Page 28 of Grey
“Oh yeah?”
“Nancy gave her my number and she wanted to ask me about my skincare routine because she’s an esthetician and has a little makeup shop at the park for the shifters. She wanted to put together a welcome-to-the-herd gift basket.”
“That’s sweet.”
“It is, especially since I don’t really have a skincare routine, just whatever appeals to me when I’m out at the store. She also told me more about the park, about the shifters who live and work there, and how she met Neo.”
“It was pretty crazy,” he said.
“So the shifters who are at the park really didn’t know about stallions?”
“To other shifters we smell human, so they wouldn’t have had any inkling about us. If Dani hadn’t gone to the park by herself to do the makeup of the alpha female of the wolf pack, she wouldn’t have met Neo.”
She hummed. “Fate is a funny thing. One small change, one road not taken, and a shifter might never cross paths with their soulmate.”
“Very true.”
“Humans talk a lot about the roads not taken, or the crappy roads that lead to wherever we might be in life, but I think with shifters and soulmates, it’s so much more important than flippantly talking about our pasts and where we are in the present, you know? Shifters can take mates, but they only get one soulmate, right?”
“Yes,” he said. “The alpha wolf, Joss, for example had a mate and she died, but she wasn’t his soulmate. He didn’t meet Jeanie until he was in his forties, and she’s human. Alistair, the alpha elephant, wanted to wait for his soulmate and he just met her right after he turned forty.”
“I bet you’re glad you didn’t have to wait to turn forty to meet me, huh?” she asked.
“Hell yes.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “But even if I did, it would be worth it because you’re the most important person in the world to me. I wanted to wait for you no matter how long it took.”
He glanced at her and she was smiling. “I’m glad you waited for me too.”
They arrived at the safari park and took the employee access road to the employee parking lot, where Dani and Neo were waiting for them.
Dani and Tatum talked quietly for a moment as Dani handed her a paper bag that looked to be filled to the brim.
“Dani’s so excited to have another human to talk to,” Neo said. “Since Tris can shift and Zara’s a stallion even though she can’t shift, it’s not the same as being full-blown human.”
“I get that, I’m glad they’re enjoying getting to know each other.”
“We can double date sometime, once things settle down with that asshole trying to take over.”
Ford joined them. “Speaking of Colton Kane, thanks for helping to locate more security stuff for us. It feels like we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop with him, and I want us to be as prepared as possible.”
“Happy to help,” Neo said. “Jupiter has the gear in the security office in a couple boxes. We can grab it and I’ll help bring it out to the trucks for you. But Dani thought it would be fun to walk the safari tour so Tatum could see it. There aren’t any VIP tours until seven, so we have the safari to ourselves.”
“That would be awesome, thanks.”
Ford headed to the security office to talk to Jupiter while the quartet walked to the safari tour. Grey introduced Tatum to the wolves who were manning the tour desk, and they declined the Jeep, choosing to just walk and talk since they had time before the tours started up again.
Tatum and Dani walked ahead of Grey and Neo, both talking animatedly about the animals in the paddocks. They kept the conversation off shifters, because even though they were alone, no one ever chanced accidentally talking about shifters in public.
They reached the end of the tour, the last paddock filled with natural animals. “That’s Tank,” Dani said, pointing to the big moose. “He’s the unofficial park mascot. He’s nicknamed from the word ‘cantankerous’ because he can be grumpy.”
“He’s an institution at the park,” Neo said.
“That’s awesome, he’s a handsome fellow,” Tatum said. “I wonder if there are any legends or myths about moose. I’ll have to do some poking around at the library tomorrow.”
“If you find any, let me know,” Neo said. “The caretakers for the animals would enjoy knowing about it.”
“You bet,” she said.
After stopping at the security office to pick up the equipment and getting a rundown from Jupiter on installation, they headed home. Tatum was quiet on the ride back to the farm, lost in thought.
