Bound To The Alpha

5

I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair now that the sweet, crisp scent of clean air and cold water had disappeared. Celeste smelled like the night sky, but I would expect nothing less. In the space of a couple of hours, I had rolled into Tallahassee to stir up old associates and the troublesome vampire they had reported to live here, and found my mate instead. While the presence of Faulkner Byrne should have been my top priority, he hadn’t bothered me yet. It had been what, at least a century?

He could wait another day. The sudden appearance of my fated mate was entirely more interesting.

When you’d lived as long as I had, an afternoon was a mere blink of an eye. Hell, even less. I hadn’t intended to stay here for more than a day or two, planning to simply finish my business and go. But this? This really changed things.

As I left the room to rejoin the tour, I pulled out my phone, dialing the only number in my contact list.

“Walter,” I said as soon as the man picked up, “I need you to locate the twins. We need to meet.” Then I hung up, knowing he’d sort the rest out. In the meantime, I needed to finish this tour. It was the first time in a long time I’d felt this alive, and I wasn’t about to rob myself of that feeling just yet.

Chapter 3

Celeste

Challenger Learning Center

Tallahassee, Florida

Thankfully, my group hadn’t gotten very far without me. Even though it was my last day working at the learning center, I didn’t want to leave with a poor impression. I wasn’t the type of person to just phone it in, and I still wanted to count on Kevin for a glowing recommendation. After all, I was planning on finding another job after my wedding day.

The thought of my impending nuptials and Mr. Nix made my stomach coil into tight knots. What was that guy thinking? It practically went without saying he wasn’t the first man to make a pass at me during a tour, but usually it was just that—a pass. No one had gone so far as to lay a hand on me, much less kiss me before.

And it was right out of my dream, too.

I was literally living out what I’d dreamt the night before, except, well, I’d cut it short. Something about that man made me feel like an asteroid trapped in a planet’s gravity belt. Heck, what’s wrong with me? Hot or not, I hadn’t invited those advances, and I was an engaged woman. It didn’t matter if I’d felt drawn to him or not, I shouldn’t have even been thinking about the guy. It was probably just an after-effect of the dream.

Doing my best to ignore my sticky wet panties, I guided the group to our lunar landing exhibit. I was halfway through explaining the landmark event when someone joined our group. I turned, about to query where the latecomer had been, when we locked eyes.

You, I thought venomously.

I felt the skin prickle on the back of my neck and turned back to the group, but Aiden and I only looked at each other again as I continued my monologue. I can’t believe this man has the nerve to continue the tour after that stunt!

But I wasn’t going to let him get the better of me, and I certainly wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of thinking I was still thinking about him. It still seemed entirely unreal to me that I’d actually dreamed this man up the night before, and yet here he was.

It’s not like I’m a psychic or something. These dreams aren’t real, after all.

I needed to stop puzzling over it. As good as I was at my job, it did require at least some of my thought process, especially if the little girl in front kept asking questions.

I certainly wouldn’t ask her to stop. That was the best part of my job, really, introducing children (especially girls, because I could see myself standing there) to the wonders of science and space.

He must be a celebrity or something. I probably scanned over some article he was in and forgot about it. Saw a picture.

That made sense. There was no other reason I could have pictured him exactly. Not with those eyes—

Celeste!

There was something off about him. It was this strange, magnetic pull, except it wasn’t something warm and fuzzy. It made you feel like you’d follow him anywhere. It felt like jumping off a cliff, but you couldn’t see the bottom, and you didn’t know when you’d hit or what you’d hit.

Yeah, he’s definitely a celebrity.

Those types of people had a natural charisma, for better or worse, and it would certainly explain his brazen attitude. He was probably used to women fawning all over him. In fact, making eye contact with him was probably giving him an invitation.

Ugh. Gross.

It certainly put a damper on the dream I’d had the night before, but that was probably for the best anyway. I felt kind of strange dreaming about anyone besides Ben. While I hadn’t admitted this little detail to Abi, I’d spent quite a bit of time this morning Googling what it meant to have a s*x dream about someone who wasn’t your partner. The internet assured me it was a perfectly normal phenomenon and didn’t indicate there was anything wrong with me, but a few sites had suggested the same thing my best friend had: Ben and I weren’t sexually compatible, and my subconscious was exploring other options.