Mated to the Warrior Beast

154 The Lay of the Land

~ ZEV ~

Zev wanted to bite something. Did his brother really think he’d hurt Kyelle? What was wrong with everyone?

Lhars spoke up as if to take Zev’s attention from his mate. “It’s only been days, Zev. I’m guessing a lot of them will come back when they’ve had some time to rest. Everyone is still finding their feet here, but we have a lot more resources than those who’ve gone out alone, or as a pair.”

“We have more pairs?” Sasha asked quickly from the corner. Everyone turned to look at her.

Kyelle smiled. “Several new mate pairs, and others that we’re certain are going to choose to bond. They’re just… finding their way. The females are still… uncertain of themselves a lot. And there’s that cluster of them that the humans interfered with. The ones that appear to be mature, but are really still children. We’re being very careful with them and—”

“There’s two Anima who’ve mated Chimera, too. Do you know that?” Sasha blurted.

Zev had to bite back a growl. He hadn’t wanted to reveal that until he had a better grasp of where the Chimera were.

“Truly?” Kyelle gasped.

“Skhal has a wolf mate, and Harth is mated to one of their lions!”

.....

Zev’s brother and his mate both whirled to look at Skhal. “Really, Skhal? Congratulations! Where is she?”

Zev almost startled. He’d forgotten his former advisor was even in the room. Skhal had stepped inside the door, then planted himself there, as if he’d stop anyone else from entering.

Skhal cut a searing glare at Zev, then turned back to Lhars. “I’m hoping she’ll join us in a couple days. I have to go meet her tonight. She’s trying to help us forge a line of communication so that we can avoid conflict,” he said through his teeth.

Zev was grateful that Skhal didn’t reveal more just then—then annoyed with himself for thinking it. He’d been right to minimize the risk of Jayah’s connection to the Queen of the Anima! Skhal would see that if it wasn’t his own mate.

“Harth’s mate is the Captain of the Anima military,” Sasha said, her eyes flicking back and forth between Kyelle and Zev. Zev didn’t smile, but he didn’t tell her to stop either. It was too late now.

“Keep that to yourselves until we’re certain what’s going on. There’s a chance that Harth and her mate will be joining us in a couple of days. If they do… then we can get excited about it.”

Lhars’ eyebrows popped up. “Their Captain is coming to join us?”

“Possibly,” Zev said.

“Unlikely,” Skhal growled.

They glared at each other for a moment. But Sasha stepped in. “We won’t know until it’s been a couple of days. But the good news is that we have two Chimera with close ties to the Anima. That gives me hope that we can forge peace without a fight.”

Zev’s upper lip twitched back from his teeth, but he didn’t argue with her, just barked questions at Lhars and Kyelle so he could form a mental picture of what kind of resources they had.

He asked about the creatures—the Chimera who were failed experiments of the humans, who couldn’t shape-shift and instead existed in a half-and-half form, their bodies twisted to combine human and animal features.

But he already knew many of them had chosen to stay in Thana and fight the humans—and lost.

“They’ve been staying away from us,” Kyelle admitted with a sad look at Lhars. “The hunters and trackers are crossing their scent trails and finding evidence. A few have even spoken. But mostly they’re avoiding us, I think. This land appears to be much larger than Thana. But we’ve kept our hunters on this peninsula so far, so we don’t know—”

“Have every tracker or hunter who’s come in contact with a creature or the Chimera who left the encampment gather in the morning. I want to hear reports from them directly,” Zev muttered. “But in the meantime, do we have any maps, anything to help us understand how much space we have here before we hit that ravine and the Anima patrols?”

Lhars briefed him—partial maps, still incomplete and virtually no information beyond the ravine except what they could see from a distance, being up in the hills above the forest.

Zev cursed again and Sasha cut him a look. “Give those who are talented with maps forty-eight hours. I want to see as much of this land we hold and the land we can see from the mountains documented and drawn as we can in that time. We’ll get the trackers and hunters to tell us as much as they know about terrain and defensible places tomorrow, too. And Lhars, you and Skhal identify our ten best scouts and snipers. I need to meet them tomorrow for some training. I’m assuming by now we have more than just snares for weapons?”

Lhars frowned. “Of course. Bows and slings and… but, Zev, why? I thought we were opening up lines of communication? Talks for peace?”

Zev huffed his derision at that idea. “Eventually. Maybe. But right now we’re making sure these bastards know that the Chimera aren’t to be underestimated.”

Lhars’ eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”

Zev stopped pacing and turned to face his brother, pointing to the east, towards the WildWood and that Tree City. “Those people almost ended me. They threatened my mate and son, and almost killed all three of us. They’ve held me in a cage—bound me so I couldn’t shift without killing myself—then refused to listen even to their own Captain, who tried to tell them that we came in peace when he was mated to one of our own. They are led by a headstrong, blind, prideful Queen, and until she’s removed, there’s no hope we will be any more free than we were in Thana.”

Lhars swallowed, his hands tightening to fists. “You’re going to—”

“We’re going to teach these fuckers a lesson and assassinate that she-cat Queen. Then we’ll see about peace.”