by R. E. Butler
“My pleasure.” His voice was low and gruff, and she liked it. “Are you ready to go?”
“Absolutely.”
* * *
The meal was perfect. Hell, everything about their first date was perfect. He’d brought her flowers, acted like a total gentleman, and spent the evening listening to her talk about herself. Whenever she tried to steer the conversation to him, he would give a short answer and then ask her something about herself. Joss was a mystery, and she was pretty sure he was keeping something back. She didn’t think it was terrible, but there was definitely something he wasn’t telling her.
She didn’t let it bother her, though. She had a feeling that he’d tell her more about himself as they got to know each other. She did feel like she’d known him for a lot longer than a day, though. By the time the date was over, she was one hundred percent crazy about him, and while she wanted to put the brakes on her imagination and crazy fantasies, she didn’t mind it one bit when they were settled in his comfortable SUV and he took one of her hands and set it on his thigh.
“That may be the best steak I’ve ever had,” Joss said.
“Me, too. Thank you so much for dinner.”
“I’m glad you could join me.”
They rode in comfortable silence to her house. The moment that he put the SUV into park, her heart kicked up a few notches. Before the date, she’d been very firm about her intentions to let the date end without anything sexy happening. But now that she’d spent a few hours with him – this sexy, intoxicating man – she absolutely didn’t want it to be over. She wasn’t sure what to say, didn’t trust herself not to just blurt out how much she wanted to be with him, so she said nothing.
Joss unbuckled his seatbelt and turned in the seat, resting his arm over the steering wheel. He looked out the windshield toward the house which was illuminated by the headlights.
They both spoke at the same time. She said his name, he said hers. Then they laughed.
“You go first, sweetheart,” Joss said, giving her hand a squeeze.
She’d spent the evening being honest with him. She’d laid all her past bare before him and held nothing back. She wasn’t about to start lying now.
“Would you like to come in?”
He cleared his throat and she thought once more that she’d seen his eyes flash to a different color. “More than anything, Jeanie, but I can’t.”
Her heart clenched and disappointment washed over her. “Oh, okay.”
Cupping her face, he said, “Don’t think for a second that I don’t want to. Because all I’ve been thinking about since we met yesterday was how much I want to be with you. But I’m not looking for a fling or a one-nighter, and I don’t think you are, either.”
“No.”
“I don’t trust myself to get you alone and not wind up in bed, and I don’t want you to think I’m only interested in that.” He leaned in and brushed his lips lightly over hers.
If it was possible, she fell in love with him right then.
Sexy, wonderful man.
She leaned into him and kissed him, unbuckling her seatbelt and moving as close as she could with the console between them. He tilted her head and deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue expertly along hers and making shivers race down her spine. Her whole body was on fire, her skin tingling and her head spinning when the kiss ended far too soon.
He got out of the SUV and came around to her side, opening her door and helping her out. She was simultaneously disappointed and elated. He wasn’t looking for a quick roll in the hay, and while she was certain that nothing would be better than that, she wanted more, too. She wanted everything with Joss.
Keys in hand, she unlocked the front door and then looked up at him.
“Call me when you’re done with your shift tomorrow,” Joss said.
“I will.”
He glanced at the door and she caught a hint of his cologne – it was the sexiest smell ever. It reminded her of the woods in fall.
Turning his gaze back to her, he said, “I had a great time tonight, Jeanie. You’re amazing, and I’m so glad you took your friend’s ticket and came to the park so we could meet.”
“Me too.”
He kissed her lightly and took a step away. “Good night, sweetheart.”
“Good night, Joss.”
She swore as he walked down the sidewalk that she heard a growl, but she shook her head thinking that like the many times she thought she’d seen his eyes change color, her mind was playing tricks on her. Joss didn’t have color-changing eyes, and she didn’t just hear him growl like a beast.
She was pretty sure, anyway.
Chapter Six
Joss was the most miserable he’d ever been in his life. Not taking Jeanie up on her invitation to come into her house on Sunday night had been difficult. He’d been arguing with his wolf all night. He wanted Jeanie to know that he wasn’t trying to rush things physically because he didn’t want her to think he was just looking for sex. He told himself that waiting until she was ready would be worth it, because he didn’t just want her body in his bed, he wanted her heart, too.
His wolf had tried to convince him that they could have both, but Joss managed to walk away from his mate without doing more than kissing. His wolf had been pissed. Hell, he was still pissed.
But he and Jeanie had spent the last week video chatting every day after she finished work. They texted periodically during the day, and she always seemed to know just when he needed a little note from her.
He strode down the hall to the meeting room underneath the park. He’d called a council meeting, where each alpha and his right-hand male would come together to discuss important matters. It had been a week since he’d met Jeanie, and he was quickly losing the battle to keep all of his secrets to himself. It was fast, but he was in love with her, and he wanted to bring her to the park and show her his shift.
Brent was waiting at the door to the meeting room.
“Everything okay?” Brent asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, it’s just that you haven’t called an alpha meeting before when things were just fine. I feel like you’ve been a hundred miles away this week. And I’m not the only one who noticed.”
Joss stared at his number-two. He hadn’t tried to hide anything from his people, but he also hadn’t told anyone about meeting her. “I’ll explain everything.”
Brent nodded sharply and walked into the meeting room ahead of Joss. The alphas were seated around the long table – Marcus the bear alpha, Atticus the gorilla alpha, Caesar the lion alpha, and Alistair the elephant alpha. Their second-in-command males were standing behind them. Joss nodded at everyone and took his seat, gesturing for Jupiter, Caesar’s number-two, to shut the door.
“Thank you all for coming,” Joss said. “As you know, we had an issue last week on the VIP tour with someone giving their ticket away.”
Joss had written a report about the situation to let the alphas know what occurred.
“We’re certain this hasn’t happened before?” Atticus asked.
“Yes,” Joss said. “The ticket-takers have always checked IDs against the tickets, and until last weekend, they’ve always matched.”
“But you allowed her to go on the tour anyway,” Caesar said.
“Right. While she was over the age limit we’d set in place for the tour, I took her on it myself. And that reason is why I wanted to speak to you all today.” He paused and looked around at the alphas. They were his friends and the males he came to when he needed advice. The alphas were always there for each other, and he trusted they’d be there for him today, too. “The human who took her friend’s ticket and came here is named Jeanie, and she’s my soulmate.”
The alphas’ brows all rose, and the effect would have been comical if the issue at hand hadn’t been so serious.
Alistair was the first to break into a smile. “Congratulations, Joss, that’s wonderful. Fate is a damn funny thing, isn’t it?”
Joss r
elaxed with a smile. “Indeed.”
Atticus, Marcus, and Caesar each congratulated him on finding his soulmate.
Joss glanced at Brent, noticing that the male looked stoic and almost angry. But the male wouldn’t look at him, keeping his head down and his arms crossed over his chest. Making a mental note to speak to the male after the meeting, Joss turned his attention back to the alphas.
“Now,” Joss said, “I wanted to let you all know my good news, and to let you know what I was thinking about in terms of bringing Jeanie into this world.”
“What did you have in mind?” Caesar asked.
“I want to bring her to the park after the tours are finished and take her to the maintenance shed in our paddock. There, I’ll explain about our people and shift for her. My intention is to have a tent set up for us to spend the night together in the paddock, and then assuming all goes well, I’ll bring my pack up Sunday morning to introduce her.”
Marcus cleared his throat. “You know if you show her your shift that she won’t be allowed to leave. If she freaks out, we’ll have to keep her locked up somewhere.”
Joss nodded. The thought occurred to him several times over the last week as he’d thought about the best way to bring her into his world. She was going to learn that there weren’t only humans living on earth. That shifters, who were currently thought of as fairy tales, were actually real.
“I believe she’ll be okay with it. I spoke to Devlin, and the human female soulmates, and every one of them said they felt a connection to their shifter mate that they couldn’t really explain. Once they learned the truth of shifters, it all clicked into place, and they understood the need for secrecy. I wouldn’t do anything to endanger our people.”
“We know,” Atticus said. “It actually makes sense now that I know you’ve found your soulmate. You’ve been acting quite different this last week. Downright happy.”
Joss snorted. “I am. For the first time in I don’t know how long.”
“We always knew that it was a possibility that an alpha’s soulmate might be found among the humans on the VIP tours, so it’s not surprising, really, that after a year, one of us has finally found our other half,” Caesar said. “I’m happy for you. I think the question is whether your pack will be okay with a human alpha female.”
“It shouldn’t matter,” Marcus said. “An alpha’s soulmate is no different than anyone else’s soulmate.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Joss said. “Caesar’s not wrong. It’s crossed my mind that while the pack may be fine with human soulmates for their members, having a human alpha female is an entirely different thing. The truth is that I don’t know. There’s nothing in our pack laws that state a human can’t become a soulmate for a member, and membership in the pack is up to the alpha.” Joss stopped speaking and looked at Brent, who was still not making eye contact with him. “It’s why I want to share my shifting nature with her, then mate and mark her before I introduce her to the pack. Once she’s mine in truth, no one can say anything against her. She’ll be alpha female, period.”
“You might have some push-back,” Atticus said. “But I think it’s smart to have her mated and marked first. Then there’s no denying what she is to you. Assuming, of course, that she doesn’t flip out at discovering the truth of shifters and try to run away.”
Joss certainly hoped that she wouldn’t. And he didn’t think she would. She was smart and curious, and even though they hadn’t spent a ton of time together in person, he felt like he’d known her for a long time.
“You’re going to have some people with you when you do this?” Caesar asked.
Joss nodded. “I was thinking about Jenni and Devlin, and Auden and Jess.”
Auden was one of his pack members and mated to an owl shifter. He hadn’t told any of his pack members about Jeanie, but he knew he could trust Auden.
“I’ll make sure Jenni and Devlin are available,” Caesar said.
“Thanks.”
Each alpha and his second-in-command wished him luck before leaving the room. When it was just Joss and Brent, the young male finally looked at Joss.
“You have something to say,” Joss said. A statement, not a question.
“You’re going to have a problem if you choose to mate a human.”
“Our entire VIP tour program is based on our people finding their soulmates in humans, so why would you believe that anyone would care?”
“Because you’re the most powerful male in the pack.” Brent moved to the table, planting his hands on the top of one of the leather chairs. His knuckles cracked as he squeezed the material. “Your mate is powerful through you. She would wield the power of the alpha position.”
“I know that.”
“She knows nothing about us. How could she possibly be the alpha female? How could you be okay with bringing a weak human into our midst and giving her the authority to rule over our lives?”
Joss let out a growl and rose slowly to his feet, his wolf out and furious at the male’s insolent tone. “I think you’re the one with the problem.”
Brent leaned back a little, his eyes flashing amber. “Humans can’t be alphas. Period.”
“She’s my soulmate.”
“Then step down.”
“Not until I’m good and ready.”
“You’re inviting problems into the pack by mating a human. Who the hell cares if a random pack member finds his or her soulmate, but the alpha? Hell no. I won’t come against you, but if someone calls you out in a battle, I’m not going to step between you either.”
“Let anyone come against me, and I’ll swiftly remind them why I’m alpha. I didn’t get the position because I’m nice, I won it by blood.” He moved so fast he startled Brent, slamming him against the wall by his throat. “I’m better than you. Bigger than you. Older and wiser. You will stand with me as my second, or I’ll remove you from the position.”
Brent bared fangs at Joss. He squeezed his throat a little tighter, restricting the airflow.
With an unhappy grunt, Brent tilted his head as much as he could and cast his gaze down to the floor in submission. Joss released his grip and folded his arms. “You’re not some young pup who doesn’t know any better. I’m the alpha. I’m the law. If you don’t like it, you can leave, but neither you nor anyone else will stop me from making Jeanie my mate in truth.”
Brent rubbed his throat. “I’m being realistic. Tell me if your human could take the life of someone she loved in the name of keeping our people safe. The way that you took Jesse’s.”
“I wouldn’t put her in that position.”
“If there was no choice, would she stand by you while you snuffed out the life of someone she cared about? Humans don’t think about things the way we do. She couldn’t possibly understand, and that will be your downfall. I’ll stand by you because you’re right – you’re the law. But you’re asking for a coup, and I’m not interested in dying because you’ve got a hard-on for a human.”
Before Joss could answer, the young male was out the door, leaving him staring into the empty hallway.
Joss was pissed, but just like the alphas had suggested, it was possible that some of his people might balk at a human soulmate because he was alpha. In the end it didn’t matter. He was going to mate Jeanie and bring her into his life. He’d teach her everything about shifters, and he’d be damned if he’d ever put her in a position where she’d have to make a life or death choice like he did.
He left the conference room and walked to the finance offices to speak to Devlin, texting Auden along the way to let him know he’d be coming to speak to him and his mate shortly. He looked at his screen. He needed to pick Jeanie up in three hours, which meant he didn’t have much time to get everything ready.
Tonight, he’d show Jeanie who he really was.
He just hoped to hell she didn’t freak out.
Chapter Seven
Jeanie looked out the window of the SUV as Joss pulled down an access road at one side o
f the park. The sun was setting, the dark night sky descending as the sun disappeared. He said he had a special night planned for them, and she’d dressed casually in her favorite pair of jeans and a short-sleeved shirt. As they neared a guard booth, a man inside waved them through.
“So are you going to tell me what we’re doing here yet? You’ve been so quiet.”
“Sorry,” he said, pulling into a parking spot between several other identical SUVs. “I have something to share with you, but I want to get where we’re going first and then tell you.”
“Okay. I like surprises.”
“Good.”
He turned off the engine and they got out. He met her at the back of the SUV and took her hand. “Did I tell you how lovely you look?”
“You might have mentioned it a time or two,” she said with a smile.
They walked to a gate and he used a code to unlock it. It opened slowly, creaking loudly. Two men approached wearing park uniforms.
“Are we all clear?” Joss asked.
“Yes, sir,” one said. They both nodded at Joss and continued past them.
She and Joss walked on a dirt path to a locked gate, where he entered a code to open it. “Oh! This is the safari tour path.”
“Yep,” he said. The path was lit by low lights. “This is the service path.”
“What are we doing on it?”
“We’re... going on a picnic.”
“Um, okay?” She laughed as he took her hand once the gate was locked behind them.
“Trust me.”
“I do.”
He looked at her quietly. “I cherish that, Jeanie. Truly.”
She smiled up at him. He bent and kissed her.
As they walked along the path, she said, “It’s pretty deserted.”
“The tour closes at eight. The park is still open until ten, but there won’t be any patrons around us.”
She recognized the different paddocks along the tour, but aside from the one that contained deer, antelope, giraffe, rhinos, and the moose named Tank, they all appeared empty.