Alpha Markus and Celeste
Chapter 32
Chapter 32 – Celeste
Celeste P.O.V.
He was mine. I thought as I dressed after our shower. Ours – Kara reminded me.
giggled-That was implied.
She smirked in my head. We were both the happiest we had ever been. We felt..complete. It was early in the morning and I wanted to get some studying in before the rest of the house was awake. I was slowly trying to take on some responsibilities of being Luna in an unofficial way. Mrs Quinn, Markus and I were sitting down later to make preparations for the new mated couples from yesterday’s full moon. As Luna, it would be my responsibility to make sure they had appropriate living conditions. One of the things to consider were current and future pack jobs, rank, need, budget and resources. This full moon, we’d only have a couple of mated pairs. Maya and Daniel were moving into Daniel’s floor, so we only needed to find accommodations for 2 others.
Mrs Quinn had let me know that during the Strawberry Moon in June and the Harvest Moon in September, the pack allowed for people still searching for a mate to come join the full moon. It means getting the guest suites together, arranging dinner etc. Because this Harvest Moon would also be my Luna Ceremony, that meant we were also having the elder council and many other Alphas come for the ceremony. It was actually really enjoyable work and I was glad to be able to do my part. Markus would be dealing with security arrangements.
‘Tuli, where did you go?’ Markus asked through the link in the late afternoon.,
I’m in the library studying for my GED test on Wednesday,
I responded.
‘Alpha Rhett is on his way. We want to look at the video and make a plan on how to approach this.’
Ok. I will be up shortly’
I gathered all my study materials and headed up to our bedroom. I almost walked into the old bedroom when I remembered that I
would be staying in our bedroom from now on. I blushed slightly thinking about it.
I walked into the room and gasped. There was an extra night stand on my side of the bed. There was a vanity dresser against the wall
with a full mirror and all of the makeup and toiletries that Kelly had bought for me neatly organized on the surface. I went to the closet and all of my clothes had been put in. Markus came out of the bathroom. He took in my face, “Is this OK? We can change anything you
don’t like.”
“This is perfect. How did you have time to do any of this? You’ve been busy all day.”
He grinned, “I gave Kelly my credit card, so I can’t really take credit for it. I don’t really know much about décor.” I laughed a little and went to give him the biggest hug I could muster. I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat.
“I have never had anyone care for me the way you do. I don’t deserve you.” I said, my voice cracking at the end from the emotion.
He hugged me back and then lifted me while I was still plastered to his chest by his arms. He walked towards the bed, my legs
dangling side to side as he did. I giggled as he dropped me in the bed. He crawled next to me and held me to him, cradling me as if I was the most precious thing in the world to him. “Come, let’s nap before Alpha Rhett arrives. I have a feeling we’re going to have a long night. ” I snuggled closer to him and allowed myself to drift off to sleep.
are you poking me?”
“I am checking to make sure you’re still gaining weight. I want to make sure you’re plump so I can cook you for Thanksgiving,” he said, and then instead of poking me again, he began tickling me all over. I laughed so hard I thought I would pass out. He finally stopped 5
mins later.
“Alpha Rhett has entered the pack grounds. He should be in here shortly,” he said, nibbling on my lips. I whimpered as he got off the
bed, but followed him down to the foyer.
“Alpha Rhett, please call me Celeste.” I said, smiling,
“Only if you call me Rhett” he winked, and Markus pulled me to his side. I blushed but did not move away.
Alpha Rhett laughed. “Sooo, I’m told we’re not getting the privilege of eating your food tonight?” he said with a little
disappointment in his eyes.
“I am afraid I used my cooking nights already this week, but let me know what you want next time and I’ll be sure to save one of my
cooking nights for you and your Beta,” I smiled.
“I will hold you to that. My cook is excellent and it still doesn’t taste the same,” he mourned.
Markus laughed. “At this rate, you’re going to have to set up a waiting list for your food love.”
“Gentlemen” I heard Danny coming from the left. “1. The conference room is set up with the video equipment and 2. I catt dibs on the first 10 slots in that waiting list. Maya has been telling me of the food they made during the previous full moon.” We all laughed as we
headed for the conference room.
We were not laughing 15mins minutes later after we’d seen the video of Ruby’s rescue. Markus was holding me in his lap after I’d
started shaking from anger. He whispered at me soothingly.
“This is insane. Do we know who these guys are? Celeste, are they part of the Blood Moon Pack?” Alpha Rhett asked. Everyone
looked at me expectantly.
“I have seen them around the Pack Grounds a few times but they never stayed in the Packhouse. That was the only place I was
allowed. The one with the short hair is named Levi. I think the one with the longer hair is named Lucas.” I shifted uncomfortably, hoping
no one would ask me how I knew.
“How often do you see them?” Danny asked. I scrunched my face as I tried to remember, then I realized something.
“They were there after each girl got their wolf! Always a day or two after a full moon. They -” I shifted again and didn’t finish my
sentence. I looked at the floor.
Markus squeezed my waist, “What’s the matter?” He asked, concerned. I couldn’t look at him in the eyes. Instead, I looked back at the frozen video. An unconscious Ruby frozen on the screen. “Two years ago, they showed up early. Everyone was outside running. I’m always in charge of the meal and since I didn’t have my wolf, I wasn’t allowed to run anyway. They came in and tried….well, they tried…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. “Beta Trevor came in and said something like ‘Hands of our property. I thought this was their way of protecting us, but now it makes more sense. We really were property,” I said, shaking with anger, feeling dirty again as I remembered their
hands on me. Markus buried his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent. I could feel his chest vibrating as he tried not to growl.’It
was a long time ago, my love. I am fine. I am safe, thanks to you,’ Twrapped my arms around his waist and let him calm down. The others were giving us a moment as they averted their eyes to give us privacy. Finally, Markus lifted his head and kissed my cheeks.
“We need to find out if these guys have a connection we can trace back to Blood Moon Pack. Otherwise, Alpha Geoff can just deny he
had any knowledge of what was happening. Have we found any information from Ruby?”
“Nothing yet. She was told she was being sold because she was useless. She doesn’t remember anyone taking her. Just that she was
knocked out as she was doing her duties with wolfsbane. She can’t identify anyone,” Danny said darkly.
“What do we know about the buyer and how they are arranging the meet ups?”
“They actually have a really weird set up. It took us a while to find it, but again we can’t trace it back. We still have IT trying to crack it. They use product website to sell “furniture! The description is used to describe the female. The shipping date is the meet up. We aren’t sure how they communicate the location yet.”
Alexander spoke then. “We need to take this to the council. They have more resources than we do. They can launch an investigation