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Harth successfully navigated Tarkyn through the forest to her tent which was on the edge of camp.

More than successfully. Easily.

They met no patrols. Hid from no known borders or guards. They slipped into the encampment when most of the Chimera were asleep, and didn’t even risk running into anyone.

What the hell was going on?

Tarkyn was troubled—was this the state of Chimeran defense? But Harth assured him it wasn’t. But why they’d found no one…

And then as they crept closer to the tent, they passed several others that were empty and cold. No fresh scent. No dying fires. As if some of the Chimera had left or moved. There seemed to be very few on this side of the tent-village at all.

They spoke through the bond for the rest of the trip, even after they reached her tent and bedded down. Even knowing there was no one else close-by.

Harth had been concerned that someone would cross their trail and raise the alarm, but as they finally came to a rest in her tent, and Tarkyn curled himself against her back, spooning her, his back to the tent door, to keep himself between her and threat, Harth’s teeth were clenched.

.....

What was going on? Why hadn’t there been guards? And why were some of the outer tents now empty?

But she had no answers, and no way to find them during the night without raising alarm. So she did her best to keep herself at ease so that Tarkyn would relax.

Yet, sleep was a long time coming. And when she did finally sink into it, it was to broken dreams full of a nameless dread, and tension…

*****

~ ZEV ~

In the dream, Zev screamed so hard his voice cracked.

Formless bonds held him pinned against a pole that pressed all the way up his spine, his wrists and ankles bound and unmoving. There was no enemy holding him that he could strike, no force he could apply to break them. The bonds simply existed and were apparently unbreakable. Zev twisted and jerked within them, muscles burning and his throat a fiery ache from all the screaming, but no matter how much force he applied, no matter how he jerked and pulled with every ounce of his formidable strength, no matter what he did, he was bound.

Bound with his arms behind him so that if he shifted his chest would split and bare his heart and he would die.

His entire body thrummed with the combination of rage and abject terror that had haunted him since they’d arrived in Anima and been taken by the Queen.

But there was nothing he could do.

And so, he watched, helpless, as Elreth held his son like a doll. She gripped his neck at the base of his skull, and lifted him high to the chorus of her people singing her praises.

Swinging in her grip, Zan screamed, the piercing wail of a baby in acute distress, his limbs flailing. But all around them, the Anima lifted a roar of joy and victory.

“This child is now mine to do with as I please!” Elreth declared to her people, her eyes burning with zealous glee. “These invaders have brought their human spawn in an attempt to take us, but I have not let it happen. I have protected you, my people! And you are my witness that this human will die just like the rest of them!”

Then, as her people roared their delight, the Queen turned to face Zev and smiled the smile of a predator, her teeth gleaming in the sun as she squeezed his son’s throat until Zan’s cry choked off, and his face turned purple, his tiny hands and feet paddling the air as he fought an impossible battle against an adult foe.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” Zev screamed—

“ZEV, IT’S A DREAM! WAKE UP!”

Zev sucked in a huge breath, scrambling. There was a weight on his chest, and another on his shoulder. He swung wildly and connected with something warm, that made a soft, “oof.”

“Zev, it’s me. Open your eyes.”

He blinked and pushed up to sit, confused. He still heard Zan’s cries, the sun still beamed down—but it seemed to come at him from a doorway or… there was a solid mass underneath him, and walls all around… Zev blinked and blinked again, until Sasha’s face became clear, leaning over him, her eyes wide and scared.

“Are you awake? Zev, are you awake?” she whispered frantically.

“I… yes…” he scrambled to sit up straight, clinging to his son, who was still bundled in the furs he’d used the night before to make sure Zan wouldn’t roll in the night.

His son screamed.

“Let him go, Zev. Let me take him. He’s safe. He’s just hungry and startled. You’re fine. You’re safe. You’re here. It was a dream. Please…. Please, Zev.”

Trembling, but remembering that they’d been through this before, Zev handed his mate their son as he blinked and shook his head, trying desperately to clear his thoughts.

He was with the Chimera at last. In a cave—not a building. A cave. And that scene with Elreth… it was a dream. Just a dream.

A dream he’d had over and over and over again… but just a dream.

Elreth wasn’t here.

Zan was safe.

As Sasha stood, holding Zan close to her chest and bobbing up and down, whispering to him to soothe him, Zev swung his legs over the side of the sleeping platform and sat forward with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, blowing out long breaths, then forcing himself to inhale slowly, trying to calm his heart.

It had only been a dream.

*****

Some time later, Zan strapped to her chest, Sasha appeared again and put a hand to his shoulder. “Did you sleep at all?” she asked worriedly.

Zev shrugged. He was still sitting in the cave on the sleeping platform. He hadn’t been able to find the courage to leave yet, which was piss poor from him. But the shrug was the truth. He wasn’t sure if he’d slept at all beyond that dream. It seemed like his mind had run all night, yet he felt a little more rested than he had. Perhaps he’d nodded off at some point. “I’m glad you slept,” he said simply, because it was true.

Sasha sighed, then urged Zev to get himself food. “You’ll need something to keep you going today.”

He was grateful for her care, but she didn’t quite meet his eyes as she turned to carry Zan down the trail towards the encampment and to the healers who’d told her they wanted to talk through the feedings for the day.

Still trembling slightly, Zev changed into a new set of clothes that Lhars had offered. They needed to wash. All of them. Though the Anima had allowed them water to wipe their skins, it wasn’t the same as submerging in water and donning clean clothing afterwards.

Zev hoped his friends had found warm pools for the cold season, but there wasn’t time to find out now. After he’d changed, he trotted down the trail to the meal fires where he was greeted with great enthusiasm and he could eat ravenously—using the food as an excuse not to be embraced, or to talk too much.

He wasn’t sure why he still felt so wary of his own pack, but it was a relief when Lhars approached and the others fell back.

“I hope you rested,” his brother said, his warm smile belied by the concern in his eyes. “We’re looking forward to hearing everything you’ve learned and—”

“What I’ve learned,” Zev said around a mouthful of fried bread, “is that we have one more enemy to fight before any of us can really rest.” There was a flash in his head of that dream, of Elreth holding Zan like a prize pelt, but he pushed it away. “Once we overcome them, this place will offer real freedom. It’s a lush land—plentiful—already supporting a population much higher than ours. We won’t be restricted to the winter season here. It’s a place worth fighting for.”

The mood around the fire, which had been cheery and upbeat, deflated around him. He felt the weight of his words drag the others down—smiles turning to flat mouths, then frowns. And it saddened him.

But it was unavoidable.

“I know it’s unpleasant to think that we still have a fight ahead of us. But I’ve learned a lot about these people, and I’ll share it with all of you,” he said, opening the corner of his mind that was the hunter—strategic, observant. “They may have greater numbers than us, but we’re stronger one on one. So it’s time for the wolves to use the strength we have. We’ve always been able to pull down an enemy when we work together,” he said with the smile of a predator.

A few of the younger males cheered, or howled. But those like Lhars who’d fought to survive, none of them smiled.

Zev pushed away the irritation that rose at their lack of enthusiasm.

“Spread the word,” he said curtly. “I’ll meet with the hunters and collect their knowledge, then at high sun, the pack will gather. And I’ll show you how we’re going to fight… and win. How we’ll finally be free.”

*****