Rise of the Dark Alpha
[COMPLETE - SILVER $8,000USD WINNER: Werewolf Competition 2022] Zev prowled towards her, all shining, brutal beauty, his chin low and those incredible, piercing eyes fixed on her. He didn’t stop until they were toe-to-toe and he blocked her view of every other male in the circle. His eyes dipped to her mouth as he leaned in, his whisper playing on her skin. “You. Are. Mine.” His deep voice twanged in her belly as the howls of the wolf pack rose from behind him to echo across the mountains of Thana, while the other Chimera protested his claim. Fighting the urge to stroke his broad, bare chest with her shaking hands, Sasha forced herself to tilt her head and raise an eyebrow. “So bold for a pup who just found his fangs.” The other males roared with laughter. Ignoring their taunts, Zev’s eyes sparked and he leaned even closer, the scruff on his jaw tickling her cheek as he smiled. “So bold for a human who already knows the pleasure of gasping my name.” She shivered when his teeth grazed her ear. ***** Just days after Sasha gave herself to her childhood love, he disappeared. Five years later, on a dark city street, Zev came back—with danger on his tail. Zev is Chimera: Half-human, half-wolf. Made in a secure research lab, his existence is a secret. But when the powerful men who created him try to kill the only woman who ever made his heart sing, Zev snaps their leash and steals her away to the brutal, hidden world of the Chimera clans. Torn between the magnetic draw of her first love and the painful betrayal of his disappearance, Sasha tries to keep Zev at arms-length. But when they reach this mysterious world, Zev discovers that in his absence the humans took control and stole almost all the females. The Chimera are dying—and Zev isn’t Alpha anymore. Now, Zev must fight his own people to win the right to mate his only love. Can he prove to her that his long-ago promise to protect her heart, as well as her body, was true? Or will the humans cross worlds to hunt the wolf and tear the lovers apart forever? [Mature content, no sexual assault] Cover Image by Aenaluck and used by permission with paid copyright. See more gorgeous art and support the artist at www.patreon.com/aenaluck
Plans and Preparations
~ ZEV ~
Zev had promised the healers he wouldn't shift until they'd cleared his wound, that the tissue was strong enough to withstand the process. So he walked in human form, all the way back to the Village, teeth set against the delay, but knowing if he didn't do as he'd promised they'd hobble him further.
He did go to the Trough first, to eat before he had to submit to being prodded and tucked into a bed again.
Despite the early hour, normally the Trough would have been half full of hunters and others with long days ahead. Yet only a handful of tables had bodies at them when he walked in. Zev frowned, but didn't have time to consider it as Dunken caught him just as he sat down with a plate, then Yhet's booming greeting made the trees shake as he entered the Trough and had to slide the bench halfway out to fit his long legs under the tabletop.
"It's good to see you on your feet, brother," Yhet beamed at Zev.