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For a moment they just held each other, then she lifted her head to meet his eyes and found him staring down at her, his gorgeous blue eyes penetrating—and sparkling with delight.

"Is that a yes, then?" he murmured playfully.

"Yes! I mean, yes! Yes!" she repeated, turning to face the crowd still milling close and staring. "Zev is my mate. He\'s the one I want! I choose him!"

Zev chuckled, the warm rich sound vibrating under her palm on his chest, and she turned back. "Is that it? Can you stop fighting now?"

"Not quite," he said, the smile falling from his face. "But things are looking up, definitely."

"Always the optimist," Lhars muttered from the dirt at their feet.

Sasha almost kicked him, but as he pushed himself up to sit, shaking his hair out of his eyes Zev let go of her with one hand and leaned down to help him up.

Lhars stared at the proffered hand for a moment, then took it with a sigh and let Zev pull him to his feet.

Once again the two brothers stood almost chest to chest, staring at each other. Sasha didn\'t miss that Zev had pulled her more to his side, giving himself room to step between them if Lhars did anything to her.

But his brother just sighed again. "Congratulations, Zev," he said. "The infamous Sasha is finally here, and likely to be yours. Now all you have—"

"Likely?" Sasha exclaimed. "What do you mean, likely? I just told you, I choose him. He chose me, and I choose him. That\'s the end of it, right?"

Lhars stared at her for a moment, his face a frozen mask, as if he couldn\'t let whatever he felt show on his face. Then he turned back to Zev. "We need to call the council."

Zev nodded once, his hand at her waist tightening again. He was keeping her pinned to his side, and she was happy to be there, clinging to his waist with an iron grip.

"Lupine!" Lhars barked suddenly, and every man in the clearing stood to attention. "Submit to your new Alpha, Zev, and his chosen mate, Sasha!"

A single howl rose mournfully into the darkened sky, but when it was repeated, the entire crowd—a hundred men or more—raised their howls with it.

Then, to Sasha\'s surprise, the men all dropped to one knee, their heads bowed.

But Zev frowned and growled, "Get up. I am Alpha, not King—I do not require worship. Get up!"

The men all looked at each other, then got to their feet, popping up, looking at Zev suspiciously, as if it might be a trick.

But the anger on his face was real. "I don\'t know what\'s happened since I\'ve been gone. But you all know me. You know how I rule—how I will rule. I do not require your devotion, only your respect. Whatever has been asked of you," he gave a quick glance to Lhars, that made Lhars frown, "now you are free. Live your lives. Choose your paths. You answer to me only if you harm others, or resist the hierarchy."

A chorus of barks and howls rose then, with many of the men clapping their hands, or nodding.

But almost as many didn\'t.

Zev scanned the crowd, his eyes narrowing. "You have heard things today that are false—about my motives, and my actions. And I give you my word that I will tell you the whole story. You will hear from my own mouth what is true and what isn\'t. Right now, I need to meet with my chosen mate, and the council. I will explain myself to them and learn what has happened in my absence.

"Tomorrow we will conclave after dinner. Meet on the lakeside. Those of you who still have mates or families, bring them. Let us all celebrate and begin finding our strength as a pack again!"

A roar of approval met that statement, though Sasha could still see groups of men in clusters that weren\'t smiling, or joining in the celebrations of the others. She looked up at Zev and saw him marking some of them. His hand tightened on her waist again.

"Nothing will change in your daily lives on my account," he called when the noise had settled. "Lhars and your council will remain in place until the hierarchy is settled. Do not be concerned. I don\'t take Alpha to throw your lives into turmoil again."

There was another murmur of approval, but then a deep voice rose from somewhere in the crowd. "So you say, but you claimed loyalty to us as Alpha of the Clans three years ago, too."

Zev\'s face dragged for the dirt. Sasha gripped his waist and squeezed to offer comfort. He looked so sad. "I understand that with all that\'s happened, you feel… uncertain. I will not remove Lhars from daily leadership. You can continue to follow him and assume his orders are mine. Once I have cleared the path with the leaders, I will speak with you all tomorrow and hopefully… hopefully you can forgive me what needs forgiving. And forget the lies. But for now I need to speak with my chosen mate, and the council. And Skhal. Is he here?"

There was a murmuring moment where everyone looked around, obviously searching for the man he\'d named. But he wasn\'t found apparently.

Zev turned back to Lhars. "Can you find him? I want him there. Call the Council to my cave and bring Skhal as well. I want everyone to hear what he\'s saying."

Lhar\'s jaw tightened, but he nodded once, then turned, limping into the crowd, growling at a couple young men to follow him and muttering instruction to them as he walked.

Then Zev looked at Dunken who had approached. "I\'m sorry, friend," Zev said quietly. "I can\'t bring you to a pack council."

Dunken nodded. "Just don\'t forget me when you\'re in a position to bring us all together," he said tonelessly. "We share a vision."

Zev nodded and clasped his hand. "Thank you for your help today. This hasn\'t gone as I expected, but I suspect we wouldn\'t have got this far without you."

Dunken shrugged. "Only the Creator knows."

Zev\'s lips thinned, but he nodded tightly, then started to walk, pulling Sasha with him by the hand.

"Where are we going?" she asked as he hurried her through the crowd, all the males following them with their eyes—some reaching out to brush Zev as he passed, others faces frozen.

We need to get out of here before any of the other Clan Alphas hear about this and decide to challenge me, he said in her head. And I need to get you alone.

Sasha hurried faster.