Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Celeste Chapter 16 – Celeste
Celeste P.O.V.
“Bella?” He whispered. I stared in shock at the gentleman in front of me and heard the shattering of a
bottle.
“Who is Bella?” Beta Gillian asked.
I started hyperventilating and felt the room spinning. How did this man know who my mother was?
Wastin danger? I felt my eyes
glow and then flip back and forth to black as Kara tried to take over. My flight or fight response forcing
her forward even though she kept
telling me to breathe.
We’re safe. Markus won’t let anyone hurt us. He is our mate. He can protect us. Breathe Celeste. –
Kara said gently, trying to push
herself back into the recesses of my brain.
“Celeste? Are you OK? Talk to me. Dad, what did you do to her
?” heard Markus growl. And then it hit me. This was his father. Of
course he must have known my parents. He would have been Alpha at the same time as my parents. I
felt tears flow from my eyes as I realized I must look like my mother. I could barely remember her, my
mind having pushed those memories back in order for me to live. I
suddenly felt my body jerk backwards and I could see my mother and father laughing and playing with
a 4-year-old version of myself by a lake. My mother looked like me, but she had straight brown hair
whereas I’d gotten my hair color, curls and eyes from my father. I felt myself jerk back to the present
and an instant migraine hit me. I tried not to cry out. “Celeste! What’s wrong?” Markus lifted me and
placed me on the couch as he felt my pain. It was so overwhelming, but his scent was beginning to
soothe it. I hung on to him for dear
life.
“Who is Bella, Dad?” he asked this time.
“Bella was my mother.” I said, knowing that I had hit the point of no return. I worked hard to get my
breathing under control. It was time to come clean about who I was. I gently extricated myself from
Markus’ arms and stood up, looking at everyone in the room. “My name is Celeste Aurora Dellarosa,
daughter of Alpha Cory and Luna Belta Dellarosa, the last leaders of the Sky Moon Pack,” I said with a
raised head, my eyes glowing. I then saw everyone’s eyes go wide as they realized who l was.
“You’re the spitting image of your mother. Except for the hair and eyes,” Markus’ dad said. His brows
furrowed, his eyes watered, “I thought you were dead. We looked for you among the bodies. We were
told there were no survivors that day. How is this even
possible?”
“My father’s Gamma saved me. He warned mel would be in danger if anyone knew who I was. He gave
me his last name. He tried to get help,” I said, and then, because I needed the warmth of my mate, I sat
back down on the couch and leaned against him. I felt his arms go around my waist before I continued,
“They killed all the mated werewolves in my pack and most of the male children that would remember
the slaughter. I heard them looking for me, but as I was one of the few ranked pups at the time, not
many knew who I was. I lied about my age and my name. The unmated women were taken back to
Blood Moon Pack. The ones that didn’t find a mate there, disappeared shortly after. The few of us pups
that were taken before we had our wolves, were basically slaves until we came of age. We
know once one of us reached the age, they were sent to be introduced to the unmated warriors on the
next full moon. The ones that
didn’t find a mate were never seen again.”
I felt rage building in the room as I talked. Markus’ fingers were almost digging into my hips as he tried
to restrain himself. His eyes
were black.
“That’s illegal! How is he getting away with this!” Markus’ dad raged. His mate was silently crying while
clutching him tightly. “What is
happening to these women? How has no one noticed this happening? Why has no one denounced
these heinous behavior?”
I was about to begin talking when I felt Markus shift. I looked back up at him and he was looking at
Beta Gillian, “Tell them.” He said calmly while stroking my back.
“We have been noticing some strange behavior from the Blood Moon Pack for a couple of months. We
had suspicions that they have
been trafficking she-wolves in the black market for a while now. We have been trying to figure out
which Alphas can be trusted and which
can’t, but we also need to find proof. It is the only way to bring other packs in as allies and to make
sure the council will take our
of the trafficking.”
Itensed, “Trafficking?”
“On the black market,” He nodded.
Everything made sense then. The reason why we were treated so poorly, why they disappeared once
they had their wolves. Why they
never bothered to include us into the Pack fully and why it only seemed to happen to the people of my
pack. I felt Kara trying to push forward. I hadn’t realized I had stood up. I felt my eyes glow but it felt
different. I felt a pain starting to form behind my eyes. Everyone
seemed to be moving away from me except Markus.
“Celeste? Are you Ok? Sweetheart can you look into my eyes?” I looked at him then and the pressure I
had been feeling behind my eyes disappeared. There was a small shriek and Gillian said, “Firel” in
alarm. They grabbed the curtains behind me and stomped on
them, putting the small fire out.
I suddenly felt very tired. I could barely hold my head upright. Markus lifted me up bridal style, “Let’s
continue this conversation in
my room. The office is sound proof but we need to be 100% sure we’re not being heard.” He pushed
past and went towards the elevator
and turned around at the last second. “Marie, could you please grab something to help with a migraine.
I can feel she’s got one,” His dad’s
mate nodded and hurried off as we waited for the elevator to arrive.
“Got it,” She came running back, just in time to hear the ding of the elevator.
‘Are you OK?’ Markus asked
I am not sure. This is all….it’s a lot,’ I answered honestly.
I felt him kiss my head and I smiled.
‘We will get through whatever together, he assured me.
‘My friends…the other girls that were taken from my parent’s pack. I knew they were disappearing but I
had no idea this was Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.
happening. We need to go back for the ones that are left.’
‘We will. Do you know which of them turns of age next? We can focus our efforts on tracking her. We
hadn’t been able to figure out
where he was getting the she-wolves.’
‘Yes, I think it was Ruby. Next month, since Maya was next, but she’s safe
‘We will need you and Maya to work with a friend to get a composite of her together. Will you be able to
do that?’
‘I think so. Markus?”
‘Yes?’
‘Do we have to tell Maya who lam? She will be mad Ilied to her. She’s the closest thing I’ve had to a
friend’
I don’t think we should hide who you are anymore, love. You are safe. I won’t let anything happen to
you. I will let you tell her on
your terms though.’
‘Will she think I failed her?” I asked, voicing the one question that I asked myself when I was in the
deepest holes of despair all these
years.
Fail her? How could you possibly fail her?’
Suddenly I heard a low growi coming from
Tam the Alpha’s daughter. They were still my people and I let the Alpha do this to them?
Markus. We were headed towards the rooms now but everyone stopped and looked our way.
“Will you all please wait out here for a moment? I need a moment with the Luna,” He said as he opened
the door to his room.