Chapter 80
Chapter 80
Chapter 80 – Markus
Markus P.O.V.
Atlas shook off the hit and was about to charge again when the door to the Packhouse opened and out
came Celeste. Long black
curls blowing in the wind and eyes glowing fire as fire dripped from her hands. If she wasn’t in danger,
I’d take a moment to admire how fearsome and powerful my mate looked. But I did not have a moment,
and Atlas began running as we saw Huitzilopochtli shoot his staff in her direction. We almost barrelled
into her as she rolled away from it in time, throwing her own fire balls at him. She landed standing next
to us in wolf form. I had never seen anyone shift as fast as she had. Kara lifted up on her hind legs and
stomped back down to the
ground with a roar, and I stared in awe as two giant blades of fire rose from the ground and rushed at
Huitzilopochtli. He dodged one but
roared when the other one hit him across the right side of his body, sending him flying at the wall of the
mountain, burning everything in
its path. This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.
For a few moments, it looked like the fight was over, but we weren’t that lucky. Though his side was
scorched and rubble had fallen
on top of him, he opened his eyes and began to dislodge his legs from the rubble. Kara began charging
towards him but stopped when we heard movement from the side. Huitzilopochtli smirked, thinking his
warriors were coming with back up, but then his face fell when he
saw Tenoch running in front of the other warriors a head in his jaw and the other in the jaws of his Beta.
He turned to look at Kara, Atlas
quickly moved in front of her.
“He esperado mucho tiempo para encontrar a la perra de Chantico. Esto no ha terminado…” He spit
blood onto the ground as he got out of the rubble. “Hermanita.”
I’ve waited a long time to find the dog of Chantico. This isn’t over, sister,
Mateo said in my head. I owe that man a raise.
With Diego closing in, he bent his knees and jumped, somehow making it all the way to the top of the
mountain and disappearing over the side. Atlas quickly turned and growled at Kara as he sniffed her
abdomen. While not dangerous to shift during most of the
pregnancy, the roll on the ground could have hurt the pups. Kara growled back but allowed us to make
sure the pups were OK, then
huffed and trotted back into the packhouse, hitting Atlas in the face with her tail as she pivoted away.
Atlas whined at the action and then
ran after her.
Atlas receded as we went into the house. “Do not walk away from me Tuli,” I yelled after her. Kara
turned around and growled at me
then shifted to Celeste, who looked even more pissed off than Kara was in all her naked glory.
“You do not get to tell me when I can and can’t help fight for those I love. It is my right. It is my birth
right. You forced me to hurt my
friends. Just because I am carrying your pups doesn’t give you a right to dictate my actions. You are
my mate, not my keeper. You said you
understood, but they were just words…” she said and I understood why she was angry, but I was just
as angry as her this time.
“HE WANTED YOU. HE WOULD HAVE SPARED EVERY PERSON IN THIS WORLD TO GET HIS
HANDS ON YOU,” I roared at her, making her pause. “I will forever choose your wrath, than your
death,” I told her calmly. I turned around and walked out of the Packhouse. I left her standing in the
middle of the hall. I pushed through the crowd gathered at the entrance and shifted. Needing to run off
my anger. How could she not understand she was my life. That her death meant mine. There was
nothing in this world for me if something happened to her and the pups. I would burn the world to the
ground if she wasn’t in it.
I didn’t get very far. As much as I felt we were running at a fast pace, Kara was faster. She caught up to
us and stopped in front of us.
We ran around her, not stopping, but she caught up to us again and again, until we stopped just short
of the border when she barreled
into us.
Atlas growled at her but she stood her ground, her long black fur blowing in the wind, her red furred tips
and runes glowing against
the sun.
Celeste shifted again and walked to a tree near by and sat on the ground. She patted her lap and Atlas
only hesitated for two seconds
before he walked over and plopped on top of her lap. She petted us as our anger dissipated, only
sighing occasionally. Atlas turned his head towards her stomach, placing his ear against it, letting the
sound of their heartbeats calm us. Finally, he pushed back to the recesses of my mind. I could feel him
talking to Kara through the bond. I didn’t move my head from her stomach. I wasn’t ready to go
reces
“I’m sorry.” was all she said.
“I’m sorry too,” I kissed her stomach before I sat up and cradled her to me.
“We can’t keep fighting every time there’s danger. We need to be in sync. That’s how we win,” she
whispered.
“Alli can think about is you getting hurt. Everything else just goes out the window,” I confessed.
“Then train with me. I can’t let you fight my fight alone. We’re supposed to be a team.”
“I know, I just…I don’t know how to turn off the need to protect you and them,” I said, placing my hand
on her belly. It was getting
bigger by the day. Soon, there would be no hiding it from the world.
“We will work on it together. We are safe for now. All of us,” she said. We stood there quietly until I
heard movement and tensed,” asked Gillian to bring us some clothes,” She said. I sighed and nodded. I
met Gillian a little bit away from where Celeste sat, holding her
knees up to her chest.
“Everything OK?” He asked. I nodded.
“We’ll be back shortly.” I said.
We got dressed and walked back holding hands. When we came into the open area, we saw the
aftermath of the fight.
“I’ll go help with the wounded. You help them clean up?” she asked.
I kissed her forehead, “Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” Before she could leave, I asked “What did you do
to Evergreen, Gabriel and
Pablo.”
She grimaced, “It wasn’t a fair fight, considering none of them wanted to hurt a pregnant Luna. I will
apologize when I find
them.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Remind me to give them a bonus.”
I walked over to Diego, “Did you lose anyone?” I asked him as I helped him turn over a grain trailer.
He shook his head, “We had a couple of close calls and injuries being tended to but no loss”
“How did he know where to find us? No one knows where we are but my Gamma and he would die
before betraying us.”
“I can answer that Alpha,” Evergreen came out of the Packhouse with a black eye. Celeste’s doing, I
was sure.
“How?” I asked.
“Luna had mentioned the Blood Moon Luna talking about a deal with someone named Helios. She
believed it to be Huitzitopochtli. I
contacted the Pack a few minutes ago. Danny confirmed you should have an email from the council
explaining that they have found the
body of Luna Luisa in no man’s land. She had been dead for about a week. Her body looked to have
been hit by lightening,” He pointed
over to the scorch mark Huitzilopochtli’s staff left and could see a lightning pattern spreading outward in
the rock. “He may have been watching the pack after extracting information and seen us leave.”
“What about Sandra?” I asked.
“There were signs of a struggle, but no body. They believe her to have escaped or taken,” he said.
“Of course. Thank you,” I said, turning back to the task at hand.
“Alpha,” he said
“Yes?” I turned back at him.
“Gabriel could use a talk. He’s not very happy he got overpowered by the Luna. He was talking about
failing to protect her as he was trying to open the record room door. Luna had put a metal bar through
the door handle.”
I sighed and nodded, “Thank you Evergreen. I’ll be sure to talk to him.”
“Just so you know, I am not ashamed of being beaten by our Luna. In fact, I’m going to try to milk this
for some brownies when we get back, but the man takes his job pretty seriously.” he said as he turned
back, “If you are both OK with it, I’m going to go back to scanning. I would like to be done before we
head home.”
I looked at Diego who nodded. “Yes, that’s a priority. We’ve got the clean up.”
“So my cousin…” Diego started as we continued to upturn farming equipment. “She’s got more than
one ability?”
“Yes,” I said, “Her fire ability started when she got her wolf,” I grunted as we worked.
“Does she have any more?” He asked. I was tempted to tell him about the healing, but since it wasn’t
hers, I just shook my
head.
“Just the two, as far as we know.”
He nodded. “Whatever you guys need. I hope you know our packs are bound by blood. You need only
call and we will show up.”
“Thank you. The same goes for you. If he comes back….just give us a call and we’ll bring the back up.”
After working for about 15 minutes, he looked at the destroyed crops and nodded. “Let’s go check on
the wounded. Nothing to be done about the crops. Things will grow back.”
“If you need any help at all to replace them. We can help.”
“It wasn’t much. A couple of less tortillas a meal and we’re back on track,” he laughed as we headed
towards the make shift
area.
I watched Celeste cleaning a wound. As soon as we got near, her head went up and she turned our
way, a giant dazzling smile forming on her gorgeous face when she saw me. Mrs Rodriguez took over
the cleaning as she whispered something to Celeste, who
laughed and walked over to me.
“What’s so funny,” I said as I pulled her close and kissed her.
“Oh nothing.” She said mischievously.
“Tuli?” She just giggled and walked towards the next injured she-wolf. “We’ll be cooking in a couple of
hours. We might need your
help with the pots. Go relax with the guys, we’ve got this covered. There’s only a couple more that
need help, most will be healing well on
their own.”
I shook my head and walked towards Diego. He handed me a beer and we sat down. I looked back at
Celeste and noticed Gabriel
standing a few feet away. If she moved, he moved. Never quite behind her but never far away. He was
a good warrior.
‘Evergreen’s got a black eye. How did you fare?’ I asked him. I saw him stiffen as he heard me.
‘Broken rib and a failed assignment. I’m sorry Alpha. I didn’t think she would take on all three of us.’
She’s the daughter of two Alphas and stubborn as f**k. It is not an easy assignment.’
I should have tied her inside like you suggested.’ He sighed.
‘No, I was wrong to suggest it. You’re a good warrior and a good guard.’
‘She still managed to put herself in danger,’ he huffed.
‘Yes well, have you met her? ‘I laughed and I saw him snort.