Mate.
The word came from deep in his mind, but it wasn't anything he'd thought on his own. Wes shivered. He hadn't heard his brain come up with a word on its own in a while. Not since he'd stuffed it down and forbade it to come back up. Wes didn't need that voice in his head, the one that tried to dictate what he should and shouldn’t do. The one that he wanted to stay forever muted.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
It continued to call out to him, whispering in excitement words that no one could hear but him. Wes ran a hand down his face and swallowed thickly. No, he had to keep ignoring it. That voice wasn't something that he should pursue. It was there on occasion, trying to get his attention, but it wasn't human. It wasn't normal.
Wes sucked in a deep breath and held it as he squeezed his eyes closed. The voice clawed and begged, but he kept still. Ignored it.
Finally, it passed. Slowly, Wes opened his eyes. He glanced around the room, worried that someone would have noticed his strange behaviour, but it was fine. Everyone moved around, business as usual, paying him no mind. Wes let out a breath and wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his jeans.It’s just stress.He tried to tell himself that was all it was and went back to what he had been working on.
Wes started repeating to have a little more confidence in himself.The museum director is in love with your work.Both his restorations and paintings. Carla had been the one who had introduced Wes to Katherine, one of the gallery owners where his work would be shown.
It had been a little over a year since he'd been back, and there wasn't anything he'd done that Carla hadn't been in love with. He smiled as he thought about her. She was great, truly. Wes admired her and looked up to her very much.
"Wes!"
He turned on his heels and left the paintings behind. Carla rushed into the building, a pencil shoved into her bun and her eyes wide. She held a cup of coffee in both hands. Wes was surprised it wasn't sloshing over the sides onto the floor with the speed she was hightailing it through the lobby. He shook his head. It was going to be an insane day, wasn't it?
"Carla, what's going on?"
She pressed a cup of coffee into his hand. "Everything! Sandra forgot to put two groups of middle schoolers on the program today." She slammed down the coffee and promptly took the one she had given him. "Two groups. We're going to be run down in a few minutes, and I'm freaking out a little."
Wes raised a brow. "A little? You look like you're going to faint."
"Kids are not my strong suit. I can deal with them, but not a bunch of unannounced groups at once. I'm going to...to... I don't know, fire Sandra."
Wes laughed. "No, you're not. You love her."
She sighed. "I do love her, even if she's a little scatter-brained."
"A lot scatter-brained." Wes watched her suck down more coffee, and he put a hand on the cup to pull it away. "You're going to walk around vibrating if you drink any more of that."
"Merde. You're right." She quickly set it down, but her foot had already started tapping away. "What are we going to do? This place is about to be packed."
Wes glanced around. Chaos was coming, but he just nodded. He could handle it. Wes could generally handle everything that came his way. He smiled at Carla, whose brows knit as if she was puzzled by his expression.
"I'll take care of it. Don't worry."
"How are you going to take care of it?"
Wes put his hands on her shoulders and steered her away. "Don't. Worry. Let's get ready for them."
Three
Marcellus
Marcellus had stayed inside of the museum for a bit, but he quickly left again. It was a different story when the omega that was supposed to be his mate was right in front of him. It wasn't just an idea anymore, it was real. He felt the draw, the tingle in the pit of his stomach. Wes was his mate. He knew it. His wolf paced and howled, trying to get to the man, but if he went over there, he knew he wouldn't be able to just talk to him. No, he'd end up carrying Wes off, which would look weird when he was surrounded by his workmates.
He hightailed it out of the building. No one had impressed upon him just how powerful it was going to feel to meet his mate. Okay, so they'd all told him, but it was different to experience it firsthand. The draw, the desire that he felt for Wes had smacked him in the chest and stole his breath away.
It was like nothing he’d ever felt. How was it possible to feel so much when he'd only just met Wes? And they hadn’t even talked yet. Fated. The Goddess had blessed him, but he had to reset. Even his wolf was too overwhelmed.
Marcellus decided to go back to the café. He took out his laptop and plopped down at a table to work. There was always something to be done when it came to the family business. All of the resorts they ran were doing well and continued to do so because he and his brothers looked after them.
As he was setting up his laptop, the same waiter from before appeared, so he ordered another coffee. It was delaying the inevitable, but he couldn't help it. He bounced his knee up and down, and his eyes continuously flickered across the street. Wes was in there. His wolf wanted to run back to him and take him. It took all his strength to remain glued to the spot in his seat and not go after his omega.
"Okay, I need to focus." Marcellus glanced at the screen, but the words might as well have been in Latin. He couldn't understand a damn thing. "Shit."
