Cael (Were Zoo Book 11) by R. Butler (best e reader for academics .txt) 📗

Cael grinned.

“How long has it been since you’ve seen your father or any evidence that he’s still after you?” Joss asked.

“Almost two years. I told Mom that I thought it was time for us to settle down, but she’s always got one hand on the go-bag, watching and worried that he’ll show up and she won’t be ready to get away.”

The alphas went quiet again, and Jeanie said, “Let’s eat before everything gets cold. I think our alphas have a lot to talk about.”

The bears handled the food, from the stands in the park to the cafeteria to the market in the center of the underground living space. Cael wasn’t one to do much cooking, so he normally took his meals in the cafeteria and market, but now that he and Novi were going to be living in the apartment, he’d have to change that. The bears had set the table with trays of food—breakfast sandwiches and wraps, hashbrown patties, and individual bowls of fruit. The males all waited for Novi and Jeanie to fill their plates, and then they set into the food. Male shifters ate a lot, their beasts burned off calories at a high rate. Cael didn’t think there would be much in the way of leftovers once they were finished.

While they ate, the alphas explained the park operations to Novi and how it had become a haven to them, enabling them to keep the secret of their shifts.

Novi settled back in her chair and picked up her second cup of coffee. “It’s amazing. I don’t know how the secret’s been kept all these years, I mean you’re not the only shifters in the world, but humans don’t have a clue. Not really, anyway. There are always myths and legends, but most people don’t put stock in them.”

“We’re careful,” Alistair said. “All our people are. We’ve had some slipups here and there, but fortunately nothing major has gotten out to the public.”

Cael thought back to the “slipups,” which included Win the gorilla falling asleep at his soulmate Lexy’s place and shifting while they slept. It could easily have made their secret public if he hadn’t been able to convince her to keep things between them.

“I promise I understand why you need to live in secrecy, and I wouldn’t do anything to endanger Cael or any of you.”

“Good,” Alistair said. “Until you’re officially mated, however, you won’t be allowed to live underground with our people. Cael mentioned that the two of you could stay in the apartment complex and had asked if your mother could also have an apartment. The alphas have discussed it, and we’d like to offer an apartment to her.”

“That’s so nice, thank you,” Novi said. “I’m just not sure how to broach the subject with her.”

“What do you mean?” Cael asked.

“Well, honestly, how often does a guy meet a girl and a few days later asks her to move into his apartment, and also makes arrangements for her mom to have a place to stay in the same complex? It’s...I don’t know, it’s unbelievable.”

“Good point,” Cael said. “Since we can’t tell her about our people, we can’t say that taking care of her is part of my nature—you’re my soulmate and that makes her family to me, to the memory.”

“What do you do for work?” Joss asked Novi.

“I work at a thrift store. It’s mostly logging and sorting donations and dealing with customers. Why?”

“We heard about the photo album mishap,” Joss said. “I was just thinking that we could use a dedicated person to print out the albums and look for that kind of thing, as opposed to having whoever is in the security office put them together.”

“What mishap?” Novi asked.

“My eye color change in the picture of you and me when I was an elephant. We’re not sure it’s happened before, but it’s something to watch out for in the future.”

“You want me to work at the park?” she asked, looking at Cael first and then the alphas.

“A lot of the soulmates work here,” Jeanie said. “I joined the bears on the cooking team, Trina and Lexy work in the candy shop, Adriana and Celeste work in the market at a nail salon, and Dani has a makeup studio, Devlin works in finance, and Rhapsody helps out with the norms.”

“You forgot about the bird sanctuary,” Marcus said. “Auden and his soulmate Jess oversee it. And Tayme and Rory handle the ice cream stall in the park.”

“Wow,” Novi said. “That’s pretty neat. I’ve only been working at the thrift store for a few weeks, so I’d be willing to work at the park and do the albums or whatever else needs to be done.”

Cael was thrilled that his sweetheart was going to be able to work in the park. He’d get to see her whenever they were free, and he’d know that she was in the security office which was one of the safest places to be.

“Then it’s settled,” Joss said. “We’ll need you to fill out an employment application for the files, it’s just a formality.”

“We’ll figure out something for you to tell your mom,” Alistair said. “That way you’ll know she’s safe.”

“Thank you. Thanks for everything,” Novi said.

“I’d like to show her my place underground and grab a bag of clothes to take to the apartment, and then I was hoping to let her see me shift,” Cael said.

“Sounds good,” Joss said. “Just be sure she’s wearing a uniform out in the paddock.”

“Of course.”

Marcus said, “I think your father is probably a polar bear.”

Everyone looked at him, and he shrugged with a smile. “Justus said he didn’t know what kind of bear you were, and Alistair asked me to join you for breakfast this morning, not only to meet you but hopefully to figure