~ SASHA ~

1

The closer she got to the front of the Chimeran ranks, the more chaos there seemed to be. She found the Alphas spread out through the crowd, trying to manage the clans and keep the females in their own spaces. But they'd had to be broken into smaller groups to make sure they could be spread out among the clans, and now some were beginning to panic.

The shriek they'd heard was because a male had attempted to comfort a female who was breaking down, and all hell had broken loose.

Sasha's head was already spinning—how had she continued to forget about the solo nature of the Gateway? Why couldn't they catch a break? But she didn't have time to analyze it, because Kyelle

—near the front of the cave—was desperately trying to calm the frantic females before walking through herself. She was supposed to be first. They hadn't even begun to cross.

Sasha's stomach dropped. They needed to get moving!

"I'm sorry,

" Kyelle said when she saw her.

"I didn't want to step in until I could make sure they'd heard the instructions. I'm worried they'll focus on the wrong place out of fear or just panic.

Sasha nodded. But something about the female's words, her stance, raised Sasha's instincts. There was a cluster of females off to their right that Kyelle had been speaking to, but her own tension was so high, that Sasha wondered if she'd actually been helping less than she thought.

Sasha looked at the other females who were all watching the two of them, afraid, but attentive. They were calmer now that Sasha was there. It was a balm to her, and also a fear—what if something happened to her? Would Kyelle and Mae be able to care for them all?

She turned back to Kyelle wondering how to tell the female that she was part of the problem. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Sasha gave up on trying to find the words to explain and just urged Kyelle towards the cave.

"You go,

" she said.

"Go be there. Get there safely. I'll get them ready. And I'll send them through. It won't hurt to let a few males go through first. The most important thing is to have support for them on that side, I think. Because the rest…. We can do this, Kyelle. You go.

"

Kyelle's forehead wrinkled.

"I… are you certain?

" she sounded reluctant and Sasha knew her instincts were right.

She stepped up to Kyelle, put a hand on her shoulder, and nodded.

"Don't be afraid. I'll make sure he comes through to you. But we need you there to greet them, Kyelle. If I can tell them you're there and they should ask the Gateway to take them to you… it will work. Go. We're about to start a new life. Just…. Go.

"

Kyelle looked down and nodded.

"Okay,

" she breathed, then looked up and around, scanning the crowd.

"He's at the back, Kyelle, I'm sorry. He's waiting to go after everyone else goes.

"

She nodded and her lips thinned.

"Will you… tell him I was thinking of him?

"

"Of course I will,

" she said. Seeing the grief on Kyelle's face, her yearning, it wasn't the first time Sasha sent up a prayer of gratitude that she and Zev were able to mind link. She couldn't imagine walking through there now, not knowing when she would see him again, and not being able to tell him she loved him one last time.

"I'll tell him, Kyelle,

" she said gently.

"And I'll send the females after you. Focus on finding safety and finding them. He'll be there with more for you before you know it.

" She hoped. She hoped and prayed that was true.

Kyelle gave her a quick hug, then turned sadly and trudged into the cave.

*****

It took Sasha about twenty minutes to get the first cluster of females centered and breathing and ready to walk through. She took them inside the cave, going back over with them how to focus

—they needed to go to the land that was safe, where the humans could never interfere. And they would find Kyelle there. As long as they kept that at the forefront of their minds, they would be fine.

There were five females in that first group, and when the last one stepped through, Sasha almost cried. This was going to take far longer than they'd thought.

Luckily, a group of males were ready to pass through then, and she greeted them each as she walked back through the cave to find the next group of females.

Her stomach kept giving her the jolt of adrenalin—she'd panic, her mind telling her that Zev was going through without her and she'd missed him—but then she'd remember that no, he was waiting for her. They were going to do this together.

She hoped.

Please, Creator, please… make it possible.

It was a theory she'd had since the last time they spoke of it—that the reason the bond tore at them so terribly was that it wasn't designed to be broken by the Gateway. That it would, somehow, hold them together inside it if they went in unity.

But it was a theory. She had no idea.

What if it just wasn't possible, and they stepped through and were killed? Her son was in that horrible place!

Sasha had to breathe deeply and force herself to think of something else.

There was nothing else that they could do. She couldn't be left in the Gateway unconscious. It would close on her and Zev would be trapped there in the lab.

They were both needed for this.

They had no choice. If God was going to put these barriers in front of them, He was going to have to figure out a way to get them through them, because Sasha didn't have any other hope.

Make it happen, she prayed. If you're real. If you're there. And if you see in him what I see in him… get us through this safely, and together.

62e886631a93af4356fc7a46