Chapter 4
Caesar had been freaking restless for a damn week. Not only was his cat on edge, but so was he. And he couldn’t figure out what was going on. He’d taken extra patrols so he was out in the park, hoping that he’d be able to get a bead on what was up with him.
But it had all been for nothing.
All he had to show for the last week was a pair of worn-out work boots, the worry from his sons that he was possibly cracking up entirely, and the concern that maybe they weren’t too far off.
He’d skipped the VIP tour, letting his people hang out in their shifts and not joining them, choosing instead to clean the house and get to his laundry.
When he’d exhausted himself with the chores he’d been putting off, he decided to head to the market to grab something to drink and then check out the security office.
He just wished he didn’t feel so damn out of sorts.
Grabbing the door leading out of the lions’ private living area with more force than necessary, he stepped out into the hall and heard a feminine gasp that made his cat sit up and take notice.
A beautiful female, whiskey-eyes wide and lush lips parted, stood in the hallway, a hair’s breadth from the doorway he’d shoved open.
He apologized immediately, inhaling silently and picking up the lush scent of her.
Wild like the jungle, sweet like honey.
A cat shifter of some kind, but not a lioness.
When she spoke and their gazes locked, he could feel the connection between them snap into place, realization settling on him that was more profound than anything he’d gone through in his life.
She was his soulmate.
But she seemed scared, and not just because he’d nearly knocked her into the wall with the door. She was more like a rabbit about to flee, a doe ready to bolt.
Sera.
The jaguar who’d come to the park with an alpha jaguar on her tail, demanding her as his arranged mate after things went south with her daughter.
“You’re Sera,” he said. “I’m Caesar.”
He extended his hand and she took it, her fingers cold but her grip firm.
“I am. You’re the lion alpha? I haven’t met all of you, but Sunny told me who the important guys were.”
“Yep,” he said. He stepped free of the door and it swung shut behind him with a click. “Where are you headed?”
“To the market.” She fidgeted with the edge of her top. “I wasn’t able to bring much with me when I fled the prowl and got to the farm, and I borrowed clothes from the herd females, but I hadn’t had a chance to go shopping for myself. Anke sent a message that she had some things for me.”
“Would you like some company?”
Her gaze softened, amber flickering in the whiskey depths. “Sure.”
They walked down the hall toward the market. He had a million questions, but there was really only one that mattered: did she realize they were soulmates?
And also, would she mind if he spent the rest of his life making sure she was deliriously happy?
So two.
Two questions.
Instead, though, he pondered what mundane question to ask her because he knew some things about her, but only the shitty things she’d had to go through to get here.
By the time they reached the market, he hadn’t said one damn word to her.
Mentally kicking his ass, he greeted Anke’s mate Zeger and leaned against the counter as Sera and Anke looked through a stack of clothes.
“You seem different,” Zeger said, giving Caesar a once-over. His gaze tripped over to Sera and he hummed. “Ah. You’ve found your soulmate, eh?”
Caesar grinned. Keeping his voice low, he said, “I literally just met her. And I can’t think of anything to say to her that isn’t about us being mates. I am not smooth at all, apparently.”
“Got no game, huh?”
“You’re enjoying this way too much.”
Zeger snorted a laugh. “Sorry.” He leaned on the counter. “Ask her to grab a drink at the cafeteria. There’s hardly anyone around, so it’ll give you a chance to sit and talk.”
“Good idea.”
“I have them. From time to time.”
“Hi, Caesar, how are you?” Anke asked as she and Sera came to the counter. Sera, holding a paper sack, came to stand next to him.
“I’m great, thanks. You?”
“I’ll be a lot better when we get home and get dinner. I’m starving.”
“Let’s cut out early,” Zeger said. “People know how to get hold of us. We can grab a burger at the stall. I saw the burger of the day has a fried egg and pork roll on it.”
“Oh, yum!”
“See you two later!” Zeger said, putting his arm around his mate and leading her out of the shop.
“So,” Caesar said, turning to Sera. “Would you like to get a drink?”
“Um, I thought I wasn’t allowed to be above ground when the park’s open?”
“Yeah, you shouldn’t be, until we know for sure that Otto has realized he can’t get to you and should move the hell on with his life. But, I meant we can get something to drink in the market.” He gestured to the cafeteria, which was now empty, save for a few bears working on dinner in the kitchen.
“Oh, sure. That would be nice.” They walked to the glass door refrigerator and each chose a drink, Caesar picking a white cranberry and peach drink, and Sera picking a strawberry green tea.
After choosing a table, they sat across from each other.
“Caesar.”
“Sera.”
They both spoke at the same time, then smiled and laughed.
“You first,” she said.
“Isn’t it ladies first?”
“Touche.” She took a drink and said, “I’m going to be honest with you.”
“Of course.”
“I have no idea what to say to you because I want to say a lot of things, but none of them seem appropriate considering we literally just met a few minutes ago.”
He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Because we’re soulmates.”
A question and a statement, rolled up together.
“Yes.” The word left her lips in a soft hiss, full of promises.
“What do you want to say?” he asked.
“Besides us being soulmates? You want to know the inappropriate stuff?” Her cheeks pinked when he let out a low growl of encouragement.
“I’d just like to be with you. I haven’t really felt right since I got here to the park, but at the same time, it’s felt kind of like home too.
I was feeling torn in half, but I couldn’t really articulate what was going on with me.
And that’s not inappropriate, that’s just the truth.
But since we nearly ran into each other, suddenly everything seems to have righted itself. ”
He took her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.
“I feel the same way.” Suddenly, the last week of strange, uneasy feelings made sense. His lion had known when Sera had come to the park and he just hadn’t realized what all the push was.
If he’d have listened to what Jupiter said the night Sera arrived when they’d been on patrol, he might have realized that she was the reason for the agitation and gone to meet her.
But he hadn’t.
And they’d both been floundering.
Clearing his throat, he said, “So you were invited to go out to shift with the sleuth?”
“More like Sunny suggested it because my cat has been feeling cooped up. But obviously that wasn’t what was going on—my cat was trying to draw me out of their private living area to find you.”
He grinned. Damn, he was so happy to be here right this moment with her.
“If you’d still like to shift tonight, maybe you could do it in the lion paddock. With me.”
Her head tilted slightly, curiosity making her eyes look like whiskey in crystal.
“Just the two of us?”
He nodded, his cat preening at the prospect. He’d never seen a jaguar shifter before, but more than that, he wanted the first time they both shifted to be just the two of them.
“I’d love to,” she said. “When the park is closed?”
“Yes, after the security team has given the all-clear. In the meantime, can I show you around? I’ve got a thought about how to give you some much-needed sunlight.”
* * *
On the way out of the market with drinks in hand, they stopped at the bears’ private living area, where she called Sunny on her phone and the female met them with her mate Seneca.
Sera wasn’t allowed to have any security codes because she was technically a visitor in the park.
None of the other shifter groups had the security codes for the other private areas either, although if he’d needed to, he could have gotten into the area with an alpha override code.
“Oh!” Sunny said, seeing the two of them together. “You’re soulmates! Holy crap, this is why you were feeling strange all week.” Sunny hugged Sera and smiled broadly at Caesar. “She’s my adopted mom so that makes you my dad, I guess!”
“True, and that means you also have three brothers,” he said. “You too, Seneca.”
“Awesome,” the big male said with a grin. “What are the freaking odds that Sunny fleeing the prowl would end up with all three finding their mates?”
“Fate’s a funny and unpredictable thing,” Sera said. She gave Caesar’s hand a squeeze. “So I’m going to shift with him in the lion paddock tonight. But I’d love to shift with you sometime too, so I can see what you look like in your tigress shift.”
“Of course,” Sunny said with a nod. “Have so much fun. I’ll talk to you later.”
The door shut, and it was just him and Sera in the hall. “Ready?” he asked.
“Definitely.”
Hand in hand, he led her to the lions’ private living area and up into the employee cafeteria, heart in his throat and his lion purring like crazy.
It was just something to do, something to help her feel not so cooped up underground.
But it felt like more than that.
He was showing her he would take care of her, that he’d put her needs first.
And that was really damn important.