Rise of the Dark Alpha

~ ZEV ~

As dinnertime approached the healer\'s building slowly emptied around Zev.

The Alphas had all left two hours earlier. Some of the others had hung around, but Zev had grown drowsy. The last thing he knew, he was having an easy chat with Jhon—who was very clearly trying to keep his mind occupied so he wouldn\'t think about Sasha—but then he startled and suddenly the light in the room had changed, his heart was pounding, and he was alone.

Zev sat up quickly, only barely wincing at the pain in his side. It was improving, he thought with relief. But his heart was beating so hard and his adrenaline was up. He fought the urge to shift—the healers were convinced it might reopen his wound.

What had frightened him? Where was the threat?

He looked around, keeping his breathing as low as he could so he could listen, but with his pulse thrumming in his ears, he was struggling.

He couldn\'t hear or scent anything bad. So why did his body want him to scream?

Then he looked up, saw the low ceiling and his breath stopped.

It was happening again.

Zev sighed and dropped his face in his hands. But breathing his own breath only made the feeling worse, so he raised his head again, then slowly, carefully got out of the bed and walked across the floor to open the door. There was a window he could see from his bed, but he needed the fresh air.

The air outside was bracing, but not too cold, even when he wasn\'t wearing a shirt. And he could breathe so much easier.

"Fuck it," he muttered and went back to the bed, pulled off a fur to throw carefully around his shoulders, then stepped back outside, onto the porch, to lower himself to the top step and look out at the clearing beyond the building.

He could breathe. Sitting here, with trees and open space, he could breathe.

He watched the sun dip below the trees to the east, watched the shadows slowly engulf the clearing, and he was still sitting there thirty minutes later when the healer came rushing to the door, then blew out a breath when he found Zev sitting there.

"You scared me," the big male said.

"I needed air," Zev replied without looking up at him. "But I\'m glad you\'re here. I have a request."

The male\'s scent became wary. "What is it?"

"I want to sleep in my cave tonight. I\'ll rest better—and I need the rest, right? That\'s the best aid for my healing?"

"Yes, but only when you\'re resting in a healthy environment—and you don\'t have to hurt yourself to get there."

"I can\'t sleep in these walls," Zev growled. "I wake in a panic and… I just can\'t. I\'m asking for permission, please, to let me sleep where I can truly rest. I\'ll return here in the morning."

"I don\'t know, Zev…"

Zev finally turned his head away from the late afternoon light and met the male\'s eyes. He stood in the doorway, a thick-bodied Owl, his eyes such a light brown they were almost gold. He was probably the same age as Zev, but like most owls there was something about him that made him seem older.

"It\'s Allory, right?" Zev asked quietly.

The male nodded.

"Allory… I can\'t sleep here. It\'s going to make me crazy. I\'m not trying to hurt myself. Believe me, I want to heal. But I promised my mate—the Alpha—that I would follow healers\' orders. So I\'m asking you, please, to have some compassion. Let me sleep in my cave, then return here during the day. I\'m already feeling better, stronger. So much stronger than I was this morning. Tomorrow I\'ll be even better—"

"That\'s exactly when things become dangerous," Allory said. "When your body feels better, but you don\'t understand the limits that you have. You will tire extremely quickly, and even if your wound has closed, it isn\'t as strong as your flesh. You risk opening it again—"

"I\'m not asking to be active, but to rest somewhere else than this hellhole!" Zev snapped, then caught himself. Raking a hand through his hair, he shook his head. "I\'m sorry, I\'m sorry. I just… I need to get out of here."

Allory stared at him for a long moment, then sighed. "Stay here for a minute."

Then the male disappeared inside. He was gone for several minutes, so long that Zev nearly went back in to see what the male was doing. But when he did reemerge a minute later, he threw Zev\'s fur jacket at him and waited for him to put it on. Allory held a thick roll on a string, and a canvas bag in his other hand. "Show me where your cave is," he said quietly. "I\'ll see."

Half an hour later, though normally it would only take Zev a little more than half that to make the trip on human legs, they made the final climb up the trail to his cave.

Zev was doing his best not to pant, but the truth was, his body was desperate for rest already and his side was beginning to ache. But he pushed on, relieved when they finally rounded the flat to the cave opening and walked inside.

Someone—probably Yhet, or Kyelle—had been in there to clean up while they\'d been on solitude. Zev\'s heart pinched with gratitude when he found fresh flowers, only just beginning to droop on a small table next to the furs. The furs had been shaken and beaten clean, and there was a locked box of dried meats and fruit.

Someone had thought they\'d return here after the solitude and had done their best to make it welcoming for Sasha. Zev made a mental note to find out who and to thank them.

The furs called his name, but he forced himself to stay on his feet as he scanned the cave, then looked to Allory.

"I will eat. I will sleep. And tomorrow, I\'ll return to the healer\'s center."

Allory walked to the circle of rocks that sat around the bowl they used for a fire pit, let the heavy roll slide from his shoulder, and placed the canvas bag on the stone floor.

"One condition," he said. "You have to let me change your dressing, watch you eat dinner, and stay until you should be sleeping. And I\'m going to post a guard at the cave mouth to stop others coming to disturb you when you\'re resting."

Zev\'s lips twisted against a smile. "Who does the guard have to be?"

"Which of your friends is the most obnoxiously protective?"

Zev snorted. "Skhal, hands down."

Allory grinned. "Then Skhal it is."

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