“Yes.”
“Huh.” She pursed her lips. “Right. And you already said there werewolves?”
“Yes, and coyotes.”
“Of course coyotes.” As if the coyotes wouldn’t be part of the big secret party. She pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn’t often suffer from migraines, but this situation might bring one on. “Moose?”
“A few.”
“Marmots?”
“Not any I am aware of,” he said lying on the floor next to her.
“Rams?”
“Yes, but they are really stupid.”
She turned to him. “Seriously?”
Their eyes met, and he smiled. “Seriously.”
“Beavers.”
“No, but I’ve heard rumors of otters.”
Returning her focus to the ceiling, she asked, “I assume bison.”
“Definitely.” After a moment, he added, “We aren’t as different from you as you might think.”
“Except for turning into animals.”
“Except that part.”
They lay side by side in silence. He had a way of knowing what she needed before she needed it. Never in all her life had she imagined she would be having this kind of conversation. She hadn’t known what he had to tell her tonight. Perhaps that he had grandchildren. Had a breeder fetish. Lived in the park because he hid from the FBI. Anything would have seemed more plausible than that he could change into an animal.
So many questions ran through her scattered brain, she decided on the first one to come to her. “What kind of bear?”
“Excuse me?”
“What kind of bear is Brutus?”
“Grizzly.”
“Now that makes a heck of a lot of sense.” He behaved much like a bear sometimes. “Is Quinn a bear now?”
“Quinn will forever be human but, yes, before your brain gets moving, their son and any other children will all be shifters, too.”
“Oh.” Minutes turned to hours, the sun set, and the moon glowed, casting a soft light over the two of them lying on the floor of his office. At one point he made the brave move to take her hand, and she didn’t fight the contact. “You could have kept all this a secret. You could have slept with me and never told me a thing.”
“My kind is not into deception where we can help it. For obvious reasons, we don’t let the world know about us, but I cannot lie to my mate.”
“Why do I feel there is another great reveal about to happen?” How much more did he expect her to take in one night? The world she knew, hell, the park she thought she knew, swarmed with half human half animals, and now she would forever wonder if an animal was simply an animal. Or if a man was only a man.
“My people, the elk, are blessed with two mates, call them soul mates. These are the persons our souls search for. They are the ones we can procreate with. We can wait for years for them to come into our lives, sometimes centuries.”
“Did you say centuries, as in hundreds of years?”
“I did.”
Sitting straight up, she turned on him. “Did you think you could simply sneak centuries in?”
He sat up and cupped her face. “Do you think I haven’t wanted to tell you everything? Mate or not, I cannot risk the safety of my people. Telling you about us is a risk, one some of my people are not too happy about. But I’ve watched you protect those I call family for a year. You’ve watched our young and cared for them. Those are the attributes my people need from their alpha’s mate.”
“You’re in charge of all the shifters.”
“Can we move over to the sofa if we are going to have this conversation?” He didn’t wait for her to respond. Once on his feet, he picked her up, brought her over to the sofa, and positioned her on his lap. She would have fought, but his touch eased her. “I’m not in charge of all the shifters. I am the leader of the elk. I also act as guardian of our animal counterparts.”
“So, I’m your mate, and the only way you can have more children? Is this why you are interested in me?”
“No. My kind is not monogamous.” When she would have gotten off his lap, he held her tight to him. “We are polyamorous. Each male is granted two mates. Usually at the same time. Had my mate still been alive, both of us would have felt the desire to mate with you.”
“Together?”
“Perhaps.” His fingers through her hair eased some of her tension. “Unlike bears, bison, hell all the other shifters, bulls among my people are rare. The females have to wait a long time to find a mate. I think the fates knew this and allowed us two mates so more women could have children.”
“So, are you telling me you have a lot more girls than the boys who work in the park?”
“Our women give birth to girls three times as often as boys. My mate had two boys and eight girls.”
“You have ten children?” Her voice cracked.
“Over a hundred year time period. Liesel and I had been mated for one hundred and twelve years when a hunter’s bullet took her seventy years ago.”
“But I’ll age, grow old. How will this work?”
“Unlike other shifters, we bond but don’t intertwine our life forces…You’re confused. Okay. When Brutus and Quinn mated, their lives became one. She stopped aging, and their hearts now beat at the same speed and rhythm. She will age with him, and they will die within a short period of each other. Possibly hundreds of years from now.”
“But you didn’t die when your wife did.”
“No. Because there are two mates for every male, we don’t interlock our life force. I’m not sure we could. Our men go weeks without coming back to the herd, and most females prefer those absences. Quinn can’t go more than a day without being with her mate and vice versa. She needs to touch him, to connect to him, to feel secure. He needs her presence in the same way.”
“I still don’t understand why you just didn’t keep it all a secret.”
“Because when we make love, we become mates. The moment we connect intimately, we become one.”
“You let me go once. Did you know last year I was your mate?”
He nodded.
“And you did nothing.”
“You approached me. Everything changed when you did.”
“You came to the restaurant.”
“Because I couldn’t stay away. But I had no intention of talking to you.” His eyes flared with passion and frustration. “You can walk away. I can get you relocated to another area. Only my sons and the Mammoth herd know who you are. They will keep it to themselves should I ask them to. You’re lucky to have an elk mate. If you were mated to a bear or wolf, your scent would have brought out every shifter wanting a mate for miles.”
Lucky? Right this minute, lucky didn’t quite say it. “I guess it’s something.”
“I’m trying to tell you before you hear rumors. You, unlike Quinn, are free to leave me and live your life.”
“And if I want to stay?” Every time he mentioned her leaving, her lungs seized.
“We would need to work out the logistics, but it is completely your choice.”
“Until we have sex.”
“Yes. The fates will take our coupling as your agreement to mate with me.”
“It’s a great deal to take in.”
“It is.”
He eased back on the sofa, and she curled into his arms. Content in the security of his embrace, she closed her eyes. Perhaps, in sleep, her life would return to normal, where men were simply men and animals only as they appeared.
Chapter Four
For six days, Jenny avoided Lars. She worked the commons less frequently. When calls came for extra help with bears on the road, she volunteered to go every time. The one afternoon he’d also been on the commons, she’d kept a wide berth. An hour ago, he’d slid a note under her door. If she wanted to be moved, now would be the best time. He would meet with the superintendent along with Brutus Chintok, Otto the black bear alpha, and Darius in the morning. The ram and coyotes’ alphas were invited to
attend this annual meeting, but they never did. They discussed what both sides needed and how best to help the park. He would also ask the others if they would be willing to take on his mate. He suspected Brutus would be the first one to say yes.
The pile of papers on his desk grew larger, while he fought the desire to claim his mate. Nothing kept his focus. When someone knocked, he considered ignoring it, but one of his herd wouldn’t go away if he did. “Come in.”
Clutching the sheet of paper he had slipped under her door, Jenny demanded, “Do you want me to leave?”
“I merely wanted to give you the option.” He stared at her, drinking in her appearance. Blinking, he set his pencil down and indicated the empty seat on the other side of the desk. If he stood, she would get a full view of the cock-stand he fought to contain. “I meet with the park superintendent tomorrow. Should you want a new assignment away from me, tomorrow would be the most convenient time to get it approved.”
“Do. You. Want. Me. To. Leave?” she repeated.
Couldn’t she tell he held on to his sanity by a thread? Through gritted teeth, he answered, “No.”
“You couldn’t prove it by this.” She shook the paper.
“I’m trying to give you space. I’m desperate to give you what you need. Letting you go is detrimental to my sanity.”
“Will you become impotent if I leave?”
The pivot in conversation had him speechless for the moment. “Where did you hear that?”
“Quinn. I went to visit her yesterday. I got a tour of the den, and she helped make sense of everything going on.”
“So it all makes sense now?” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
“More than it did two days ago.”
“And you couldn’t come to me with your questions?”
“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
“You aren’t a woman, and you aren’t human,” she yelled as if he were too dense to hear her any other way. “So is it true?”
“I don’t know? Perhaps. I suspect it is. I had no interest in anyone after Liesel died until I saw you last year.”
“Will there be another mate coming along one day?”
“No, we are granted but two.”
“So, no more.”
“None.”
“Okay.” She walked out the door.
“Okay?” he yelled after her. When he got no response, he jumped to his feet and strode out the door into the hall, spying her walking away. “Okay what?”
Not turning, she waved him off and headed out of the back door, leaving him confused all over again. He stood openmouthed, wondering when he had lost control and doubting he’d ever had it.
“Alpha, you wanted to see me?” From behind him came the voice of his number one beta, Erin. She leaned against the wall, and he didn’t have to ask how long she had been there.
He cast one last glance at the back door and shrugged. “Come on into the office, Erin. I want to talk about security.”
“Has something else happened?” She followed him inside and took the guest chair in front of his desk.
He sat down, too. “It’s a feeling. The other alphas are sensing it. A buzz in the park.”
“The herd is on high alert already.” Erin glanced out the window. “The mothers feel safe on the common, but not behind the inn.”
“How long have they felt this way?”
“A couple of nights.”
“I think we need everyone in human form after dark.”
She nodded. “I’ve made sure the cabins are ready for occupancy.”
Unlike other shifters, the elk women were happiest in animal form. Their offspring could spend the entire summer as elk and only shifted when their mothers demanded they do so. Because of this, the series of small cabins reserved for them could stay empty for weeks. He couldn’t remember the last time they had used them as a herd. The park superintendent had asked about opening his cabins to the public, but every time he had been tempted to do so, the fates played a hand in reminding them they needed shelter.
In the difficult winter months, they migrated with their animal counterparts to the southern parts of the park. Unlike the bears and wolves who had reason to be in the parks off-season in human form, his people did not, forcing them south to prevent raising suspicions. Cabins used by tourists in the summer acted as the perfect place for the children who hadn’t the abilities to control their body heat. They had shelter, and the cabins were inhabited and prevented squatters.
“How do things stand with Ranger Jenny?”
If she would feign ignorance of the earlier exchange, so would he. “When I know, you will. What is the feeling amongst the herd?”
“Some are thrilled, others worried about the logistics of making it work with a human. Some…”
“Logistics?”
“It won’t be easy on her in the winter months. Pregnancy will be dangerous if not planned right. And before you remind me Quinn handled it well, they are stationary. We aren’t. They also have healers, we do…”
“Not. I know. But I have no control over who the fates choose for me.”
“Those who have not found a mate are frustrated. The bears, wolves, bison, and even the rams, all have greater numbers of male than female. So bringing a human woman in makes sense to them. It doesn’t for us.”
“Perhaps she is able to birth sons.”
“Anders argued the same thing. And I’m in agreement.” She stood. “Let me go break the news to the mamas about the cabins. I think they’ll be relieved.”
“I meet with the alphas and the superintendent tomorrow. I’ll request some added security. I have faith in our own to protect us, but we have too many young at the moment.”
“A bit of brawn would be welcome.” She turned at the door. “May I speak freely, Alpha?”
“When have I been able to stop you?” He’s learned long ago his betas were wise women, and he would be foolish to ignore their words, whether of advice or consternation.
“If you want to convince your mate to join us, the bears are not a great choice for information.”
“You believe Quinn would say anything negative against us?”
“No, never, but they are not us. Their ways are not ours, and there is a reason Quinn is mated to a bear, not an elk.”
“Meaning there are reasons Jenny is my chosen and not another shifter’s.”
“Exactly. Think about it. When Brutus marked Quinn as his, but before they mated, the park swarmed with shifters of all kinds trying to convince her to choose them.”
“Well, if Brutus had let them within one hundred yards of her, they might have had a chance.”
She smirked. “He’s heavy-handed. But you laid your claim to Jenny on the hill the other week. Every shifter in the park knows she is your chosen mate, and that you have not mated. Yet not one came to fight you for her attention.”
“Brutus said she held no interest for the bears.”
“Because we are a breed apart, not better or less, but different. So talking to Quinn gives her a skewed view of who we are.”
“I can’t prevent her from talking to her best friend.”
“Nor would we ask you to. We love Quinn, but the answers Jenny is getting aren’t going to necessarily be the correct ones.”
She had a good point. He didn’t know what Quinn had told her, and there were things he didn’t know about the bears and things the bears didn’t know about him. The problem was, he didn’t know what he didn’t know.
“You will figure it out. She is strong, and your young will bring new blood to the herd. Perhaps males.”
“Fates willing.”
“She is on the hill behind the inn.” Erin pointed through the window at the sole figure standing in the distance.
He waited no longer than it took to hear the front door close before exiting out the rear door and running full speed toward his destiny.
She turned as he rounded the hotel, a silhouette of gold
backed by the sun. His breath caught, every step infusing in him the need to be one with her. Fear crossed her beautiful face for a brief second before she squared her shoulders and stood her ground.
Reaching her, he pulled her into his embrace, his lips claiming hers in a kiss speaking louder than words what he wanted and what he hoped for. She met every stroke of his tongue, accepting his challenge and bringing her own. Fingernails bit into his shoulders, her breasts pressed against his chest.
She pulled back and nodded. “Okay.”
“I need you to say it’s more than okay.”
The brilliant blue of her eyes glossed over, and she swallowed hard. “I want to be your mate.”
He took her hands in his. “Come with me.”
Neither spoke as he took a path well hidden from the public. To the west lay an area of woods not as dense as other areas of Yellowstone but enough to hide a series of small cabins. His people might not have caves, but they did have a series of cabins connected by a series of tunnels. The geology in the Mammoth area didn’t allow for deep cellars, so the tunnels acted more as a backdoor escape system.
A twenty minute hike found them on the front step of his personal cabin. He’d rarely come here since the loss of his first mate, but the herd kept his rooms ready for him at all times. “It isn’t much. We don’t spend a great deal of time inside during the summer months.”
She stepped into the large open room, spun around, and declared. “It’s perfect.”
”The omegas made it pretty for you.” Fresh flowers adorned the small dinette table in the kitchen area, the coffee table in front of the love seat, and both nightstands. The small fridge would be stocked as well.
“Where do you spend your time if not here?”
“The herd prefers to sleep out under the stars. This place is ours. You can decorate it as you want.”
“I have a great sleeping bag. And I love sleeping under the stars.”
How he could have questioned the fates’ choice, he didn’t know. “You are perfect for us.”
“Before we mate, I need to know what to expect. What is going to happen?”
“Happen?”
An Alpha’s Second Chance (Shifters of Yellowstone Book 3) Page 4