Kelley (Were Zoo Book Six)

by R. E. Butler

  “I think that’s everything,” he said.

  She took his hand and said, “Let’s go for a walk.”

  “Sure, sweetheart.”

  She showed him the other houses and her favorite place to nap in the woods when she was in her shift. Then they stopped at the firepit. The sun was setting, turning the woods a deep amber. Silence settled around them, even the birds had quieted.

  “Would you like to stay the night?” Kelley asked.

  “No.” She leaned against him, snuggling close as he put his arms around her. “This isn’t home for me anymore. I’m ready to go.”

  She tipped her face up to his and he brushed his lips over hers. “I’m so glad you’re mine,” he murmured.

  “Me, too.”

  They returned to the zoo late that night and were met in the parking lot by his family, who helped them carry her things down into their home. The ride home had been quiet. She and Kelley had talked here and there, but she was mostly thinking about what their future was going to be like. When she’d left home for New Jersey, she hadn’t known what to expect. Finding her soulmate in an elephant shifter and living underground in the zoo hadn’t seemed like a possibility in even her wildest dreams. She’d always only felt at home in the clan’s territory, in the woods where she hunted and the homes she’d spent her youth in. But now she knew that home was where you made it, and family wasn’t just blood-related, but the ones that were there for you when it counted the most. Kelley and the elephants were her family now, and she knew she was fortunate to have found her other half on the safari tour. The good and bad roads of life had brought her to this place, and the next chapter of the rest of her life was just getting started.

  * * *

  The next morning, they spent time in the norms’ paddocks doing inventory. Although Kelley insisted that inventory was the most boring job on the planet, Rhapsody enjoyed it. Because she couldn’t go inside the paddock with the skittish deer, antelope, and grumpy moose, inventorying the food and supplies was a way to help without distressing them.

  She looked at the tablet screen and checked off the items that needed to be ordered for restocking. “Add carrots for this paddock,” Kelley said.

  “Deer like carrots?”

  “Tank does,” he said, brushing off his hands. “I give him a couple every few days. He looks like a rabbit when he eats them, the greens hanging out of his mouth while he chews. It’s hilarious.”

  “You’ll have to send me a picture,” she said as she added carrots to the order.

  “Maybe in time they’ll get used to you,” he said. “I can smell you on my skin and clothes, and they weren’t bothered by it when I went into the paddock.”

  “Do you think so? That would be really wonderful.”

  He chuckled. “There’s always a chance. They recognize that they’re safe within the fence, even when there are predators outside their paddocks, like the wolves who run the tours. In time, they may come to see you as a friend, especially when seeing you means a clean paddock and fresh food.”

  “I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”

  He looked around the shed. “Is there anything on the checklist left?”

  “Nope, all done.”

  “Cool. Go to the menu and send it to the ordering department. Alastair asked us to walk the tour route and pick up any trash. Humans are always tossing things out of the jeep.”

  He lifted two devices used to pick things up from the ground and two trash bags. Opening the door to the shed, he looked into the paddock and said, “They’re on the other side of the pond, so we can go out through the gate. They shouldn’t be bothered if they scent you because of the distance.”

  “Okay,” she said, fixing the trash bag to the belt of her uniform, and giving the grabbing tool a squeeze so the pincher opened and closed. “I never thought I’d be happy to collect trash.”

  “You shouldn’t be,” he said, making a face.

  “Well,” she said with a shrug, “it’s helpful and I get to work alongside you. Anything we do together is good in my book.”

  He shut the shed door and took her hand. “I feel the same way.”

  They walked through the paddock and she glanced over her shoulder to the pond where the animals were gathered. None of them seemed to even notice that they were there, aside from Tank who had lifted his big head and was staring at her.

  “He’s not yelling at me in his moose-y bellow,” she pointed out.

  “See?” he said with a chuckle, “he’s already warming up to you.”

  Outside of the gate, they began to pick up trash on either side of the dirt road. They worked in companionable silence for several minutes, until Kelley’s phone beeped.

  He took it out of his pocket and looked at the screen, then slid his thumb along the surface and lifted the phone to his ear. “Hi Alastair. What? Okay. We’re picking up trash on the tour route, we’re in front of the wolf paddock. We’ll be right there.”

  He put the phone back in his pocket and turned to face her. His brows were drawn and his mouth was turned down.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Someone’s looking for you at the security office.”

  “Who?”

  “A panther.”

  “I don’t understand. What panther?”

  Kelley’s eyes flashed and a muscle in his cheek twitched as he ground his teeth together. “He said he’s your mate.”

  “Um, no.”

  “Alastair wants us to come to the security office to meet him.”

  She took a step back, her heart pounding. “I don’t want to. There’s no one left of my clan, so there aren’t any panthers who would know I was here.”

  Kelley put down the clean up gear and pulled her close. “Someone knows you’re here, sweetheart. We can’t just hide and pretend like you’re not here. A male came to the security office asking for you specifically.”

  Her eyes stung as she inhaled a shaky breath. “Why do I have to go out there? Can’t they just tell whoever it is that I’m not here?”

  An emotion flashed over his face that looked a lot like regret, but it disappeared quickly, and in its wake was determination. He wasn’t going to let her hide. This was about more than her, it was about the zoo and its inhabitants. She’d promised to keep the secret of the zoo safe, and somehow, someone knew she was here and that wasn’t good. She wanted to be mad, stomp her foot a little and dig in her heels about the whole situation, but everyone had been so kind to her, that it was a disservice to all the weres in the zoo who counted on the zoo being a safe haven.

  She rubbed her knuckle at the corner of her eye and blinked rapidly to dispel the tears. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  Kelley looked her over, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I thought I might need to put you over my shoulder and carry you there.”

  “Would you really do that?”

  He shrugged. “Our alpha said to bring you there.”

  A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “You said ‘our alpha.’”

  His brows rose. “He is.”

  “I know, it’s just cool to hear. I didn’t have an alpha after Wally died.”

  “I don’t think that’s true. I think you were the alpha. And maybe that’s why whoever’s at the security office is here.”

  “You’re coming with me, right?”

  “Hell yes,” he said, his voice deepening slightly, sending a tingle of awareness through her. Kelley might be an elephant shifter and not a predator, but he was absolutely a protective male and she knew he’d do anything to keep her safe.

  “Good.”

  They stowed the gear on a dirt path next to the road the jeeps took for the tour, which he said was a maintenance path. Then they walked to the security office. She didn’t know who was waiting for her, but if it was a panther, then she was fairly certain it was Alpha Mayella, who had left the note for her on her home. How he found her, though? She wasn’t sure, and her nerves were singing with worry as they drew close to the o
ffice. She squeezed Kelley’s hand a little tighter, drawing strength from him. It really didn’t matter who had come asking for her, because she’d found her soulmate and nothing would change that.

  * * *

  Kelley’s emotions flipped between curiosity and fury. His mind had been racing since Alastair had called and ordered them to the security office to deal with the situation. His alpha wasn’t angry, but Kelley could hear the worry in his voice. Although they were supposed to be living in secret, some asshole had shown up asking for Rhapsody, which begged the question – how the hell had he found her?

  His first thought had been to blame the wolves. They already knew that the alpha’s mate had blabbed about the zoo to Rhapsody’s aunt. Kelley wasn’t upset about that. In fact, the lack of secrecy from the wolves had brought his soulmate right into his arms, so he’d be forever grateful for that. But had whoever come for Rhapsody talked to the wolves? Had the wolves just told any shifter who asked where she was? He didn’t think the alpha was that big of an asshole, because who else but a jackass would tell a stranger where a mated female lived?

  As they drew close to the security office, he saw Alastair standing at the door, his lips a tight line and his eyes dark with anger. Kelley could relate. Although he was trying to keep a calm demeanor, so he didn’t upset Rhapsody anymore than she already was, he was feeling positively murderous.

  Alastair opened the door and let them in. One of the office doors was closed, and a discreet scent of the air told him that there was indeed a panther in the room. Caesar, the alpha lion, grimaced and joined Alastair.

  “He won’t tell us anything except that he’s here to see you,” Caesar said with a low voice. “We would normally send someone like this on his way, but we need to know how he found out you’re here.”

  Joss, the wolf alpha, snarled. “If that damn wolf pack where you used to live is telling everyone about us, then we need to silence them.”

  Rhapsody shuddered next to Kelley, and he knew she was reacting to the menace in Joss’s tone. The male was all alpha, all the time.

  Alastair said, “We’re right there with you, Rhapsody. Don’t be afraid.”

  She swallowed audibly and her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I’m not afraid for myself, I’m afraid for everyone here. This is all my fault.”

  Kelley pulled her closer, wanting to lend her his strength. “It’s not, I promise.”

  “He’s right,” Joss said. “You’re not the one with a big mouth.”

  Caesar cleared his throat. “You find out who he is, how he found you, and then tell him to hit the bricks. If he comes back, the alphas will deal with him.”

  Kelley knew what that meant. It was a deadly sort of deal with him that they were talking about. When it came to the safety of their people, there wasn’t anything that they wouldn’t do to ensure that all remained protected within the walls of the zoo.

  She nodded and inhaled deeply, her shoulders moving with the motion. “I’m ready,” she said.

  Joss opened the door to the office. A male was standing at the window looking out at the park. He had long, dark hair pulled back at the nape of his neck and a few days’ worth of stubble on his cheeks. Kelley couldn’t help but size him up – the male was shorter than him, and less muscular. But there was something fierce about him, and he was sure that whoever he was, he was a leader of his people.

  He immediately thought of the note left on Rhapsody’s home. Was this male Alpha Mayella?

  Rhapsody said, “What are you doing here, Norris?”

  The male faced them and folded his arms, pushing his fists under his biceps to make the skin bulge. Kelley recognized it as a tactic to appear more muscular than he was, but if Rhapsody found the move intimidating, she didn’t let on. Not that Kelley would let her be intimidated in his presence. She had three alphas at her back and her mate at her side.

  Norris’s brow rose. “So, you do remember me.”

  It was a statement and not a question, that held a hint of annoyance.

  “I recall a visit to Michigan, but I also remember never giving you another thought. How did you find me?”

  “I was watching your home.”

  Kelley frowned. He and Rhapsody had been outside, they’d even walked through the territory. They hadn’t scented anyone or seen evidence of people lying in wait.

  Her eyes narrowed. “How?”

  Norris’s lips curled up in a smirk. “I asked around with the pack for your whereabouts, but they wouldn’t tell me. I had no choice but to install a security camera to alert me when you returned. To my surprise, you arrived and left in an SUV with the name of a zoo emblazoned on the side.”

  Kelley’s heart sank. It was literally his fault that they were in this position. If he hadn’t used the zoo vehicle, the male wouldn’t have known where she went.

  She let out a sharp growl. “This is bullshit. Why are you here?”

  “You’re my mate.”

  “No!” Her voice rose and her nails, which had elongated as her emotions fluctuated, dug into Kelley’s hand. “I’m mated to this male. He’s my soulmate and you’re nothing to me.”

  Norris hummed. “You’re wrong, Rhapsody. You’re my promise.”

  “Promise?” she asked.

  “Your parents promised that they would return you to me when you were old enough to be mated. We’re arranged mates.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not true. They told me that they hoped I might find a mate in your clan, but I didn’t. I feel nothing for you. Kelley is my soulmate. You can’t break our bond.”

  “I can since you’re not legally mated.”

  Alastair stepped in. “There’s no such thing as a legal mating.”

  Joss snorted. “I’ve had quite enough of this bullshit. You need to leave. Now.”

  Kelley pulled Rhapsody a little tighter against him. “She’s mine, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. Leave on your own, or we’ll make you.”

  If Norris had any bit of fear in him, it didn’t show on his face. There was only an infuriating, arrogant smirk. Kelley wanted to punch him hard enough to rattle his brain in his skull. Then maybe he wouldn’t be smirking.

  The male blinked slowly and the smirk slid into a condescending smile. He put his hands up and said, “My mistake. I came here to uphold clan tradition, but I see that what your parents wanted for you doesn’t matter. You’d rather cavort with a non-predator and have bastard, hybrid children. Your parents would be ashamed. Perhaps it’s best that I don’t muddy up my gene pool with an idiot like you.”

  He pushed right through the group, knocking his shoulder purposely against Rhapsody so she nearly fell. Kelley pulled her aside and tucked her behind his back, watching as the male left the security office. Four males joined him, fanning out to either side and flanking him as they walked away. None of them looked back.

  “I’m on it,” Caesar said. He and Joss left the security office and followed the males, joined by several lion shifters who were park security guards.

  Rhapsody wrapped her arms around Kelley’s waist and sniffled. “What the hell?”

  Kelley pulled her around to his front and hugged her. He glanced at Alastair who was frowning. “I messed up,” Kelley said.

  “No,” Alastair said. “It’s not either of your faults that he’s an asshole.”

  “I should have taken one of the unmarked vehicles.”

  “You couldn’t have guessed this would happen. It never occurred to me that someone could follow one of our vehicles here or figure out where we were from because of it. All of our people use the SUVs, it’s just what we do.”

  “At least we know that the pack isn’t talking about the zoo,” Rhapsody said.

  “Good point,” Alastair said. “If they weren’t interested in keeping our secret, they wouldn’t have minded telling shifters where you were.”

  “Did you know that he came in with those others?” Kelley asked.

  Alastair shook his head. “We tho
ught he was alone.”

  Rhapsody said, “His father was the alpha, and he and his brother were the betas. Maybe his father stepped down or died, so he took over?”

  “What does that matter?” Kelley asked.

  She lifted her head to look at him. “Panthers like alphas to be mated. If he took over, his clan might have been pressuring him to secure a mating.”

  “Do you think your family really promised you to him?” Alastair asked.

  “Absolutely not. They wanted me to mate a panther, they maybe even expected me to because that’s what panthers do. But they never would have forced me to mate a male I didn’t want to be with or promised me to him without my consent.” She blinked rapidly and said, “What’s going to happen now?”

  “They’ll make sure he and his people know they’re not welcome back in the zoo and that you’re off limits,” Alastair said. “If they try to come back or attempt to contact you, the alphas will deal with them.”

  “I should be the one to deal with him,” Kelley said. “She’s my mate and she’s mine to defend.”

  “But this isn’t just about you two, it’s about the park and our people’s safety. The alphas are law here, Kelley, you know that. It’s out of your hands.”

  He wanted to snarl a little. Having fangs and claws would be handy right now to show his displeasure. But he wasn’t about to be disrespectful to his uncle or the other alphas.

  “We shouldn’t leave the park,” Kelley said.

  Alastair nodded. “For a few days at least. Let’s ensure they’re not going to try to get in here after hours. We have security for this reason. I’m sure you’ll be able to go to see your parents next weekend, you’ll just need to take an unmarked vehicle to be on the safe side.”

  “Yeah,” Kelley said. “I’d like to get Rhapsody downstairs.”

  “We still have work to do,” she said, straightening her spine.

  “But,” Kelley protested.