Alpha Markus
Chapter 75

Markus P.O.V.

A boy and a girl. We were having a boy pup and a girl pup. I could feel Atlas doing flips in my head and howling with happiness. What more could I ask of our moon goddess? I felt like a million bucks. We were headed to Mexico tomorrow, so Celeste had wanted to cook for the Packhouse. I wasn’t too keen on the idea, but it was hard telling her no, so instead, I asked Melissa to help her with the promise of bringing back a few gifts from Mexico. I’m pretty sure she would have done it anyway. She flocked to Celeste anytime she had free time and Celeste loved spending time with the young girl. I was eternally grateful she had someone with her while she was mad at all of us.

We were all packed and ready to go. I had a few more things to go over with Danny and Evergreen. I had asked for them to look for any information on the Pack we were visiting. As much as I wanted to trust Celeste’s long-lost relatives, I was not willing to simply go on faith. We were on our way back to have lunch before meeting with them. I helped Celeste do some quick preparations for dinner. She was making pot roast, so she asked me to put the roasts in the ovens so they could begin cooking. Atlas and I were quite pleased to help with the heavy lifting, though I feel like Celeste may have been doing it to placate my over-protective instincts by the way Dad smirked at me at the thank you k**s Celeste gave me as we were heading to our meeting. Whatever, I would take any pity thank yous as long as they came with k****s.

Evergreen was staying in the Packhouse while he finished all the security upgrades. He would remain here until we were back in case we needed quick action.

“Gentlemen, what have you found,” I said as we sat in the conference room. Our office was still being finished and Evergreen would be setting up some new gadgets.

“Quiet, as far as I could see,” Danny said.

Evergreen nodded in agreement. “Their finances are all up to par. They have about 400 pack members. The Pack is quiet, keeps to themselves. There are not many packs nearby, so they have no conflicts to speak of. I couldn’t replace any debts. According to my satellite info, they are a Pack of farmers with supplemental income from tourism. They mostly live off the land, but they do have some modern comforts such as Utilities, several cars and even found an internet connection in the main Packhouse. Other than a couple of incidents with the law for lack of a driver’s license by some pack members, nothing to note. I dug as deep as I could.”

“Any information on rogue attacks or local crime I should be aware about?” I asked.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. There’s not much record of rogue attacks, but I can’t be sure. As I mentioned, they mostly work the land, so they don’t really keep day to day on a computer. “

“And you confirmed that we will arrive tomorrow?” I asked.

“Yes, I spoke with Alpha Diego via Zoom yesterday. He will be having some of their men pick you up at the airport.”

I nodded in agreement. “Anything else? Danny, do you have anything else you need me to take care of before we leave?”

“No. We’re all covered. Should be OK,” he said. I turned to Evergreen. He pulled out a package.

“I’ve got an encrypted laptop and a satellite dish. You should have a signal from 9am to 12 noon local time. I’ll be monitoring messages and phone calls coming in and out of the pack. If something appears off, I’ll send you an email through this encrypted laptop. I will connect it to their network and keep it online until you have read the message.”

“Is that not a little extreme?” Celeste asked. “We’re supposed to be going in good faith to meet my relatives.”

“For normal people, yes. For me, no. When it comes to protecting not only my Alpha, but my Luna, the pups and our Beta, I’d rather not risk it. You will be isolated, alone with but a few warriors and in a different country,” he said, and I saw Celeste’s skepticism turn to warmth and understanding. “Speaking of, I know Luna is mostly fluent. I’ve installed an app in your phone Alpha and Beta Gillian’s. I’ve also stuffed an emergency envelope in the lining of the phone pack. It’s got about $10,000usd in Mexican pesos, Fake passports and some contact information to associates of mine that I know we can trust.”

“This is why I pay you the big bucks, Evergreen. Thank you. I hope we don’t need all of these measures, but I will feel better to have it with us.” I stood up and patted him on the arm. “See you at dinner. Celeste is making Pot Roast.” I said and his eyes brightened at that. As a traveling bachelor, he rarely got homecooked meals and had become another aficionado of Celeste’s cooking.

—

“Tuli, are you sure you’re OK?” I asked her again as we got ready for take off. Celeste was sitting next to me. I had been feeling her nerves all morning the closer we got to the airport hangar. I knew they were stemming from her, but wasn’t sure what the problem was. It wasn’t the usual nausea that had plagued her for a few weeks. Those seemed to be getting more infrequent.

Celeste nodded but gripped the seat as the plane started moving forward and I felt like an i***t. Celeste had never flown before. I put my arm around her and pulled her as close to me as I could. She grabbed my shirt and held on until we were in the air and the flight stabilized and she finally started relaxing in her seat.

“Sorry,” she said as I unbuckled my seatbelt. I smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. It was only a 3 hour flight to Mexico City. We’d be arriving in time for a late lunch in the city before we were driven to the Packhouse.

The stewardess came by and offered us some refreshments. I made sure to order whatever Celeste ordered. At this close proximity, I wasn’t going to risk whatever I ordered not to give her nausea. I noticed Gillian, Zack, Gabriel, and George, who were used to being around pregnant Celeste, did the same, while the others ordered different things. It was all good until someone decided to have a snack and Celeste’s over-sensitive nose caught the smell of sour cream and onion chips. I felt the wave of nausea hit me from her as she bolted for the little bathroom. I heard Gabriel growl and saw him snatch the chips away from one of the other warriors as I headed for the restroom where you could hear Celeste throwing up her breakfast, my glass in hand. I heard the water running before the bathroom door opened. I passed her the iced tea. She quickly drank it down and then put her forehead on my chest while I rubbed small circles on her back.

“I’m sorry Luna,” Mateo said as we headed back to our seats, “I didn’t think about your morning sickness.”

Celeste smiled lightly. “It’s not your fault. It’s just the enclosed space. I have some granola bars in my purse that Maya gave me before we left if you’re still hungry,” she said. Mateo shook his head and we continued to our seats. We had brought an extra 5 guards with us. 3 of them had never guarded us before, being warriors that tended to be out in the field when issues arose, but they had the advantage of knowing Spanish and used to adapting to volatile situations. I felt Atlas in my head lowly whining as we asked for more iced tea.

What’s wrong with you? -I asked

That i***t made Celeste throw up. – he said, which confused me.

Celeste has been throwing up at random things for the last month. – I reminded him.

Yes, but Kara is grumpy. She’s saying this is all our fault again ­­­– He grumbled and I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of my mouth.

“What’s funny” Celeste asked, smiling at me.

“Kara is mad at Atlas. She’s blaming him for the nausea.”

She raised her right eyebrow at that, “Well, she’s not wrong. Is she?” she asked me.

“Well, I- I mean,” I started stuttering, my face paling until she just burst out laughing at me.

“I’m just messing with you. You should see your face. Kara is just sick of losing our lunch.” Everyone behind us started laughing and I turned around and growled at them. A few stopped but the others just seemed to laugh louder when they noticed the redness in my face. Even Atlas was laughing on his back in my head.

“That was mean Tuli,” I grumbled as I sat back on my seat.

“Would a k**s make it better?” she purred, pulling my shirt to bring me over to where her soft plush lips were waiting for me.

“Maybe,” I said after we came up for air. I tugged her onto my lap and we napped like this for the rest of the flight.

“Mr Salonen, we will be descending shortly. We require your partner to take a seat and put on her seat belts,” She said, and I frowned slightly. This was a human crew, so it was normal they wouldn’t know who Celeste was to me. That didn’t sit quite right with me and made a mental note to remedy that as I helped a sleepy Celeste back onto her seat.

We landed a few minutes later and I was glad to see Celeste was a little less nervous on the way down. A few of our warriors descended first before I helped Celeste down the steps of the plane. There were three long black SUVs waiting for us when we arrived to transport all 11 of us to their Pack grounds. I approached the man in the front waiting for us.

“Alpha Markus, Luna Celeste,” the man said in a heavy accent. “Welcome to Mexico. I am Gamma Tomas,” he said as he extended his hand out.