Chapter 435: Chapter 435

Chapter 435

Mason I might not have ever had a pack under my command, but that didn’t make me any less of an Alpha than my brother. The instant Stella told us the High Council was planning to infiltrate the tunnels, the two us got into position, flanking our pack. Zane also instantly moved into Beta mode between us.

We might be the Alphas, but we were under the command of a Celestial. We all turned to face her.

She was concentrating hard, her eyes narrowed and expression twisted.

“I thought there’d be more time before they moved,” she muttered. “Something has changed. Give me a minute to Seek.”

“What’s she talking about?” I thought to Lanie through our mate link.

Our Luna shook her head, her eyes focused with laser precision on our daughter. “I don’t know.

Give her a minute.”

“What does Seek mean?” I thought to them all.

Even though we were all using the mind link, it still sounded like we were all whispering.

“To Seek is to send out my mind ahead of me,” Stella said aloud. “Like a scout. It’s not telepathy. It’s more like a projection of myself, while my body stays here. Mother, you were Seeking when the Goddess called you into the forest, but I can do it on purpose.”

“And do it so well,” Lanie said aloud with a smile, proud smile. “Do you need us to do anything for you while you Seek?”

Stella shook her head. “I’ll need a minute or two. I want to see where they are and what they’re doing.”

Her eyes went white, but hazy, like they were full of clouds. Her lashes fluttered. A soft sigh puffed out from between her lips, and then, just like that, she was back with us.

“Can we stop them from coming through the tunnels?” Xander asked. “Keep them out of Brightsky?”

She nodded, her expression grim, but her eyes alight. “I can make them think they’ve encountered a rockslide, blocking them. It won’t keep them forever, but once they figure out it was fake, they’ll understand that they were tricked. They’ll retreat…”

She paused, that white cloud going over her gaze again. It lasted only a few blinks this time. She focused on us.

“They’ll go back to Standard and regroup. They’ll figure out we’re still heading to Fallen Crest.

They’ll make their way there, maybe on our trail or maybe in another fashion, but it won’t matter. We will still get there before them.”

“Is that what you’ve seen for certain?” Lanie asked.

“Everything I see is a possibility, but this is the outcome I see as the end to many different choices.

That means it’s the one we should expect, unless something else drastically changes.” Stella sighed, her shoulders hunching for a moment. “I have so many talents, and sometimes, they work against each other.”

“You’re still learning,” Lanie told her, an arm around her shoulders and offering Stella a mother’s comfort.

Stella leaned against her. “Thanks, Mama.”

Lanie kissed her cheek. “Come on, now. What’s next? We’re here. We’ve got you.”

Stella drew in a breath and straightened. Her shoulders squared. “They’re moving through the tunnels, intending to meet us where they assume they’ll intercept us. I’m going to send out a mirage just beyond it. It will look, feel, and sound like a rockfall. It will send them back out the way they came in. It buys us some time. Maybe an extra half a day. No more.”

“We better get moving then,” Xander said.

Zane cleared his throat. “What’s the benefit in sending a mirage? Couldn’t you actually collapse the tunnels? If not on top of them, at least enough to block them for real?”

“Blocking the tunnels would prevent anyone in Brightsky from escaping through those tunnels. In the end, it would possibly be worse for them. Just in case they need a way out,” Stella explained, but hesitantly. “And, I’ve seen a path in which I collapse the tunnels. It doesn’t end with triumph for us. I don’t know why. I can’t always see the reasons.”

“And you don’t have to,” Lanie assured her.

“All right. This will take a moment.” Stella took several steps away from us.

She closed her eyes tight, her entire face squinching. Her fists clenched at her sides before her arms rose, palms up. Her fingers twitched, curling and flexing, as her hands moved. I’d seen her make orbs before, but this time she looked more like she was working with her hands.

“She’s weaving something,” Lanie said after a moment. “Or knitting? Something like that.”

“Only it’s not with yarn or cord,” Zane murmured.

Xander shook his head in amazement. “She’s doing it with their minds.”

The three of us looked at each other, and all of us laughed incredulously. For some reason, I thought I’d hear them screaming or something, but we hadn’t yet reached the entrance to the tunnels. All I heard was my mates’ soft chuckles and the drip of water from the cavern ceiling.

Stella opened her eyes.

“It’s done,” she said in a voice thick with a sound like gravel crunching under heavy feet. “Now. We run.”