MATED TO THE ALPHA AND HIS BETA - Season 5 Episode 8

Xander I wasn’t used to taking orders from anyone, especially not my daughter. “You want us to just ignore the fact that an Elder with ties to the High Council is lurking around the portal town to Brightsky?” I put my hands on my hips and shook my head. I tried not to sound upset, but there was still a hard edge to my tone. “That doesn’t sound like a smart way to go about this, Stella.” “Not ignore it. Just ignore him. For now, anyway. Just until I can get a clearer vision of what is to come,” she added so serenely that it was like talking to a puff of clouds, a spring rain, a soft mattress… “And stop adjusting me,” I told her sternly. “I can manage my emotions, even if none of you three think so. Stella looked guilty and pressed her lips together with a frown. “I’m sorry, Daddy.” “She’s better at it than I am,” Zane said with a proud grin. “And you do need help sometimes, Xander.” “Not this time. All of this is-“I gestured around the room. “Hard. Weird. You can’t just smooth away the rough edges because it’s uncomfortable to feel them, Stella. For me, or for you. You have to let me process all of this, and if that means I’m a grouch, so be it.” She looked thoughtful. “But it hurts your heart. I can feel that.”

“Yeah, well, I’m allowed to grieve a little for my little girl, right? That you grew up so fast without us having the chance to see it?” I shook my head again. I could feel Lanie’s Luna energy washing over me, but it was different than what Stella had been doing. Lanie’s was more supportive, but opaque. I could still feel myself through it. It didn’t hide my feelings away from me. Stella’s frown deepened, and she looked confused. “I’m sorry, Daddy! I never wanted to make any of you sad! That’s why I waited as long as I could. I just

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couldn’t stay small any longer.” Zane got up to put his arm around Stella’s shoulders “Your Dad is an Alpha, sweetheart. He has to be strong. And you can’t be strong without big feelings.” “But you can’t just take them away from me,” I said with a hard look at my Beta. Lanie came up behind me and linked her arms around my waist. She pressed her face to my back. “It’s hard to feel you hurting, love. None of us wants that.” I put my hands over hers and pulled her around to the front of me so she could hug me. I kissed the top of her head and then looked at our daughter. “All of this is going to take time to get used to, that’s all. But if I’m 1/2 Chapter 408 dulled, I’m no good to anyone. And I sure as hell can’t keep you all safe.” “It doesn’t fall only on you,” Mason said. He also stepped up to hug Stella. Then he turned to grip my shoulder. “We’re all in this together.” For another few seconds I felt the push and pull of Stella’s will against mine. It didn’t feel like being compelled. For an instant I had the image of her toddler self looking at me through her fingers, playing peek-a-b oo with my thoughts. Her eyes gleamed with a swirl of different colors. Gold, green, red, blue, violet. “I can’t understand what it’s like to have every single power at your command,” I told her. “But I know it has to be either the easiest thing in the world, or the hardest. And something tells me that it’s not the easiest.” “I see every possibility,” Stella said quietly with a hitch in her voice. “I see what happens if I make the wrong choices…or allow them to be made. I’m still learning how to shut all of that out.” “So you’re not infallible,” Mason said. Stella’s eyebrows went up. “I never said that I was, Abba!” Mason smiled at her. “Being gifted with every power to exist would seem to lend itself to never being

wrong or making a mistake. You’ve been worried about that, haven’t you? Feeling like you can’t let anyone down because you’re not perfect.” A “I’m sorry. It feels like I’ve made such a mess of all this. I tried so hard to do the right thing.” Stella bowed her head, and her shoulders went up and down with her heavy sigh. Lanie hugged her. “Little star, nobody here expects you to know everything.” “But I’m a Celestial!” Stella cried. “For all that, you’re still our daughter. It’s our job as your parents to do whatever we can to support you. Even if you’re a hundred million times more talented and capable than the three of us combined, we’re here for you. To help you up if you fall. To hold your hand. To guide you through any darkness,” Lanie said. “We love you.” “Even if I mess up?” Stella asked. “Especially then,” I told her.