Chapter 362 Come Here So I Can Kill You  

~ ZEV ~

A small voice in the back of his head said maybe he was reacting a little stronger than was strictly needed, that maybe he was still a little tense from waking up without her. But as he descended on her and Sasha tipped her head, his chest constricted and his rage burned.

"You left to go with Nick of all people without even talking to me about it," he rasped. "You walked right into the lion's den, completely unprotected and without any insight or advice from me at all—and while I was hurt so I couldn't come for you.

"Then… when you're finally on your way home, almost safe, you leave Nick in the human world and walk into the gateway—that you've only used once and you're… using it like some supernatural taxi?!"

"It wasn't like that," Sasha snapped, folding her arms. "I wasn't playing for the thrill of it, Zev—"

"No, you were just embarking on a journey across UNKNOWN WORLDS by yourself and when no one—literally no one—knew where you were, or what you were doing. What if you'd gotten lost in the Gateway Sasha? What if you'd never come out. How do you think I would have felt?"

She blinked. "Zev, I wasn't—"

"What if it had dumped you out in the compound and you had fallen out—trapped right in their web, and no way for me to know—you would have handed yourself to them."

"I was really careful—"

"BULLSHIT, Sasha! Bullshit! You can't just… just treat yourself like you don't matter. You can't just walk into that kind of danger and think it doesn't affect us—affect me! You could have gotten yourself killed—a dozen different ways! You would have died and I never would have known—I would have died, you could have left all of Thana without the Alpha and fucking Nick standing here. WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"I didn't make this choice lightly, Zev," she said through her teeth. "I needed to know—we needed to know. There was no other way—"

"The Gateway is here, Sash. It's here every day. You could have come asked us—what if we'd already known something that would have helped you know if you were safe or not? Or what if—"

"Clearly you didn't know this or someone would have come up with the idea already."

"That's not the point!"

"That's exactly the point!" she shouted, throwing her arms wide. "Zev, I didn't know what was going to happen when I got here. I didn't know if we could survive the bond getting broken again. I didn't know if Nick had something up his sleeve, or if there'd be something happening here that I would need to deal it—it was my one shot and I took it and it worked! I will not apologize for that. Do you realize what I'm saying, Zev? I can get them out. I can get all of them out—and I can get all of us out of here without the humans, too. All of us."

"You didn't have to do this on your own! You should have asked for help!"

Sasha gaped. "Are you serious? Did you really just say that? You, the guy who left me for FIVE YEARS without a word, 'for my own safety?" The one who was getting a serious infection on our Solitude and kept going anyway because you didn't want to worry me? Are you actually kidding me right now, Zev?"

"That's not the same thing," he muttered.

"I know you didn't just say that!" she spat. "It's exactly the same—I'm Alpha, I'm responsible just like you were when you were in a position to leave. I had no idea what was going to happen when we got here, or if I'd ever have another chance. And the only way those females are ever getting out of that hellhole is if we take them. This was the one chance to test the theory and I took it and I will not apologize for that."

He didn't even think about it. It was instinct to step in, stand over her, stop her in her tracks and put himself higher than her, his lip curling up to bare his teeth.

"You will never do that again. Ever!" he snarled, every ounce of his alpha authority behind the words.

Sasha shivered, but her eyes narrowed. "You did NOT just dominate me, Zev."

Zev blinked, then his eyes went wide. They stood on the trail, staring at each other and she was hopping mad, while he was… terrified.

Absolutely terrified.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… You can't do that to me, Sash," he breathed, his body beginning to tremble. "You can't leave me like that and just… you can't go and not tell me. You can't leave me alone without you—losing you that way… gah, even the thought makes me want to lose my mind!"

His breath started heaving, tearing in and out of his throat and he turned away from her, hands on his hips, trying to get his body to calm down. But his mind kept flashing with images of her tumbling out of a gateway high in the sky and falling to her death… or walking out into traumatized Chimera who attacked before they realized who she was.

"Zev?"

He shook his head, his back still to her. One of her hands appeared on his back.

"Zev, I didn't mean to scare you that way, but you can't dominate me."

"I know, I know. I… You can't do it, Sasha. You can't leave me again, or put yourself in danger like that. If I lose you…" He shuddered.

"Zev, I'm not leaving. Seriously, breathe. Just breathe. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going through again—not without you. I know that sounded scary, but I'm here, remember? It all worked out. We have answers now, and I'm safe. You are here to help me."

He opened his mouth, but then he caught footsteps approaching on the trail. Males. They'd be there within a couple minutes.

With a low groan, Zev grabbed her at the waist and pulled her off the trail and into the shadows of the trees.

"Zev! What—"

"Someone's coming," he muttered, pulling her deeper into the trees. "And I can't have this conversation with someone else listening. Please, Sash." His teeth chattered and she looked at him, shocked. But she stopped trying to fight him and followed, clinging to his arm instead, rubbing it and whispering that she wasn't going anywhere.

When he had her deep enough into the trees that he didn't think whoever was on the trail would hear them as long as they were quiet, he pulled her to a stop and held her there, his hands on her waist.

She put her hands to his upper arms and rubbed. "I'm sorry I scared you, Zev. Really. But you need to trust me. You have to know, I'd never do something like that without good reason. I never meant to scare you, okay?"

"You have to promise me," he ground out. "Promise you'll never do that again, or anything like it, without telling me first. Without letting me help, or find someone who can."

"Zev—"

"Promise me, Sasha!" he croaked, his eyes wide and pleading.

She shushed him quickly, then reached up to cup his face. "I'll never put myself in danger like that without telling you first," she whispered. "I promise."

Zev blew out a heavy breath and his shoulders sagged.

"Now you promise, too," she whispered. "We're in this together from this point on, right? Wherever I go, you go. Wherever you are, I am too. Promise me."

"I promise," he wheezed. "I promise, Sasha.

He had to hold her for several minutes before he stopped shaking though.