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nWord reached them two hours later, as dusk turned to night, that Nick still hadn’t returned and given what he said before he left, they thought it was likely he wouldn’t be seen until morning. Sasha was back with the females by that time, and Zev busy organizing the Alphas. But she reached for him in her mind and found him. He was still in the City then.

nSo, we’re confident this is the right plan, right? she asked one final time. I shouldn’t change my mind and get everyone moving while he’s gone?

nIt’s too risky. There will be humans on the other side—and they might need to access the females. No, Sash. I’m confident. Besides, if he left that message when he went, that means it’s definitely his decision, not something they’ve required of him.

nShe’d nodded, not really expecting anything to have changed. Since there were no orders to change, she’d gone back to the females. She and Mae were working on getting those who hadn’t left the hall since they arrived to walk down the stairs and out into the Courtyard. Taking them out two at a time and getting them accustomed to the different smells and sounds.

nBy the time they’d gotten every female out and returned to safety and bedded down, it was already late. But Sasha still had to meet with the Alphas and learn if there were any more barriers to their moving. If not, she was going to move them all to the Village after breakfast—even if Nick wasn’t back yet—so they were in closer proximity.

nShe and Zev gathered with the Alphas in the little clearing so their concerns wouldn’t be heard by any of the other Chimera—being around the females had made Sasha hyper-aware of being careful with her words and not triggering fear for others unintentionally.

n”…have we got enough guards in place on the Gateway? I don’t want there to be any chance of Nick returning—or worse, a team coming through—without the right warriors there to meet them. And stop them.”

nDunken nodded. The male had been even more taciturn that day than usual. If he believe his mate was one of the females who were still frightened to leave the hall, Sasha wasn’t surprised. But he didn’t give anything away to the Alphas when he spoke up.

n”We’ve got three perimeters. The widest runs about two hundred feet from the cave entrance, so if anyone sneaks out they’ll be seen and reported, hopefully without knowing it. There’s a line about fifty feet out—they’ll warn the wider guards if they see or hear anything that doesn’t come from those at the gateway. Then, so it doesn’t look suspicious, we just put a fist of guards in the cave itself to usher Nick—or any other visitors—out. They’re wolves so if they learn any important information they can relay information to the others even before they reach the village. They can also warn us if… if there is an attack. At least one of them has to live long enough to get a warning to others.”

nSasha felt sick at the mental image of what would have to happen for that to be a reality. But she pushed the thought away. They’d done everything they could to keep the Thana safe. Now they just had to walk through whatever was coming. They couldn’t control what form it was going to take.

n”Okay, sounds great,” Sasha said. “Assuming it’s Nick who comes through, what did we decide on getting him out of the way so we can get everyone else out?”

nBefore Gheet could answer, there was a crack and a hushed giggle, then suddenly Lhars and Kyelle appeared through the trees. Kyelle’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkling. As she walked into the circle, quietly apologizing for being late, Lhars hovered at her shoulder, looking like an Avenging Angel.

nThey both received congratulations from the other Alphas, but everyone settled quickly, though Lhars sat at Kyelle’s side, rather than Zev’s as would have been usual. Zev didn’t look like he minded.

nIt took Sasha some time to return her focus to the meeting, but they were making headway.

nIf Nick arrived alone he would be ushered to the Village as per normal. Ernie was waiting to follow them. They’d offer him food and drink, and anything he was given would be laced with enough sleeping draught to keep him down for the rest of the day.

nThe guards currently in place would stay there until they were joined by the rest of those in Thana who would begin going through, or until Sasha or Zev called them off.

nAs soon as the word came through that Nick was asleep, his device would be stolen, along with any weapons he’d tried to smuggle in, then they’d give the word and everyone would move.

n”How long do we estimate it will take to get two hundred and fifty Chimera through the Gateway?” she asked.

n”A couple hours,” Zev said. “That’s being generous. I’m assuming we’ll have some trouble with the females. The question is, do we put them through first—before we send for the females in the human world? Or do we get the others moving and then work through the females here?”

nDiscussion bubbled up immediately, but Sasha raised her hands. “I already know the answer to this: We save the ones we know we can save. Our efforts in the compound run the risk of warning the team that we’re moving. As soon as anyone reaches the females there we risk intervention, even if they aren’t already planning something. So we get the males and females we have now safe and into the gateway, into the Safe Place, then we send the team for the others.”

n”So our Alphas are going first then, correct?” Gheet asked quickly.

nSasha blinked. “No. Why would—”

n”We are walking our people into an unknown world. Even if there is no imminent danger on the other side—which is entirely possible—there will be countless decisions to be made. Alphas are needed on the ground there first, a place for everyone to gather, and the power of the hierarchy to keep them together.”

nSasha’s stomach sank.

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