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Chapter eight
Celeste
“Thankyou.Ilovethem so much,” I told the little pups, hugging the pictures to my chest.
“Come, let me give you ladies the tour,” Markus said when Maya got out of the car that pulled up behind us. We walked through the double doors, and I almost gasped. The foyer was giant, with several doors to either side and couches and seats scattered throughout the area.
“To the left, you will find the common room, rec room, and formal dining room. The right has the kitchen and the informal dining area.” We walked through the right side of the door, and this time, my jaw dropped to the ground. The kitchen was twice the size of the one at Blood Moon, and if I thought the kitchen equipment there was up to date, I was sorely mistaken. This kitchen had a wall of cabinets, two refrigerators, one walk-in freezer, and a giant pantry. There were four giant ranges with ovens and two rotisserie ovens. Turning, I spotted a range of grills through the kitchen doors. I turned back to look at Markus, who was smiling widely at my reaction.
“I take it you like the kitchen?” he asked, and I grinned.
“This is amazing! You could cook for an army in here!” I beamed. He laughed a hearty laugh while holding his hand out for me to accept. “Well, we feed about five hundred people a day from here. Come, you can play in here later, and I’ll introduce you to the cooking staff. Let’s keep the tour going.” I took his hand eagerly as we continued down the long corridor.
“The first floor is mostly common areas, offices, and where staff can live. The second floor is for guests. The third floor is for high-ranking guests and extended family. The fourth and fifth floors are for my gamma and beta. The top floor is ours.” I blushed at the word ‘ours’ while contemplating everything he said.
“Do you not house warriors here?” I asked.
“Warrior quarters are in the building next to us.”
“Alpha,” I heard Maya ask quietly. “Where will I stay?”
“For now, you will stay on the third floor. After you’re settled into pack life here, we can discuss you moving somewhere else permanently. I think the transition will be easier for you both if you do it together,” he said, and I couldn’t help but be moved by his thoughtfulness that I turned and hugged him.
For someone that doesn’t know how to receive physical contact, you sure don’t seem to be able to keep your hands off him, Kara said smugly, now awake and wagging her tail as she took in our new surroundings.
Are you seriously complaining?I asked.
No, I just like to tease you. This is the happiest I’ve ever seen you.
“You turn nineteen next week, correct?” Markus asked Maya. When Maya nodded, he continued, sending a wink my way. “At least one of the files was right. We will set you up with someone to help you through the shift. We will induct you two into the pack this evening in my office. It’s a simple act. You simply have to swear fealty, etc. You renounced the old pack, correct?” He asked both of us. We shook our heads.
“We don’t know how to do that. We weren’t allowed to ask questions, and we would have never been allowed to leave the pack,” I answered.
“We will do that tonight as well. All will be well. Neither of you will be mistreated again. You have my word.” He squeezed the hand he was holding.
“Thank you, Alpha,” Maya softly spoke with tears in her eyes.
“Zack will show you to your room, Maya. I will have someone put a few articles of clothing in there for you. Tomorrow, you and Celeste can go shopping for proper clothes.”
“We don’t have any money,” I said, twisting my hands. This issue was always what kept me from running away from Blood Moon. They never paid us, and the only way to survive outside of a pack was to have money and a job. “We need jobs.”
“You are my mate and future luna of this pack. What is mine is yours, and Maya needs to settle in first. Jobs can wait. You have both worked enough to last a lifetime, from what I could see. I have already texted my assistant to request a credit card for you and phones for both of you. Consider this shopping trip my gift to both of you as a welcome to the pack. Gillian has a sister. I will ask her if she’s available to help you.” Maya and I both widened our eyes, not used to people showing us this type of kindness and generosity.
“Come, Luna. I will show you to your room,” he said, taking my hand again and leading me toward what turned out to be an elevator. I got progressively more nervous as it climbed the floors. He led me to the left when we arrived on the top floor and stopped at a set of double doors before pushing them open.
The room was huge, with a giant bed against the wall on the right of the room. It was decorated minimally with warm colors. There were two doors on the left and a third on the right side near the windows.
“This is our room,” he said. I looked at the big bed and blushed. He laughed at my reaction, and I frowned, not seeing why it was funny.
“You are so cute when you blush,” he said, squeezing my heated cheek lightly. He led me past the bed to the third door and opened it, guiding me through it. I frowned again. We were in another bedroom. This one was half the size of the one we walked through, but there was a comfortable bed with a door that I assumed led back out to the hall and one that might be a closet.
“I had them put a connecting door between my room and yours while we were away. It was originally a second office, but I can work from the one on the first floor.” He then turned me around and held me loosely to him. His eyes were full of emotion, and it brought up all the ones I was trying so hard to keep in check.
“I don’t know what you went through at the hands of those people. I’m not sure what you’ve been hiding for so long, but I am willing to wait until you’re ready to share yourself with me. We can take this as slow as you want,” he assured me.
I couldn’t stop the flow of tears that surfaced. I was so moved by the sacrifice he was making. I may have never gotten an official education regarding mates, but I heard enough stories about finding mates to know mating and marking usually took place that same day. My heart wanted to trust him with everything, but I lived with this lie for so long and didn’t know how to stop. I sobbed at the injustice of what happened to me, and I sobbed at the fact that he was cursed with a broken mate and could only hope I would be able to lower my walls to let him in soon.
He picked me up, cradled me to him like I was a child, and sat on the bed, rubbing little circles on my back. I let the warmth soothe my pain, and I stayed with my arms wrapped around his strong, sculpted waist and my head against his chest long after my tears stopped. He didn’t say anything or force anything to happen. He seemed content to hold me. Out of nowhere, I hiccupped, then hiccupped again. I felt his laugh bubbling up from his chest before I heard it, deep and wonderful. I laughed with him but kept hiccuping through them.
