Neo (Were Zoo Book Ten)

by R. E. Butler

  “Do you think your husband will approve?”

  Jeanie glanced at the door, where Joss was waiting just beyond it. “Definitely. I might not even make it to our date.”

  Dani giggled. “Thanks for letting me do your makeup.” She began to put away her supplies.

  “What do I owe you?”

  “Nothing,” Dani said. “You said you’d let your friends and coworkers know about me, and that’s enough.”

  “No, no way. Let me at least pay for your gas.”

  “You don’t have to. I really enjoyed it. I love doing makeup.”

  “I can tell,” Jeanie said. “You were smiling the whole time.”

  “I’m lucky to be able to do what I want. I wish I could do it full time.”

  Jeanie stood and said, “What happened to the VIP ticket I gave you?”

  “My brother didn’t want me to use it. He took it from me.”

  “That’s weird, why wouldn’t he want you to have a free tour?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Well, here’s another ticket,” Jeanie said. “Unless you think you shouldn’t take it? I don’t want to cause a problem between you and your family.”

  “I’d love it, thank you. I really want to go on the tour. I kind of feel like... well, never mind.”

  “Feel like what?”

  “Like I’m supposed to be here. I don’t want you to think I’m crazy, though. It’s just a feeling.”

  “I understand. You know, you can schedule the tour right here for tomorrow. I’m sure we’ve got some spots open.”

  “That would be great.”

  Jeanie helped Dani schedule a tour for three p.m. When she opened the door to the office, Joss smiled at her. “Wow, babe, you look amazing! Then again, I think you look amazing all the time.”

  He pulled her into his arms and twisted away from the center of the room, pushing his wife against the wall. He said something low, and Jeanie giggled. She leaned around Dani and said, “I told you he was going to want to stay home.”

  “I’m glad it’s got his approval.”

  “Come on,” Jeanie said, “we’ve gotta walk Dani to her car. Then you can take me out. I promise it’ll be worth the wait.”

  “I love how you think,” Joss said.

  Joss, Jeanie, and two other men walked Dani out of the park and to her car. She accepted a hug from Jeanie. “Thanks again,” Jeanie said.

  Dani opened the door and said, “Anytime.”

  “Good luck tomorrow,” Jeanie said.

  Dani frowned. “Why would I need luck on the tour?”

  Jeanie shrugged, a small smile curving the side of her lips. “I mean, have fun.”

  “I will. You, too.”

  Dani sat behind the wheel and turned on the engine, closing her door and waving at the small group. She backed out of the spot and headed for home, a tune in her heart and the tour on her mind.

  * * *

  Neo lunged for the bottom branch of a tree and swung himself up into the canopy. He turned and leaned against the trunk, wiggling to scratch an itch between his shoulder blades. He settled on the wide branch and looked through the leaves at the Jeep and the human female who was standing at the fence, talking to Jasper, one of the wolf tour guides.

  The female was pretty, but not Neo’s soulmate.

  The Jeep moved on, and Neo let out a deep sigh. It was the last tour of the day. Because it was fall, the sun set earlier, which meant that the tours didn’t stay open as late as they did in the summer.

  Below, Atticus grunted up at him, his dark eyes questioning.

  It would be handy if they could talk in their shifts, but that wasn’t possible. He knew, though, that Atticus was asking if he was okay.

  Nodding, Neo let his head fall back against the trunk and stared up to the darkening sky. He rubbed the space over his heart as he thought about the VIP tours and the unmated females who had come through the park that day. He’d been in his shift since two p.m. and had seen ten females. None of them were a soulmate for him or any of the other gorillas. If one of them had been a soulmate for another shifter group, they’d have heard the good news by now.

  That it was just another day at the park meant the tours had failed once more to bring a soulmate for someone. Anyone.

  Neo wanted it to be him. He wanted to call dibs like a teenager and beg whoever was in charge of soulmates in the universe to please, please bring him his female.

  But he couldn’t call dibs. It was ridiculous to even consider.

  The sun set fully, and Neo swung down from the tree and landed on the ground. Adriana, wearing a zookeeper uniform, was holding a bunch of bananas. Neo took the one she offered him, and sat a few feet away and ate it, wondering if the tours were a good idea or not. So far, only four soulmates had come through the VIP tours–Adriana, Celeste, Harmony, who had bought her own ticket, and Jeanie who had used her neighbor’s ticket.

  Alfie, one of the wolves who patrolled the tour area, came to the fence. “It’s all clear, guys.”

  That was their signal that all the humans were gone from the area and it was safe to shift. Neo headed toward the shed in the center of their paddock. Once inside, he shifted back to human and grabbed his clothes from the table. It was after eight, and he was starving.

  “Wanna grab a beer?” August asked as he pulled his shirt over his head.

  Neo fastened his jeans. “I think I’m going to get something to eat in the park.”

  “The park? Why?” August asked.

  “I don’t know. I feel like being topside.”

  “The local bar is topside,” August pointed out.

  Neo smiled at his friend. “Yeah. I’m not in the mood for a beer.”

  “Okay, maybe tomorrow.”

  Neo headed for the door, and Atticus grabbed his arm. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “Yep.”

  Atticus eyed him and then said, “If you need to talk, I’m here.”

  “I know, thanks.”

  Neo jogged across the paddock and opened the man-sized door at the side of the fence, closing and locking it behind him. He followed the trail, making his way into the heart of the park where the food stalls were manned by bear shifters. He inhaled, sorting through the scents and trying to decide what he wanted to eat.

  And then he smelled something amazing.

  He followed the scent to the security office. Opening the door, he stepped inside.

  “Hey, Neo,” Lucius, one of the lions, said from behind the counter.

  “Was... do you smell that?” Neo asked.

  Lucius inhaled. “I don’t smell anything but makeup.”

  “Makeup?”

  “Yeah, Joss’s mate was in here getting a makeover from a human female. They just left about ten minutes ago.”

  Neo’s heart clenched as he inhaled a second time. He picked up the scent of some kind of powder, which he thought might be makeup. But underneath that was a sweet scent that called to his gorilla.

  “Do you know where they went?” Neo asked.

  “Whoa, are you okay? Your eyes are brown.” Lucius frowned.

  Shaking his head and pushing back on his beast, Neo said, “I think the human is my soulmate.”

  Chapter Four

  Neo paced in the security office, waiting for Joss to respond to Lucius’s text. Neo had raced out into the parking lot to see if he could find Joss but had been unable to locate him. The female’s scent that had captivated him had dispersed in the wide-open space, carried away on the breeze. He’d returned to the security office and waited for Joss’s call.

  Which seemed to be taking forever.

  Lucius’s phone finally buzzed, and he put it on speaker.

  “Hey, Joss, it’s Lucius.”

  “I’m on a date with my soulmate.” Joss’s tone was clipped and annoyed, but Neo didn’t care who he insulted.

  “I followed a scent into the security office. I believe it belongs to my soulmate,” Neo said.

  There wa
s a beat of silence and then Joss said, “Who is this?”

  Neo ground his teeth together to stop from roaring in frustration. “It’s Neo.”

  Joss hummed. “The female is human. She came to the park to help Jeanie with her makeup for our date tonight. Which, if you missed it earlier, is where we are. On a date.”

  “I understand,” Neo said, failing to hide his displeasure. Was the alpha not going to help him?

  “Neo, it’s Jeanie,” she said. “Her name is Dani Fitzgerald. Her dad is the owner of the construction company doing the work on the apartment complex.”

  “You have a number where I can reach her?”

  “No,” Joss cut in. “She doesn’t.”

  There was a short, muffled argument, and Jeanie said, “Sorry, Neo. Joss won’t let me give you her number.”

  “Why the hell not?” Neo demanded. “I said she’s my soulmate.”

  “She’s human,” Joss said, his voice dropping to a low growl. “And don’t forget who you’re talking to.”

  Neo wanted to punch something. How the hell unfair was this?

  Jeanie cut in. “Neo, it’s okay, I promise. The reason Joss won’t give you her information is that we got the impression from Dexter that he didn’t want her in the park. I gave her a VIP tour ticket, and she told me her brother took it from her. I gave her another one, and she scheduled a tour tomorrow at three.”

  He was puzzled. “Why don’t they want her here?”

  “No clue,” Joss said. “But it’s important that we don’t do anything to screw up the relationship between us and them, since they’re not done with the complex. If Dexter gets pissed and bails because Jeanie gave out his daughter’s number, then we’re going to be screwed.”

  “But hey, she’s coming tomorrow,” Jeanie cut in. “It’s less than twenty-four hours from now. You can manage, right?” Jeanie asked.

  Neo’s gorilla hooted in annoyance. “Yes,” he said, tightly.

  “We’ll be back in a few hours,” Joss said. “I don’t want to be disturbed again unless it’s an emergency, and while your situation is pressing, it’s certainly not worth me bringing my mate back to the zoo when we’re not going to give you Dani’s contact information anyway. Are we clear?”

  Neo inhaled deeply and let it out slowly before answering. “I understand. Enjoy your date.”

  Joss grunted and disconnected the call. Neo stared at the phone, wishing he’d been ten minutes earlier topside. That he’d listened to his beast and gotten out of the paddock faster. He’d known something was going on, but he hadn’t been certain, and it never crossed his mind that his soulmate might be somewhere in the park.

  Lucius gave him a curious look. “You really think she’s yours?”

  Neo nodded. “Do you know anything about her? Did you talk to her?”

  He shook his head. “Nah. I came in to relieve Jupiter, and I asked what the girly smells were. He told me about the human. Sounds like you just missed her.”

  Neo let out a sighing grunt. “I could kick my own ass.”

  “You’ll see her tomorrow, though. Maybe you can work something out with the tour driver or guide and spend time with her.”

  His gorilla perked up. “You think?”

  Lucius shrugged. “Joss took Jeanie on her tour by himself. I don’t see why they wouldn’t let you. You just have to clear it with Joss.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t piss him off,” Neo said.

  “That’s one male you don’t want to mess with, that’s for damn sure.”

  * * *

  The following morning, Neo found Atticus in the marketplace picking up a cord for his cell from Anke who ran a little shop with her mate, Zeger. Inside was everything from socks to electronics, and what they didn’t have in stock, they would order.

  “Hey, I’ve got some great news,” Neo said.

  “I heard,” Atticus said. He took the cord from Anke and thanked her.

  “You heard? How?”

  Atticus jerked his head, and Neo followed him to an empty table. “Joss called.”

  “And?”

  “He wanted to talk to me about the protocol for later today.”

  “I was going to ask if I could replace one of the wolves in the Jeep for Dani’s tour, so I can spend time with her.”

  Atticus shook his head. “Joss and I both agreed that you need to be in your shift.”

  “What? Why?” Neo demanded.

  Atticus’s brow arched, and Neo cracked his neck and tried to settle his beast.

  “Because you’re more in tune with your nature in your shift. While neither of us think you’re wrong and this female is likely your soulmate, the appropriate place for you to be isn’t in the Jeep with her while you’re human, but in the paddock in your shift. That way you’ll know for sure she’s yours, and we can handle it the way we’re supposed to.”

  “I don’t want to be trapped in my shift. What if she won’t stick around?” Once he shifted, he’d be stuck for several hours until he could return to his human form.

  “You can shift ahead of time,” Atticus said. “Instead of waiting until two like the rest of us, you can go into the paddock early, which will allow you to return to human once her Jeep passes by. Assuming that she actually is your soulmate.”

  Neo opened his mouth to protest, but Atticus put up his hand.

  “I know you’re not happy, but remember that we’ve got protocols in place for this situation. She’ll go on the tour, and your beast will let you know if she really is your soulmate. If so, you can hustle into the shed, shift and get dressed, and wait for her in the security office. A couple of wolves will bring her to the office so she can wait for her photo album and you can introduce yourself to her.”

  Neo’s mind spun. “Could I take her out of the office? Like offer her a tour of the park?”

  His alpha nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. Just remember that if you leave the park with her, you can’t stay out overnight.”

  “I know.”

  Win, one of the gorillas, had permanently screwed every shifter’s ability to spend the night away from the park after he’d fallen asleep at his soulmate’s place and shifted while he slept. Scared the crap out of her and could’ve revealed their secret to the general human population, which wouldn’t have been good. So now, no one could be away from the park overnight.

  Unless their soulmate knew the truth of their shift and there wasn’t any danger of anyone revealing anything they shouldn’t.

  “I don’t know how to do this,” Neo confessed, slumping back in the chair. “I don’t know how to make her mine.”

  Atticus smiled knowingly. “First things first–make sure she’s yours. Then the rest will work itself out.”

  “I’m sure she’s mine.”

  “I’m happy for you,” Atticus said. “Even though she didn’t get a VIP ticket in the mail, it still technically means you’ll meet her on the tour, and that’ll be a good morale boost for everyone.”

  “It’s going to be a long wait,” Neo said.

  “You’re only twenty-six,” Atticus pointed out. “Talk to me when you’re forty-seven.”

  “Sorry, sorry,” Neo said. “You’re right. I think I’m going to go to the maintenance shed.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’m going to try to bury myself in work and make the time fly faster.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  Neo left the marketplace, stopping in his home to change into coveralls before making his way to the maintenance shed. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to concentrate on anything except Dani, but he had to do something. If he sat home and did nothing, the time would drag. Setting his mind on the list of projects on the tablet, he selected the most pressing and got to work.

  Afternoon couldn’t come fast enough.

  * * *

  Dani felt the weight of the paper ticket in her pocket as she headed to her car Sunday afternoon. It was just a little piece of paper, but she couldn’t h
elp but feel like it weighed far more than that. Like it was significant in some way.

  Like the rest of her life might start today.

  It was a warm day, the sky a pretty blue and dotted with clouds, the breeze blowing and making the trees rustle. She’d been unable to sleep well the night before. She’d had some dreams, disjointed and odd, but she couldn’t really remember them once she woke. She was troubled, but she was sure it was because she’d planned to go on the tour despite her family’s insistence to the contrary.

  It bothered her that Khyle had torn up the first ticket and that all six men in her dad’s company–including her dad–had told her the park wasn’t a place for her. She didn’t see the harm in going to the park or taking advantage of Jeanie’s kindness and going on the VIP tour. Dani had looked at the website during one of the times she’d awoken overnight and thought the tour looked like a lot of fun. She loved animals, even though she’d never been able to have a pet. Her mom had allergies and her dad wasn’t a fan of pets in the house. The closest she ever came to having a real pet was a goldfish she’d had in elementary school.

  Her dad loved horses and took her often to a farm down the road from their house, so she could watch them trot around the enclosure and take carrots and apples from her hand. She’d asked if they could have a horse when she was little, and he’d said that the farm down the road was close enough, so they didn’t need a horse of their own.

  She couldn’t decide which of the animals on the safari tour she’d like the best. She was a fan of wolves, but also of lions. There was something neat about gorillas, though. And she was looking forward to seeing Tank, the grumpy moose that was the unofficial park mascot. She’d also read some online reviews that said the ice cream stall was well worth waiting in line for, with an “ice cream of the day” that was sure to be unique and delicious.

  The drive to the park was uneventful, but she’d expected it to be. Or, rather, she’d hoped it would be, and that her dad or brother wouldn’t pull some crazy driving moves and try to block her from getting to the park.