Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
I had to.
“And yes, it’s also true that I am more than that. I am a Celestial.”
There were some gasps. Even a few loud guffaws, like I’d made a joke. There were some mutters, too, half-angry and half-confused.
I didn’t use humor this time, and I didn’t try for the element of surprise. I simply waited and let them take it all in. Someone would know what I was talking about, and I wanted that person to be the one to speak first. I could pound all of them with this knowledge, but it would be so much better…so much easier…if it came from someone they already trusted.
Just as long as that person wasn’t horrified.
The Moon Goddess didn’t feel very close to me in those few moments while I waited. I could feel my parents holding their breaths, expecting me to speak. Ready to fly to my defense, verbally or physically, if they had to.
At last, a tremulous voice rose above the crowd.“A Celestial! A blessing from the Moon Goddess herself! Oh, praise, praise to the Goddess!”
The people gathered parted, leaving an opening around the old woman in the center. Her long gray hair trailed down her back in a series of tiny braids tipped with beads. Her dark-blue gown was spackled with silver and gold stars all up and down the front of it. As she moved toward the stage, the crowd continued to part. She turned, shaking hands and kissing cheeks, and I could see more gold and silver designs on the back of her robes. The entire moon cycle was embroidered there.
She reached the front of the stage and beamed up at me, holding out her hands for a moment before turning back to face the crowd. “We’ve waited a long time for the blessings of a Celestial!”
I could see a few confused looks being passed around. The old woman offered her hands to my dad and Abba, who helped her onto the stage. She put her arms around me and enfolded me into an embrace so warm and comforting I wanted to sink into it. When she pulled away, she kissed both my cheeks, one at a time.
“My dear, my great-grandmother told me many stories of the coming of a Celestial, and what it would mean for our pack. But I never dreamed it would happen within my lifetime.”
“What’s a Celestial?” A hesitant, brave voice spoke out.
She turned to face them all. “A Celestial is a tapestry, woven of every single thread. Beyond the blessings of the Moon Goddess, our precious Stella is able to access the gifts of every supernatural to have ever existed. That she belongs to our pack is a blessing of the highest order.”
“Is that how you were able to kill so many who were much stronger than you?”
“If she’s one of these Celestial things, she has to be strong!”
“What does this mean?”The old woman, still smiling, turned to take both of my hands in hers. She squeezed my fingers.
She gave me a single, firm nod.
Her confidence in me lifted me up. Again, I faced the crowd. I kept my voice as clear as I could, but it shook with my own waves of emotion.
“I didn’t do it by myself. I am a Celestial, yes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need the support and love of my parents. Or my pack,” I said and swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. “I would never have been able to stop the High Council without my parents. All four of them were there to protect me…just as all four of them will be here to lead this pack. Your two Alphas, your Beta, and your Luna!”
Cheers rang out. People clutched each other. The old woman hugged me again.
My dad stepped up. “Everyone, I promise you, there will be ample time for everyone to ask the questions they need to be answered. We’re here, together, just as Stella said. More importantly, we are all here together. Alpha Mason and I have declared today a pack holiday! Food and drinks are on us!”
More cheers rose up. I knew there’d be many more questions and meetings, and not all of the people watching us were satisfied, but that was fine. They had the right to their concerns. We’d face them all with honesty, just as my dad had promised them.
I watched my parents embrace, hugging and kissing because they loved each other—but also to show everyone of the pack that they were truly all mated. It would take some time for them to get used to it, but this was a great start.
Looking out at the entire pack cheering, laughing, and celebrating, though, I couldn’t stop myself from also feeling sad.Nobody would ever love me that way.
Who could ever want someone like me?
Mason–
The party we’d meant as a small celebration, a welcome home, a token of our appreciation to the pack…yeah, that little shindig had gone on until long past moonrise. Hell, some revelers were still going as the sun rose.
I’d grabbed a few hours of shuteye, but the room here in this mansion felt strangely too small. The biggest bedroom I’d ever had, and the walls had closed in on me while I tossed and turned next to my sleeping mates.
Finally, when the birds chirping outside sounded louder than an alarm going off, I got out of bed and made my way to the kitchen.
Some of the staff were already up, of course. Someone had to make the bread and get the coffee brewing. I startled a pair of chatty women dressed in maids’ uniforms as they replenished their cleaning caddies.
“Good morning, Alpha Mason! We were just…um…ahem, we’re getting to work right away!”
I had to stifle my laughter, but I also felt a little bad that they looked so obviously worried that I was going to scold them. Or worse. I wondered if my brother had been the sort of Alpha to come down hard on the staff, or if that was a throwback from Orion.
Every time I thought I had this Alpha gig down pat, something new cropped up to remind me that wishing and wanting to be something wasn’t the same as training to be something.
“No worries,” I told the maids, who giggled behind their hands.“Can I serve you some breakfast, Alpha Mason?” A younger man in the house uniform of black trousers and a white button-down approached me hesitantly. I recognized him from the night before, when he’d been dancing wildly with…yep, one of the maids.
Man, I missed the days when I could party all night and still wake up at the crack of dawn looking like I’d slept for twelve hours.
“I’ll just grab some coffee. I can get it myself.” I stopped him from heading into the kitchen on my behalf.
He looked a little taken aback. “It’s just that Cook is kind of…protective. About her kitchen.”
“I’m the Alpha,” I told him dryly. “Somehow, I think grabbing myself a cup of coffee shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
“Yes, sir.”
The maids and the young man all left me. In the kitchen, I found the cook hovering over the oven, talking a mile a minute about the sourdough loaves in several pans on the racks inside. I found the coffee pot and helped myself, only to turn around and see who was taking up so much of her attention.
“Stella,” I said happily. “Good morning, little star.”
“Morning, Abba!” she said cheerfully.
Talk about looking fresher than a daisy. I suspected Stella hadn’t slept at all. Did she even have to?
I wasn’t sure, but I suspected that she could get along on no sleep for a lot longer than I’d ever been able to.She hopped off the counter and gave Cook a big, warm hug. The older woman gave me a side eye but didn’t complain about me helping myself to the coffee. She put a couple of fresh blueberry muffins into a handled basket and gave it to Stella with an admonition to come back any time.
“You’re too thin,” Cook scolded.
Stella laughed and hugged her again. She linked her arm through mine and leaned against me.
“C’mon, Abba. Let’s go out into the back garden and have our breakfast. Have you been out there yet?”
“I haven’t been much of anywhere yet,” I reminded her.
Either she’d been exploring, or her Celestial talents gave her an unerring sense of direction, because my daughter led me through a maze of hallways and through a double set of doors.
Beyond was a high-walled courtyard with a garden in full bloom.
“Kind of like Brightsky, huh?” she whispered as she nudged me with her elbow.
“Kind of.”
We found seats on a curving stone bench in front of some red and white roses in full bloom. Unlike Brightsky, there was no artificial sun here to make them grow, and once more I was reminded that I had no idea what time of year it was. How long we’d been in the enclave. It might’ve been a year, or two, or three months…
Stella cocked her head to stare at me. “Abba? Are you all right?”
I sipped my hot coffee. It was perfect. Delicious. Fit for an Alpha, as a matter of fact, and I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling under my breath.
“I waited my whole life to be here,” I told her. “And now that I’m here…”“It feels weird, doesn’t it?” she asked quietly.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
Stella tipped her face up toward the sky. “You know, we could run away.”
She had a teasing tone to her voice, but at first, I didn’t answer her.
Running away didn’t actually seem out of the question.
Support the author in bringing you brilliant stories.
Continue to read on the app For more Bonuses, gifts and events, use the KISS app.
Stella–
I knew my Abba was feeling out of place here. The huge house. The staff. I’d never spoken at length with him about how he grew up, which was very different from how Dad did. I just felt a strong sense of being out of place coming from him.
I understood exactly how he felt.
For a few minutes we just sat quietly in the bright morning sunshine. He sipped his coffee and broke the blueberry muffin into pieces. I ate a bite of mine and let the flavors explode on my tongue. I was trying hard to appreciate everything for what it is. Simple pleasures.
“We can’t run away, Stella,” Abba said finally.“I know.” I licked some crumbs off my fingers and then wiped them clean with the cloth napkin Cook stuck into the basket. “But if we did, where would you go?”
His eyebrows went up fast and came down more slowly. I could tell he was thinking about it. “I don’t even know. Anyway, I’m here now. I’m co-Alpha with your dad. I’m not going to abandon the pack, or you and the twins. Or your mother.”
I nodded. I knew that already, and not from any Celestial superpower senses. I knew it because my Abba was one of the strongest and most loyal men I’d ever met…not that I’d actually met very many men.
My shoulders lifted and fell with my heavy sigh. Abba nudged me with his knee.
“What’s with the long face?”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?