Novel Palace
Chapter 82
Chapter 82
Chapter 82 – Gillian
Gillian P.O.V.
There was something different about tonight. Not the usual anticipation of a full moon run with new she-
wolves. I had one thought in my mind. Will Camila be my mate? Otto and I had been fighting to control
ourselves all week. Never had we been so tempted. We’ve always been able to control our urges. Mom
had always told us how sacred and important the mate bond was. Even though we were
almost 27 now, we had never relented. Camila was different. She evoked so much in us. I tried to
explain it away. She was exotic. Her soft
voice with that thick accent sent shivers down my body. Just thinking about it was giving me a semi.
We’d gotten close. So close. I thought as I remembered the way we’d found ourselves in my room
yesterday after the attack, letting
our bodies say what our mouths couldn’t. I couldn’t do that to her though. She had a mate and she had
saved herself for him. If we were
not her mate….I didn’t want to think about it. I knew I was falling hard for her rich sun kissed skin and
chocolate eyes and joyful
personality. She was selfless and reckless. She was the Gamma’s daughter and though she hadn’t
trained to fight, she had refused to hide
when Huitzilopochtli threatened her pack. The need to protect her had been too much for Otto to resist
and we had tried to hide her
behind us. Something that had not gone unnoticed by her.
Thad never wanted something as much as I wanted her. From the moment I saw her the first night, I
could not get her off my f*****g
head. I grew up hearing stories from mom about how mates could feel the pull even when it wasn’t the
full moon and I wanted to believe
this was it, but it had also been almost 8 years’ worth of monthly disappointments.
We could always ask her to be our chosen mate – Otto had been telling me all week.
We can’t do that to her.
I argued for the 70th time this week
And what if what happened to Alpha Alexander happened to us.
Otto whined in my head. No, we couldn’t do that. All we could do right now was pray. Pray that this was
the last full moon we would
look up at the moon and pray for our mate. I knew she was nervous too and that was a small
consolation. I hadn’t even had the heart to
ask her if she’d be willing to leave for Arizona with me if we were mates. Planning for a future that
might never be was too much torture
to think about.
I walked into the records room around noon. I hadn’t seen Camila at breakfast today, but it was my turn
to help, and above
everything, I cared about Celeste and Markus. “Where do you want me to start,” I said to Evergreen.
He turned to look at me and pointed
at a stack.
“Those are all the same index. I pulled them for you.” I rolled my eyes. One f*****g bad index and
suddenly I was an incompetent
nincompoop that couldn’t be trusted. Whatever. I wasn’t in the mood and this would make this easier.
We worked in silence for an hour.
Usually, I didn’t mind the silence, but today it was all I could do to not scream. I needed something to
distract me from the upcoming full
moon.
“You think we’ll be done before Sunday?” I asked. It was only two days from now and it still seemed like
the scanning was endless.
How this man managed to keep his sanity, I didn’t know. He was in here 15hrs a day pretty much every
day for the last 5.
“We should be done tomorrow at this pace,” he said and continued to scan. I sighed, so much for a
conversation. He was not usually
this dry and grumpy. He was dedicated and passionate about his work. Slightly immature even at times
when he wasn’t on the clock. I
think he was going through tech withdrawal. Aside from a TV and old computer in the common room,
and a slightly more modern
computer in the Alpha’s office, and this room, that was it for technology. In all the time I’ve known him,
I’ve never seen him without
multiple tech devices on him or around him. I think the only thing keeping him sane was the need to
finish the job. Markus had told him
he might need to stay back a couple of days with a few warriors to finish the job and Evergreen had
looked as if he was threatening to kill his puppy.
The door opened and Celeste walked in with a plate of food. She was wearing a dress Markus had
mentioned earlier today had belonged to her mother. It was lacy and off white; her tiny bump was
growing rapidly and it suited her. I know pregnant women said that morning sickness was usually the
reason for the glow, but Markus said he hadn’t known of any morning sickness since she came here,
but
use that language app. My broken Spanish and Camila’s only slightly broken English had helped break
the ice. That and whatever she’d
told Camila that first night. Since we arrived, my Spanish vocabulary had almost doubled.
“Can you go help Markus? He and Diego have to go grab some items for tonight, get the barbacoa out
of the ground, and then in the afternoon, we need you around to welcome the other Packs. Diego
asked we meet everyone officially. I’ll take over for you,” she placed a plate on Evergreen’s desk and
turned back to me. There was a weird smile and a twinkle to her eye. “We made empanadas with some
left
over meat from dinner last night. Make sure you grab a few on the way out. Easy hand food.”
“Yes Luna,” I said, happy to be out of here. The overthinking was killing me.
“You can’t keep missing meals, Evergreen. I didn’t see you at breakfast again,” I heard her chide as I
closed the door behind me.! chuckled. Evergreen had gotten food while they were romping around
before breakfast. I can only imagine her face when Evergreen told her so. Everyone had seen the
remnants of the prank she pulled on Markus and could guess what had happened after he’d shut
himself in the room with her after he carried her back to the room caveman style.
I walked past Gabriel on his way to the records room. I met Alpha Diego, Markus, Zack and Mateo at
the door, “Where are we off to?” |
asked.
“Diego wanted to show us to one of the properties that belongs to Celeste. I confirmed with the lawyers
that they have the deed
among the documents we found in the safety deposit box. Then his mom asked that we get some more
ingredients for today’s. It seems a
dozen extra wolves have drained her reserves for the full moon dinner a little more than she had
realized.” Markus said as his eyes
narrowed at me with a smile. He was excited about something but he didn’t seem to want to share. He
and Celeste had been acting a
little weird all week and I wasn’t sure if it was some sort of “pregnant couple” thing or planning to
murder me and bury me out
here.
“No, this happens every full moon we host. She always has enough, but the thought of coming up a
little short terrifies her. So then we end up eating the same thing for days after,” Diego laughed.
We had been driving for a while when Markus mind linked me. ‘So….are you excited to go home,’
Markus asked…a little too casually.
I narrowed my eyes at him through the car mirror.
I guess….It is home after all,’ I said suspiciously. Markus was never one to beat around the bush.
‘Right.’ He was quiet for a while, ‘Do you like it here? Mexico…with all the señoritas?’
“Are you trying to tell me something? Are you trying to leave me here, Alpha?
Tasked.
‘What? No. Why would you think that?’ He said.
‘You and Celeste have been really secretive lately. Now you’re being weird.’
His face went red. lam not being weird. I was trying to make conversation’
‘Well you’re either dumping me on this pack or killing me and burying me in the middle of nowhere. You
wouldn’t be this awkward
otherwise.’
He crossed his arms and looked away from the mirror, “You’re being ridiculous.’ ‘Are you’re still hiding
something.’ I said, not buying it.
Our chat was interrupted as we pulled to an old house in front of a lake. “Wow, this is beautiful” I said.
‘
“Yes, Aunt Bella’s parents liked to come here many times with her mom when they were little. It was
place where they could just be a family, without Pack responsibilities,” he explained, “But come Markus,
there was one thing I wanted to show you.” All rights © NôvelDrama.Org.
We walked into the house. Despite it being old, it was very well taken care of inside. “We have been
taking care of it since my great
uncle passed. We found this in one of the rooms.” He pointed to a trunk. “I thought maybe you and
Celeste would like to go through it
tomorrow and see if you want anything from it.”
Markus opened the trunk and a big grin spread on his face. It was full of toys and baby clothes and
blankets. “Do you guys not want
to keep anything for when you find your mate?” he asked Diego.
Diego shook his head. “These toys belonged to Bella and I believe a few even belonged to Celeste on
the few occasions Bella brought her to visit. It’s all yours if you want it.”
“How are you going to get that home without her noticing?” I asked.
“Should be easy enough to distract her while they load it,” He smirked at me and I rolled my eyes.
“Help me load it into the car.
We were not back until close to 6pm. I still hadn’t seen Camila and I was getting nervous. What if she
wasn’t even here tonight?!
thought as I unloaded some of the barbacoa.
“She won’t be out until the full moon is about to begin,” Tomas said to me from behind. I turned to look
at him. “You’re looking for my sister right?” I fought a blush and nodded. “There’s an Alpha that has
been asking her to be his chosen mate. He’s 34 and needs a Luna. Camila told me she was going to
accept his offer for the sake of the pack after last month’s full moon and we fought about it a lot over
the last month. That man is an asshole and I don’t him harassing her.”
“She wants to be Luna?” I asked, my heart contracting with hurt. Tomas shook his head.
“No. I think she had just given up on finding her mate. She’s 25. It’s unheard of for her to be this old
and not find a mate around
these parts. Not for she-wolves. She told me this morning she changed her mind though.” He gave me
a knowing look, “Even if she
doesn’t find her mate tonight, she would rather choose a man she loves than go with him.” Then his
eyes darkened as we saw a car coming up the drive. “That’s him. I told her to stay in her room until the
run. I’ve gotten close to starting a war for the things he says to
her. We don’t need an altercation between the packs on a full moon. It’s bad juju,” I sighed. Great. I
wouldn’t see her until the full moon
and to top it off, I would have to be nice to the man that made his intentions known to her.
Gabriel came out and helped me move Celeste’s trunk into one of the vehicles we were taking to the
airport as Markus was
supposedly “distracting” Celeste by keeping her inside.
He and Atlas can’t keep away from her for more than an hour before he’s jonesing for her –
Otto laughed, but I could feel the longing
in his words too.
We joined Celeste and Markus as they were coming out to greet the Alpha, Gabriel taking his stand
right behind Celeste. I stood next
to them while Tomas and Alpha Diego’s Beta stood behind him.
“Alpha Diego, good to see you. Beta Rafael, Gamma Tomas, but where is your sister? I am hoping she
finally changed her mind about
being my Luna,” he chuckled. I felt Otto wanting to growl, but felt Celeste’s hand on my arm.
I looked down at her. She asked me to tell you that she will be waiting for you in the maize field when
the moon peaks,’
he said and
it made Otto jump hoops in my head.
Thank you,’ I was all I could say.
“Alpha Markus, Luna Celeste. This is Alpha Josue. His pack is about an hour south of here.”
Markus extended his hand out but couldn’t help the frown that formed on his face when Alpha Josue
was staring at Celeste very
intensely. I even saw Gabriel on edge at the look he was giving her. Alpha Josue didn’t seem to notice.
“You are Bella’s daughter are you
not? I knew your mother you know? I had a big crush on her growing up but she wouldn’t give me the
time of day. You look so much like
her.” He said as he licked his lips, making Markus growl lowly at the disrespect.
“Wouldn’t you have been like 12 when she was here?” Celeste asked tooking bored, making people
chuckle. This didn’t seem to
phase the Alpha.
“I was….mature for my age and as future Alpha, I wanted the best. Shame she found your father and
left. Maybe she’d still be alive”
he said and this made Celeste growl and all of us tense, ready to protect our Luna.
“Alpha Josue, stop making a pregnant she-wolf angry. I will not let you hurt her, but I will not stop her
from giving you a good kick in the balls to help her stress levels go back to normal,” Alpha Diego said
lazily. “Let us go sit and drink while we wait for the rest,” he said, and I didn’t miss the apologetic look
he gave Celeste and Markus.
The two other packs arrived and I was starting to feel claustrophobic inside the dining room. It seemed
so was Celeste as I started
noticing her become flushed by the minute. I heard Markus talk to the remaining Alphas and then start
to lead Celeste outside the
Packhouse. I caught up to them as we made our way out.
“Are you OK?” I asked.
the nuts,” she added, and even Gabriel laughed at this one.
“Looks like they are about to start the run anyway,” Markus said as we saw people start filtering out of
the Packhouse. I looked up at
the sky. The moon was almost out. “Go man. We’ll cover for you if anyone notices.” Markus told me
with a smile. I looked at Celeste and
she was also smiling.
“What do you two know?” I asked.
“Just that you have a date and we couldn’t be happier,” Celeste said, pushing me towards the maize
fields.
“This conversation isn’t over,” I said as Otto made my feet walk away. He was too excited.
“Yeah yeah. We’ll talk after,” Markus said as he led Celeste towards the small stage.
Three minutes later, I was frustrated. The maize fields? This f*****g thing was huge and I couldn’t see
over the tops. How the f**k was
going to find her. I looked up at the sky as I heard multiple howls in the air and saw the moon was at its
peak. I grumbled as I started walking around faster. Then, near the edge of the maize field, I smelled
her most delicious smell of cookies and cream. Otto was going nuts in my head. I hurried to find the
smell. Nose up in the air.
I made it to the edge of the maize by the mountain wall and I saw her. She was glowing under the
moon and it was like she was the moon. The moment our eyes met, I felt the sizzle of the bond
snapping in place. I saw a few tears leave her face as she looked at me and I
felt my joy diminish as a jolt of fear coursed through me. Why was she crying? Was she going to reject
me? The thought had barely
formed in my head before my heart sang as she ran towards me and jumped into my arms, burying her
face in my neck. I crushed her to
me as I felt more joy than I’ve ever felt in my life. I heard the howlings to the moon and Otto was itching
under the skin. He wanted to run with his mate. Before I could do anything, I felt her canines push into
my skin and mark me, taking both Otto and me by surprise.
She pulled back and gave me a terrified look. “I’m so sorry. Lily pushed forward and I couldn’t stop her.
She’s been waiting so long to
find her mate and hated that I was going to accept Alpha Josue’s prop-“She stopped talking when I let
Otto push forward a little.” Turnabout is fair play,” I said and crushed her to my chest. I kissed the spot
on the crook of her neck before Otto and I bit into her skin, marking her forever ours. A feeling of joy
filled every part of my heart as I felt all of her emotions crash into me. I turned my head towards
the moon in thanks and howled.
Let me run with Lily. – Otto begged. As much as we both wanted to complete the mate bond, I knew
both of our wolves deserved to
run together under the moon goddess’ light. It would strengthen their bond.
“Run?” I asked her. She smiled and nodded.
We took our clothes off and shifted. Lily came up to us and purred, ‘Follow us. We can catch up to the
rest,’I heard Camila in my head and we followed after her, the bond allowing her to communicate with
us.