4 Luncheon

Dark Sky Pack

Celeste hated the women’s events when the council had meetings. She typically did not go to the ladies’ events; but, as it was pointed out, she was now the Luna of the Crystal River Pack, married and had a pup, so she should attend at least one. As a concession, her husband, Wyatt, agreed to take her out after the formal dinner. She had already searched the local strip clubs and had one picked out.

He agreed to take her out as she stood naked in front of him, carefully applying lotion to her many tattoos. By the time she was done, he was stroking himself and would agree to anything. If he could have exempted them from this meeting, he would have. But the Elders commanded that they would be there. Not even an Alpha as powerful as himself defied the Elders.

Despite the misgivings and reluctance of the Alphas of the Crystal River and Silver Lake Packs along with their entourages boarded the private plane and flew to Maine. The Dark Sky Pack was a very traditional pack and the pack leaders that were going to the meeting were all full blood werewolf or Lycan. Jack, a human that had served with Celeste in the Marines, remained behind as did his partner, Jill, who was a werecat.

Their arrival was marked with enough fanfare that Celeste thought that they had arrived at a movie premiere. When she expressed this to her mate through the mate link, he shook his head and gave her a small smile.

They are old school and will give the Alpha’s of the stronger and wealthier packs the red-carpet welcome. Smaller packs are not invited. As my father explained it, they worry about PAPA. Prestige. Appearance. Power. Attitude.

Settling into the back of the SUV that was provided, Stephen handed Celeste a piece of paper and pointed at the itinerary for the women’s events. “Luna, you’ll find the address for the luncheon here.”

Celeste gave the Beta a strange look because he knew that she did not like the Luna title. But then she looked at the sticky note on the top of the page.

Some Alpha's are married to non-Were women. Non-Were not allowed on Dark Sky pack lands. EVERYTHING for womenis off pack lands

Not allowed was underlined to emphasize the two words. She opened her mouth to say something, and Stephen shook his head before making a motion that the Marines used to indicate that people were listening. Rolling her eyes, she sat back and pulled the sticky note off the paper.

The SUV dropped her off at the hotel where the luncheon was being held with a quiet reminder from her mate to behave. Crossing her fingers where he could see it, she promised to try. Chuckling, Wyatt kissed her temple before climbing back into the SUV and it pulled away. Looking down at her dog, she could feel his displeasure also.

“Let’s get this over with,” she muttered, and a growl filled her mind as Teuf hoped for raw steak.

Shortly after arriving at the luncheon, she texted her best friend, Jill. They had served together in the Marines and Celeste could not imagine her life with the large, black, male, werecat in it.

Celeste was bored out of her mind and Jill was keeping her sane by trying to get to the council meeting. So far, neither husband had conceded to that. A message popped up on Celeste’s phone from Jack, Jill’s human mate, listing out the reasons why his mate could not go to the Dark Sky Pack.

1.They hate werecats almost as much as humans

2.He’s mated to a dreaded human

3.We’re both gay

4.I don’t want to be a widower

As much as she hated to admit it, Jack made very valid points. She conceded this point as the women around her started the same conversation about the hot actors again. Celeste was certain that they really had no lives away from their husbands.

Isn’t there a law about cruel and unusual punishment? Celeste texted and Jill replied with a cry-laughing face. I’m dying here.

 

Take Teuf for a walk, Jill suggested and Celeste nudged the sleeping German shepherd under her chair. He stood up and stretched and she quickly made her excuses. The luncheon was at an exclusive hotel restaurant in the nearby pila town and Celeste grabbed the leash even though her dog did not need it.

There had been two other Hunts since Wyatt had the first non-Hunt. The third one was approaching, and this would be the fourth non-Hunt. And of course, people were upset that the Midnight Sun Pack in Iceland would be holding another non-Hunt. Not the majority, but many packs still clung to the old ways.

Which led to Celeste suffering through a luncheon with Luna’s that needed a good night at the strip club followed by a damned good fucking. Or maybe that’s what she needed.

Once outside, Celeste let Teuf have the lead. He would sniff the air every so often and guided his mistress to the scent he was tracking. She was not paying attention and ran into a young woman. Celeste dropped the leash and grabbed the other woman’s arms. Teuf sat on the sidewalk and looked up at the women.

He was quite proud of himself having found the Gelert.

“Are you okay?” Celeste asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” the mousy woman said with a sniffle.

“Yeah, I’m calling bullshit.” Celeste looked around and saw a café across the street. “Let me buy you lunch or at least a coffee.”

The girl nodded and let herself be guided across the street. They settled in at a table and a waitress brought two glasses of water and menus with a promise to be back in a moment.

“I’m Celeste.” She said, picking up the menu. “Have you eaten here before?”

“Electra and no, Alpha.” She replied.

The waitress came back and brought a bowl of water for Teuf. “I’m Brandy, I’ll bring you another bottle of water for your fur friend.”

“You have a friend for life.” Celeste smiled. “This mudslide…?” she pointed to the chocolate drink topped with ice cream and small chocolate curls.

“Absolutely delicious.” Brandy smiled. “If you’re planning on having dessert, I recommend the triple chocolate cake with strawberries.”

“Sold. Heavy on the Kailua, please.” Celeste smiled at her companion. “Electra?”

“That’s fine. Can I get mine without alcohol?” she asked timidly.

“Yes, ma’am.” She wrote on her little pad. “I’ll have those right out.”

Celeste waited until they were alone again. “Don’t make me go all bitchy Alpha on you. What’s bothering you?”

“I graduate from college in a few hours, Alpha.” Electra sighed. “Because of this meeting, my family won’t be there.”

“Why the fuck not?” Celeste asked as she undid her blue jacket and took it off. She was aware of people staring at her tattoos, but she did not care. Her life story covered her body, and she was proud of every scar and drop of ink.

“They’ve all been told that they’ll be working the dinner tonight, Alpha. My parents are lower-level betas.”

“And you?”

“I’m wolf-less, Alpha.” She mumbled shamefully.

Brandy returned with a tray carrying the drinks and cake slices. After serving the two women, she sat a bottle of water on the table and asked if they needed anything else. With nos from both, she walked away to take care of the other tables.

“Listen to me, Electra.” Celeste said quietly with her Alpha voice forcing the younger woman to pay attention to her. The fact that the younger woman responded to the Alpha wolf’s command, made Celeste wonder exactly how wolf-less she was. Humans did not respond to the commands so easily.

“Not everyone can be an Alpha. Not everyone can have a wolf. It’s what we do with our lives that matter.” She reached out and placed her hand over the other woman’s hand. Electra tensed under her hand and nervous energy radiated from her. “It doesn’t make you any less of a person.”

Inside her mind, Angel sensed the energy and sat up, paying attention to the younger woman. Lifting her nose up, she sniffed the air and sensed an ancient familial line. The powerful wolf that Celeste shared a mind and body whimpered and lowered her head in respect.

A tear slipped out of Electra’s eye as she nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”

As the girl swiped away the tear, Angel looked through Celeste's eyes and saw the bright flash of gold. It was so quick that she questioned if she actually saw it.

“Ugh. Enough with that bullshit. Just call me Celeste. If there’s others around, do all the Alpha fuckery.” She took a bite of cake and made a sound of absolute pleasure. “Sweet goddess above.”

Electra smiled as she also took a bite of cake.

“Now, let’s talk about your graduation and party.” Celeste said, taking a drink of her mudslide. “What are your parents’ names?”

“Jenny and Mike Naples.”

“Where were you going to celebrate your graduation?”

“Just a simple dinner at my brother’s house.” Electra said, not used to having someone pay so much attention to her. Attention from anyone other than her family was a rare event. Especially not with a beating involved.

“Nope. If I’ve got to suffer through girly bullshit, give me something awesome to look forward to.” She pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket and started to search for places to host a graduation party at the last minute.