Chapter 7
Sera stirred the sweet cream with a small metal whisk she’d found in the kitchen drawer, the soft, rhythmic sound soothing in the quiet house.
The underground home was still and peaceful, worlds away from the chaos that she’d been feeling for so long.
Caesar was still asleep in bed. She’d woken before him, and although being in his arms was her new favorite thing, she was ready for coffee and some semblance of normality that she’d been missing in her life.
As she stared at the pale cream she’d made that swirled into the coffee, her mind swirled right along with it.
Her whole life she’d been in the jaguar prowl, never really believing she’d ever find her soulmate.
She’d resigned herself to a life alone, the thought that someday she might be pressured into a mating by her alpha hanging over her head like a cloud.
Carving happiness out of the day-to-day of making coffee-house-quality coffees and breakfast treats for the prowl with Fallon and Sunny, she had considered her life as good as it will get.
But what had she really known about happiness?
She’d helped Sunny flee Dario.
And then she’d helped Fallon flee Dario and Otto.
Then she’d had to freaking flee herself. Not once, but twice.
From the prowl and then the stallion shifter farm where Fallon had found her soulmate and was now carrying a half-stallion, half-jaguar baby.
Now, as she fixed a cup of coffee for Caesar, hoping he liked it sweet, she smiled at how fast her life had changed yet again, in the span of a day. They’d only met yesterday, but she was half in love with the strong, proud male and wearing his marks in her neck.
It should have felt like it was all too sudden, too much.
But it didn’t.
She felt like she’d been in a holding pattern her entire life, just waiting for things to fall into place to push her away from the just-existing life she’d had in Tennessee with the prowl to New Jersey and the park shifters.
“Something smells amazing,” came a deep voice, rough with sleep.
She turned and saw Caesar in the kitchen doorway, bare-chested, his hair mussed, and his eyes warm and heavy-lidded. The connection between them snapped tight, like an invisible line stretching between their hearts.
She lifted both mugs and crossed the small kitchen, handing him his.
“I hope you like sweet coffee.”
She tilted her face to his and he kissed her. “I do.”
He took a sip and let out a low, satisfied growl. “Shit, Sera, this is amazing.”
Her cheeks heated and she smiled as she walked with him to the family room and the comfortable couch.
Settling next to him, she took a drink and said, “I’ve always loved making coffee.
When Fallon was little, I read a romance novel about a man who ran a coffee shop and his love interest came to work for him.
I was really curious about the coffees they made with the sweet creams and syrups, so I watched online tutorials and got proficient at making them.
It quickly became my thing in the prowl, and once I started making breakfast items like wraps, muffins, and scones, I felt like I had a purpose. ”
He studied her for a long moment, his expression softening. “I really appreciate you making coffee for me this morning. I’m so happy you’re in my life and my mate.”
The way he looked at her, like he was simultaneously worshipping her and undressing her in his mind, made her heart pound.
She cleared her throat and took another drink of coffee, letting the smooth, sweet taste ground her.
“I don’t know anything about being a pride alpha female.
What if your people don’t want me as their alpha female? ”
“We’re not soulmates by mistake, Sera. You and I were born to be together, it just took fate a really long time to bring us together.
The pride will be happy that I’ve finally found my soulmate, and they won’t care one bit that you’re a jaguar.
It wouldn’t matter if you could shift or not, only that you cared about me and our people. ”
“I do care about you.”
“I care about you too.”
While the words were simple and sweet, his tone was hot enough to scorch her.
“You’re the right person to be alpha female of the pride because you’re my soulmate. You’re perfect for the job anyway. You’re strong and resilient.”
“I don’t feel strong.”
“You are.” He brushed her hair back from her face, tucking a lock behind her ear.
She shivered at the light touch. “And you’re not alone anymore.
You’re part of my family with my three boys and their families, and the pride too.
And Fallon and Avi, and Sunny and Seneca—they’re all part of our family now.
Seems pretty big when you look at it that way, huh? ”
“Yeah, it really does.” Her throat felt tight, emotion rising inside her. She was just so happy to be with Caesar, her sexy, strong alpha lion.
He put his mug down and pulled her gently into his arms. She set her mug on the coffee table so she could hug him properly, her fingers pressing gently into his strong back. His scent enveloped her—tall grass, sunshine, and male.
She wasn’t sure how long they sat like that, holding each other, reveling in their connection as soulmates.
But the coffee had cooled by the time they eased from the hug, and she was about to suggest a fresh cup for both of them, when he tipped her chin up and kissed her, slowly and deeply. “Shower?” he murmured against her lips.
Her breath hitched. “Shower.”
* * *
When they got out of the bathroom a while later, skin still glowing from the hot water and hotter sex, they snuggled on the bed, his arms around her and her head on his chest.
“What’s the plan for the day?” she asked, tracing lazy circles on his chest.
“Well, I’m not working. I told the security team I’d be out for a few days while you and I get to know each other and enjoy our mating.
We can do whatever we’d like.” He looked at his phone and said, “The park is closed for another couple hours. Would you like to walk around and get some fresh air?”
“That sounds awesome.”
They talked about the park while they dressed for the cool fall morning in jeans and long sleeved shirts.
He told her about recent changes to the park, like how Lucius’s mate Sidney sketched animal portraits for sale in the gift shop and had set up an easel by the security office to sketch while patrons watched, and the carousel that was run by gorilla August’s mate Ginny, a jackal shifter.
“I didn’t know there were jackal shifters,” she said.
They walked out into the family room to put on their shoes and grab another cup of coffee with sweet cream.
“We didn’t either,” he said with a chuckle. His phone buzzed and he lifted it. “Let me grab this, baby.” He swiped his thumb and said, “Hi, Amadeus, what’s up?”
She walked into the kitchen to brew fresh coffee and found Amazing Adventures Safari Park travel mugs in the cabinet.
Caesar walked into the kitchen a few moments later. “I’m sorry, baby, but I have to run up to handle something topside.”
“What is it?” she asked, her heart dropping into her stomach.
“There’s a problem at the employee parking lot security gate.” He gave her a quick kiss. “I’ll tell you when I know more, I promise. Stay here, I’ll be back.”
He was gone before she could think of something else to say. She just knew it was related to Otto. It had to be. If it was a regular sort of security issue, he would have told her. That he wasn’t sharing anything meant it was about her. And bad.
With a sigh, she put the lid on his coffee to keep it hot and then took her mug to sit on the couch.
So much for a quiet walk around the park.
* * *
Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Sera opened it, surprised to see four females smiling at her.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey! We wanted to officially welcome you to the pride and introduce ourselves,” the first female said. “I’m Jenni. I’m a lioness and mated to Devlin, who’s human. He works with Alpha Joss in the accounting department. I brought cinnamon rolls.”
“It’s nice to meet you, those look great! Come on in,” Sera said, stepping aside.
“I’m Celeste, Jupiter’s mate, and that makes you my mother-in-law! I do manis and pedis in the market with my bestie Adriana. I brought blueberry muffins.”
“I’m Rhomi,” a pretty blonde said with a smile. “I’m mated to Mercer.”
“I’m Sidney,” the fourth female said. “I’m mated to Lucius, and that makes you my mother-in-law too, how cool!”
Jenni chuckled and set a platter of cinnamon rolls down on the coffee table. “We know it can be a little overwhelming to find your soulmate and join such a large group, so we wanted to be sure you felt very welcome.”
“That’s really sweet, thank you. It’s definitely a lot to deal with in a short amount of time.”
“Right?” Rhomi said. “You’re just going along with your day, and then you lock eyes with your soulmate and the whole world goes upside down.”
“That’s a great way to explain it,” Sera said. “Make yourselves comfortable. Would anyone like coffee? I have sweet cream I whipped up earlier.”
“Heck yes,” Rhomi said.
“Count me in,” Sidney said, with Jenni agreeing.
“None for me, I’m off caffeine until the cub is born,” Celeste said, touching her extended belly. “But if you have something in the fridge that’s non-caffeinated, I’ll take it.”
Sera brought out the coffees with sweet cream and a bottle of strawberry kiwi flavored water.
“So,” Sera said. “Did Caesar ask you guys to come over?”
Celeste nodded as she took a drink. “He said he had something to attend to and asked if we’d come introduce ourselves. It’s tradition to have a pride meal when a soulmate is found, and with so many of us it can be a lot to take in.”
Sidney nodded. “So now you can get to know us, and then when we have the big party for your mating, it won’t seem like such a huge deal.”
“Speaking of that,” Sera said, “is there a joining ceremony? What about a mating ceremony?”
“We do the ceremonies as a combination,” Celeste said. “The whole pride will get together after the park is closed in the paddock and we’ll have a big party to celebrate you and Caesar being mates as well as you joining the pride.”
“It would look a bit different from our ceremonies because you’re the alpha female, but the mating ceremony and traditions will be the same,” Jenni said.
“Tell me about them,” Sera said, sitting down and picking up a blueberry muffin. “I want to know everything.”