Joss (Were Zoo Book Nine)

by R. E. Butler

  He hoped.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jeanie waited for Joss to pick her up, ready with a bag he’d told her to pack for the night. She’d offered to drive to the park, but he’d nixed the idea. He’d called in the early afternoon and said he had some concerns over how the pack introduction would go, but that it didn’t change anything about their situation. She was his soulmate, and that meant she was alpha female of the wolves, period.

  The idea still sounded so strange to her. Alphas. Wolves. Packs.

  But she trusted Joss, and if he said it would be fine, then it would be. He was the first alpha to find his soulmate, although he’d explained that the bear alpha Marcus had a soulmate years earlier who’d died, and it was the general belief that shifters only got one soulmate in a lifetime.

  It had been a hard day for her. It was strange, but being away from Joss for the day was difficult. She’d had trouble concentrating, her mind drifting to him constantly. He’d told her that once they were mated, he’d have trouble being away from her, but she was feeling the same difficulty. She’d gone into the diner planning to give Ron two weeks’ notice as she’d discussed with Joss, but instead she told him that it was her last shift and she wouldn’t be back. She explained she’d been given a great job opportunity at the safari park that included living arrangements. Her boss had asked her to reconsider, but he hadn’t been able to make her change her mind. Even if she did feel a little guilty for leaving him in the lurch.

  When Joss had texted to say he was on the way to pick her up, Jeanie knocked on Glennis’s door, but she hadn’t been home. She’d left a message for her explaining she was moving in with her new boyfriend and would be paying out the rest of her month’s lease and moving out immediately. Once her bag was packed, she sat on the couch in the family room, waiting for Joss.

  An odd feeling came over her. She could feel Joss coming near.

  She opened the front door, smiling when she saw him getting out of an SUV.

  He jogged up the sidewalk and lifted her off her feet, carrying her inside and kicking the door shut. Before she could say anything, they were kissing, and he was holding her tightly against him. A few breathless minutes later, he put her gently on the floor and smiled down at her.

  “Hi.”

  She giggled. “Hi. I missed you.”

  “I definitely missed you.”

  She told him that she’d felt him close by before she’d known he’d arrived.

  “Because we’re soulmates,” he said. “Even though you’re human, our connection is strong enough that you can sense me. It’s pretty damn cool.”

  “I thought so, too.”

  He picked up her bag and they left, heading to the park.

  She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. “Wow, you’re tense. It’s like leaning against a brick wall.”

  He rolled his neck. “Sorry, sweetheart. My wolf drove me nuts all day.”

  “Because we weren’t together?”

  “Yes.”

  “And?” She felt like it wasn’t just that he’d missed her.

  He rested his head against hers for a moment and sighed, then straightened. “When I spoke to the high ranked males and elders after I dropped you off earlier, they weren’t as supportive as I expected.”

  “Because I’m human.”

  He grunted in agreement.

  She chewed her bottom lip and looked out the windshield for a few moments, the scenery blurring by. “What does it mean, then?”

  “I’m going to announce you tonight to the pack when we get to the park. We’re mated and you’re wearing my mark. Nothing anyone can do or say will change that, all right?”

  She could feel him waiting for her response. Shifters were so different than humans.

  “Okay. What will happen after the announcement?”

  “I’ll set up a date for our mating ceremony. It can be as soon as tomorrow night if you’d like.”

  She hummed and rubbed her cheek on his shoulder, hooking her arm through his and spreading her fingers on his forearm. “I mean what’s really going to happen?”

  “If someone has a problem with me taking you as my mate because you’re human and they don’t want a human alpha female, then they can challenge me for leadership of the pack.”

  “Challenge means fight, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you ignore the challenge?”

  “No. The laws are pretty specific about when someone can challenge an alpha and among them are when he chooses a mate or finds his soulmate. If someone’s been wanting to challenge me and have been waiting for the right opportunity, now is the time.”

  She thought it was absurd that anyone in the pack would believe he wasn’t a good alpha anymore simply because she was human. He was following his heart. Wasn’t that what good leaders did?

  “I find this super frustrating,” she said.

  He chuckled mirthlessly. “I know, sweetheart. It’s not how I want things to go, but if it does, I’ll deal with it.”

  “We’ll deal with it,” she reminded him.

  He glanced at her and nodded, his eyes simmering with emotion. “I don’t want you to be scared by anything anyone says or does. I’m alpha for a reason. If I have to fight, I will win. But even if something were to happen, if by some slim chance I were to lose the challenge, you and I would still be able to be together. They can take the alphaship away from me, but they can’t separate us.”

  A little frisson of fear worked up her spine. Joss was anticipating a fight in her honor. He’d told her that he almost killed his brother because he wouldn’t submit during their challenge. What if whoever challenged Joss didn’t offer a way out? What if he wanted to kill Joss to take over?

  Joss pulled over suddenly and pressed the button to activate the hazard lights. She sat up in surprise, her mouth open to ask him what was wrong. But then he turned to face her, his eyes glowing amber. “Don’t be frightened.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Don’t be scared about meeting the pack. You won’t be harmed. If I must battle tonight, I’ll do it for you and for me. I was born to be alpha, but now that you’re in my life, I would gladly walk away from everything for you.”

  “I don’t want you to lose anything because of me.” Emotion welled within her, her mouth going salty and her eyes stinging.

  Joss cupped her face. “You’re worth the world to me, Jeanie. I don’t plan to lose the alphaship, but if I do, I’ll still count myself the luckiest male on the planet for having found you. You’re everything. Don’t doubt that.”

  “This isn’t like anything I’ve ever been a part of. I feel like a liability.”

  “You’re not. You make me want to be a better male. The pack would be lucky to have you as an alpha female. You’ll balance my rougher edges.”

  She laughed and tears trickled down her cheeks, which he gently wiped away. Giving her a kiss, he said, “Trust in me to keep us both safe, sweetheart.”

  “I will.”

  After another kiss, he pulled back onto the road and they continued their journey to the park. He parked the SUV and they entered through the employee gate, walking toward the employee cafeteria. She’d only been in the paddock and the cafeteria, but he’d explained the pack lived underground in a private area, as did the other shifter groups in the park. It amazed her that so many different groups of shifters lived and worked together, and humans were none the wiser. Aside from wolves, there were elephant, lion, bear, and gorilla shifters, plus three shifter mates who were unique – an owl, a black panther, and a red fox. There were five human soulmates – two for lions, two for gorillas, and one for a bear. She was thankful not to be the only human among all the shifters.

  Joss entered a code at a door at the back of the cafeteria and they walked into a hall where he entered another code that opened into a stairwell leading down. At the bottom of those stairs was another security door and a code.
<
br />   “You guys take security pretty seriously around here,” she mused as he pulled the door open and let her walk by.

  “We have to. It would be devastating to our people if humans found out about us.”

  “Are there other things out there besides shifters?” she asked.

  “Things?” He arched his brow as he looked down at her.

  “You know what I mean. I read a paranormal romance book once about a witch. So are there witches and other paranormal people out there?”

  “There’s a lot more out there than what we know about, for sure,” he said. “There are people who have special abilities like telekinesis or who have magical powers. There are fairies out in the world as well, but like shifters, they stay away from humans and keep to their own kind.”

  “Do you think there are aliens?”

  He snorted. “If there are, I’ve never met one.”

  “It would be pretty neat to meet a fairy. But I’m partial to wolves.”

  He growled softly and smiled at her again. His head snapped up and he stopped, putting his arm in front of Jeanie and taking a step to put himself in front of her. Ahead of them, blocking the long hallway, were two older men.

  One of them put his hands up. “We’re not here to cause trouble, Alpha. We were alerted you arrived and were waiting for you.”

  Joss relaxed fractionally, his arm dropping to his side. “Why are you waiting?”

  “Because we wanted to meet your soulmate,” the other said. He smiled at Jeanie. “I’m Vance, one of the pack elders.”

  The other man smiled at her as well, but there was something off about the way he smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m Amos, also an elder.”

  Joss said, “This is Jeanie Moon, my soulmate.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.”

  Vance inclined his head. “For us as well. Joss has been alone for a long time. It’s good for males to find their soulmates. Makes us feel whole.”

  “The pack’s waiting for you,” Amos said, reaching for the door.

  Joss looked down at Jeanie and mouthed, “Are you ready?”

  She nodded. Pushing the nerves away as much as she could, she plastered a smile on her face and took Joss’s hand. Inside, she stifled a gasp as she looked around the huge room with walls and ceiling painted like the forest, and rock-covered homes that looked like dens. One of the homes was Joss’s, where she’d be moving in with him tonight.

  Joss had told her there were over fifty members of the pack, from the youngest at eighteen to the elders who were in their seventies. There were three unmated wolf ladies in the pack, and many of the men weren’t mated. Everyone watched them in silence as they approached, the elders joining the pack and leaving Joss and Jeanie to stand alone.

  Clearing his throat, Joss said, “I know most, if not all of you, have heard that I found my soulmate at the VIP tour. Her name is Jeanie Moon, and she’s human.”

  There was a murmur throughout the pack, but Jeanie couldn’t make out any words.

  Joss lifted his hand and the pack quieted. “I’ve already mated and marked her, which makes her my alpha mate and your alpha female. I want you to welcome her to the pack and treat her as you would any other soulmate – with honor and respect.”

  Jeanie’s cheeks were heating. She hadn’t ever felt so many eyes on her before. Joss gave her hand a squeeze and she looked up at him, finding him smiling in encouragement at her.

  “Hi everyone,” she said, clearing her throat when her voice wavered slightly. “I look forward to getting to know you all.”

  A couple stepped forward, and the woman hugged Jeanie. “I’m so happy to meet you! Our alpha has been alone for far too long. It makes males grumbly when they don’t have someone to love and support them.”

  “Hey!” the man said next to her.

  Jeanie chuckled as the woman took a step back. “I’m Anke and this is my mate, Zeger. We work in the marketplace at a small shop. You can get anything you need from us – clothes, accessories, toiletries, even a cell phone. Just stop by anytime or call.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Jeanie said. “Thank you so much.”

  Once Anke and Zeger had broken the ice and came forward, the rest of the pack followed suit, and Jeanie was shaking hands and getting hugs from women, and being congratulated on mating the alpha.

  “When will your mating ceremony be?” Jess asked as she came with Auden and gave Jeanie a hug.

  “We were thinking tomorrow night,” Jeanie said. Joss nodded in approval.

  “Wonderful!” Anke said, clapping her hands. “Alpha, we’ll handle everything. If you can manage to be without your lovely soulmate for an hour.”

  “An hour?” Jeanie asked.

  A woman who identified herself as Auden’s mother Delilah grinned. “The alpha has some special things to do ahead of the mating ceremony. It’s tradition for the female to be with her family before the mating ceremony, but as you’re human we’ll happily stand in for you.”

  “Definitely,” Jess said, smiling.

  Jeanie fielded questions from several of the women as Joss spoke to the high-ranked men.

  Jess leaned in and said softly, “Only the males are ranked in the pack. They start off as unranked males when they first shift and then they fight their way up through the ranks.”

  Jeanie smiled in thanks, her shoulders drooping in relief at the warm welcome. She caught Joss’s gaze and smiled at him, and he nodded with a wink.

  Nearly two hours later, after she’d met everyone in the pack and spent time with several of the ladies discussing the plans for the mating ceremony including what her favorite foods were, Joss picked up her bag and took her to one of the small homes. He opened the door but didn’t let her cross through. He shouldered her bag and lifted her into his arms.

  “I think this is the human way to enter a couple’s home on their first night, yes?” he asked.

  Her stomach flipped at his sweetly chivalrous move. “Definitely.”

  He carried her through the door, kicking it shut and stopping to drop her bag and twist the lock on the handle. He carried her into a bedroom, setting her gently on the bed and clicking on a small lamp on the nearby nightstand. He straightened and looked down at her, cupping her face with his large, warm hand.

  “Sweetheart,” he said, his voice low and growly. “I love you. Not because my wolf is crazy about you. Not because I believe you and I were destined to be together. But because you’re amazing. You’re sweet and honest, kind and funny. And so, so beautiful. We’re already mates, but I want you to be my wife, too. I’ll ask you properly and get you a ring, but I didn’t want a moment to pass by without you knowing that I’m one hundred percent yours, all the way to the center of my being.”

  She let out a shaky breath, her heart fluttering. “I love you too, Joss.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Joss swung the ax, neatly severing the log into two pieces. He picked up the smaller section and tossed it toward the pile for the bonfire later that night, then lifted the ax a second time, splitting the larger piece in two. He set the ax down and tossed the pieces to the side, where Auden and Alfie were setting them on the stack. It was tradition for the male to prepare the wood for the bonfire that would be lit before the ceremony, because it was believed that the longer the fire burned, the better the mating would be.

  Normally, the pack only celebrated matings on the full moon, but because Joss was alpha and Jeanie was human, he’d wanted to move the ceremony date up as soon as possible. He’d had concerns about delaying the ceremony for the full moon, judging by how his high-ranked males and the elders had acted when he’d told them about Jeanie. But then the pack had really seemed to rally around them the night before. Most seemed genuinely happy he’d found his soulmate, and although there were some who appeared to be wary of having a human alpha female, everyone had been kind to her, and that’s what he cared about.

  He hadn’t wanted to get into a battle last night, but he’d bee
n prepared to defend his position and his mate. While he was thankful that he hadn’t needed to shed blood in front of Jeanie, he couldn’t help but feel as though something was off. A few of the males – particularly Brent and his father Vance – seemed disingenuous, as if their congratulations weren’t honest. He hadn’t shared the concern with Jeanie because he hadn’t wanted her to worry. She had enough to do taking a crash course in pack law thanks to Anke and Delilah. The two females had been happy to help Jeanie learn about the mating ceremony and as much about pack life and the wolves as they could fit into the afternoon. The three females were sitting in the shade of the barn on a red gingham blanket and talking quietly, three of the law books spread out in front of them.

  “She’s really eager to learn,” Auden said, brushing off his hands. “That’s going a long way with the pack.”

  “I think so, too,” Joss said. He looked at the young male. “Have you heard anything about her or the mating ceremony?”

  Auden shook his head. “Nothing bad. My parents said it was about time you found your soulmate. I think you finding your soulmate through that VIP tour has helped our people feel a little better about the tours.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, no wolves have yet found a soulmate through the tours. Hell, only two humans who are soulmates have actually come through.”

  Alfie joined them. “To be honest, I’ve been feeling the same way. We put in hours of time and tons of work for the tours and only two soulmates have been found. It’s... disheartening.”

  “I get it,” Joss said. “I think all the alphas believed it would bring in more soulmates than it has. For sure I did. We did just send out another round of the coupons, though, so hopefully that will encourage more people to come into the park. I’d love for all our unmated males and females to find their soulmate.”