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~ LHARS ~

At first Lhars had been overjoyed to see the females. But that joy quickly turned to grief as they shrank away from him—even those he knew. Even the wolves, though he saw less timidity in them, more of a willingness to fight.

What had been done to their proud females? Lhars saw faces he didn’t know at all, several that he recognized but had never been close to, and one or two that, under different circumstances, he might have rushed to share scents.

All of them looked at him with haunted eyes, keeping themselves facing him when he walked among them, some submitting—but trembling while they did it.

What the ** had happened to them?

Kyelle’s words echoed in his head—that the females returning might not trust males. Might need a female touch. Stopping in the middle of them and turning to meet so many pairs of suspicious or fearful eyes, it had become apparent that his very maleness was a terror to them. Unwilling to cause them any more stress, Lhars had slipped to the side of the trail, squatting between the trees to make himself small, backing off to leave Kyelle to manage them.

But Kyelle was struggling, too. There were too many of them for just one of her. As she settled one group, or got one leader focused, more would arrive and begin the process of unsettling everyone again.

Then, suddenly, Sasha was there, Zev hovering at her back like he was tied to her.

A pang of jealousy cut through Lhars’ watching the two of them together—Sasha utterly certain of his brother, his brother consumed with standing by her. Their unity was… admirable.

He could smell Sasha’s unease. He suspected if she hadn’t had her hands clenched they would have trembled.

He prayed that whatever had happened to these females hadn’t happened to Sasha. That she was just overwhelmed with having done the impossible.

He shook his head. She’d brought the females back. He couldn’t believe it. Not all of them, too be sure. But… if she could do this, what else could she manage?

He had to stifle the urge to throw himself at her feet and bare his balls. She deserved that kind of devotion. He understood why Zev stood over her like an Enforcer. He was her Enforcer, Lhars’ realized.

A vision bloomed in his mind then, an impossible one, of himself watching over Kyelle—despite their different Clans, different species, his heart was there to do it. It would never happen of course, but… he turned to watch her, her blonde hair swinging as she leaned into speak quietly with one female, then turned quickly to approach another.

She held herself with the quiet dignity he’d always admired. She was a female of strength that wasn’t… flashy.

Lhars knew he was seen as a peacock. A show off. Before the females had been taken he’d enjoyed a lot of interest and signals from the younger females. But he’d been so full of his own resentment and ambition, he’d always assumed he’d go about finding a mate once he’d established himself properly as Alpha.

Instead, he’d been forced to play clown and messenger for Xar. He’d watched Kyelle struggle first to take Alpha of her own Clan, then to hold her people together in the growing chaos after the females were taken—and then Xar’s downward spiral.

His focus had finally changed from licking his own balls, to lifting his head to protect others. He’d had a plan, and had yearned to bring Kyelle with him when the wolves defected. But he hadn’t been sure she’d be willing. Then Zev arrived and he knew she’d never leave him.

Now…

Lhars swallowed as Kyelle strode over to one of the females, underdressed and trembling, and pulled her to a cluster of females, some of whom had brought bags.

He watched her nurture, control, guide, and show compassion—and he saw her instincts keep reminding her to check her back.

He ached to stand behind her, to allow her to give her whole focus to the good she was doing. But he knew it would make her uncomfortable—and even more so, would disrupt the females.

It struck him then that bringing these females to the city where they would be outnumbered by males three to one might be a disaster.

The males would be devasted. He couldn’t imagine their faces when their friends, sisters, and mates walked in…

But were these females even those females anymore?

His chest ached.

But then Sasha appeared, slipping through the crowd to approach Kyelle. Lhars leaped to his feet, but then caught himself and moved slowly to join them, keeping his eyes down so the females didn’t feel hunted.

As he reached them, Sasha gave Kyelle the order. “Get them as far as the village, then stop to rest and see how they’re doing. We can take all day getting them to the City if we need to, but I want them away from Nick and Patty as quickly as possible.”

Then her eyes lifted to him. “Lhars, can you run ahead and arrange a fire—a bonfire, something big enough that they can all gather around. They haven’t seen the village before, remember. So they won’t be expecting it. We’ll tell them it’s just a rest stop, okay?”

Lhars nodded quickly, but Sasha was already turning back to Kyelle, speaking with the quick efficient expectation of a true Alpha, Zev watching her with such pride Lhars almost rolled his eyes. But then he thought of his own admiration of Kyelle just moments before and decided under the circumstances, he could forgive his brother’s emotional demonstrations.

When Sasha turned her attention to the other males, Lhars plucked at Kyelle’s sleeve.

”Are you okay?” he murmured.

Her eyes were shadowed and her face tight, but she nodded, her gaze sliding from one female to the next, one by one. “I just… feel so bad for them.”

”The best thing we can do is give them a safe, warm space, right?” he encouraged her gently. Kyelle nodded again. “I’ll get the fire going, and some food. I’ll stay nearby, but not push in. I think you were right. They prefer not to have us males crowding them.”

Kyelle turned then to look at him, examining him closely for a moment. “Thank you, Lhars,” she said quietly. “Thank you for being thoughtful even… even when…”

He waved her next words away, not wanting to hear them. “I’ll see you in the Village. If there’s a problem, send one of the others and I’ll come meet you.”

Kyelle nodded and he turned to run ahead as Sasha called the females, most of whom had been so preoccupied, they hadn’t even noticed her arrive.

As the tidal wave of females sucked towards their Alpha, Lhars began to run. He would make sure that when they reached the Village they felt welcome and safe. As much as he was capable, anyway.

And perhaps, just perhaps, in this, Kyelle might see that he could care for her as well. Help her to help the others.

He shifted into his wolf, head still spinning with all that was happening. But over it all, in the back of his mind, there was still the image of Kyelle watching him so carefully.

”What if I don’t want to forget that you said it?”

A very, very dangerous flame of hope flared to life in his chest and he ran faster.