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I nuzzle her temple. She yelps when I pop her ass.

“Come on.” I lead Aya by the hand to the far side of the island and pull out her chair. She huffs but sits. I pour her a glass of water and take my seat.

The stew smells incredible, but she doesn’t touch hers. She watches me and waits.

“What?” I ask.

She waves me on. “You first.”

I frown at her but scoop up a generous spoonful. I close my eyes and groan as soon as it hits my tongue. It’s perfect, better than Angie’s if I’m being honest. The beef is seared dark how I like it and falls apart between my teeth. My dragon forgets he hates cooked meat.

“Good?” she asks, and I open my eyes to find her smiling.

“Delicious.” I shovel more into my mouth and tear off a hunk of warm rosemary bread. “How did you learn to make this?”

She finally picks up her spoon and eats. “I asked Angie to teach me.”

I stop chewing and stare at her. “Huh?”

She swallows and huffs. “Yes, Ezra. I do want to know how to take care of my man.”

I can’t speak. Angie scares me more than anyone on Wintermoon, and my mate marched into her kitchen to learn my stew. Mother Fate, how did I get this lucky?

“You used to come to the spa every time I was there,” she admits. “Trying to read me a poem about the stars. You were so relentless, even when I couldn’t feel the pull.” She pushes the stew around her bowl and won’t meet my eyes. “It got overwhelming. It felt like I was falling for you without the mate bond, and it scared me.”

I set my spoon down before I drop it. She fell for me without the pull. Does she have any idea how rare that is? The bond is supposed to be what draws fated pairs together, but she loved me before her wolf ever caught on. I don’t care if she sees me tear up.

I can smell her nerves. I reach for her. “Aya…”

She points her spoon at my bowl. “Finish your food.” She clears her throat. “Please.”

My dragon wants me to toss the bowl against the wall and take her in my arms. So do I, but I make myself pick up my spoon. I can’t taste a thing now. We eat the rest in silence.

“Tell me about the planetarium,” she says when we’re done.

I sit back. “You want to know about that?”

She leans in. “I know your father has his seminars in the auditorium at the Academy. I’ve seen facilities like it before online, but never really understood them. You’re building one for Wintermoon, right?”

When I push my chair out and stand, she frowns up at me.

“Don’t worry about that right now.” I hold out my hand to her. “Let me show you.”

She slides her fingers into mine. I pull her to her feet and lead the way to my office, the small room by the stairs that I’ve turned into my workspace. Inside, she stops to take in the star charts pinned to the walls and the shelves full of my astronomy books. I hang back in the doorway and wait to hear what she thinks.

“It’s beautiful in here,” she says.

I cross to the long table in the center of the room and unroll the planetarium floor plans. I weigh the curling corners down with whatever’s in reach. Amari and I have been working on them for months. My dragon circles. He needs her to love them.

I run my finger along the main dome. The paper has gone soft there from all the times I’ve traced it. “This is for Wintermoon. And for my father.”

“For Tyrion?”

“He’s spent his life sharing his love of the stars with anyone who would listen. At the Academy, in the community lands, anywhere he could find an audience.” I point to the seating area in the plans. “This will hold two hundred people. He can give lectures, show projections of the night sky, teach the next generation about the cosmos.” I flatten my hand over the center of the drawings. “The projection system is the heart of it. Human planetariums use digital projectors, but I’m working with Angie to enhance it with Blackwood magic. Imagine sitting in the dark and feeling like you’re actually drifting through space. Not just watching it. Living it.”

She leans over the table for a closer view with her shoulder against my arm. “These panels along the walls?”

“Acoustic design.” I tap them on the blueprint. “When my father speaks about the cosmos, his voice will surround you…”