Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Myla woke in Alfie’s arms, pleasantly sore from the many times he’d made her see stars and shout his name, and deliriously happy. It shouldn’t have surprised her how much she enjoyed waking up in his arms. She’d been wanting it since the night they met. And now she had it, and him, forever.
He nuzzled her neck with a wolfy hum and her body lit up.
“You smell good in the morning, mate,” he said, his voice rough and deep.
She rolled over and snuggled into his warmth. “You do too.”
Neither of them said anything for a little while, just stole kisses and touched each other gently, before finally hitting the shower, where the light touching and sweet kisses morphed into something far sexier.
And kept going until the hot water ran out and their skin was covered with goosebumps and they were laughing.
She dried off with a soft, fluffy towel, wishing she had a change of clothes.
“I can let you borrow one of my flannels,” he said. “But I don’t have anything else that would fit you.”
“We’re meeting the bosses, though. Would it be better if you took me home to change?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I promise they won’t care, and they know that I brought you here from work, so it’s not like you had a chance to pack a bag. And we call them alphas.”
“Right, alphas. Such a weird word for people.”
He snorted with a laugh.
She opted to put on his flannel over her clothes from the night before, because it was chilly outside, plus the shirt smelled like him and she adored that.
He sent a text to Joss to tell him they were going to be ready to meet with the alphas whenever they were gathered in the employee cafeteria, and then they went into the small apartment kitchen and made coffee while they waited for the text to join the group.
She sat at the counter in the kitchen and took a sip of coffee. “Before we meet with the alphas, let’s talk.”
“Of course. You said last night you had a lot of questions, so ask away. I’m an open book.”
She pondered the ones rolling around in her mind, then started with the biggest one. “Joss said shifters live at the park, so you can’t move in with me, can you?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, but I can’t. It’s a safety issue, plus my pack is like my extended family and we all like to be around each other. It’s a little different with you. My wolf craves being with you, especially now that you’re wearing my mark.”
She’d seen the already-healed and scarred bite mark on her neck. She liked that he had marked her with his fangs, and not just because he’d been playing her body like a fiddle and sending her senses into overdrive. It made her feel so connected to him.
There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to keep the secret safe. Alfie was everything to her.
“What about kids?”
“I’d love to have kids with you,” he said.
“Will they be wolves?”
“They’ll be half you and half me, but whether they can shift depends on which way their genetics lean.
Some half-shifters can shift, but it seems like many can’t.
One of the soulmates in the park is a half-polar bear, and she can’t shift.
Her eyes change color when she’s emotional, and she has some other minor traits, but that’s it. ”
“But a half-shifter might change?”
He shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out with our ten kids.”
“Ten!” She gasped, her hand knocking the coffee mug and sloshing the liquid.
He barked out a laugh. “I’m kidding! I mean seven. Eight tops.”
She arched a brow and took the paper towels he handed her to clean the spill. “Three.”
“Fine,” he said. “As long as I get to sex you up all the time when we’re trying.”
“Heck yeah, you better.” She hummed and picked up her phone. “I want to call off work. Even though I just took a week off, I don’t want to go into work today, so I’ll tell them I’m off until Monday. We have too much to talk about and I really don’t want to leave the park.”
“Sounds good to me.”
She sent an email to her bosses and left a message on the office voicemail. As she hung up, she put her phone face down and said, “I feel like I’m going to need to quit.”
“I don’t want to push you to do something you don’t want to or aren’t ready for. There’s no rush, your whole life doesn’t have to turn upside down today.”
“It kind of did already, though,” she pointed out.
“Joss and Jeanie were very clear that wolf mates like to be near each other, and that includes living and working. Those two don’t work together, but they work near each other—her in the cafeteria and him in the office, which is nearby.
It actually makes sense to me. Even before last night, I felt so strange being away from you, though I couldn’t explain it. Love at first sight on steroids.”
He laughed. “That’s a good way to put it.”
They talked about the park, the shifters, the alphas, his jobs with security and the safari tours, her apartment and the theater, and her brother’s upcoming wedding.
“You’re definitely coming,” she said.
“Of course,” he said. “Are you in the wedding?”
“I’m one of Alice’s bridesmaids. It’s fancy but not tux-fancy, so a regular suit and tie is okay.”
“Will you come with me to buy one? I don’t have one.”
She beamed at him. “I’d love to.”
His phone buzzed and they were told to head over to the cafeteria. They bundled up and left the warmth of the apartment, walking all the way across the park to the employee cafeteria. “Afterward, I’ll take you on a real tour around the park, okay? Since you’ve only seen it at night.”
“Sounds good to me. You said the safari is closed?”
“The park is open weekends in January, but the safari is closed until February.”
As they wandered toward the cafeteria, she said, “Are there any real animals on the safari tour?”
“The norms’ paddock has non-shifters—the antelope, deer, and Tank.
Otherwise, it’s just us in the paddocks.
We shift before the tours start and hang out all day.
” He’d told her how the park alphas used free coupons for VIP tours to bring single men and women around in the hopes they would be the soulmate for a shifter.
It sounded like a good idea to Myla, and she wished she’d gotten a coupon.
“I would have loved to go on a safari tour and meet you,” she said. “It’s really romantic. Talk about a meet-cute.”
“Hey!” he said with a laugh as they reached the cafeteria building. “I saved you from an asshole. I think that’s a very romantic meet-cute.”
She bumped against him with a smile. “It’s super romantic. But the ticket would have been neat too.”
He opened the door for her and her smile slipped as they stepped inside and she found herself facing a whole bunch of people.
Shifters.
Alphas.
Holy crap.
“Breathe, sweetheart,” Alfie whispered, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.
“I told you we should be seated,” a woman said with a smile. “She looks like a deer about to bolt.”
“How about we sit, then?” Joss suggested. “We can let Alfie introduce Myla, and then we can go around to all of us.”
After everyone was seated, Alfie introduced her as his soulmate, and she knew she was grinning. She just loved that word so much.
Then she was introduced to the alphas: Marcus, the bear alpha, who Alfie had told her earlier had lost his mate before he came to the park; Alistair, the elephant alpha, and his human mate, Maggie, who’d said Myla looked like a deer—and she had honestly felt that way.
Then there was Atticus, the gorilla alpha, and Lori, his human soulmate; and lion alpha Caesar and Sera, his jaguar soulmate.
“And you know Jeanie and me,” Joss said with a nod.
She and Alfie sat in empty seats at a large group of tables pushed together with everyone seated around it.
“It’s nice to meet you all,” Myla said.
“I’m sure it’s overwhelming,” Alistair said with a gentle smile. “But we just want to get to know you and for you to know who we are.”
The alpha men took turns sharing information about the park, from working hours and the winter closure, to how important it was to be aware of her surroundings and never speak anything out in public related to soulmates or shifters.
“You understand that Alfie can’t live anywhere else?” Atticus asked.
“I do. And I’m fine with moving in here,” she said. “But we were talking about my job earlier, and I’m not sure what the next step is regarding that.”
“Alfie can drive you to and from work,” Joss said. “For as long as you’d like to work at the theater, we’re fine with that. But if and when you’d like to come work for the park, we can find a place for you.”
“Doing what?” she asked.
“Do you like working at the theater?” Marcus asked.
“I do. I’ve always loved movies, so being able to see them whenever I want is a big bonus.”
“We have it on the list to refurbish the in-park theater,” Marcus said.
“We currently show old shorts about the animals in the paddocks. People mostly go in the theater to get out of the heat or rain—the movies aren’t really a draw.
But we could turn it into more of an event space, with short park-related movies shown at particular times. ”
“I’ve often thought we should have some monitors in the safari tour line to give people something to watch,” Caesar said. “But someone has to pick them and deal with all that.”
“Oh!” Myla said. “I can totally do that.”
“You can do anything you want,” Alfie said.
After the initial meet and greet was over, everyone grabbed breakfast from the kitchenette.
She and Alfie both got biscuit sandwiches.
Conversation swirled around them, with the women asking Myla questions, and Alfie’s steady presence a balm to the nerves that had appeared when she’d first been faced with so many strangers.
When the meal was over, the women all shared their phone numbers with her and welcomed her to the park, and then she and Alfie put on their coats and walked back outside, with fresh coffees in branded safari park travel mugs.
“So, what did you think?” he asked. “You didn’t feel pressured, did you? They honestly don’t mind you working outside the park.”
“I think they’d rather I didn’t, though.”
“True, but they aren’t trying to stifle your life. They just like the people they care about to be where they are safe, and the safest place for me is the park, and that means it’s also the very safest place for you.”
“Because you’re my soulmate and you won’t let anyone hurt me.”
“Damn straight.”
She grinned at him. “If I have the weekend off, I need some clothes. Can we go to my place?”
“You bet. How about that tour first, and I’ll arrange for someone to escort us to your apartment. And I’ve got a surprise to show you too.”
“A sexy one?” she asked.
He growled softly, his eyes changing to amber for a heartbeat.
“It wasn’t going to be, but now I want to add a second surprise.”
“Ooh. Two orgasms. Got it.”
He barked out a laugh and gave her a kiss. “You are so precious to me. And you keep me on my toes. Two it is. After the tour. And the non-orgasm surprise.”
“Are you sure I can’t switch the order? Orgasms sound more fun than a tour.”
“Waiting will make it better.”
“That might cost you another one.”
He leaned down and brushed his lips over the shell of her ear, sending a riot of shivers down her spine. “Three it is.”