by R. E. Butler
“What would our kids do for school?”
“Kids homeschool here with computers. There are a few wolves who have teaching degrees who help out when needed, too. If they want to go to college when they’re done with high school, they have to stay close to the zoo and they’re not allowed to live on campus.”
“That makes sense. You went to college, right?”
He nodded. “I have a degree in animal husbandry. My cousin Cael is the vet, and my uncle and my other cousin, Indio, both have the same degree as me. What did you and your clan do for work?”
“The males in the clan had a handyman business. They would do odd jobs year-round for locals, everything from interior painting to remodeling to landscaping. The females in the clan helped out with the business, and we also worked with the wolf pack, who ran a maid service. I didn’t care for that as much as when Joy and I would sell baked goods and canned vegetables and fruits at some local farmers markets. My favorite thing to make was jams and jellies. Joy and I would go into the woods and pick wild blueberries and make jam to sell, decorating the tops of the jars with gingham and ribbon.”
She smiled as she spoke, her eyes unfocusing slightly as if she were lost in good memories.
“That’s sweet. Would you like to make that kind of thing? We could order whatever you need for supplies.”
“I wouldn’t mind making some jams and jellies for us to share, but I’d really prefer to work in the zoo with you if I can. At least until we start our family.”
He loved the idea of her carrying his babies. Little elephants and panthers running around, the house full of laughter and love.
“Let’s go meet my family and then we can talk about work. I don’t want you to feel like you have to work with me. There are other jobs in the park that might be a good fit for you, too.”
“Okay.”
They continued the walk to Alistair’s, and he knocked twice on the door and then opened it. “Hey,” he called.
“We’re in the kitchen,” Cael answered.
Kelley led Rhapsody to the kitchen and introduced her.
“This is my alpha and uncle, Alistair. This is my soulmate, Rhapsody.”
Alistair shook her hand with a grin. “You’re quite the climber.”
Her cheeks pinked. “Sorry about that.”
“Nah, don’t apologize. You surprised us all, but it didn’t cause any harm to our secret. The security team reviewed the video footage to be sure that you weren’t seen by the humans on the tours, but I already knew you weren’t. The tour’s designed to keep us safe in any event.”
Indio laughed. “I don’t think the alphas ever anticipated a shifter climbing the fence during a tour, though.”
“Not a chance,” Alistair said.
She shook Indio’s and Cael’s hands and then Kelley pulled a chair out for her at the table.
Everyone sat and lifted the plastic lids from their take-out meals that Alistair had ordered from the market. None of the elephants cooked in their own kitchens, aside from occasionally heating up food. Kelley didn’t think he’d ever turned on his stove.
“We’re spoiled with the market,” Kelley said as he looked at the sectioned Styrofoam plate containing barbecue chicken, macaroni and cheese, buttered peas, and a wedge of cornbread.
“I’d say so,” Rhapsody said as she looked over her identical plate. “The bears do all the cooking?”
Indio nodded. “Yep. Not only for the market and employee cafeteria, but also topside. If it weren’t for them, we’d order a ton of takeout and then humans would wonder why people ordered so much food to be delivered at the zoo.”
“Each group has a specific function within the park,” Alistair said. “As I’m sure Kelley explained, the elephants handle the care and feeding of the norms. The lions are security, the gorillas are vehicle maintenance, the bears are food, and the wolves are the tour guides and drivers, and also help out with park security and the merchandise stalls.”
“There was a she-wolf that took my ticket at the front gate,” Rhapsody said.
“That’s Apple. She’s mated to one of the males who works park security. Wolves are really protective of their females, and her mate will only work where she is, because he can’t stand being away from her,” Cael said.
Rhapsody didn’t say anything as she stared down at her food, her fork twisting in the chicken.
“Is something wrong?” Kelley asked.
She looked up at him in surprise and then smiled. “No, not at all. I was just wondering if he lets her go to the bathroom alone.”
The whole table erupted into laughter, and Kelley grinned.
Alistair said, “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day.”
While they ate, Kelley’s family peppered her with questions about her family and clan, her interests, and needs when it came to shifting.
“I’m used to shifting only at night, once or twice a month as I feel necessary. We always went out in groups of two or three. We weren’t allowed to go out alone because of the humans. Even though they were far enough away in town, we were always on guard. When it was just me and my aunt Joy, she couldn’t shift because of her age and some advanced arthritis in her joints which made it too painful to change. She would walk with me, though, so I wasn’t alone.”
“That’s wonderful,” Alistair said. “Because of the safari tours, we get plenty of shifting time. Whenever you need or want to shift, you just let me know and I’ll make arrangements with security.”
“Kelley said there’s no shifting until the park is closed after dark, except for the tours. Does everyone in the park shift for the tours?”
Indio shook his head. “We all take turns. The park has to still run, no matter that every unmated male and female are hoping to find their soulmate on the tour. We usually try to have our work finished up so that we can all be together at least one shift a weekend, since there are so few of us.”
“I’ll still shift for tours,” Kelley said, “but not as often. I can take over the norms care during the tours if that’s okay.”
“That works,” Alistair said. He put his fork down and leaned back in his chair. “I think Kelley is concerned the norms won’t like you because you’re a predator shifter.”
She swallowed her last bite of cornbread and took a drink. “Yeah.”
“We can try it. The rhinos and giraffes would most likely be fine with you, because you’d be in your human form. But I don’t think the deer and antelope will trust you. Especially not Tank,” Alistair said.
“Who’s Tank?” Rhapsody asked.
“Our moose,” Kelley said. “It’s short for Cantankerous. He’s the grumpiest moose in the country.”
“Aw,” she said. “Is he mean or just irritable?”
“A little of both,” Cael said.
“You can go out tomorrow morning and see how they react,” Alistair said. “If any of them start to get jumpy, then you’ll know that they don’t trust you. If nothing else, you could always help prepare the food, and handle the supplies and food deliveries. That would be really helpful.”
“Okay. I just want to be valuable.”
“You’re a soulmate,” Alistair said, his voice lowering as he grew serious. “You’re extremely valuable. Whatever you end up doing at the zoo is up to you, but don’t feel as if you need to prove your worth to us. You’re mated to my nephew and that makes you my niece, and these goofballs your cousins. We’re family, and family comes first.”
The smile that spread across Rhapsody’s face was so sweet. She missed her family, and his had opened their arms wide to her. He was instantly thankful for his uncle and cousins and their accepting natures. He knew they could never replace the family she’d lost, but they could move forward together and build a new family.
“Thanks guys,” she said, her voice wavering a little at the end. “I’m so glad I came to New Jersey.”
“Me too,” Kelley said, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it. He glanced at
Alastair. “Rhapsody wants me to take her back to her home so she can sell the clan’s territory to a local wolf pack and pack up her things.”
“Of course,” Alastair said. “When did you want to go?”
“This weekend?” Kelley said. “If we leave early Saturday morning we should be able to be home later that night.”
Alastair nodded, rubbing his chin in thought. “That’s fine. If you need more time and want to stay there overnight, just be sure to call in so we’re not waiting for you.”
“Do you need a hand packing?” Cael asked.
“No, I think we can handle it on our own. I have almost everything packed.”
“What would you have done if you hadn’t found your soulmate on the tour?” Indio asked. “Would you have gone back home or would you have reached out to the shifters here?”
“I didn’t know the tours were for mate finding,” she said. “My plan was to use the tour to feel out the park and shifters. I had no idea what I was walking in to. I would have probably gone to the security office and explained who and what I was and gone from there.”
“It’s never happened like that before,” Alastair said, “with a shifter just walking in off the street and seeking us out, but the protocol would have been the same. They would have convened the alphas to meet with you, run a background check on you, and then offered assistance in whatever form you needed.”
She looked at Kelley. “I wish I’d known about the park before. I would have been able to come here earlier and met you sooner.”
“Timing’s everything in life and love,” Alastair said. “Don’t mourn that you met each other now instead of before, be happy that you’re together.”
“I’m definitely happy,” Rhapsody said. “I’ve got everything I ever wanted or needed.”
Kelley’s elephant rubbed under his skin, wanting to get close to touch her. “Me too, sweetheart.”
Chapter 9
The next morning, Rhapsody groaned when Kelley’s alarm began to chirp. She opened her eyes just enough to see the clock and grumbled at the all-too-early hour.
“It should be illegal to get up this early,” she said, burrowing closer to him and his warmth.
“Yeah, but it’s a necessary evil. The norms can’t exactly run to the store for a meal.”
She rolled to her back and stretched. “Do you think there are deer shifters? Or moose shifters?”
He sat up and stifled a yawn. They’d stayed up late making love after the dinner at Alistair’s home, and although she was still sleepy, she didn’t regret a second of their time together.
“I don’t know. It would be weird to be a moose or deer, though, don’t you think? Antlers and hooves?”
“I don’t think it would be any weirder than being any other sort of shifter,” she said.
“Good point. If there are those types of shifters, then I’ve never heard of it.”
After cleaning up, Kelley gave her a uniform that he’d requested from the market. She didn’t have work boots, so she wore a pair of old tennis shoes. They fixed coffee and headed out to the stairwell that would lead to the rhinos’ paddock. “We’ll get you some work boots. You don’t want to sacrifice your shoes.”
“Thanks. These are old, so I don’t mind if they get ruined.”
He nodded. They first fed the rhinos, who didn’t seem bothered by her presence. They cleaned the paddock, and then moved on to the giraffes, who also didn’t care that she was a predator shifter. When they went into the final paddock, however, a light breeze blew in just the right direction, carrying her scent right to the deer and antelope, that scattered in fright. Tank, lowered his head and glared at her, bellowing angrily.
“Wow, okay,” she said. “So rhinos and giraffes, but not the others. I guess two out of three isn’t bad.”
“Sorry, sweetheart,” he said.
“Can I wait in the shed? Or should I go back downstairs.”
“The shed should be fine.”
She tried not to be offended that the grumpy moose didn’t like her either, but she was a little hurt. She’d hoped that all the norms would like her, so she could work with Kelley. Now that dream was smashed a little bit. Even though Alistair had promised she was valuable, she still wanted to help out in the zoo.
She closed the door to the maintenance shed and sat on an overturned bucket. It took an hour for Kelley to feed the animals and clean the paddock.
He opened the door and strode in, closing it and hanging up the cleaning tools. “Are you bored to tears yet?” he asked. “I tried to hurry so you weren’t alone too long.”
“It’s not too bad,” she said, standing and moving the bucket out of the way. “I wish it had worked out for me to help with all the animals.”
He gave her an appraising look. “Do you really want to help with them? Just because I do doesn’t mean you have to.”
She paused for a moment to think. “Yeah, I do. The rhinos are so cool, and giraffes have always been a favorite of mine. To be honest, I just want to find my place here.”
“Let’s go back down and clean up. Then we can have breakfast in the market and you can meet some of the others.”
“Okay.”
After they showered and dressed in street clothes, they walked to the marketplace, which was in the center of the underground area. It was a large open space with tables and chairs, with counters with trays of food underneath heating elements and several glass-front refrigerators.
“If you’d ever like to eat at home, we can order meals delivered like Alastair did last night. You just have to give the bears a few hours’ notice.”
“How do you order food?” she asked as she looked over the menu displayed on a printed piece of paper. For breakfast there were omelets and quiche, breakfast meats, and breads to toast in a row of toasters.
“We have a private website, or you can call a number and leave a message.”
She decided to take one of the cheese omelets, and added hashbrowns and sausage patties to the plate. After toasting two slices of sourdough bread, she set her plate down at a table and filled coffee mugs for herself and Kelley.
“Thanks,” he said, as he joined her.
“Sure thing.”
“I can cook in the house though, right?” she asked as she buttered her toast. “I won’t offend anyone?”
“Of course. We can order groceries for them to bring to us, or we can go shopping ourselves, whatever you’d like.”
She smiled. “I like the idea of someone cooking for me, because it’s pretty dang cool, but I really enjoy cooking. I did all the cooking for me and Joy.”
He smiled at her from across the table and her stomach flipped. He was so sexy.
She lowered her voice. “If we were eating at home and you smiled at me like that, we could go back to bed.”
His eyes smoldered, turning nearly black. “I wish we were home.”
She laughed. “Me too.”
“Hey,” a male said as he stopped next to the table. She raised her head and looked at him, recognizing him as the driver of the Jeep from her tour.
“Hi. It’s Auden, right?”
He nodded. “Yep. I heard you and Kelley were actually soulmates, and I wanted to say congrats.”
“Thanks,” Kelley said.
“Sorry if I got you and Jasper in trouble,” Rhapsody said.
Auden laughed. “No trouble. I swear with each soulmate we learn something new to look out for. To be honest, I don’t think a human could climb the fence that fast, so Jasper would have been able to grab a human and stop him or her from climbing over.”
“Thanks for being kind,” she said.
“Sure. You don’t happen to have a sister or cousin who’s single? I’m only asking because once word got around about you buying a tour ticket online and just showing up…a lot of males are asking why we haven’t reached out to more of the shifter groups.”
“Sorry, I’m all that’s left of my family.”
“Ah, damn it, s
orry if I made you sad.”
Kelley cleared his throat and reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze. “So many shifter groups are secretive. I didn’t even know there were panther groups anywhere near us.”
“It’s easier with shifters. We don’t have to worry about secrets,” Rhapsody said.
“Exactly,” Auden said. “I’ll leave you two to your meal. Congrats again.”
When they were alone, Rhapsody smiled at Kelley. “When I was a kid, I wondered why we didn’t know more shifter groups, too. There’s safety in numbers.”
“Sometimes,” he said. “It depends on the circumstances. In our zoo, with every human soulmate who comes along, we have to deal with their families. Some of the mates have been very close to their families, and it causes problems when we have to figure out a plausible cover story.”
“Because all the shifters and their mates have to live here.”
“Right. They’re actually building dorms on the zoo property for these situations. The soulmates can claim a job at the zoo that comes with housing. We had a barn that we turned into three apartments, but only one of them was a working place. When there were three soulmates who were related, and their families showed up at the same time, we knew we had a problem.”
She finished her last bite of omelet and put her fork on her empty plate. “I’m glad that we don’t have to worry about that. It would be hard to have to lie to your family, when finding a soulmate is so wonderful.”
“There’ve been times in the past when I wished I was human. Their lives are really simple compared to having a beast sharing their bodies and a secret that must be kept at all cost. But I wouldn’t trade being an elephant shifter for anything. Especially now that I have you.”
She smiled. “I feel the same.”
“Oh, hey!” a feminine voice said.
Rhapsody looked over and saw Jenni with another female. “Hi,” Rhapsody said, waving.
The two females came over to their table. “Morning,” Jenni said. “This is Jupiter’s mate, Celeste. She’s human.”
Celeste extended her hand with a good-natured snort. “I feel like I should wear a nametag that says Hi, my name is Celeste and I’m human.”
