Alpha Markus
Chapter 24

Markus P.O.V.

We sat down for dinner. Danny arrived and we were just waiting for Celeste. I was about to mind link Celeste when I smelled her approaching the dining room door. My jaw almost fell to the floor when I saw her walk in.

She always wears jeans and baggy tshirts around the Packhouse. This time she walked in and looked like the goddess herself. Her loose black curls that went down to her waist shone in the light. The midnight blue shirt made her eyes pop and the slacks made her small waist look even smaller. Her luscious breasts were playing peek – a – boo along the top of her blouse.

‘You’re welcome.’ Kelly mind linked me, breaking through my l**t.

I smiled and I got up to lead her to her seat. Just wanting to touch her. We stopped half way down the dining room table as Danny got up.

“Celeste, this is Daniel, my Gamma. Danny, this is Celeste, my mate.”

For once, Danny didn’t have a witty quip. He simply took her hand, gave it a gentle k**s and bowed his head. “Luna, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Our Pack has been waiting for its Luna for many years, and I can see it was worth the wait.” Then, ruining the moment, he added, “Thanks for putting up with this a*****e; clearly takes a special wolf to get rid of his grumpy a*s,” he smirked my way. I rolled my eyes but smiled at the beautiful laugh that came from Celeste.

‘She’s beautiful,’ Danny mind linked me as I pulled Celeste’s chair out for her. ‘Don’t f**k this up.’

‘I don’t intend to,’ I responded.

“Maya won’t be joining us tonight. I think she’s close to getting her wolf. She preferred to stay in her room,” Celeste said.

“I’ll send the Pack Doctor to her after dinner to make sure she’s doing alright,” I said and she nodded. The food arrived and I was surprised to see she had made one of Danny’s favorite food. I was making a mental note to ask her how she knew, when Danny practically jumped for joy when he saw the food. It had been a full month since he’d had a home-cooked meal.

“How did you know this is my favorite?” He demanded as he impatiently waited for everyone to be served.

“I asked Gillian,” she smiled.

“You’re welcome for not lying and making her make my favorite instead,” Gillian said and the whole table chuckled.

I almost growled at the orgasmic m**n that Danny let out as he took his first bite, but I realized that I would probably have to fight every person at the table as more m***s followed. Clearly, I wasn’t as biased as I thought I might be. This woman was a goddess.

I turned to let her know and paused a moment as I saw the joy in her eyes. I am guessing that she had never been allowed to eat with the people she fed at B***d Moon Pack. She was pleased that her food was going over so well. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She turned to look at me and her smile only grew as she met my eyes, “This is amazing. You’re a very gifted cook,” I encouraged. Her eyes sparkled. “Thank you.”

“Yo is there more?” Danny called about 20 minutes into the dinner. An omega came and took his plate for a refill.

“Hey wait, I reserved seconds!” Gillian called

“I’d also take some seconds if there’s more” Rhett called while his Beta licked his plate and nodded to his clean plate too.

‘I don’t know that there’s enough for everyone to get seconds,’ Celeste mind linked me.

I smirked. ‘Let them fight it out.’ She giggled. “If you’re all having seconds, I’m claiming all the desserts,” I called out, winking at her. Gillian, Kelly, my dad and Alpha Rhett decided to pass on seconds as long as Celeste could assure them that they could have additional desserts.

After dinner, we tried to spitball some ideas for replaceing proof but most people had over eaten and were falling asleep so we decided to pick it back up the next morning. “Is the Luna cooking breakfast?” Danny asked.

“I’m afraid not. I have been getting tutored in the mornings and it doesn’t give me enough time to cook in the mornings.”

“Tutoring?” Alpha Rhett asked, visibly disappointed.

Celeste blushed.

“Celeste was denied access to schooling after her parents were killed. She requested a tutor to help her catch up quickly in order to be able to better fulfill her Luna duties,” I said proudly. It took a lot of courage to try to improve yourself, and while she may be embarrassed to say she didn’t attend school past the 2nd grade, I was not.

“That’s admirable,” Alpha Rhett mentioned. I nodded.

We went up to our floor. We were walking toward our rooms when I felt Celest stiffen. She doubled over and I grabbed her by the waist to keep her from falling over, “Celeste, what’s wrong baby?” I bent and looked into her eyes. They were white. She was staring at nothing, her hands on her head. Finally, her eyes went back to their crystal blue and she g*****d. “Celeste?” I asked, concerned. I could feel the pain of a migraine as if it were my own.

“Maya,” she grunted, turning around towards the elevator. “Something’s wrong with Maya.”

‘Dr. West. Please head to the third floor. Something is wrong with Maya.’

‘I’m already here, Alpha. I came to check on her as you requested. She’s having trouble shifting. Her body is still too malnourished. I am not sure if she will survive the first shift’

We got to Maya’s room and Celeste ran towards her. “Be careful Luna, one of her claws is extended,” Dr West said.

Maya was on the floor by her bed. She looked like she was mid shift. Her nose was elongated into a snout. She had 1 paw and 1 leg. Her torso was extended and filled with furr. The first shift is known to be excruciating. I couldn’t imagine being stuck in that pain. Unable to stop it; unable to complete it. Maya was crying and whimpering. Celeste pulled her onto her lap and started caressing her half transformed cheek. She started singing lowly to her. As she sang, I recognized that she was singing in Spanish and her voice was becoming ethereal. Her eyes began glowing.

“A la nanita nana, nanita ella, nanita ella

Mi niña tiene sueño, bendito sea, bendito sea

A la nanita nana, nanita ella, nanita ella

Mi niña tiene sueño, bendito sea, bendito sea.”

Dr. West and I stood back in stunned silence. After she appeared to start the song over about 3 or 4 times, Celeste’s hair was glowing blue. Her body was glowing. Her Alpha aura was radiating, but it didn’t feel heavy like most Alpha auras. You could recognize the power of the Alpha in it, but it was almost soothing, instead of frightening. Her hand would leave a shimmer on Maya’s face that lingered for a few seconds before absorbing into her. Slowly, Maya’s whimpering slowed. She was no longer in pain. Her body resumed the contortion that occurs during a first shift. Her bones snapped and realigned, light brown fur exploding from her body. She didn’t appear to be in the pain we all knew she should be feeling. Her wolf was small. She got up and shook her fur once her shifting was done. She nudged her nose at Celeste in gratitude, who smiled and caressed her fur. Her eyes were still glowing. I felt her exhaustion and moved of my own volition. I dropped behind her and held her against my chest as she suddenly passed out. I ran my hand through her hair and kissed her head. I could tell she was fine. Though I didn’t like to see her unconscious, Atlas and I could tell that she was physically alright.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Dr. West said, approaching Maya’s wolf and checking her vitals.

“What happens in this room, stays between us, Dr.” I said, using my Alpha voice. Dr. West bowed his head. “Of course, Alpha. Would you like me to check over the Luna?”

“No, help Maya shift back and then you can go. The Luna is fine, she just needs to rest.”

Dr West guided Maya into shifting back, giving her a robe to change into. Maya came to check on Celeste, tears in her eyes. She looked scared to touch her. “She is OK Maya. She’s just resting. I can feel her heart beat. It is steady.”

“I could hear her voice, through the pain, and Kara helped Esmeralda get the strength to finish shifting. She took our pain Alpha. Her and Kara absorbed it and gave us back warmth. How did she do that, Alpha?”

“She is special. I’m glad you’re OK Maya. We will work on your nutrition over the next few weeks to make sure you can shift on your own during the Full Moon run,” She nodded.

“Alpha?” she said.

“Yes?”

“Celeste would eat less than we did. Sometimes I would hear her telling someone that she wasn’t hungry even though she hadn’t eaten anything. We should make sure she gets a lot to eat from now on.”

I smiled at Maya “I’m working on that.” I stood up and took Celeste into my arms, “Thank you for your concern over the Luna. I’ll let you know once she’s awake. She’s lucky to have a friend like you.”

“No, I think we’re all the lucky ones to be in her life,” She whispered, and I could not agree more.

I went upstairs and laid her in my bed. I pulled off her clothes until she was in her underwear and put one of my shirts on her. It was giant enough on her to double for a night gown. Atlas was raging in my head as we noticed the extent of her malnutrition and the scarring on her back and legs. I knew it was selfish, but I was glad I was seeing her body now and not the day I met her, because I was sure this looked a lot better than it would have then. If I had seen it back then, I’m sure I would have killed every f*****g piece of trash in that pack. I removed most of her make-up gently and just settled into the bed and cradled her in my arms. As much as I told everyone she just needed rest, and as much as I knew that to be true, I couldn’t tear myself away from her. I needed to be there when she woke up so I could verify she was really OK.