttural, cutting through the air as if he'd already shifted. "I could smell him, Sasha. You don't let him near you—whatever you were saying before I arrived, he was pissed."

Sasha put a hand to Zev's shoulder, trying to calm her own heart, knowing these two would wind each other up so fast Zev would end up killing him. "He's not worth it," she said softly. "His wings have been clipped. Don't let him ruin anything else. He's not worth it. We'll just keep him cooped up here and—"

"I have to send reports back. If I don't, they'll send a team through and they won't come to throw you guys a party, you know that right? They're already going to be missing Patty's work which will be suspicious. We can't give them another reason!"

Sasha stared flatly at Nick. "Tell me what reporting you're supposed to do. I'm sure we can give you things to fill them. Same with Patty—what was she supposed to be sending?"

Nick looked at them both warily.

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