Chapter 369 The Alphas  

~ SASHA ~

Sasha sat in the circle of Alphas. They'd gathered in a clearing in the forest to make certain no one would overhear. Even though Sasha didn't plan to tell them how they were going to bring the females back, she found she was becoming paranoid about information getting to Nick.

She also didn't want the females hearing her speak about the issues they were facing with re-integrating. While she was wholly empathetic with them, she needed to discuss them frankly, and give the males some serious instructions about how to approach them.

Despite warnings, males were beginning to show up at the hall and try to speak to females. It didn't help that they still had only a handful of females available to help, so most of the food, clothing, and resources were brought by males.

But she'd found the Alphas far more open than she'd expected, and Kyelle was backing her on all the issues around the females. Zev might have been right. They might get out of here in a couple of hours.

"…I did attempt to bring all the females back," she told them earnestly. "But honestly, I'm surprised I got as many as I did. And given the challenges they're facing, perhaps it's for the best that we didn't get all of them at one time. We'll need time and space to help more assimilate. Plus, we're learning things from this group that we'll be able to use in the future to help the others more quickly."

Kyelle jumped in then to explain that many of the females had been violated by human males in some way—most for medical experiments against their will, or being imprisoned. While most hadn't been violated sexually, their trust for anyone or anything who smelled male had been eroded.

"We do have all but one of them here from the village now, though and we see them getting braver and branching out. I think we'll see several more leaving the hall in the next few days," the owl said carefully.

Several of the males spoke up about those in their clans wanting to know who exactly was there, to check for mates or close friends and family. Kyelle and Sasha assured them no one had been hidden.

"You have to impress on the males that the more they try to force their way in, or the more pressure they apply, the harder it is for the females," Sasha said with a sad shake of her head. "I know it's frustrating when they're so excited to see them. But if they aren't careful they'll actually increase the time it takes for the females to settle."

The conversation shifted soon after that to the wider plan and Sasha's excitement grew. "Zev and I are working on a way to free the Chimera from all human rule. But it is going to take some careful strategy, and possibly a relocation."

The Alphas shifted in their seats and looked at each other.

"Relocation to the human world?!"

"No, no, of course not. I can't really be certain where it will be yet, but… I believe I have a plan that will allow us to step out of the reach of the humans. And if I'm right, we may need to move quickly. You should be preparing your people. Everyone should have a basic bag packed at all times—just in case we have to make the call suddenly."

"How will we move? Even deeper in Thana, the humans can still find us with their technology!"

"Not if she's found a way to block them from coming through."

"Then why would we need to relocate?"

Voices rose and Sasha opened her mouth to shout over them, but caught a look from Zev.

The Alpha doesn't need to force themselves on others, he said gently in her head. Just watch them and remain quiet, they'll notice quickly.

She did as he asked, and sure enough within a minute all the males had quieted and turned to look at her, expectant.

"I can't give you all the answers right now," she said simply. "But I am asking you to trust both me and Zev, and to trust that our goal is to reach the point where we, as a people, are entirely independent of the humans. I envision a life where there is no overlying stress. There is no question of our people or our children being removed from us. No one will have to live with the weight of that fear any longer. And I cannot take any steps that might threaten that. So, please, hold your tongues. Encourage your people to be ready to move when they are called to it. And in the meantime, let your hearts be hopeful because I truly believe we're going to get there.

"To that end," she went on, before any of them could raise more fears and get everyone unsettled again, "It's very important that we both keep Nick completely happy and unsuspicious, but also allow him no freedom. He must see different males every day—as if they're all nearby, but not revealing themselves. He's never been to Thana, so his understanding of the daily function here is… vague at best."

"We've told him that the Chimera spend most of their time hunting," Zev said, with a grin. "He believes most of us aren't actually in the village during the day. Which is true. Just not for the reason he thinks."

Sasha smiled to herself. Nick getting a taste of his own medicine.

"Our goal is to keep him reporting to the humans in such a way that they won't interfere, but allow us the freedom to plan, get the other females back, and get us all to the safe place within the month."

A ripple of surprise murmured through the circle of males, but Sasha just kept going. "Until we can do that, all Chimera should try to live as normally as possible, but give no information to Nick beyond daily, simple things. No strategy. No insight about what we're doing or planning."

"You say that you want to free us from human rule, Sasha-don, but… you brought the human male with you. You are human."

A murmur of agreement rose behind Gheet, who fixed his eyes on Sasha and didn't look away.