Kelley (Were Zoo Book Six) Read online

  “Relying on the kindness of strangers, right?”

  She smiled. “Yeah.”

  “You came to the right place, Rhapsody. My elephant has been acting up all day. The moment I locked eyes with you I knew you were my soulmate.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I need to get dressed.” He turned to the work table where his clothes were laying.

  “I like the view,” she quipped. “Do you have to cover up?”

  His cock, which had gone shamelessly hard the moment she’d been in his arms, bobbed against his abdomen, and his sexy mate licked her lips. “We have to meet the security team downstairs. Then we can go to my place.”

  The sexy gleam faded from her eyes. “Am I in trouble?”

  “Why would you be in trouble?” He tugged jeans on, shoving his protesting cock into the denim and trying to stifle the uncomfortable groan.

  “I could have caused problems for you with the humans on the tour. I wasn’t thinking when I climbed the fence, I just did it.”

  He tugged on his shirt and didn’t bother to button it. Picking up her hands, he kissed her fingertips and gave them a squeeze. “Sweetheart, it’s okay. The tours are designed to give plenty of time between each paddock so that in the event something odd happens – like a soulmate being on the tour – we’re not dealing with humans seeing something they shouldn’t. The tour ahead of you wouldn’t be able to see the paddock at all, and the tour behind you hadn’t started yet. The gate at the start of the trail prevents those waiting in line from seeing anything, and the trail itself is designed to keep each paddock private from the other tours.”

  She sighed. “Okay. I’ve spent my whole life keeping my nature secret and the second I was on top of that fence, I knew I could have caused a major problem. If your people are mad at me, I would understand.”

  “No one will be mad,” he said. He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. The truth was that he really didn’t know what the security team or council would say when they heard what had happened.

  “I feel like you don’t believe that.”

  He opened his mouth, closed it, and then sighed. “Truthfully, I don’t know. But you’re a shifter and my soulmate, so they can’t complain too much.”

  She rubbed the space over her heart and a purr rumbled in her chest. “My cat is making all kinds of demands. I didn’t know it would feel like this to find you.”

  He pulled her close and cupped her face. “What? Do you mean the overwhelming urge to find out how you sound when you fall apart? To know if you taste as sweet as you smell? To bury myself in you over and over until you’re well and truly mine?”

  The scent of her arousal spiked in the air and the purr grew louder. “Yes,” she murmured. “Yes, to all of that.”

  “The draw of a soulmate isn’t like anything I ever expected. And I want to make you mine in truth, but first we have to talk to the security team.”

  “Okay.”

  “Then we can talk.”

  “Talk?” she asked as he lifted the door in the floor.

  “Well,” he said with a smile, “eventually.”

  “I love how you think, Kelley.”

  Chapter 5

  Rhapsody followed Kelley down a set of stairs that were underneath a hidden door in the floor of an enormous shed. It took her a moment to realize that the shed needed to be so large because the elephants shifted inside and then moved out into the paddock.

  Kelley shut the door and then took her hand as they walked down the stairs. “Each shifter group has a shed like this in their paddock. It leads directly to their private living quarters underground.”

  “You all live underground?”

  “Yep.”

  “So there are elephants here, and wolves. I met some of the wolves on the tour. What else is here?”

  “Lions, bears, and gorillas.”

  “Wow. I’ve only met wolves before this. How did the zoo get started?”

  “It’s been around for a few decades. Some alphas got together and decided to create a place to live that was safe for their people. The underground city was created first, and then the zoo was built on top of it.”

  “Besides the living quarters, what else is underground?”

  They stopped at a steel security door and he entered a code into a keypad, which unlocked the door. He pulled it open and she walked into a corridor with two more doors. “Some meeting rooms and the marketplace, where we can get meals and order personal items. Two human mates opened up a nail salon, too.”

  She turned to face him. “Human mates?”

  “Yes. There are five humans who live in our zoo, four females and one male.”

  “I didn’t know that shifters were telling humans the truth.”

  “Oh, we’re not broadcasting it at all. It’s still a closely guarded secret. But our people weren’t finding their soulmates for a long time. The alphas decided to try sending out VIP tour coupons to the tri-state area, in the hopes that some of our people might find their other half.”

  “And it worked five times?”

  “Well, no. It worked twice.”

  He led her to one of the two doors and unlocked it with a keypad. “Twice? How long have you been doing the tours?”

  A male cleared his throat and Rhapsody jerked to a stop with a gasp. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she was instantly aware that she was in the presence of an alpha predator. Her nails dug into Kelley’s arm.

  “We’ve been doing the tours for a year,” the male said. “You must be Rhapsody Caine. I’m Caesar, alpha lion.”

  He extended his hand and smiled, and she stared at the offered hand for a long moment before finally convincing herself that it was safe. She’d never been around a predator like Caesar before. Panthers were predators, but they weren’t as intimidating as lions. At least not in her experience. Shaking his hand, she let go of the breath she’d been holding.

  “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “I think we have a lot to discuss,” Caesar said. “If you’d both join us in the council room.”

  Caesar turned and walked down the hallway, and Rhapsody looked up at Kelley. “Everything will be fine, sweetheart,” he murmured. “I’m not going to let anyone separate us or hurt you, okay? This is my home and you’re my soulmate. That means this is your home, too.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment and settled her cat, who was making suggestions to go back the way they came. She opened her eyes. “I’m not used to being around dominant shifters. It’s...strange.”

  “I may not be a big cat, but I’m big enough in my shift to squash a lion, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said with a laugh. “I hope you don’t have to squish anyone on my behalf.”

  “Me, too, but I totally would, okay?”

  She nodded. “The faster we talk to them the faster we can talk ourselves, right?”

  “You got it, sweetheart.”

  They walked down the hall and into a room where Caesar and four other males were waiting.

  “This is Rhapsody Caine,” Caesar said. Then he gestured to the males seated at a large table. “This is alpha wolf, Joss, alpha gorilla, Atticus, and two lions from my pride, Amadeus and Javan.”

  Kelley pulled out a chair for her and she sat down. He joined her and took her hand.

  “First,” Atticus said, “congratulations on finding your soulmate, Kelley.”

  Kelley smiled. “Thanks.”

  “And second,” he continued, “welcome to the Amazing Adventures Safari Park, Rhapsody. I understand that you bought a ticket online? How did you find out about us?”

  She gave Kelley’s hand a little extra squeeze for support and explained that her aunt had told her about the zoo.

  Joss’s eyes narrowed. “How did she hear about it?”

  “From a wolf pack in Bramburg. There was a wolf male who came to work here for a while, found his soulmate in a she-wolf, and then returned to his pack. His mother told my aunt about the zoo.” />
  “That would be Curtis,” Joss said. “He mated Reba.”

  “I remember him,” Caesar said. “I’m concerned that the pack is telling others about our zoo.”

  “But our shifter nature is only secret from humans. Why would it be an issue to tell other shifters?” Rhapsody asked.

  “Because every time you share a secret,” Atticus said, “it becomes less secret. Yes, we would expect that all shifters would continue to keep the secret of our zoo and our nature, but we don’t know the circumstances of their telling your aunt about us. What if humans overheard? What if a disgruntled shifter decided to out us?”

  “I didn’t think about that. For what it’s worth, my aunt and I never told anyone. It wasn’t until she got toward the end of her life that she told me to come here.”

  Joss let out a gruff growl. “We’re sorry for your loss, Rhapsody. It’s better for shifters to be together, there’s safety in numbers.”

  “We’d like to run a background check on you,” Caesar said.

  “Um, why?” she asked.

  “To make sure that there isn’t anything in your past that could cause problems for you or our people. It’s a safety measure. There are a lot of people in the zoo counting on the secret to remain that way.”

  “Okay,” she said. She took her ID from her pocket and her cell and slid them both across the table to the lion alpha. “I have a bank account. My clan’s territory is in my name. My plan was to come here and hopefully figure out the rest of my life, and then sell the territory to the wolf pack. I don’t have anyone I keep in contact with. You can search whatever you need to, to ensure that the zoo is a safe place. Kelley’s here. I wouldn’t want to jeopardize that, even unintentionally.”

  Kelley kissed her temple. “You’re amazing.”

  “I just got you,” she whispered, “I’d be an idiot to protest anyone wanting to make sure we’re all safe here.”

  Atticus chuckled and he picked up her phone and card. “Thank you for your honesty, Rhapsody. Over the years, shifters have come here searching for their soulmate, but you’re the first one to book the tour.”

  “I wasn’t sure what the situation was,” she said. “If there were humans working here, or if your people were even welcoming of strangers. I wanted to check things out first and then approach someone to chat. I never expected to find my soulmate on the tour, but I’m beginning to think that my aunt was a little psychic.”

  “The tours still have a few hours to go,” Joss said, glancing at his watch. “I’m certain you can entertain yourselves until the tours are finished and the rest of the memory comes down to meet you.”

  Rhapsody’s cheeks heated and she barely stifled the interested purr from her cat. Why yes, she could entertain herself and her mate for a lot longer than a few hours, that was for sure.

  The sooner the better.

  “Welcome to the zoo,” Caesar said. “And the family.”

  “Thank you,” Rhapsody said.

  “Thank you for being so gracious,” she said. “It was nice to meet you all.”

  Kelley led her out of the room and into the hall. They walked down the corridor to a door with another keypad lock on it.

  “You’re very careful about security,” she said as he unlocked it.

  “We have to be. There are humans here every day wandering around above us. It would be foolish to be careless. There are two ways up to the surface – through the shed and into the employee cafeteria. The cafeteria is locked as well, so you’ll need to be with me or another shifter until you’re cleared to get the code yourself.”

  “Okay, I’ll just stick with you.”

  “I’d hoped you would. Although,” he shut the door behind them and turned to face her, “the elephants take care of the normal animals in the zoo. We have a moose, giraffes, and a few others.”

  “Would I be able to help?”

  “I’m wondering if they would balk at you because you’re a predator.”

  ‘Oh,” she said, frowning. “That would suck. But I can do other stuff maybe? I want to be valuable to the zoo, so they don’t mind me being here. I didn’t come to be a mooch.”

  “There’s that word again,” he said, giving her chin a tweak between his thumb and forefinger. “You’re not a mooch and I promise no one would think that of you. There’s lots to do in the zoo, and you can help with the animals without going into their paddocks. But I don’t want you to worry about that right now, okay? You’re here with me and that’s all that matters.”

  She rose onto her toes and kissed him. This kiss, unlike the one in the shed, was slow and sweet, a passionate meeting of their lips and tongues, as he drew her against him and held her tightly.

  He pulled from the kiss and lifted her into his arms and walked toward a row of small homes. She looked around the room, surprised to see the walls and ceiling painted to look like the savannah.

  “This is amazing,” she said. “It’s almost like you’re outside.”

  “Almost,” he said as he stepped onto the porch of one home. He held her with one hand and twisted the knob, pushing the door open. “Each shifter group has their own living space underground. We don’t share the door codes with the other groups.”

  “There aren’t mixed matings? Like lions and wolves?”

  He set her down inside the house, shut the door, and twisted the lock.

  “No. It’s not frowned upon or anything, but if there were soulmates at the zoo, they’d be mated by this point.”

  She hummed.

  He cleared his throat. “Let me give you the grand tour.”

  With an exaggerated flourish of his hand, he waved to the room they were in. “This is the family room. I don’t want to brag but I picked out the couch myself.”

  The black leather couch was enormous, and the room had a very man-cave vibe to it. A flat-screen TV hung on the wall above an electric fireplace.

  She touched the arm of the couch, marveling at the soft leather. “This is nice.”

  “It’s not very girly,” he said, frowning as he looked around.

  “Why would it be?”

  “I guess it shouldn’t, but I feel like it should be nicer.”

  “It’s great, Kelley, I promise.”

  “Well, we can go shopping together for new things.” He showed her the kitchen, explaining that he didn’t do much cooking and took most of his meals either in the employee cafeteria or the market. “Do you like to cook?”

  “Yep. I’m not much of a baker, though,” she said.

  “We have a candy shop in the zoo now, and also the bears handle the food prep for the zoo, cafeteria, and market, and they’re really great.”

  The house had three bedrooms. One was empty, one had weights and exercise equipment, and the third was the master suite, which had a large bathroom. She stepped into the master bedroom and smiled at the large bed. The sleigh bed was made of cherry, and the bed was covered with a navy comforter.

  “Can I get you something to drink or eat?” he asked.

  She stared at the bed and thought about how fast things were going. She’d met him an hour ago, and already she was in his house and in his bedroom. She looked at him, and found him smiling sweetly and curiously. In her heart she trusted him already. She knew if she said she wanted to go back to the family room and get to know him better that he would do that for her. But despite how quickly they were moving forward, she couldn’t deny the bone-deep need that filled her. She wanted Kelley. She wanted to mate him and mark him, and be his mate forever.

  They could talk later.

  They had the rest of their lives, after all.

  Chapter 6

  Kelley waited for Rhapsody to answer his question. She was staring at the bed as if it contained some secret. He couldn’t really read her expression, and he wished he was a little psychic right then, so he would know what she was feeling.

  She turned to face him. “I don’t need anything right now but you.”

  She punctuated her
words with a purr, and his elephant murmured in interest, urging him to her.

  She stared up at him as he closed the distance between them. “You’re so sexy,” she whispered.

  “You are too, sweetheart,” he said. He brushed her hair off her shoulders and rested his hands on her skin, his thumbs rubbing her neck lightly. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  “I don’t want to wait,” she said.

  “Wait for what?”

  “Mating. My cat is banging around in my skull, but more than that, I need you. I can’t explain it, but I just do. I want to be with you right now. If you want that.”

  “I want whatever you’re comfortable with. We’re mates, and nothing is going to change that. If you wanted to talk, I’d be okay with that, too.”

  “We can talk later,” she said, the last word ending on a purr that was deep enough to make his cock twitch and rub against his fly.

  “That works for me,” he said with a grin.

  She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and kissed his collarbone. “I want to mark you. Is that okay?”

  Her teeth scraped over his skin and he groaned. “Yes. Whatever you need or want is yours.”

  She licked a slow path up his shoulder and to his neck and bit gently on his throat. “Do you want to bite me?”

  “Elephants don’t mark their mates.

  She lifted from him and said, “Then what do you do?”

  “Just this,” he said. “My elephant just needs us to make love and then we’ll be fully bonded. No biting or anything.”

  “I guess that’s a predator thing?”

  “Maybe. Do you want me to bite you?”

  She tugged his shirt off completely and dropped it. “Only if you want to. My cat wants to see a physical mark on you. If your beast doesn’t have to mark me, that’s cool.”

  He cupped her face. “I want your cat to be happy.”

  “I am. Trust me.”

  “Me, too.”

  He kissed her, brushing his lips against hers. She opened with a purr and he stroked his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues moved together, sliding and tasting, and he could feel the scrape of her fangs as he deepened the kiss. She slid her hands to his back, moving them slowly and firmly down, curving around his waist and griping the waistband of his jeans.