by R. E. Butler
“It’s true,” Crew said. “If you step down as alpha, one of us would have to step into leadership. It couldn’t be Khyle, because our stallions won’t follow someone who flaunts the rules like that. I don’t know who among us would be alpha, but if it were me, I’d want Khyle gone anyway. As harsh as that sounds. If he’s not part of our herd, though, we can still stay together, and he can work with us. He just needs to find another place to call home.”
“I can’t be alpha anymore,” Dexter said, shaking his head. “Khyle leaving doesn’t change that.”
“Maybe not,” Grey said, “but we can still stay together. You exile Khyle, and as your last act as alpha, you recuse yourself. The four of us will be a herd, we’ll move into the farm, and you can use it to shift with us and we’ll still work for you. Nothing else has to change.”
“But Khyle won’t be in the herd anymore,” Dani said.
Neo cleared his throat. “But he’s my family now, too. There’s a paddock of normal animals. We could easily bring a stallion into the mix. As far as living arrangements, that’s something the alphas would have to decide, but I’m sure we can find a place for him. When the apartment complex is finished, he could stay there maybe, and then he could work somewhere in the park.”
Khyle looked relieved. “Thanks, man.”
Neo nodded. “Dexter, I’m not alpha and I have no idea what you’re dealing with. But it seems like what your stallions are suggesting is what would work best for everyone.”
Dexter let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. He lifted his head and looked at each of his stallions. “Are you certain about this course of action?”
“We’re sure,” Avi said.
“Then let’s go to the farm.” He stood and looked at Neo and Dani. “Thank you for your help and support, but this is as far as you can go.”
“Stallion business,” Dani said. “We get it.”
She rose to her feet and hugged her dad, then hugged each of the stallions, ending with Khyle. “We’ll talk to the alphas and let you know what they say.”
“Thanks, Sis.”
Khyle nodded at Neo, then followed his father and the others out of the house.
“Well,” her mother said. “That didn’t go at all how I thought it would. But it sounds like it’s all going to work out. Do you really think the alphas will let him live and work there?”
“I don’t see why not.”
They stayed at the house for nearly two hours, waiting until Dexter returned. When he arrived, Khyle and the others weren’t with him. They’d stayed at the farm to shift one last time.
“You’re not alpha anymore?” Dani asked.
“Nope,” he said. “It’s strange but also a relief. It’s stressful being a leader. I’m thankful to just be the construction company boss now.”
“And my soulmate, don’t forget,” her mother said with a smile.
“That’s the best job on the planet,” he said. He kissed her mom and then looked at Dani and Neo. “Thanks for coming to support us. It means the world to me now that I can share this part of my life with you, Dani.”
“Me, too.”
They said goodbye a short time later, and on the drive back to the park, Neo got a text from Khyle asking if he could make arrangements to talk to the alphas, and he promised he would. Once they reached the park, Neo parked in the employee lot and took Dani’s hand as they walked through the security gate and headed toward the employee cafeteria.
“It’s been a crazy night,” she said. “I can’t believe how much my life has changed in a short amount of time.”
“You’re okay with everything?” he asked. “It can be overwhelming to learn so many things you thought you knew actually aren’t what they seem.”
He opened the door to the cafeteria, and she stepped inside. “I’m good. In a way I feel like I knew all along that Dexter and Khyle, and the others, were keeping something from me. It was just a thought in the back of my head, but it was there. It must have been hard for them to lie to me.”
“I’m sure it was.”
“I’m glad that we don’t have to keep secrets from each other,” she said.
“Me, too.”
Once they were back in the gorillas’ private area, Neo spoke to Atticus about the situation with Khyle and the stallions, who agreed to discuss it with the alphas. The alphas had never brought in a person in Khyle’s situation into the park to live. Everyone who was living underground was either a soulmate or part of one of the groups. The question Neo thought would be brought up was whether a stallion could pledge his allegiance to an alpha who wasn’t his shifter species, and if he could, who he’d declare fealty to.
He walked into their home, where he’d left Dani so he could speak to Atticus privately, and was surprised that she wasn’t in the family room. They’d talked about watching a movie and relaxing.
“Sweetheart?”
“In here,” she called.
He followed the sound of her voice to the bedroom, his gorilla hooting happily to find her stretched out on the bed wearing her bra and panties, a sultry gleam in her eyes.
“You look like you have wicked things on your mind,” he said, his voice gruff.
“Always,” she said. “Tomorrow you have to go back to work. I wanted to celebrate the last night of our vacation.”
“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” he promised, toeing off his shoes and stalking toward his soulmate. She was everything he’d ever wanted and many things he hadn’t known he’d needed. She fit with him perfectly, and he adored every inch of her. His life had changed forever the moment he’d scented her, and he’d never forget how lucky he was to have her in his life.
Chapter Fourteen
For the last month, Dani had been working around their little house during the day while Neo was in the maintenance shed. Dani had quit her job at Beauty after their honeymoon. While Neo said he was okay with driving her back and forth for work, she didn’t feel right being away from the park and didn’t like the strain she could see it was causing him.
She had loads of free time, so she’d painted the master bedroom, learned how to install new fixtures in the bathroom, and taken some sewing lessons from one of the wolf females on how to make curtains, which she’d hung in the family room. While she loved keeping busy with those projects, she’d also done some makeovers for shifters, taking her makeup with her. She missed working at the cosmetics store, but she was happy to be able to help the few ladies who asked for her expertise to look their best.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Neo said, stopping in the spare bedroom she’d set up for her makeup supplies.
“Hi,” she said, smiling brightly. She swiveled on the padded stool and rose to her feet.
He pulled her close and gave her a hug. “You busy?”
“Never when it comes to you. What’s up?”
“I wanted to go to the market.”
“Oh.”
He gave her a curious look. “Are you disappointed?”
“I honestly thought you meant something sexy. But yeah, I’d love to get out of the house.”
His upper lip curled a little. “Damn it, now I want to do sexy things.”
She giggled. “Later?”
“One hundred percent yes.”
They left the house, and she climbed onto his back. He carried her down, helping her off and onto the floor. She loved the way he could swing her across the steel branches. It almost felt like they were flying.
They walked hand-in-hand to the marketplace. There wasn’t anyone there, and although it was between meals, she was used to seeing people milling around–either the bears working in the kitchen, Anke and Zeger in the little store, or Adriana and Celeste in the nail salon.
Granted, the store run by the wolf couple had been closed for remodeling for the last month, but she’d still seen them around.
“Why’s it so deserted?” she asked.
“Because,” Neo said.
He w
alked up to the store and stopped in front of the tarps that had been hung up to keep the dust out of the cafeteria. She watched him curiously as he gripped the edge of tarp and then met her gaze. She was about to ask him what he was doing when he jerked the tarp down, and the clips that held it up went flying. He moved across the storefront, pulling the tarp as he went, revealing the remodeled store.
Then she gasped.
A sign above an arched doorway read, “Dani’s Cosmetics.”
Neo finished pulling the tarp away, then reached inside the doorway and turned on the light.
The overhead lights illuminated a store between Anke and Zeger’s place and the nail salon, with doorways on each side that led to the other stores. Neo held out his hand and she put hers in it, still too surprised to speak. She followed him inside the small store, with shelf-lined walls, and two makeup stations with padded stools and lighted mirrors.
“So,” Neo said as he led her to one of the makeup stations and pushed gently on her shoulder so she’d sit. “I know how much you love doing makeup, and since you’ve been with me, you’ve done a few makeovers, but it’s not the same as coming to a place every day.”
She stared at him, unable to articulate how sweet she thought his gesture was. She was so overwhelmed she was tongue-tied.
He frowned. “Sweetheart? You can change anything you want. I just went off photos from the cosmetics store where you worked, but you can make it your own. I... shit. You don’t like it?”
Startled, she realized he was mistaking her silence for unhappiness. Launching herself from the stool, she hugged him fiercely, happy tears spilling down her cheeks. “It’s amazing! I love it so much!” She kissed his neck and then his cheek before finding his lips and pressing hers against them.
He pulled from the kiss, one arm banded around her waist and holding her close. He brushed the tears from her cheeks. “You do? Really? You were so quiet.”
“Sorry, I’ve just never had anyone build me a store before.”
He grinned. “I want you to be happy.”
“I am. I mean, I was happy before, but this is over the top.”
He slowly relaxed his hold, and she turned to look around the little shop. She couldn’t believe she had her own store now, with displays to set up and shelves to organize. And makeovers!
“I hope you don’t mind the secret I had to keep. I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“I promise there isn’t a soul on this planet more surprised than me right now.”
She walked around the store and stopped at the makeup stations, flipping on the lighted mirrors. Peering at her reflection, she brushed under her eyes with her fingertips and sniffled with a smile.
“I can’t believe you did this for me,” she said as she straightened.
“You quit the cosmetics store for me, Dani. Even though you weren’t saying it in so many words, I know you were feeling like you didn’t have a purpose. You kept finding projects in the house, but that’s not what you really wanted to do. I’d be an idiot not to see how much you wanted to get back to doing makeup.”
She walked to him and hugged him with a broad smile. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Neo. I love you from the bottom of my heart.”
“I love you, too, sweetheart. You’re my whole world.” He reached to a top shelf and handed her a spiral-bound notebook with a red ribbon on it. She pulled the ribbon and smiled at the gold embossed letters on the caramel-colored leather that read, “Appointments.”
“I think you thought of everything,” she said.
“I tried, believe me.” He chuckled and kissed her. “The only thing I didn’t do was order your supplies. Anke and Zeger can help you with that, or I can take you shopping so you can stock the shelves.”
She let out a deep sigh as she looked around the room, stopping her gaze on her sexy soulmate. “Just when I think I can’t be any happier, you outdo yourself. I can’t believe you did this for me. I’m overwhelmed and excited.”
“I’m glad.”
She rose onto her toes and kissed him. “Did I say thanks?”
“You did.”
“And I told you I love you?”
“You did that, too.”
She rolled her eyes in thought. “Did I tell you I want to go home so we can rock each other’s worlds?”
His gorilla hooted softly. Neo swung her up into his arms and strode toward the doorway, stopping only long enough to turn off the lights. “You didn’t, but I’m so fucking glad you did.”
* * *
Khyle sat in the makeup chair, peering at himself in the lighted mirror.
“What do you think?” Dani asked as she placed the last bottle of coconut face cleanser on a shelf.
“It’s awesome, D.”
“I can tell you’re enamored with the mirrors,” she said with a chuckle. Breaking down the box, she folded it flat and dropped it to the floor with the others.
“Well, I like what I see,” he said. “Can’t help that I’m hot.”
“Ew.”
Khyle laughed. “So when’s your first client?”
Dani blew out a breath. “No one’s signed up yet.”
“It’s only been a couple days since you opened, though. They’ll come.” He nodded sagely, all confidence and bravado. Exactly what she always thought of her brother. He’d left the herd to save it. The herd was now Crew, Ford, Avi, and Grey–who’d moved into the farm and were still working for Dexter and the construction company.
While Khyle still worked at the apartment complex, which was scheduled to be finished soon, he’d moved into the park and lived underground with the gorillas. Because of Dani, Atticus felt it was best for Khyle to be with them instead of with another shifter group. He’d moved into a spare bedroom in August’s house, and the two seemed to be becoming fast friends.
She smiled at her brother. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too. I mean I hate what happened to the herd, but I’m glad the guys are still around. It would suck if they’d had to relocate.”
She hummed. “Dad would’ve missed them. And me, too. They’re family.”
“They’re happy.”
“Have they decided who’s going to be alpha?”
He raised his brows. “Yes and no.”
“What do you mean?”
“They all want to be alpha, so they decided to let fate decide.”
“Fate? Like a coin toss or rock-paper-scissors?”
He snorted so loudly he coughed. “No, D. They’ve decided that whoever finds his soulmate first becomes alpha. They’ll move through the ranks in the same way–the next guy will be the second-in-command and so on. Not that it really matters, there are only four of them, and they’ll most likely make major decisions by voting.”
“You miss being in the herd?”
“Yeah. But I feel good about being here. Even if I do have to hang out with that damn moose.”
Tank–the resident moose, whose nickname was short for “Cantankerous”–was exactly as his name described him. All grumpy, all the time. Because Khyle was a horse shifter, he didn’t really fit in with the other shifters, so he spent time during the VIP tours with the normal animals–giraffe, rhinos, antelope, and Tank in a huge paddock.
“I kinda feel like I was meant to be here, you know?” Khyle said.
“I totally do.”
“Oh, sorry!” A feminine voice said. “I didn’t know you had company.”
Dani looked at the door where a pretty blonde stood. “It’s not company, just my brother.”
“Rude,” Khyle said.
Dani gave him a swat on his shoulder as she walked past him to shake the woman’s hand. “Hi, I’m Dani. Can I help you?”
“My name is Sarah. I was invited to go out dancing with some of the pack, and I thought that maybe you might have time to do my eyes? I can’t ever get the eyeliner to look decent.”
“Oh, I’d love to!” Dani said. She tried to tamp down her enthusiasm, but sh
e couldn’t stop the big grin from spreading across her face.
“Really? That’s awesome, thank you.”
“Come on in and have a seat,” Dani said.
“That’s my cue,” Khyle said.
“You don’t have to leave on my account,” Sarah said.
“It’s nothing against you, I can just smell that the barbecue ribs some of the bears were working on are finally done in the kitchen, and I was told there would be a slab with my name on it.”
“Thanks for stopping by,” Dani said.
“Sure thing, D. See ya.”
He exited the shop, and Dani turned to Sarah. “Just your eyes?”
“Do you have time to do my whole face?”
“Absolutely. When are you leaving?”
“An hour.”
“Is this what you’re wearing?”
Sarah looked down at the simple cotton shirt she’d paired with jeans. “It’s not okay?”
Dani gave her a long look and said, “There’s a perfect top in the shop next door. Come on.”
Anke and Zeger had closed for the night, but Dani had their permission to go into the shop anytime. She took Sarah back to the clothing and found the top she’d considered getting for herself. It was a cute white sweater with slits down the sleeves from shoulder to wrist that were loosely tied closed with ribbon. Sarah took off her shirt and put on the sweater. They walked back into the makeup shop, and Dani stood next to her while she looked at herself in the lighted mirror.
“It’s really pretty,” Sarah said. She tugged self-consciously on the hem of the top that showed a bit of her belly.
“You’ve got a great figure,” Dani said. “Guys love curves.”
“None I know,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Your soulmate will, though.”
Sarah went quiet, and Dani busied herself with first cleaning her face, then applying moisturizer and primer, before matching her skin tone for a light layer of foundation.
“Hey, damn,” Sarah said as Dani applied a silky-feeling translucent powder to her skin.
“Damn good or damn bad?” Dani asked.