Alpha Markus and Celeste novel Chapter 48

Chapter 48 – Markus
Markus P.O.V.
We were working in one of the conference rooms today. Gillian, Danny and me were in one corner of the room, getting business out
of the way so I could take tomorrow morning off. Celeste, Maya, Mrs Quinn and Kelly were sitting at the other end, trying to figure out details for the Luna Ceremony. It was not easy to concentrate on either side, everyone’s voices flowing from one side to another, but I
refused to let Celeste out of my sight. Atlas and I were still not quite over the two days that she was gone. We needed her with us.
Thad already talked to Gillian about starting construction on my downstairs office. We were breaking a wall in my office in a month to make a bigger double office. A smaller “official office” would also be built next to it with a clear soundproof divider that would be used
when we had to deal with duties that required individual attention. The divider could also obscure into a double sided window when
necessary to ensure our privacy from outside Packs.
Danny and I looked up when we started hearing distress coming from Celeste and Maya. We didn’t interrupt because we knew the theme of the arguments they were having with Mrs Quinn and Kelly over the last week.
At first, it had just been Mrs Quinn, Maya and Celeste, but Mrs Quinn requested back up one day last week. Celeste had insisted that
since Maya was the Gamma female, she should also be allowed to celebrate the day with us with a smaller ceremony before ours. Danny
and Maya had insisted that it was not necessary, but Celeste argued that it would be easier to share the day and that just because they
were of a lower rank, didn’t mean the pack wouldn’t want to celebrate their happiness as much as they would celebrate ours. I wasn’t
against it and neither was Mrs Quinn however, other problems started arising as they tried to select the details of the celebration.
Celeste and Maya kept balking at the prices and ideas that Mrs Quinn was suggesting. They insisted that it was unnecessary to spend
so much over a one-day celebration. Mrs Quinn kept reminding them that many Alpha’s and Lunas would be coming to the celebration
and therefore no expense should be spared. She came to ask me for help as the girls were making it very hard to make decisions and that she could see when Celeste and Maya would like something, but would decline it when they noticed prices. I brought Kelly in to help Mrs Quinn, to even out the discussions, but it didn’t seem to improve things. Mrs Quinn and Kelly both kept mind linking me every time
Celeste and Maya would shoot something down because of the price.
I sighed, not able to concentrate on the report anymore. They were running out of time and there was zero chance I would delay her
becoming my official Luna.
–
Itake it you’ve also not had any luck getting Maya to spend some money on the ceremony Danny?’ I opened a mind link with Danny
and Gillian.
‘Not unless I want to sleep on the couch again.’
He huffed ‘Last time I tried to remind her that we have enough money to spend on
this, she almost bit my head off and reminded me I had already gone back my word when she asked to help the staff and then refused to
let her clean bathrooms so to keep my nose out of it. Then she yelled at me that she felt useless enough without spending all of this
money and threw the pillow in my face and pointed to the couch.’
‘Celeste won’t even talk to me about it. She just insists that it’s not necessary and we could use the money for something else.’
I don’t think you’re going to win here guys. It wasn’t that long ago that we took them from Blood Moon Pack. Celeste still looks
underfed. The mental trauma isn’t something you can get out of your head as easily as putting on some weight. Remember what
happened to me? And I didn’t even go through anything near as bad as them,
Gillian interjected.
I looked at Celeste and Maya. It was true. Celeste looked a lot better than she did when she got here, but you could still tell she was
still somewhat underweight. Maya looked at a healthy weight now, but I knew from Danny that she still had night terrors and issues from
their time in the pack. It really was asking a lot of them to overcome 12 years of abuse in a few months.
So what do we do?’ I asked.
‘Well, 1 – Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of a chair pulling back. Celeste was standing, visibly upset.
“Luna, there are expectations that need to be met when you host a Luna Ceremony. You are hosting many important people. Many
of them traveling for hours just to witness your ceremony. They expect a certain level of luxury. We can’t just serve them hot dogs on
“That ‘staff’ is more important to me than an Alpha that might find it offensive to eat with members of my pack. Why should we
spend so much money just to sit them separately because they are snobs? Markus has never had an issue eating with anyone.”
I started to get up but Gillian touched my arm. “Alpha, may 1?” he asked.
“Please. I also don’t want to sleep on the couch,” I sighed.
“Luna-” Kelly started
“No, why can’t we just do it our way? Isn’t this about us?”
“It’s not just about you. It’s about the image of-”
“Why can’t it be both?” Gillian said as he rose from his seat. All heads turned to him.
“Son, you know there are expectations about how we present to the other Packs,” she said.
“Yes, but perhaps we’re looking at the image we want to display from the wrong angle.”
“What do you mean?” Kelly asked. She looked just as frustrated as the rest.
“Well, we want to present an image that Crescent Moon Pack is a great Pack with wealth and prestige with a happy and loyal pack.
Maya and Celeste don’t want to spend money to superficially present this picture because, more than any of us here, they know what it’s
like not to have any of that. So why can’t we combine those two sentiments?”
“How?” I asked, curious myself.
“Well, they don’t want things to be wasted, so limit the waste while still creating a beautiful ceremony. Take advantage of the
significance of the full moon.”
“What does the full moon have anything to do with it?” Celeste asked, sitting in the middle of the long table now.
“It’s the Harvest Moon. Use that as your theme. Make your centerpieces cornucopias with food generally harvested around this
season. You can donate them to a food bank afterwards so they can be put to good use. Use the children to pick wild flowers and other
seasonal things found in the forest and surrounding areas as part of the decorations. We also have a lot of decorations we use for the
usual Harvest Moon celebrations, considering we always have guests looking for their mates at this time. You can upcycle them into new
decorations. I know Celeste and Maya take a lot of time out of their days to spend with the kids running around the Packhouse. Why don’t you buy a bunch of stuffed animals to use as part of the centerpieces? Have the plushies holding the wild flowers the kids gather instead of just dumping them into shiny vases. You can have the kids take one home at the end of the night or donate them to the Pack
Orphanage. God knows I would have been over the moon to get one when I was a child there. It will show what kind of Luna we have. One
that will care for her pack and their happiness above anything else,” he shrugged.
“You were in the orphanage?” Celeste asked, “but then….” She turned to Mrs Quinn and Kelly.
“My parents died in a rogue attack when I was 3. I was in the Orphanage for another 4 years until Markus and I met and became
friends. Mom saw me running around with him at the Packhouse and a few months later, they adopted me.” He finished and looked at his
mom with so much love that Maya started sniffling. Danny walked over to her and held her.
“That’s an amazing idea,” Celeste said, excited for the first time about her ceremony. She turned to Mrs Quinn, “Would that be OK?
We can spend all the money you want on centerpieces that can be gifted to the Orphanage. We can set up a gift table next to the Alpha
tables and have them interact with the little ones. Maybe even have them give them the gifts on our behalf.”
“Yes, I think that will work just fine. Kelly and I will spend some time today getting some mood boards and prices ready of what we can get. We can shop locally and with the amount of ingredients we’ll be ordering, we can probably get some discounts if we buy directly from farms,” she said. I could already see the gears running a mile a minute in her head.
“Any discount we get, be sure to use that difference for more gifts and perhaps we can sneak some of that food to the girls we
haven’t been able to rescue?” I suggested.
“You don’t have to worry about that. It’s covered,” Gillian mentioned.
“What do you mean ‘It’s covered,” I asked.
“While Celeste was in the hospital, I managed to strike up a few conversations with the Pack Doctor. He mentioned that he would
usually sneak check-ups on the girls and some medicine when he’s able to do so. It was always out of pocket, as Alpha Geoff wouldn’t let
sneaking vitamins and food to the girls. Alpha Geoff tried to beat him when he found out, but as it appears to be coming out of his pocket
and he’s their only doctor, he didn’t forbid him from doing it.”
“Why didn’t know about this?” I asked.
“I didn’t see the need. I am not using pack funds so they didn’t need to be in the expense reports.”
“You’ve been using your personal funds?”
He shrugged “I was just trying to he-,” he grunted as Maya and Celeste basically sandwiched him between the two of them. As much
as I was tempted to growl that Celeste was touching another man, the truth is, I was tempted to join them and even Atlas respected what
was happening.
“Use Pack funds from now on,” I said, trying not to laugh at the distressed look on his face. “These girls are part of our pack too, even
if not officially.”
‘This is why we chose you to be Beta despite the ones that disagreed,’
Atlas mind linked him, ‘You and Otto are better wolves than all
the assholes that thought they deserved the role based on their family status.’
‘Thank you Atlas, that means a lot,’
he said. Then on a mind link with me and Danny, ‘Can you guys peel your mates off me, I am
going to pass out if I don’t get a breath in and they are squishing my lungs.’
Danny and I laughed and we grabbed our mates, who were pretty much blubbering on his shirt.
“Well, I think that’s a good plan then and it makes everyone happy?” I said. All four girls nodded.
Kelly suddenly stood up. “We can shop for dresses now that we know what the theme is!” Celeste groaned and everyone laughed at her. We all knew how much she hates shopping.