Alpha Markus
Chapter 63

Markus P.O.V.

I had seen the dress on the hanger for the last three days. In fact, Kelly had even brought it in when I was being measured for my suit. She wanted to make sure it matched the colors, but I had never expected it to look like that on her body. I was absolutely stupefied. Atlas was the one making us walk to our mate. I could barely speak as I saw her coming up the stairs and to the stage. All I could do was grin like an i***t. The dress was a halter top with a slit coming down the middle between her magnificent breasts all the way down to her navel. There was a wrap coming out from the collar that wrapped around the backless dress into a v. The entire dress fit her like a second skin and was covered in a few different shades of maroon beading. Starting at the navel, there were curtains of white beading in an upside-down v going all the way down to the end of the dress. Her usual black curls had been straightened down. Her hair like a veil reaching down past her knees. Her make-up against her dark olive skin made her look like a seductress. All I wanted to do as Atlas led us to the center of the stage was throw her over my shoulder and take her away from every male’s hungry eyes.

I smiled when I saw that she had let Kara forward with her. I didn’t know she could do that on command, but I should stop being surprised. When she closed the distance and kissed me, I felt like the luckiest wolf in the world. There was not an ounce of shame as Councilman Matthias made a joke about the k**s. Celeste took a step back, grinning up at me.

“Now, let’s begin. A Luna ceremony is one of our most sacred traditions. It’s an introduction the Alpha makes to his pack to present his mate, but it is also a promise the Luna makes to put her pack above everything else. She commits to her pack, its people and its future.”

He passed a silver dagger to me and held a chalice out. I cut a slit on the palm of my hand and made a fist, allowing the b***d to drip down into the cup.

“I, Alpha Markus David Salonen of the Crescent Moon Pack, accept you, Celeste, as my destined mate and Luna. I promise to protect and cherish you as my Luna, my mate, my partner. I will share with you my life, my pack, my heart. I vow to protect you with my heart, my claws and my life,” I said, and I saw her eyes water. ‘Don’t cry. You’ll make Kelly mad’ I said to her as I handed her the knife. She laughed a little, then looked me in the eye and took a steadying breath. We had rehearsed how she would do this part.

“I, Celeste Aurora Dellarosa, daughter of the late Alpha Cory and Luna Bella Dellarosa of the Sky Moon Pack, accept you, Markus as my destined mate. My Alpha.” There were a few gasps and whisperings and I could see from the corner of my eyes how Luna Luisa’s and Alpha Geoff’s eyes narrowed in anger. “I accept my position as your Luna, promising to put their well being first, caring for our pack from the smallest pup to the oldest wolf. I will share with you my life and my heart. I trust you with both. I take into my heart the pack you’ve chosen to share with me. I promise to love them and cherish them as the family they have already become.” She cut a slit in her hand and let the b***d drip into the chalice.

Councilman Matthias brought the cup over to me and I took a sip, then he passed her the cup. The moment she took a sip, I felt her position as Luna snap into place. I could hear my people welcome their new Luna over the link. “I present to you, Luna Celeste Dellarosa of the Crescent Moon Pack,” Councilman Matthias said, and as our people howled, I felt a current of wind surrounding us both.

“Mom,” I heard Celeste and Kara whisper as her hair floated in the wind.

“Now you may k**s her Alpha Markus,” Councilman Matthias said. I grinned and brought her to me, wrapping her up in my arms and pouring all of my love into the k**s. Once we separated, I turned to the crowd. I could see the moon about to peek out of the clouds.

“I would like to thank everyone that could make it. We have a little bit of a twist to our celebration. As you may see, there are stuffed animals on the tables. Celeste and Maya hold children very dear in their hearts, so we have decided to share this night with them. Please hand out toys you see around the tables and decorations to the children. Lunas and Alphas, there are toy containers at the end of the tables. Please feel free to give them out to the children running about. While most of the children here are with their families, we also have in attendance the children from the Orphanage. They are well taken care of, but there’s no such thing as enough love for those that have lost their loved ones. I encourage you to get to know them. Now, we have provided some makeshift changing rooms to the side here with tear-away clothes for those of you that do not wish to change in front of others. Once we return, we will have dinner and –”

I was suddenly interrupted by several heads sniffing the air and a bigger number of “Mines” all through out the crowd. One in particular stood out from the rest. Alpha Rhett had run straight in front of Kelly and roared, “Mate.” I smiled at Celeste, who looked like she wanted to jump for joy to see them mated.

Once the noise had settled, I said, “As I was saying before our blessed moon goddess Selene decided to make an entrance a minute early,” I chuckled at my own joke, making everyone else laugh with me. “Once we return, we will have dinner and celebrate not just our new Luna, but the many pairings that Selene has blessed our packs with. Also, I’d like to be the first to break the news that Alpha Rhett is officially out of the singles market and has been mated with our own Beta female, Kelly Quinn,” I finished. Alpha Rhett seemed surprised that I would share the attention with him but quickly recovered and howled at the moon with joy. “Now let’s get ready for the Harvest Moon run. Please meet me at the clearing in 5 minutes,” I said, and everyone started to move about, removing clothes and putting on the tear-away clothes.

Because we had so many high ranking members, we had decided to provide tear-away clothes to avoid any potential problems. Celeste grabbed my hand and led me off the platform to a set of tear-away clothes waiting for us. We changed out of our clothes and put them in a basket under the platform. We had been told by Mrs Quinn that it was put there for our clothes.

We made our way to the clearing we had for the runs. Celeste and I stood at the front, with many Alpha and Lunas and councilmen at the far left. Gillian, Danny and Maya to my immediate left and my father and Marie to my right. “SHIFT,” I shouted, not using my Alpha command as that would be considered a challenge to the visiting pack leaders. Celeste and I shifted to our wolves and howled at the moon, signaling the beginning of the run as we took off at the head of the crowd. We ran through the forest. I could feel the joy of my pack at running under the moon goddess’ light and their joy at following behind their Luna. I sat back and enjoyed Kara and Atlas leading our people around the property.