Mated to the Alpha and His Beta (Lanie Stanton) novel Chapter 434

Chapter 434
Zane

The four of us moved as silently and quickly as we could along the quiet corridors of Brightsky. At this time of night, not many residents were around. Every time a new light cast its glow ahead of us, showing us the way, my heart felt like it was being stabbed.

We hadn’t even kissed the twins goodbye. They were sleeping when we left, and Lanie had thought it would be better not to wake them. She said we’d see them again before we knew it, and I wanted to believe her.

The spiders were still alive, and although their tiny lives were not the only ones we hoped to save, knowing they were still here reminded me over and over again of that one reason why we were leaving.

Stella was waiting for us. Not in the Temple of the Moon, but deep down in the caverns that housed the steam baths and pearl farms. We all took the stairs to avoid running into anyone in the elevators who might question what was feeling more and more like an escape…like we were running from. Not running to.

I hated all of this, but I’d been shoving my emotions down so I could focus on making sure my Alphas and our Luna were taken care of. Mason and Xander were shifting into soldier mode, and that triggered me into full-on Beta. Watching their backs. Anticipating their needs, their every move. Over all of us, Lanie spread her Luna love and light.

Down and down we went. By the time we got to the bottom, even the spiders’ light had gone more dim as fewer of them guided our way. I drew in a long, deep breath of dank air as we came out into the stone alcove Stella had sent us directions for using our mind link.

She waited quietly on the other side of the alcove. Her hands were linked neatly in front of her, and she stood perfectly still. I’d been carrying the backpack Lanie had packed for her, and she took it from me with a soft smile.

“Thank you, Papa.” She slung it over her shoulders and hitched it into place. “Are we ready? We’ll have to move quickly. You told Grammy we were leaving through the tunnels in Standard?”

“Yes,” Xander said.

“Then they’ll be gathering there to stop us. We won’t have much time after they realize we’ve actually bypassed them. But they know we’re heading for Fallen Crest, so I expect them to be on our trail within the day. Let’s go.” Stella turned toward a small opening in the stone wall.