Alpha Markus
Chapter 84

Celeste P.O.V.

It’s been a long teary day. This pregnancy is really starting to f**k with my emotions. We woke up early to make it to the appointment and I went through half a box of tissues and Diego cracking jokes before I calmed down. Then needed another box again as Camila said good bye to Lupe and Tomas as we boarded the plane. It wasn’t until we had taken off and Mateo once again opened a bag of chips, making me fly to the bathroom that I managed to calm down.

Poor Mateo looked like a child in timeout when I finally made it back out to Markus handing me some water. “You really like sour cream and onion don’t you?” I teased him and he just turned a beet red.

“Sorry Luna, you hadn’t had nausea at all the food we had, so I thought it had passed,” he said sheepishly.

“To be fair, so did I,” I grinned, then caught the lingering smell of the chips and dashed back into the bathroom.

We all sat in silence for the first hour of the trip after that when I heard Gillian clear his throat.

“So….” He said, looking at Markus and me, “You two had been hiding something from me all week, then you not only seemed to know that I would replace my mate, having made up my room for a romantic night, but you also had a game plan for immigration documents for coming back?” He said.

“ehhhh,” I said.

“Welllll….” Markus said.

“Well?” Gillian crossed his arms with a curious Camila placing her hand on his arm so she could look across him as she looked over to us.

“Selene told me you should learn Spanish because you were meeting your mate ‘where it all began for me’ but she also told me not to tell you,” I said quickly, then looked at my phone like it’s the most important thing in the world.

“So you two have known since you ran away a month and a half ago?” He said incredulously. I couldn’t tell if he was mad or not.

“No! I only found out a couple of weeks ago and didn’t know about the Spanish part.” Markus threw me under the bus. I glared at him.

“Selene said not to tell you! And you, we’re supposed to be a united front,” I said and crossed my arms and turned my head towards the window.

“What I don’t get,” said Gillian, “Is how you managed to get Markus to keep it a secret for so long. This man gossips more than Christians at church.”

Everyone in the plane laughed and I turned and was satisfied when I saw Markus blushing. “I do not,” he said indignantly. I fell asleep on his lap for a while on the flight back, but Markus’ phone beeped with messages as we entered US airspace, making everyone look at their phones.

I had sent an email to Maya regarding the new pack members. I was checking to make sure things were ready for them. I had requested a phone for Camila with international calling. Evergreen had decided he would do more remote work now that he had found his mate and needed permanent lodgings. I saw an email response from her. It seemed there had been another couple of people in the pack that had found mates. I shot off a few texts to answer her questions and she responded right away. She told me how excited she was that I was back and that I had an appointment today as Dr West was quite anxious to check me over. I g*****d, making Markus look up from his phone.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I have an appointment with Dr. West as soon as we get home,” I said.

“What time? I’ll go with you,” he said, and the excitement in his voice made me hate the appointment a little less.

“He will be waiting for me the moment we get home,” I said, and his eyes brightened.

“You seem more excited about this than I do,” I said.

“I like seeing our pups in the ultrasound,” he said, rubbing my stomach. I was still sitting on his lap.

“I hate needles though,” I pouted.

—

“Luna, I’m very happy with your progress. Mexico seems to have suited you well. You’re finally at a safe weight to carry the twins. I’ll run this for any issues but so far everything looks great! We are just about half way there. Have you been feeling anything wrong?” He asked

“No. I feel good. Other than the throwing up and my belly is always itchy,” I said.

Dr West chuckled. “Both of those are normal. Morning sickness should hopefully fully end soon. A thicker lotion should help with the itching as your body accommodates the pups. We’ll schedule you for a week from now and I would consider looking at birthing classes,” He said and it sounded like the end of the appointment.

“That’s it?” Markus asked, visibly disappointed.

“Was there something concerning you that you wished to address Alpha?” Dr West asked.

“uhh no…I – I just thought we would have another ultrasound. You know. Check on the pups,” He stuttered while blushing. Dr. West smiled.

“Well, if that would relieve your concerns, we can certainly have another ultrasound. It is twins after all and that always comes with possible risks. Right Luna?” He winked at me and I smiled and nodded. “Please lay down and I’ll be right back with the ultrasound machine.

“Thank you,” I said as Markus helped me laid down.

—

“Celeste, can we talk?” Maya asked as I got back to the Packhouse. She was wringing her hands a bit.

“Uhhh, yes. I need a shower. Want to talk upstairs in my office?” I asked. She nodded and followed me. I kissed Markus as he headed to replace Gillian and Danny.

‘Everything OK?’ He asked me, noticing Maya’s distress.

‘I am not sure. Maybe ask Danny and let me know? I’m showering first.’ I said as I headed for the elevator.

‘Ok. Love you’

‘Love you more’

“Is everything OK, Maya?”

She nodded but didn’t say anything.

I took a quick shower but Markus said Danny wasn’t sure what was wrong.

I went into the office shortly after, not even bothering to do anything to my hair. I was worried about Maya now. Maybe leaving her here alone hadn’t been the right thing to do.

“Hey,” I said and she rushed to me, crying. “Hey, what’s wrong,” I said, feeling myself tear up at her anguish.

She just cried and cried, trying to speak a few times but then just kept breaking down.

“Maya, what is wrong? Did something happen while I was gone? Did someone hurt you?” I asked. She shook her head fast but still couldn’t talk.

‘Tuli are you OK? I can feel your distress and so can Danny, though he said Maya shut him out of their bond yesterday and won’t talk to him. This is the first thing he feels from her and he’s about to stomp upstairs. I need something to tell him. He’s losing it.’

My heart broke for Danny. ‘I’ll get answers. Just tell him to give me time.’

“Celeste.” Maya said slowly.

“Talk to me Maya.”

“Dr Castle said I am three weeks pregnant,” She said and started crying again. Now I was confused. Her crying was not a happy cry. What was I missing?

“Maya, that’s wonderful!” I said and then, when she cried harder, “That’s not wonderful?”

She was muttering through her cries but I couldn’t understand her. I got up and grabbed her a water and a box of tissues.

“Maya, breathe sweetie.” I said and I tried to help her breathe by breathing with her. After a few minutes of taking deep breaths, Maya started doing the same until she was finally calm.

“When Dr. West was getting us back to health. He told me I had scarring in my uterus that would make it almost impossible for me to carry a child. When I found Daniel, I gave him an out. I told him he could reject me if he wanted, so he could replace another mate because I would never be able to give him a pup. He told me he was OK with it. He was not the fatherly type anyway. He preferred the uncle role to father. I thought maybe that’s why Selene had paired me with him, since he doesn’t want pups and I can’t give him one.” She had tears running down her face again and I was beginning to understand.

“Danny told you he doesn’t want the child?” I asked with a low growl in my voice. I couldn’t believe Danny would do that, but why else would she be crying.

She cried again and shook her head. “He doesn’t know yet. I only found out yesterday. Celeste, I won’t give up my pup. He’s a miracle gifted by the moon goddess. I’m – I’m going to reject Danny,” she said and began to cry again.

My heart raced at her words. “What?” I said.

“He doesn’t want children. I won’t make him stay with me out of duty or responsibility. I’m going to reject him,” she sobbed and fell into my arms. My heart was breaking and I was crying with her.

“Oh Maya,” I cried, “maybe he won’t be mad. A pup changes a person and he loves you. He would do anything for you.”

“That’s why I’m going to reject him. He shouldn’t do something because of me,” she said, and I could see determination replace the anguish in her eyes as she stood up. “I’m going to do it now,” she said and walked out of the office with me hot on her heels.

“Maya, think about this please. You shouldn’t make this decision alone. You don’t even know how he is going to react. Maybe he’ll be happy,” I said as I ran down the stairs with her.

I saw Danny and Markus walking towards the stairs as we reached the first floor. “Maya, your hormones are all over the place. Please don’t do this now” I begged, tears in my eyes.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Danny said as he stopped at the look on Maya’s face.

“I, Maya Casserra, Gamma of Crescent Moon Pack, rejec-” She didn’t get to finish as Danny roared and was in front of her in an instant, covering her mouth. I could see the pain in his eyes as he looked into her eyes for answers.

“Why?” Was all he could say, his voice breaking.

“Danny,” I said, but I couldn’t get him to look at me. His eyes were brimming with tears and he was looking at Maya, his hand still over her mouth.

“Danny, look at me,” I said, and let a little of my aura roll out to catch his attention. I didn’t want to use my Luna command on him, which I knew was almost as powerful as Markus’ because of the triple Alpha b***d running in my veins.

“Celeste. Why?” He asked me.

“Do you want children?” I asked, praying that he answered correctly.

“Is this why? I told her, I don’t care about that. I just want her,” he looked back down at her. “Baby, if you want kids, we can adopt. Don’t leave me. I thought we were past this,” he said desperately.

“Daniel,” I said again more forcefully and he growled at me lowly, making Markus growl in response. “I need you to answer this truthfully.” I said as Gillian and Camila joined us at the foot of the stairs. “How do you feel about having kids?” I asked, looking at Markus for a little help.

“Tell her the truth,” he commanded with his Alpha tone.

Danny growled at Markus, trying to ignore the Alpha command. “Markus, please,” I said.

“Answer your Luna, Danny.” he pushed the command again.

Danny turned back to me, tears in his eyes. Begging me to drop the command with his eyes while I begged him with mine. Whatever he saw in them, he finally closed his eyes. He lowered his hand from Maya’s mouth and looked at her. Hurt and fear in his eyes. He turned back to me. “I have always wanted kids. I grew up dreaming about replaceing my mate and having a couple of pups that would look just like her running around,” he told me.

“Why did you lie to Maya?” I said as Maya backed up until she hit my shoulder. I held her shoulders as she put her hand to her mouth now, crying freely.

He dropped his shoulders in defeat. “She wanted to reject me the night we were mated. She said it wasn’t right that I be stuck with a broken woman, but all I wanted was her. I waited for her all of my life. I don’t care if we never have children. We can adopt, like Gillian’s parents adopted him. I just wanted her, Celeste,” he said, looking at the ground. Maya sobbed and I gave her a little push. It seemed that was all she needed because she ran and crashed against Danny, who only had time to catch her as he stumbled backwards onto the wall. She was blubbering again. Much to the confusion of everyone but me. “What’s going on,” Danny said in between k****s to her face as he held her tightly. He looked at me as she buried herself in his chest.

“Maya, do you want me to do the honors?” I asked her. She only nodded.

Finally, I managed to smile, “Danny, Maya is 3 weeks pregnant. She thought you didn’t want children and was trying to spare you forced fatherhood,” I said. Everyone froze at my words.