Alpha Markus
Chapter 71

Celeste P.O.V.

“Why do they call it morning sickness if it happens all f*****g day?” I grumbled as I brushed my teeth for like the 5th time today.

It had been a week since we’d returned from the B***d Moon Pack with all the girls and we were still trying to replace the best way to help them settle in. We ended up putting some bunk beds in the second floor rooms as the girls were having nightmares and had trouble sleeping alone. The first night, we found a group of them in one bed after Maya didn’t replace them in their rooms. We started with two bunk beds per room and we hoped, as the girls became more comfortable and felt safe, they would request their own room.

Dr Castle had stayed in the Packhouse the first few days as we got his house ready. They had moved out yesterday into their permanent lodgings. He seemed to get along well with Dr. West. They had evaluated the girls and put them in the proper regimen to get them in better health. The nurses had set up a couple of classes for them to learn about their first shift and what replaceing your mates meant and how the bond worked. They would be beginning individual therapy sessions next week. Some of the teachers from school had come over last night to give them all some exams to see how to best approach catching them up to their age group.

It was exhausting work but rewarding. Maya and I had been extremely busy. I had not yet managed to sneak a cooking night in. It all would have been a lot more pleasant if it wasn’t for the nausea. With the girls all eating micro meals, a lot of snacking took place all over the Packhouse and I was assaulted by random smells that had me running to the closest bathroom each time. Dr West and Dr Castles both insisted on fussing over me. I was constantly pulled to do some test or another so they could keep track of the pups’ growth. They made me weight myself every second day since they both wanted me to be at least 10lbs heavier to make sure I could carry the pups to full term, but how am I supposed to gain weight when I throw up at everything?

Evergreen was here for the first 4 days installing the new security software and hardware and at first, the girls were scared, thinking it was to keep them in. I had to explain everything that happened to Ruby and with Sandra for them to see that we were doing it for them and, if we’re being honest, because Markus was at an all-time high level of protectiveness.

Gabriel or Zack were always glued to my side when Markus wasn’t. It was starting to really annoy me. I wasn’t even leaving the Pack grounds right now. We’d had a fight last night about it and even though I put in what I thought was a compelling argument and sent him to the couch, I’d woken up alone this morning and could hear Zack outside the door. I had been on my way to the office when someone had pushed past me with a bowl of bananas and I had run straight to the bathroom.

I looked at my phone and realized I now didn’t have time to go argue, as I had yet another appointment with Dr West for another ultrasound. I walked into the appointment room to replace Markus already there. I tried to glare at him as much as I could but it just made me notice how good he looked in his rugby shirt and blue jeans.

Mate shouldn’t look this good when we’re mad at them. It’s playing dirty – Kara half grumbled, half purred. She was just as annoyed with their antics as I was. I had a sneaking suspicion that part of it was the hormones, but no, I was right in this. Markus sighed at the glare we gave him and stood up. Walking to me and bending down to k**s me. I turned my head and gave him my cheek. He growled lightly but pressed his forehead against mine. I could feel his hurt through the bond and I sighed, moving my face around and giving his lips a quick peck.

“That was barely a k**s but I’ll take it,” he pouted, looking into my eyes. “I don’t like fighting with you, but I’m not removing the guards until I know you’re safe,” he said, standing back up.

“But I am safe,” I argued again, “Alpha Geoff, Luna Luisa, everyone that has ever hurt me are with the council, getting sentenced,” I said, and then I saw it. That look that I had not seen from Markus before. Guilt. He was hiding something from me. It was only there for a split second but it had definitely been there. “What is it? What aren’t you telling me, Markus?” I asked. He looked away.

I was about to push the issue when Dr West entered the room and began asking questions. He took a b***d sample and weighed me before he had me lay down for the ultrasound. I was only about 5 weeks along, but as werewolf pregnancies were only 5 months as opposed to 10, they were concerned that with my previous history with malnutrition, health issues would flare up as not one but two pups tried to pull the nutrients from my body to grow. The ultrasound monitor came on and we waited until we heard the heart beats. They were strong and steady. The babies were about the size of strawberries now. Markus took my hand and kissed it, not taking his eyes off the monitor. He’d yet to miss one of these appointments. All I could feel through the bond was love and admiration right now.

“It looks like everything is looking good, Luna. Your weight still needs some work. I recommend you eat more high-calorie snacks and meals. Are you still missing meals?” He asked. I shook my head.

“Like anyone would let me skip anything,” I joked, “I’m surrounded by a dozen over protective mother hens.”

“Good. Keep this up and once we get past the 2 month mark, we should be able to relax a little more. I’ll let you clean up. If anything abnormal comes up in the b***d test, I’ll let you know,” he said as he left the room. Markus got up and grabbed some tissue to clean my stomach.

“We have a conversation pending. You’re not getting out of it,” I reminded him.

“Nothing is going on Tuli, I am just worried about you,” he said, but this time I was looking for it. Paying attention to the bond. He was lying. I saw him get a mind link and I felt a ping of fear and anger before he shut me out of his feelings. “I gotta go, I need to meet Gillian,” he said, handing me the tissue.

I got angry and took them from him. “f**k you Markus,” I growled as I pulled down my shirt, “At least when I shut you out, it wasn’t on purpose,” I said and walked out of the meeting room, leaving him standing there shocked at my words.

I walked towards the Packhouse. I heard someone walking behind me and I thought maybe it was Markus, but it wasn’t. It was Gabriel. I felt the pang of pain in my heart that Markus wasn’t trying to reconcile. I reached the Packhouse when I finally felt the pull of his mind link but ignored it and shut him out of the mate bond too.

‘Maya, can I sleep in one of the guest rooms on your floor?’ I mind linked her.

‘Yes, what’s wrong?’ she asked.

‘Nothing. Thank you,’ I said and cut off the mind link.

I went into the Packhouse and checked on Lacey. She was still in a healing sleep, I had tried to help her healing along when we set her up in the room but hadn’t been able to. Richard was supposed to arrive tomorrow to join the pack and check on her. I looked into the room next to hers. We had left it empty so Richard could feel calmer next to her. I spent most of the afternoon talking to the teachers about the girls’ levels in reading, writing, math, science and history. As expected, science and history levels were very low for most of them, so we decided those subjects they could take together as a group. Reading, writing and math varied depending on the age and the job duty they had at B***d Moon so we divided them up into 4 different group levels. By the time we finished, it was time for dinner. Markus had tried to mind link me all day and I was still ignoring him, so I sat down with a couple of the girls for dinner. I could feel Markus’ eyes on me the entire time.

After dinner, I was wiped. Being mad while functioning was exhausting. I had already grabbed some clothes from the bedroom earlier, so I headed straight for the guest bedroom. I was asleep within 30mins.

Sometime later, I heard the door crash open. I blinked several times as the light was turned on to see an angry Markus in the doorway. One of his eyes black, one of them grey. He was breathing hard. I huffed and turned around, pulling the blanket over my head. I heard him stalk forward before the blanket was taken from me. I turned back over and glared at him.

“I’m trying to sleep. Aren’t you the one always saying I should get more rest? Give me back my blanket, Markus.”

“This is not your blanket,” he growled, tearing it apart. I raised an eyebrow at him. “This is not your room. This is not even your floor,” he said slowly. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breathes before he opened them up again. Both of his eyes back to grey. He sat on the bed and I turned my back to him again. Trying to blink back tears. Damn these hormones.

“Please come back to bed,” he whispered, his hand on my hair. Silent tears slipped from my eyes and I just shook my head, unable to talk.

After a while of Markus just sitting there and me crying, I suddenly felt him get up from the bed. I cried a little more as I realized he had left. I hated being away from him, but he was always the one pushing for me to share everything with him. I would not be the only one that gave everything to this mate bond. He needed to treat me as his equal. I was still crying when I felt a different blanket placed on me and the bed dipped. I felt his arms wrap around me as he pulled me to him. He put his head on the crook of my shoulder and inhaled my scent. “What are you doing,” I said, trying to sound like I hadn’t just been crying for the last half hour and trying not to let him feel how happy his scent made me.

“If you won’t come to bed, I’m sleeping here too. I told you, you were never sleeping away from me again,” he said as he kissed my mark, sending a shiver through me.

“I came down here for a reason,” I growled.

He put his forehead on my shoulder and gave it another small k**s. “I know. I will tell you tomorrow. Not tonight, Tuli. Not before bed. Rest, we can fight again in the morning,” he said sadly. I was going to argue, but decided against it. Instead, I let myself go to sleep as he rubbed the tiny baby bump that had been starting to make an appearance.