Chapter 15
Reagan woke slowly in Indio’s arms, her head on his chest and the steady beat of his heart in her ear. It was really her favorite sound, next to the way he said her name when they made love.
She wiggled a little and yawned, her hand sliding down his side and anchoring on his waist.
“Morning, sweetheart,” he murmured, kissing her forehead.
She tipped her head back to look at him, finding his hair mussed and a sexy smile on his face.
“Morning. I guess? Is it?” They’d stayed up so late after he’d returned to his human form and talked.
She should have been exhausted, but she’d been energized by what she’d witnessed and he’d happily answered her questions until they’d passed out together at some point.
She remembered teasing him about peanuts and that was it.
He reached for his phone on the tiny nightstand and looked at the screen. “It’s just after ten.”
“So morning it is, then,” she said. She rolled off him and stretched with a yawn. “We missed breakfast.”
“Mom definitely saved us whatever they had.”
“I don’t really want breakfast stuff, though.”
“What are you in the mood for?” He got up and stretched, and she smiled appreciatively at his sexy abs. The man was lickable for days. “Hey, my eyes are up here, female.”
She giggled and flopped to her back. “Do you think I could get a walking taco? And a strawberry milkshake?”
“With three kinds of chips for your walking taco?”
“Heck yeah. These cravings are something else. I can’t believe I want a milkshake and a taco for breakfast.”
“From what I’ve heard, it’s something that pretty much only happens with elephants. Especially early on in the pregnancy. I remember Rhapsody having wild cravings and Kelley making special trips to grab different things for her.”
“I can’t wait to get to know your memory,” she said. “You’re the last one at the park to find his mate, right?”
“Yep. I waited a long time for you, but you were worth the wait.” He dressed quickly in jeans and a flannel and leaned over for a kiss. “I’ll bring our breakfast back here, and then we’ll see where the day takes us.”
“As long as it starts with tacos, I’m good for whatever comes.”
He smiled broadly and walked out, leaving her in bed.
She used the bathroom and took a quick shower, then dressed in leggings and an oversized sweatshirt that covered her butt. After braiding her hair, she picked up her phone and video called Rhomi.
While the call rang, she sat cross-legged on the bed.
“Well hey, circus girl!” Rhomi said when she answered. “How’s life with the circus?”
“I’m having the best time! And holy crap, I know the truth!” Indio had told her everything about the safari park and the shifters who lived and worked there, and he’d also told her that Rhomi’s mate, Mercer, was a lion, and Darcy’s mate, Ford, was a stallion.
“What truth?” Rhomi asked.
“Wait, where are you? Are you out in the park?”
“No, I’m home by myself. Mercer went to get me apple cider donuts because cravings.”
“Good, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t around any humans.”
Rhomi let out a light laugh. “Nope, I’m all alone in my house.”
“Indio told me he’s a shifter. He even turned into an elephant for me.
Under the big top after the fairgrounds were empty last night.
His parents are elephants! I got to ride him, it was crazy!
And Mercer is a lion. You have a half-lion baby in your belly, and I’ve got a half-elephant baby in mine!
And oh my! Darcy and her horse shifter, Ford! ”
Rhomi stared at her for such a long time that Reagan wondered if the connection had gone bad, and then Rhomi started to cry.
“I’m so sorry I had to keep the secret from you, but it’s so important. You’re not mad at me, are you?”
“What? No, of course not. You were keeping your soulmate and his people safe. It’s a life-or-death thing, I totally get it. I just can’t believe that all three of us have shifter soulmates who are so different! A lion, an elephant, and a stallion! It’s unbelievable!”
“It really is,” Rhomi said, wiping at the tears on her cheeks. “I’m so glad I can finally talk to you and Darcy about things. I have the other lion mates to talk to, but it’s not the same as you two. Oh, are you going to come back to the park to live?”
“Yes,” she said. “I don’t want to spend any nights away from him, and I don’t want him to miss anything I’m going through with the pregnancy.”
“How’s it going?”
“Apparently, elephants have crazy cravings, and even though I’m human, the baby is giving me the same experience. Indio went to get me a walking taco and a milkshake for breakfast.”
“A walking taco for breakfast? That’s wild,” Rhomi said. “So how are you really?”
Reagan knew what her bestie was asking. She’d spent many years chasing away any shot at happiness because of her mom. But last night she’d had a revelation. Not all guys left, because not all guys were assholes.
“I used to hear my mom’s voice in my head every time something good happened with a guy.
Her all-men-leave chants on repeat, you know?
But I know that Indio’s not leaving me. He can’t and he won’t, because our hearts are bound together.
And it’s not about the baby—he or she is a sweet surprise—but it’s because we were meant to be together.
I’ve decided to banish her voice. She doesn’t get to live rent-free in my head anymore. ”
“I’m so happy for you, babe.”
“Me too. I’m happy for all of us. I finally know what forever feels like.”
“Love and home, right?”
“And sexy shifters.”
“Heck yeah.”
She sat in the front row with Indio that night for the big show.
The day had passed quickly as they’d helped prepare the circus for a storm on the radar.
The hope was that it might skirt around them, but they had to be prepared just in case it hit.
Smaller trailers were moved closer together, food supplies and lightweight tents had been boxed up and put away, and Indio had made Reagan promise she’d run right for their trailer if things went south at any point.
Living in New Jersey her whole life, she’d been in several storms, from hurricanes to Nor’easters, and she didn’t take bad weather lightly.
They’d been told a cold front was sweeping in from the southeast and could cause problems if it collided with the warm temperatures in South Carolina.
But despite the bad weather predictions, the fairgrounds had been packed all day and the big top was full.
Wind hummed against the canvas of the huge tent, and somewhere in the distance, she could hear thunder rolling. As Lazarus moved to the center ring to start the circus, rain suddenly drummed against the big top, followed by closer thunder and stronger wind howling outside.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Lazarus said, his voice booming over the speakers.
“Local authorities are advising we evacuate before the storm arrives. It’s just raining now, but the storm is heading our way and we have no safe public shelters here.
There is time to go to your homes—do so now.
Authorities are at the exit and on the roadways to assist.”
The crowd got up and moved toward the exits, and the staff poured into the tent to help guide people to safety.
“I need to help make sure the fairgrounds are clear of patrons. Let’s get you to the trailer.”
“You’ll be safe?” she asked as he hustled her out of the tent toward the cluster of trailers.
“Yes, but I’m more concerned about you, sweetheart.”
She covered her head with her hands as the rain pelted them. They ran to the trailers, slipping on the already forming mud puddles. The sky lit up with lightning that crackled across the sky, followed by thunder that made the ground shake.
Indio grabbed the door to their trailer and helped her inside. “It’s just rain, you’ll be safe here. I’ll be back.”
“Be careful,” she called.
“I will. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He shut the door firmly and she moved to the window to watch him rush back toward the big top to help.
He was right: she was safer in the trailer than in the storm.
She wasn’t strong like a shifter and she didn’t know what to do to help keep the circus safe.
If he was worrying about her, she’d be making him vulnerable. So it was better for her to stay put.
Lightning cracked overhead and she gasped.
Holy crap. This was going to be bad.
Outside the trailer, the wind howled like a living thing, the rain pounding on the roof and against the windows. There were moments when the gusts felt so strong that they were making the trailer rock and the floor creak.
Reagan pressed her hand to her belly, feeling more vulnerable than she had in her entire life. The trailer had seemed safer than the tents, but right now it felt like a dang tin can.
Lightning flashed, followed swiftly by booming thunder. Something metallic screeched outside, and she shivered. “He’ll be back,” she said to her baby and to herself. “We’re okay. It’ll be okay.”
She moved to look out one of the windows, peering through the glass just as the lightning turned the sky white. In the brief light, she saw chaos—the tents were swaying in the wind, poles fell, and booths toppled.
Then the trailer lurched.
It moved so fast that Reagan barely had time to grab for the counter to steady herself before the entire trailer rocked up on two wheels.
“Oh! Shit!”
The trailer slammed back down on all four wheels, and she lurched for the door, shoving it open.
The wind ripped the door out of her grasp and cold rain stung her face.
The wind howled again and the trailer groaned, and she made a fast decision—take her chances in the woods instead of the trailer that didn’t want to stay put.
Her boots sank into the mud as she moved as fast as she could toward the trees. She made it just to the treeline when a roar sounded behind her. She turned in time to see the trailer slam sideways into the next one with a crash.
Holy crap .
She bolted into the trees. Branches whipped at her and mud sucked at her boots as she moved deeper into the woods, the thick canopy above shielding her some from the rain.
Lightning lit up the sky, and thunder followed instantly, a boom so loud she felt it in her bones. And then she heard it—a sharp crack.
Her gaze lifted up as lightning struck a nearby tree, splitting the trunk. It broke apart, taking down a cluster of trees beside it. The whole mass came crashing toward her.
With a scream of pure terror, she dove for cover but she wasn’t fast enough. The weight of the trees came down, the ground shaking with the impact.
She let out a sharp cry as she hit the ground hard, a mass of trees covering half her body. Pinned by a tangle of branches, she pushed and wiggled but couldn’t budge them.
“Indio!” she screamed. “Indio!”
She didn’t know where he was in the fairgrounds, or if he could hear her even with the better-than-human hearing he had. “Help! Indio!”
Only the storm answered, with more thunder, more lightning, more howling wind.
She stared up at the dark sky and the intermittent flashes of lightning, and she remembered what Amara had told her: that soulmates were connected on a supernatural level, bound together by more than love.
She drew in a shaky breath and focused on Indio.
Find me, please. Follow the part of me that belongs to you.
At first she only felt the wind and the rain, the cold mud seeping through her clothes. But then she felt a flicker in her chest.
She could actually feel Indio.
Whatever bound them together as shifter and soulmate connected them in some special way. And she was going to trust it.
“I know you’ll come for me,” she said to the sky, hoping he would hear her, feel her.
She shielded her eyes against the rain and trusted in her soulmate.
She knew he was out there somewhere, fighting his way through the storm to find her.