Mated to the Alpha and His Beta (Lanie Stanton) novel Chapter 463

Chapter 463
Stella

A rush of intense emotion stabbed into me like a thousand tiny blades slicing me all over. My flesh stung and crawled like I was being bitten by ants. I’d opened myself empathically when my fathers started speaking, and this fierce influx of emotions rose and rose without stopping.

I’d been standing in the back of the stage, off to the side where nobody could see me. Earlier, I’d quieted the shouting man who’d been trying to rile up the crowd, but I could see now that had been the wrong choice.

I’d thought I was easing his worries, but all I’d done was give room for him to feel stifled without knowing why, and that nameless feeling had pushed his anxiety even higher. The people around him had sensed it, reacted to it, and now, they were all starting to feel it…which meant so was I.

How could I blame the people of this pack for being afraid of what they didn’t know? How could I ask them to understand what I, myself, could barely begin to comprehend? I was unlike anything they’d ever known.

Celestial.

Most of them probably had never even heard of such a creature. They’d been lied to for so long, and they hadn’t even been fully informed that there was an entire world beyond wolves, vampires, and witches. How could we expect them to simply change everything they’d been taught? To accept the existence of other supernatural beings without questions or worries? They were terrified of the rumors, but the reality was going to shock them even more. My heart went out to each individual pack member who was struggling.

As I heard my fathers addressing the crowd, another thousand—no, a hundred thousand small blades raked at me like the slices from a hundred thousand claws. I drew in a shaking breath and stood up straight. I needed to draw strength from the Moon Goddess.

I had to close myself down from the full force of all their feelings, or else they were going to…well, not destroy me. But hurt me quite badly. I narrowed myself to only the broadest and most general overview of the crowd instead of each individual. Anxiety, tension, concern, fear. There was also some self-satisfaction as people convinced themselves they’d been right all along not to trust anyone in charge.

This pack needed comfort. Reassurance. They needed the truth.

If only I knew what to tell them!

My family wanted to protect me because they still thought of me as a child. They probably always would. I loved my fathers and my mother for that unconditional love and support, but the Moon Goddess had shown me in a vision that being a Celestial was not meant to be a dirty little secret.

I’d reached out to her again this morning, but there’d been no clear answer. I knew I had to accept that. I might be a Celestial, and I might be able to harness all the supernatural gifts that existed, but that didn’t make me a goddess.