The Alpha’s Runaway Bride

5

The woman cleared her throat and looked away. The spell was broken as she continued on with her droll introduction to the tour. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to hear less.

As we began walking down the hall, the woman glanced over her shoulder at me. As soon as we made eye contact, her cheeks turned red and she looked away again, reaching up to touch her dark hair. A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I realized that vision—if you could call it that—hadn’t just come from nowhere. She must have projected it.

Ah, so you’re the supernatural being hiding out here, are you?

We turned into the first room, and she stepped up to the front of the group, standing in front of some mural. I didn’t really notice, even as she pulled out a laser pointer and began to explain what was what. The folks around me murmured, some pointing, others whispering to each other. I barely heard the words she was saying. Our eyes met once more, and this time she lifted her chin, as if determined not to become flushed again. My smile widened.

Playing coy? I can deal with that.

It had been a long time since I’d had a chase, anyway.

She’d clearly recognized me. Humans wouldn’t be able to hear how my wolf was practically singing at the top of his lungs, but no shifter would be able to ignore it. Why would she send me such a vivid image if she didn’t notice? Clever girl. I loved a little mischief in my day, it kept things interesting.

I tried to move a little closer as she came down from her mural, but the woman just gave me a sideways look and deftly side-stepped as she turned down another hall, ushering the tour group to the next exhibit.

“No touching, please!” she called out, gently nudging a small boy on the shoulder as he reached up for a framed photo.

Her eyes fell to me, and I could barely contain my smirk.

As we entered the next room, she motioned toward the ceiling. “This is one of my favorite rooms,” the woman said, pausing to allow the guests to murmur and sigh in wonder. I glanced up, noting the rather accurate depiction of the night sky in the southern hemisphere. It was enough to distract me for just a moment, losing focus as she began to explain the constellation Eridanus and the mythology it was named for.

She belongs in this place. It’s in her blood, I thought to myself, my gaze locking back on the woman as she explained how Phaethon was meant to drive his father’s chariot, and the terrible job he did. My mouth quirked upwards. She turned again as she finished, starting to usher people on to the next stop on the walk.

I lingered, having had enough of my wolf’s bad behavior. I generally disliked giving into him, but it was also rare we agreed on anything.

She gave me a curious look. “Don’t want to get left behind, Mr., ah…”

“Nix,” I supplied for her, offering a casual smile as I took my time strolling over. She looked down the hall after her group, but I wasn’t sure what the hurry was. This was a planetarium. No one was in any danger, and there weren’t priceless artifacts in here, either. “That was an excellent discussion on the origin of Eridanus—” My gaze dropped down, scanning the name tag pinned to her chest. “—Celeste.”

Beautiful.

She flushed, frowning. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but then she just touched the little plastic tag on her shirt and flushed a little harder.

I couldn’t help but smirk. “I would like to ask you a question.”

“There’s a question and answer session at the end of the tour, Mr. Nix. I’d be happy to—”

“No.” I shook my head. “This is a personal matter.”

“Oh.” She looked a little perplexed. “Are you unhappy with the tour…?” She trailed off, studying me as if trying to read my thoughts from my expression alone.

“Quite the contrary,” I assured her, rather wishing I could just do away with all this small talk.

Unfortunately, there were humans afoot, and if I just picked her up and carried her off, that would generate more attention than was comfortable. Even then, most of them could sense I wasn’t quite the same as them. They couldn’t put a finger on it, so most simply wrote off their own instincts. It was always a foolish move.

“I’ve rather enjoyed it.” I winked, and Celeste stuttered, looking like she hadn’t any idea what to make of that. It was really rather cute. I reached forward, gently taking one of her arms to coax her toward a door I’d noticed at the edge of this dark room. When I opened it, I revealed the exact same room she’d sent me in her vision. My smile grew, but Celeste seemed positively shocked to see it.

I almost couldn’t believe how exact the match was, but I didn’t linger on it, either. My wolf was still screaming, and I wasn’t interested in listening to him any longer. He knew his mate when he saw her, and I saw no reason why we shouldn’t be united.

I took a step and pulled her close to my chest, bending down so I could look directly at her. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

Celeste gasped, her lashes fluttering. I felt like the room had gotten ten degrees warmer by the time I sealed our lips together.

For the first time in a long time—a very, very long time—my wolf and I finally agreed on something.

Celeste seemed to shudder, one hand fisting into my shirt. For a moment, I thought she’d push me away—What is she worried about? That tour she was giving? So mundane—but as I pulled away for a breath, she leaned right back up into me, pushing our lips together again. I smiled against the kiss, baring my teeth as I started walking us toward the back wall. She made a soft noise, her fingers curling harder into my shirt. I let go of her arm and slid my hands down her sides, my fingertips finding her hips.

She made another soft noise while tipping her head back. I pressed up against her, slotting our bodies together as I traced the length of her neck. There, just under her hairline, was exactly what I was looking for: a birthmark in the shape of a crescent moon.