Chapter 231-240

Sasha tensed in his arm, but he didn’t back down. When she straightened to look him in the eyes, she was measuring him.

She’d never liked his jealous side—never understood the need for it. She had no clue the thoughts males had, the ways they might take advantage of her. She thought he only wanted to keep her from other “men,” as she called them. She didn’t understand that he had watched some of the darkest and most brutal things men did to each other. He knew what could happen to the human body when a malicious man got his hands on it… and he refused to see that happen to her.

Though he was fairly confident that his brother wasn’t a threat to Sasha, her attitude towards males—especially when she would need to work so closely with them—could put her in a position of danger. Especially in her world, but in other ways here in Thana.

“Zev,” she said, her voice brimming with determination.

“No, listen to me, Sash. I might not like Lhars, or trust him. But I know he won’t hurt you. But there are other males here we don’t know. Males who were close to Xar. If you make a habit of hugging males, of sharing your scent… if you don’t keep some level of separation between you and the males now that we’re bonded, it will give those that might want to do you more harm an opportunity to get closer to you than is safe.

“Your humanness is an opportunity for us to use your differences as way to keep you apart—and we should do that until we’re certain the hierarchy is stabilized, and no one is targeting you—or me, for that matter.” He could admit to himself that it would also keep her away from Lhars who, for some reason was the only male he felt threatened by when it came to Sasha, but he knew she wasn’t going to accept that his concerns were for his brother’s trustworthiness, not hers.

“Zev—”