Chapter 33

I swipe the water from my face, ignoring his comment. Yells echo through the cave. Zev shoves Jeff underwater, calling him out for trying to kiss me. Splashing, Jeff swings his arm, missing Zev by a few inches.

“You know I like her, man,” Zev says, his voice deep with his annoyance. He punches back, getting Jeff in the shoulder.

“You don’t fucking own her. She made it clear already. If she wants me, you need to deal.” Jeff whips his head, sending water cascading from his hair.

Charging Jeff, Zev locks him in a chokehold and drags him under again. No one does anything, and Jeff thrashes, unable to break the surface. Zev doesn’t let him up, either.

“Stop!” I shout, thrashing to break from Dante's hold but he doesn’t let me go.

Zev doesn’t stop.

If I don’t do something, they’re going to kill each other.

Fuck. I can’t let that happen.

Not over me.

“Dante, please .Do something.” My voice cracks with my words. “Please.”

Sighing, Dante helps Evan drag Zev off Jeff. Breck blocks Jeff from trying to retaliate.

“Zev, go find Dustin and join him on watch. You need to cool off.” Evan shoves Zev toward the side of the pool. “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but it needs to stop. Sasha made it clear. She wants things to stay casual. You can’t start picking fights now, especially because you weren’t even with her first. You don’t see me beating your ass for it, now do you?”

Zev flares his nostrils in silence, flicking his gaze from Evan to Jeff and finally to me. We stare at each other, and I try not to give anything away. Annoyance and sadness weigh heavily on my chest. I didn’t intend for things to be this way.

“I’m sorry, Sasha. I don’t know what came over me.” Zev plants his hands to the ledge of the pool and hops up, still facing me.

He clenches his jaw and turns to Jeff. “Sorry to you too, man. Fuck, this place is making me lose it.”

He gets to his feet, not waiting for any of us to respond. Silence blankets the air, and I lean my back against the rock wall, trying to settle my racing heart.

“I think it’s best if everyone starts setting up camp. I’ll take care of Sasha and call the rest of you when it’s your turn.” Dante grabs the bag he brought from the side of the pool and motions for me to cross to the other end, where the cave continues.

“Are you sure you don’t need me?” Evan asks, his muscles flexing as if he’s ready to argue.

“It’s best if I take this moment to care for Sasha alone.” Dante climbs out of the pool and reaches down to lift me up. I don’t complain or try to argue.

I don’t know if it was the fight or what, but suddenly, I feel defeated. Tired and exhausted. So much so that I don’t realize Dante sprawls out a blanket and helps me sit on it. It takes him kneeling beside me and touching my scalp to get me to react.

“Shit. Be careful. That hurts.” I try to swat his hand away, but he catches my fingers and closes his hand around them.

“I wish those men weren’t dead so I could make them suffer for doing this to you. The Windshore pack won’t get away with this. I’ll ensure it, even if I have to take care of things myself.” Dante sounds like he’s talking more to himself than me.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about the Windshore pack. The men in the forest mentioned them. It brings up so many unanswered questions I have.

I inhale a soft breath and meet Dante’s gaze. “You have to stop doing this. Every time you mention something, it only makes me angrier for the lack of answers. You keep saying that you can’t tell me, but I think it’s because you don’t want to. I need to know more. Give me a reason to trust you.”

“There’s no reason to trust me. That’s why I’m here and why I stay nearby. Trust is built on actions and not words, my love.”

Dante pulls out a bottle from his bag and shakes it, turning the blue liquid inside purple.

He has a point, but I still don’t like it. “Trust is also built with communication,” I say. I cross my arms over my chest, not allowing him to take my hand.

He groans under his breath and pours some of the liquid into the palm of his hand. “We’ll get to that. It will take time because some things are better left unsaid and shown instead. We have rules and laws to follow as well, and some things aren’t my place.”

“Where is your place exactly?” I ask, trying to pry without getting angry. I need to ask the right questions to get him to open up to me.