Alpha Markus

Chapter 2 - Celeste

Celeste P O V

It was only 4am. The entire house was sleeping, but I preferred it this way. Blood Moon Pack wasn’t all bad, but the Packhouse was reserved for the ranked family and mostly unmated warriors. Almost everyone in this house was cruel and heartless. The days where I could avoid seeing any of them by finishing my tasks before they awoke, were the only good days I could remember having. The rest were filled with beatings, spittings, groping. I could only thank the goddess that raping a minor was punishable by death even here and no one had tried yet. By werewolf law, a werewolf was only considered of age once they got their wolf. Another reason I was glad they thought I was younger than I am.

My day starts the same as always, turn on all the ovens, start proofing the absurd amount of croissants, biscuits and other baking required for the day.

Clean the common areas while the proofing was taking place. One could confuse the warriors for werepigs as it was guaranteed to find bottles, plates, broken items and occasionally even body fluids from ones that managed to drink enough alcohol to get themselves drunk. Werewolf metabolism was so quick, that drinking enough to get drunk took talent and dedication.

After cleaning, the baking went in the oven as I got the batches of breakfast ready. Three types of eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, cut fruit, waffles, pancakes, toasts, shakshuka, bagels, spreads. They all went into commercial style buffet bars on either side of the dining room area. Once breakfast and baking was complete, I would begin preparations for lunch and dinner. Today, that was marinating steak, peeling and cutting potatoes, slicing onions, slicing and prepping garlic bread. Starting and filling the giant rotisserie oven so that lunch would be ready in time.

Cooking was always my favorite thing to do. Creating something delicious from the ingredients and hearing the positive comments on the food. Most of the other girls could barely manage to put together sandwiches, so it was up to me to get them set up for the other shifts. We had found over the years that this reduced the bad moods of Alpha Geoff and we could avoid some beatings. Occasionally, I was even allowed to experiment with new recipes. I was always on shift for special dinners. Alpha Geoff demanded it and the girls were happy to help as long as they didn’t have to do it themselves.

Once my prepping was done and the kitchen was cleaned up, I could do whatever I wished with the rest of my day, as long as I was not needing to help another Omega if they were sick. I started to hear movement upstairs as the first of the warriors woke up so I finished my cleaning quickly, pocketed a croissant and a couple slices of fruit and made it back to my “room” to clean up and nap.

“Celeste! Wake up! The Alpha has requested all the Omegas in the kitchen! Hurry!” I groaned. When the Alpha spoke with the Omegas, it was usually to let us know that something was not done how the Luna and her daughter wanted, and one of us would end up with a beating. Occasionally, Sandra would cry to her father with lies about being disrespected for the fun of it and everyone got a beating.

I rushed to the kitchen while trying to smooth my bed hair. My curly hair was not easy to control.

“Nice of you two to join us.” The Luna growled.

“We are having guests next week,” Alpha Geoff growled. “As you all may know, Sandra received her wolf two months ago. All unmated Alphas, Betas and their unmated sons will be arriving for the full moon to see if they are mated to my daughter as they are the ones worthy of being her mate.” He puffed his chest proudly. I suppressed a roll of the eyes.

Werewolves could only find their mate during a full moon. The full moon allowed the mate bond to snap into place under the moon goddess’s light. This was also when the she-wolves were most fertile so pregnancies were usually planned around a full moon. This made it extremely difficult for unplanned pregnancies though not unheard of. Luna Luisa, the old Gamma’s daughter, had managed to get the Alpha drunk enough during a full moon and seduced him. When it was found out that she was pregnant, his father’s Gamma had tried to make him take responsibility. It is said that he was the young soon-to-be Alpha Geoff’s first kill. Sandra was slightly younger than I was when Alpha Geoff took the throne and challenged my father for his pack and Luna. When my mother took her life, Alpha Geoff came back and took Luna Luisa as his chosen mate. The rumor was that although she was Luna, the Alpha took women to bed at any time he wished. It made me feel bad for the Luna as a mate can always tell when the other is having relations with another. It is said to be painful and heartbreaking. I almost felt sorry for her…..almost.

Sandra was average looking but as rotten to the core as her parents. When she first shifted, people had been surprised at the below average wolf she had been paired with. It was a dirty sandy brown with no unusual qualities. It wasn’t fast, it wasn’t strong. Sandra had been training with one of the Alpha’s best warrior for almost 2 months and it was rumored that not much had improved. She would make a weak and terrible mate. I could almost bet my life that none of the ranked members coming to visit would be her destined mate. Selene, the moon goddess, did not reward cruel wolves. Alpha Geoff had never found his destined mate. I had a feeling the moon goddess would never grant him one. A destined mate was said to complete a soul, enhance their power and abilities and allow a pack to flourish and create a peaceful and loyal pack. The Blood Moon Pack, having no destined Luna was ruled through fear and cruel punishments to anyone that dared stand against it. Its members were either as cruel as the Alpha, or too weak to stand up and right the wrongs.

“We will have a total of 25 unmated males” the Alpha interrupted my thoughts. “You are to ready all 30 guest suites to accommodate any added high ranking members that may accompany them. They arrive the night before the full moon. I want dinner to be ready. Breakfast, lunch and dinners while they remain in the Pack Territory will need to be perfect. There will be a Pack celebration dinner the night of the full moon to celebrate my daughter’s mate. Spare nothing. Celeste, you are in charge of all meals during the duration of their stay. Give a list of the supplies you need to the Gamma. Cook to impress, anything less and you will deal with me after the visitors are gone.”

I bowed my head in submission at his Alpha tone. It never really affected me the same as everyone due to having Alpha blood myself, but I had learned to recognize it and pretend, “Yes Alpha.”

“Pick one other to help you. You will also need to stock the suites with snacks and drinks for our guests. Anyone else not picked, I still expect every single task to be done as usual. Any faults found during the visits will be dealt with harshly after the visitors are gone. Am I understood”

“Yes Alpha.” Was heard from everyone.

Without another word, the Alpha, Luna and spoiled brat left the kitchen. I picked another girl I liked that was somewhat capable of following cooking instructions to help me the week of the visit, and then everyone returned to their duties for the day. I returned to my so called room to finish my nap and begin planning the menu.

I generally avoided the Packhouse during the day if I could help it. The servants in the house were only allowed leftovers and there were usually not a lot. Even though I cooked most of the food, I was still fairly underweight. When I started hitting puberty, my bosom didn’t seem to care and blossomed a little too enthusiastically. This made me a target to the horny unmated warriors, and even some mated. I did my best to wear baggy clothes. There was a small garden I maintained for the Luna and tended to spend my afternoons there. It was beautiful and peaceful. It was generally used as the main location for all the parties and I would always weep when trying to fix the destruction made to the garden the morning after. The Luna truly didn’t care much for it, but would use it as a point of pride with visiting Lunas. I was not allowed to work on the garden during their visit as she took full credit for the garden, so I would have to water at nighttime. It was something I didn’t mind doing, in the rare instances when it coincided with a full moon, I could swear the garden was visited by the mood goddess herself. It was simply magical.