His Rejected Luna

3.

Fenris

Challenger Learning Center

Tallahassee, Florida

Frankly, it was amazing my head hadn’t yet to split in two, given the way my wolf was belting out his Fating Call. It felt like everyone within a ten-meter radius should have been able to hear him. The longer he went on, the more my head pounded, but I couldn’t simply roll over and give in. Oh no, that wasn’t the way this worked.

The only reason I’d come to Tallahassee at all was because some old business associates had been making waves in the area. I’d been further up the East Coast and thought I would investigate things myself. My resources were suggesting they’d been employed at a local business within the city itself. I only slipped into the planetarium to do a brief check when something made my skin prickle. I was not the only supernatural being here.

It could have been an object, but this wasn’t a museum. I sincerely doubted it was an object, but some niggling corner of my mind suggested there could be something lunar here. It was, after all, an entire building dedicated to space and everything beyond this lonely planet. A tour seemed the best way to scope the place out. I would even have the ability to question the guide if anything tickled my senses. There were few who could resist my charm—men and women alike. I didn’t need to flirt, nor did I ever need to threaten them. I had a silver tongue, and humans were exceptionally susceptible to it.

Call it a talent.

When she walked out, though, and our eyes met…

Khuya.

The word came to my mind out of nowhere as quicksilver pupils locked onto mine. There was a flicker of recognition there, and my wolf went wild for it, calling, as a thrum of excitement ran through me. Regardless of what he thought, I couldn’t deny she was stunning. Her silky dark hair was pulled up in a neat bun. The shirt hugged her curves just right, and she was pretty, commanding attention without demanding it. She might have been dressed in the standard employee uniform, but this woman wore hers with pride, and the confidence was stunning.

Even her voice felt like a song to me. She was a siren, and I was more than ready to be called in. It would take more than her soft lilt to dash me upon the rocks.

She paused suddenly during her greeting, and something not unlike a memory slammed into me. I inhaled sharply as the vision rolled over me like a fog bank off the sea. A dark room. No, not just a dark room. A room here. The planetarium. The overhead was lit with stars, but all these random people had at last disappeared. Good.

We were alone now, the woman with the silver eyes and me.

A kiss, her slender arms around my shoulders, thighs pressing against my hips as I—

My wolf threw back his head and howled again, and it was all I could do to shove him back down. My irritation with his relentless antics were, perhaps, the only thing helping me keep a handle on things.

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.

The bloodline still runs strong.

I rumbled and growled, leaning forward to trace my tongue over it. Celeste took another step back, shoulders bumping against the wall. That little touch from the outside world seemed to jolt her. Her silver eyes flashed open, and her face fell. She’d been so open only a moment ago, but now she was entirely closed off, the hand beckoning me closer suddenly pushed me away.

I raised a brow but still took a step back.

“I don’t know what the hell inspired you to do that, but you really shouldn’t have,” she said quietly, turning to give me her shoulder as she tried to fix the bun on top of her head.

My brow hiked higher. The vision you sent me. Or are we still playing hard to get? My wolf growled, but I just hummed. I wasn’t a feral beast. “You gave me that lovely little idea, remember?” A lazy smile lingered on my face.

Her eyes flashed once more as she straightened out her shirt. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she snapped. She opened her mouth, then shook her head. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t actually want to know.”

She didn’t give me a chance to reply, brushing past me while making a beeline toward the exist.

When I turned to follow her, she shot me a dark look. “Mr. Nix, I strongly suggest you leave the building before I get the authorities involved.”

“I really don’t think that will be needed,” I said, not entirely sure what I’d said to ruffle her feathers. It didn’t really matter, though. I certainly didn’t mind a challenge.

Celeste snorted and rolled her eyes. “You have three minutes in here to fix your problem and then you had better be gone, okay?”

“As you wish,” I said, motioning toward the door with one hand. My mate was clearly passionate about the heavens and teaching others about its glories.

She didn’t say anything else, the door softly clicking shut behind her. I imagined her hurrying down the hall and quieting the tempest within before approaching the next exhibit with the same excitement and joy she’d displayed thus far.

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.