Alpha Markus
Chapter 37

Markus P.O.V.

It’s been two f*****g days without Celeste. I hadn’t slept. I hadn’t eaten. Every time I closed my eyes I flash to the look of pain in Celeste’s eyes as she was coming up the steps. The whole evening was a disaster.

I hadn’t caught the undertone of Marcie’s talk, but apparently Celeste did and so did Kelly as I explained what happened through the dinner. She called me an i***t and stalked off after I finished telling her what happened at the restaurant. She had joined the search for Celeste and would only occasionally mind link me to remind me that I was an a*****e who hurt her friend. I didn’t know what to do. I had been caught off guard by Marcie’s k**s. I always knew that she wanted more from me, but I had never been interested. I was friendly because the chef made amazing food. I didn’t expect her to make a move on me, especially considering I had brought what I made sure to point out was my mate.

When I saw Celeste turn and run, it took me a second to react. I ran after her but by the time I was out of the restaurant, I couldn’t see her. I followed her scent and found pieces of her dress around the corner of the restaurant. I shifted and Atlas tried to catch up to her but Kara was fast and we both realized that she was much faster than she’d led on. We lost her scent in the woods. She had looked to be headed to the Pack grounds, but when I reached the borders, my guards at the gate said she hadn’t been by. I had sent every guard and tracker to search for her and, so far, we hadn’t found her. Atlas was pissed at me. We hurt our mate and made her leave us. He never liked Marcie and now he was ready to rip her to shreds.

‘Anything?’ I mind linked Gillian for the 500th time as I searched the area she’d taken off from to see if we could pick up her any sign of which way she went.

‘Nothing from the trackers yet,’ Gillian said. It was 11 at night and I knew they were all exhausted. Wherever Celeste was, she didn’t want to be found. I would spend another night without her.

‘Call them all back to rest. They can start back up again tomorrow,’ I told him.

‘Yes Alpha’, he said. I could feel the sadness in his voice. Everyone loved Celeste.

‘Hey man, you coming back?’ Danny asked.

‘No, I need to keep looking’.

‘You haven’t eaten or rested in 2 days.’

‘I need to replace my mate.’

‘How are you going to do that if you pass out’?

‘I AM NOT GOING BACK TO AN EMPTY ROOM. I NEED TO KEEP LOOKING,’ my voice and Atlas mixed together through the mind link unable to keep the raw emotion from my voice.

Danny sighed in my head, ‘At least come back and grab a bag of food. Maya will get something ready for you and for Celeste when you replace her.’

‘Fine, but have it ready by the time I get there or I’ll keep going without it. I’m not wasting my time,’ I growled and began running towards the Packhouse.

I arrived at the pack gates. They were instantly opened as I passed by. I tried not to notice the looks of pity and sympathy from my guards as I passed by.

“Alpha?” Maya said tentatively as I walked towards her. I hadn’t shifted back to human form in 2 days. Atlas nodded for her to continue as he picked up the bag. I noticed that she had put some clothes in the bag. A dress that smelled like Celeste. We inhaled her scent like a drug. Whimpers coming from Atlas. “Have you considered she’s not in the area?” she asked as Danny came and put his arms around her. Atlas turned away from the sight. It hurt too much to see the love they shared, knowing ours was in tatters at the moment. I opened a communication with Danny and Maya.

‘Where would she go? The only place she would know to go is the B***d Moon Pack and she hates that place.’

‘What about Sky Moon? Outside of here, it is the last place we were safe. It’s where I would go,’ she said quietly. Atlas snapped his head towards her. Why hadn’t we thought of that? It was far, but not far enough that she couldn’t get there.

‘Danny, your mate is a genius and I will buy her a new wardrobe if Celeste is there,’ I said, and Atlas went up on two legs, and licked both of their faces.

“Dude, gross,” Danny gagged as Maya laughed.

Atlas took the bag of food, water and clothes and we took off. Hope giving us the energy for the long trek to the Sky Moon Pack grounds.

It was almost 1am as we approached the grounds. We couldn’t see or hear anything moving about. It’s late, maybe she’s here but asleep. – Atlas said desperately. I am not sure either of us could handle not replaceing her here.

Let’s go inside. – I said as we got closer. – There’s a weird glow coming from the other side of the house. Maybe she has a fire going for heat. We can go through to the back.

We walked inside the house. We could see a faint track of paws on the dusty ground. I tried to mind link Celeste. I got no response but there was a connection. She was here. I could smell her faintly and I followed the pull of the mate bond. I went upstairs but I slowed. I could see an orange glow coming from one of the rooms and I also felt heat. I dropped the bag and shifted. The closer I got to the door, the hotter it got. We were sweating but I couldn’t stop. I knew she was in there and I was concerned at the amount of heat coming from under the door. If I was sweating, she could be in trouble or hurt.

I slowly opened the door and my eyes went wide. In the middle of the room was my mate. And she was floating, covered in fire.