Protect

~ Zev ~

A deep growl—below the level of Sasha's hearing—began in Yhet's chest and Zev rushed forward to put himself between Sasha and the huge Chimera.

Yhet was sweet-natured and innocent, much like a child most of the time. The sasquatch were very long lived, and late to mature. Yhet was fifty years old, yet treated Zev like an older brother. Of all the Chimera, he was probably the very best for Sasha to meet first, because the sasquatch were always curious, and hard to anger. Very rarely violent.

But Yhet had lost his mate to the human researchers five years earlier, right before Zev had come home. Even though he hadn't yet started wasting away, the sasquatch's emotions were—by their standards—perilously close to the surface.

"Yhet," he said cautiously, one hand up in front of the male whose eyes hadn't left Sasha, "listen to me, this is Sasha. I brought Sasha home."

The growl stopped as if it had been cut off. A moment later those eyebrows rose again and Yhet gaped at Zev. "Sasha? Your Sasha? Are you true, Zev?"

Zev couldn't stop the grin. "I'm true, Yhet. She's here."

"It is so wonderful to smell you, Sasha!" Yhet said, plowing forward to pull her into a hug.

"Yhet!" Zev tried to catch him. But he was a loving soul.

To Sasha's credit, when Yhet's thick arms embraced her, though her eyes went very wide, she didn't run. And he did at least remember not to lift her off the ground.

He didn't, however, remember not to pet her hair.

"Yhet," Zev said through his teeth, "That's not polite, remember?"

"Oh! Sorry," Yhet said, pulling his hands back. "I always forget which customs are human and which aren't."

"It's okay," Sasha said faintly.

Zev shifted to place himself between them again, putting a soothing hand back to take Sasha's and squeeze.

"Remember," he muttered to Yhet, "Look and listen to humans. Smell and touch Chimera."

Yhet nodded quickly, but Zev sighed. He would forget again before the researchers came back. Zev was just grateful Sasha hadn't screamed and run. So many of the research humans did the first time they saw Yhet. He was sensitive about it.

Since he'd left Thana and been working in the human world, Zev had had more contact with the researchers and learned that, among them, meeting Yhet was an initiation.

The researchers were the ones who'd found Thana and determined that this beautiful world would become their wildlife sanctuary—except for human-made Chimera.

They tried to interfere as little as possible in the lives of those living here, but they visited every season to run a census, treat medical conditions and, as Zev had learned, to take those that were considered appropriate for whatever experimentation they were running, or to bring new Chimera who needed time to grow and strengthen.

Just as Zev had, most Chimera grew up in Thana.

But as he had become more involved in the work in the human world, and more trusted, the researchers and handlers had become more open with Zev about how they viewed Thana. He'd learned that when a new researcher was hired for the team, they were always included in the next trip to Thana. The senior handlers would make sure they weren't warned about Yhet, but when they reached this rugged world, the staffer would be encouraged to plow forward and explore—which meant, inevitably, they would be found by Yhet before they reached the City since the male rarely stayed in one place for longer than an hour, and the valley wasn't large enough for him. He had a nose like a bloodhound and strides so long his brisk walk covered a mile in under four minutes. He generally crossed Thana at least twice a day. Four if he ran.

Zev could sense the ground trembling for quarter of a mile when he did that.

The huge Chimera's face was flushed red with excitement and his cheeks pressed almost into points, he smiled so broadly. "I am so happy that you're back, Zev. And with Sasha! What a gift! When did you tell Xar? He's kept it very quiet. Did the Creators let you—"

"Um, no. Yhet," Zev said softly.

The Sasquatch cut off and his smile faded. "Oh no… Zev… does Xar know you're here?"

"No," he said, eyeing Yhet and sliding his gaze back towards Sasha in a caution not to speak about it in front of her. "I gather that means that Xar took Alpha when I left?" Interesting. Not surprising. But interesting. "Yhet, you can't tell anyone, but Nick tried to take her, so I brought her here to keep her safe."

Yhet's tall forehead pinched into lines and his hands clenched. "Oh, dear. Oh, Zev."

"I know, I know, but it's okay. She'll be safe here. I will keep her safe, but… just in case… if I'm ever not around or, or busy, can you help me?"

"Of course! Of course!"

"Thank you, brother. But just remember: you don't tell anyone that I told you Nick tried to take her, okay? We'll keep that from the others. I don't want to make them nervous."

"Nervous?" Sasha asked from behind him. "I thought those people weren't here. Isn't that why we came?"

Yhet's smile froze on his face and his eyes slowly rolled to Zev, who would have laughed if he wasn't terrified the male was going to say the wrong thing and freak Sasha out. Yhet was so huge, everything he did was big. Moments like this, he usually thought he was being subtle.

Zev bit back a smile and patted the male on his steel bicep that was thicker than Zev's thigh. Then he turned to Sasha.

"I didn't say they were never here. I said you'd be safe here. And you will be. Because the team don't come very often, and when they do, we'll take you out of the City. They never leave the established trails because there's a lot of things in the forest here that were… failures of their previous attempts to blend humans and animals. None of the researchers want to run into those creatures, trust me."

"But… I'm human?" Sasha said faintly.

"Yes, but not of one those that—"

"Um, Zev?" Yhet said hesitantly. Yhet usually needed more caution than he displayed, so that got Zev's attention immediately.

"What is it, Yhet?" he said quickly, turning to the male, every part of him tensed and ready to meet the unseen enemy that had to be behind his friend's suddenly fearful scent.

"You don't know about the City?" Yhet said carefully, his eyes snapping back and forth between Sasha and Zev.

Zev went very still. "What's wrong with the City?"

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