by R. E. Butler
“I’m sorry you’re so torn up,” August said. “It sucks.”
“It’s late. You should get some sleep.”
“Atticus said one of us needed to be with you at all times to make sure you don’t do something idiotic, so I’m staying.”
While it rankled his beast to be watched over like a wayward child, he also appreciated his friend watching out for him. “I don’t want to do anything idiotic, trust me. I’m just frustrated.”
“Of course you are.” August gave him a curious look. “You really think she’s a shifter?”
“I don’t know.” Neo blew out a breath and put his hands on his hips. “Part of me doesn’t. She reacted as if she didn’t see me as anything but a man. But maybe? There’s definitely something off about her family.”
His phone buzzed, and he pulled it from his pocket, surprised to see a text from Dani.
I’m on my way to the park. Can you meet me there?
Of course. Go down the side road that says employees only. I’ll meet you at the guard station.
I’m about an hour away. I’m sorry I had to leave. My dad was acting crazy.
It’ll be okay. Just drive safe. I’ll be waiting.
“I gotta talk to Atticus,” Neo said after telling August about the texts.
“Let’s go wake up the alpha,” August said, pushing up from the couch and smiling broadly. “Your soulmate is on the way, man. Congrats.”
“Thanks.”
Ten minutes later, Neo was standing at the guard station of the employee access road that ran alongside the park. Atticus was waiting with him.
Footsteps alerted Neo to someone approaching, and he was surprised to see Joss and Caesar. He knew that Atticus had alerted the alphas that Dani was on the way to the park, but he hadn’t expected any of them to come topside.
After greeting them, Joss said, “We’ve got wolves patrolling the exterior of the park as well as the apartment complex. While we can hope that she’s got her family’s blessing to come here, I think it’s safe to assume that she doesn’t, and we need to be prepared for anything.”
Neo didn’t want to think that her family might be against them being together–had even hoped they might have had a change of heart–but he knew it was better to err on the side of caution. Particularly since it seemed likely that she’d needed to sneak away.
His hopes were high. She was coming to him. Whatever happened with her family, they’d deal with together.
He faced the three alphas. “What does it mean for where she can stay tonight? The rules are pretty clear.”
Atticus’s brows rose, and he looked at Joss and Caesar for a long moment. “We need to tread carefully because we have no idea what the situation is with her family. We’ve got some cots we could bring up into the employee cafeteria,” Atticus said.
“Can’t I just tell her what I am?”
“The only way you can do that is if she confirms that she’s a shifter or knows about shifters. There’s too much at stake for you to simply tell her and hope she doesn’t freak out and want to leave,” Caesar said.
“All right,” Neo said. He didn’t like it, but he understood.
Atticus called for a few of the gorillas to bring cots up from storage and set them up in the cafeteria. It wasn’t going to be ideal, but at least she’d have a place to sleep and Neo could watch over her.
It seemed like forever, but he finally felt her drawing close and saw headlights turning down the service road. His heart in his throat, he watched her car approach and then slow until it stopped. She turned off the car and got out.
“Neo!”
* * *
Dani had never felt so relieved in her life than when Neo met her on the road and hugged her. He squeezed her tightly and lifted her off the ground. She buried her face in his neck and tried not to cry. She’d been fighting tears since she left home. She didn’t like running from her dad or hiding things from him, but she was equally certain he was hiding things from her, too.
“You okay, sweetheart?” Neo asked with a rough voice as he set her feet on the ground but didn’t relax his hold.
“No. Yes. I guess?” She blinked to dispel the tears and brushed at her wet cheeks. “I’m glad to be here with you, but I’m freaked out about my dad’s behavior.”
“You remember Joss?” he asked.
She looked behind him to where Jeanie’s husband stood with two other men. “Sure.”
“That’s Atticus and Caesar,” he said. “They work at the park, too. They’re here because we’re concerned about things with your family and want to make sure you’re okay.”
She blew out a breath and leaned away, breaking contact with him to look at the three men. “Hi.”
They each greeted her.
Joss cleared his throat. “Can you tell us what’s going on with your family, Dani?”
“Could we do this somewhere more comfortable, like the cafeteria?” Neo said.
“Sure,” Atticus said.
The men led the way into the park and to the employee cafeteria. The lights were low in the large room. It was full of tables and chairs, but a section had been cleared and two cots were in the open space. Neo led her to a table and pulled out a chair for her.
“Can I get you something to eat or drink?” he asked as she sat down.
“Yeah,” she said. “I didn’t feel like eating earlier.”
“I’ll see what’s up here.”
Neo hurried away to a kitchen area while the three men sat across from her at the long table.
“Your father and brother were quite angry earlier,” Joss said. “Was it because of the tour or something else?”
“The tour,” she said. “I don’t understand why, but he and my brother were really insistent I didn’t go on it or even into the park at all. When I asked them for an explanation, they said they’d tell me everything Monday night.”
“What’s happening Monday night?” Caesar asked.
“My parents are hosting a party for some of my dad’s friends from out of town.”
“Is your family from this area?” Joss asked.
“My mom and I are, but Dexter and Khyle aren’t.”
“He’s... not your biological father?” Neo asked as he set a tray on the table in front of her. There were two sandwiches–one ham and one turkey–a bowl of pasta salad, a bowl of fruit, and a plate with a cookie and a brownie on it. He’d brought a soda and a bottle of water as well.
Her stomach growled, and she realized how famished she was.
“No. My dad died when I was a baby. Dexter married my mom when I was two. Khyle was his son from a previous relationship. But I think of them as my real family because they’re all I’ve ever known.”
“Did they ever lead you to believe that there was anything unique about them?” Atticus asked.
She unwrapped the ham sandwich and took a bite, mulling over what he said. “Do you mean like a secret identity or something?”
The man nodded.
She shrugged. “Not really. But I’ve had a weird feeling lately that they’re not telling me everything about themselves. Like a situation in the family has changed and I have to figure it out for myself.”
“How did you get here tonight?” Neo asked. “Did you have to sneak out?”
“My mom woke me up and gave me the keys to her car and my phone–my dad had taken it from me. She told me that how I felt about you is how she felt about Dexter, and that my dad was just being stubborn and not listening to me. She said I had to figure this situation out for myself. I’m feeling pretty confused and frustrated, frankly.”
“That’s understandable,” Neo said. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze.
She took a few more bites of her sandwich and washed them down with the water. “By the way, my mom said to tell you guys that my dad and brother, and maybe the four guys in the crew, will be here for sure in the morning looking for me. She didn’t want you to be caught off guard.”
“I’ve reached out to Dexter several times,” Joss said. “He won’t return my calls.”
“I know he’s not home right now, or at least he wasn’t when I left.”
“Do you know where he is?” Atticus asked.
“At the horse farm down the road from our house.”
Everyone looked at her in confusion.
“He likes horses. He has a deal worked out with the farm owner to help out with them. My mom said that he goes there at night when he can’t sleep.”
“Well, whenever he shows up,” Joss said, “we’ll be here. In the meantime, it’s very late. We arranged for some cots to be brought up here so you and Neo could rest.”
“It’s okay for us to be here in the park like this?” she asked.
Neo tossed her water bottle in the recycle can and threw her trash away. When he returned to the table, he said, “You’re looking at three of the owners of the park right now, sweetheart. So yes, it’s perfectly okay for us to be here.”
“My mom said you wouldn’t have a problem meeting me here,” she said. “So it seems like she knew you lived either in the area or.... do you live here?”
“Yes, I do,” Neo said.
“Yes, you do what?”
“I live here in the park.”
“But the apartment complex isn’t finished yet.”
“We have other living arrangements,” he said.
“Why can’t we stay there?”
Neo opened his mouth but hesitated.
“There are regulations in place for who can stay in our employee housing,” Atticus said. “So for now, this is the right place for you two to be. The windows are one-way glass so no one can see in, and we’ll leave a note on the door to let employees know they shouldn’t come in here until after you two are awake. Otherwise our food service staff will be waking you up at dawn to stock the cafeteria.”
“Okay,” she said. “Thank you.”
The three men left, and Neo locked the door behind them.
“Can I get you anything else?” he asked.
“No, I’m good, thanks.” She stood from the table but didn’t know what to do.
Neo joined her and took her hand, bringing it to his lips with a smile. “You doing okay, sweetheart?”
She really liked that he called her sweetheart.
“Yeah. Frustrated, though.”
“That’s understandable.” He took her to the cots, which had thin mattresses and were stacked with pillows and blankets. He sat on the cot against the wall and patted the space next to him. She sat, feeling the weight of the situation with her family settling on her shoulders.
“You know what sucks, though?” she asked.
“What?”
“That they came after me like they did. I’ve never been so mortified in my life. They made me feel like a child, like I couldn’t trust myself to make my own decisions.”
He was quiet for a moment, then said, “I don’t think you should feel that way. Your family was just looking out for you. While we don’t know what their reasons are yet, they obviously love you and want the best for you. There isn’t anything wrong with a family looking out for their own. My mom would storm the gates of hell for me, whether I wanted her to or not. And even though I’d like to think I’d be a cool dad, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be the most overprotective male on the planet.”
Something deep inside her ached when he mentioned kids, but she pushed the wishful thought away. “I’m not saying that I don’t appreciate my dad, I just wish he wasn’t so heavy-handed. Or that he’d tell me what’s really going on.”
She stifled a yawn, her eyes burning with exhaustion.
“Let’s try to rest,” he said. He leaned in and kissed her, but it was over far too soon.
He got up and moved to the other cot, which was just a foot away from where she sat. After setting up the blankets and pillows, they both stretched out. She kicked off her shoes and turned on her side, facing him.
He was so sexy. She’d never been more attracted to a man in her entire life. It made her angry that her dad was trying to keep her from him without giving her a full and honest explanation. She didn’t think there was anything he could tell her that would make her understand.
She wasn’t sure she’d be able to fall asleep, but then Neo moved the cots next to each other and put his hand on the curve of her waist. He smiled at her, and it was the sort of unspoken promise that said he’d never let anyone take her from him again. She didn’t know how she knew that, but she felt it all the way to the center of her being.
As her eyes slowly closed, she thought she saw his eyes change color from blue to brown.
There was something very familiar about the color change, but she was too tired to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Chapter Eight
Neo snapped to awareness sometime later with his soulmate snuggled up against him on the cot. He didn’t know when she moved over, but it was still dark outside, so he didn’t think they’d been asleep too long. She was lying half on him and half on the edge of the cot, her head resting over his heart and her hands twisted up in his shirt. He wasn’t sure what prompted her to join him, but he was glad she did.
She made a soft sound and rubbed her cheek on his chest. His body sprang to life, and he bit back the groan as she wiggled a little against him.
He wished he could tell her what he was. Show her. But things were so up in the air with her family that he didn’t dare put her in a position where she’d have to go against her family to stay with him. He was sure her family was hiding a shifter secret from her, but since he wasn’t one hundred percent positive, he couldn’t take the chance to show her what he was.
Damn he hated there was an untruth between them.
Her hand slid purposely down his side and reached the waistband of his jeans. Her fingers pushed under the edge and his bare skin screamed for more touching. He grasped her wrist as her hands moved toward his navel.
She giggled softly and tilted her face toward him.
“Hey,” she said softly, her eyes alight with a mixture of humor and seduction.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“I was.” She twisted her hand in his grip and linked their fingers, bringing their hands to her lips and kissing his knuckles. “I had a weird dream and woke up. Hope you don’t mind I joined you.”
“Not even a little bit. Was it a bad dream?”
“I don’t remember it, actually, I just woke up and realized I’d been dreaming. I think it’s stress.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
She let go of his hand and planted hers on either side of his head. “I’m only sorry things are so crazy. There’s so many things I wish were different right now.”
Her legs parted on either side of his hips as she stretched out over him, her upper body a few inches from his, her gaze searching.
“Like what?” he asked.
“Like I wish I didn’t live at home, so you could have come to my place. Or that there weren’t rules in the park, and I could’ve stayed with you instead of on the cots. Or that I’d met you years ago.”
He cupped her face and brought her to his lips for a kiss. “I wish for all of those things, too.”
She tilted her head and tried to deepen the kiss, but he eased away from it and rolled them to their sides.
“Why did you stop?” she whispered.
“Because we’re on a cot in a cafeteria, and while I’m certain no one is going to disturb us for a while, I don’t want to go any further and risk someone seeing you.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Because I’m already feeling protective of you and we’ve only kissed, sweetheart. If someone tried to come in here and we were doing more than just talking and holding each other, I can’t say that I wouldn’t go on a rampage.”
She chuckled and snuggled closer to him. “I understand.”
“Good. It’s not that I don’t want to be with you, because
there’s nothing I want more.”
“It’s not ideal,” she said. She let out a sigh and rested her cheek on his biceps.
His beast was clamoring in his mind to get back to the kiss and whatever else the beauty had in mind, but he knew he wasn’t wrong. It was wildly unfair to move forward physically when there was so much she didn’t know about him.
A grunt of annoyance rumbled in his chest as he pushed his beast away, and she sat up with a gasp.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, rising up onto his elbow.
“That sound you just made.”
He wondered if it sounded really animalistic to her. He hadn’t meant for it to happen.
“Just clearing my throat.” Damn, that lie was bitter on his tongue.
“No, it’s not just the sound, and I know you’re lying to me. Your eyes just changed color right now, and I saw it before I fell asleep earlier.” She climbed off the cot and stood next to it, her hands on her hips and her eyes blazing with indignation. “Tell me I’m not going crazy.”
He rose to his feet, a few inches between them. Was it possible? Did she really know what he was?
“What do you think’s going on here, Dani?”
“I think I’m going bananas.”
He nearly laughed at the phrase. Bananas? Yes please.
He didn’t know how to proceed. His hands were proverbially tied on what he could say to her. She had to figure it out for herself.
“You’re not crazy, Dani.” He moved until they were nearly touching, and he could feel the heat of her body and pick up her naturally sweet scent. “Tell me what you’re thinking, and I promise I won’t take you to the loony bin.”
She blinked rapidly a few times and then looked down, her shoulders dropping. “When I was on the tour, I really liked Neo the gorilla. It was so weird, because he’s a gorilla, you know?” She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “I couldn’t explain it, but I felt like I was supposed to be on that tour, and that he was the reason. His eyes changed color, too. From brown to blue and I felt like he was trying to communicate with me. And then I met you in the office and your name is Neo, and your eyes changed color. But from blue to the same chocolate brown of the gorilla.”
