Page 29 of Alfie

Her boyfriend could turn into a wolf.

Mate.

“You can’t tell anyone about shifters,” Joss said. “Not your parents or anyone in your family, not your best friend who you believe would keep a secret. You’re sworn to secrecy. Our truth is dangerous. If humans as a whole found out about shifters, we’d be hunted and slaughtered, locked up and experimented on. We live here and work here, keeping our nature a secret from the humans who come to the park. We don’t use terms like mate or soulmate out in public.”

“He couldn’t tell you until you loved each other,” Jeanie said. “And he can’t live anywhere else but the park.”

“If he can’t live anywhere but the park, then you want me to live here too?”

“Don’t you want to live with him?” Jeanie asked.

She didn’t have to think about it, because she did. She’d wanted to stay all night with him. Every time they said goodbye, she’d hated the time away from him. The clinginess she felt toward him hadn’t seemed over the top, it had seemed just right. She wanted to be with him because he was her soulmate. It was a supernatural connection.

“I do,” she said.

“Let’s walk around the paddock,” Joss said. “Then we’ll leave you two alone until he can shift back. The gate is locked and there are no animals in here, so you’re safe.”

Myla nodded. She lightly rubbed the space behind Alfie’s ear and he hummed softly, then licked her chin. She chuckled and hugged his neck. “I kind of feel like I should be mad that you kept a secret from me, but I can tell it’s serious and you needed to know that you could trust me. You can. I promise I will never tell another soul that you’re a handsome wolf. We can talk about living arrangements once you’re back to your sexy self.”

Joss handed her a small flashlight and they left the maintenance shed, heading out into the freshly fallen snow in the paddock to walk. Alfie was by her side, occasionally bumping against her leg as they walked, as Joss and Jeanie walked with them and talked about the park’s origins, wolves and other shifters, and how to navigate having human family and friends who could never know the truth.

An hour had passed by the time they got back to the maintenance shed. Jeanie stomped snow off her boots and gave Myla a hug. “Tomorrow, we’d like to meet with you two for breakfast in the employee cafeteria. Alfie can text us in the morning and let us know what time works for you.”

“Sure,” Myla said.

“The alphas will want to meet you,” Joss said. “They’ll be with us in the cafeteria.”

Myla nodded. More shifters, more alphas. The words seemed foreign but also made sense to the part of her that felt truly connected to Alfie.

“Have a good night,” Jeanie said. “And welcome to the pack.”

Jeanie and Joss walked away from the maintenance shed toward the gate, and after it creaked open and closed, she and Alfie were alone.

She was cold, even with her winter coat and hat. Alfie moved into the shed and over to a corner, nudging a tall black cylinder with his nose. She joined him and saw it was a space heater. “Oh, perfect.”

She moved it into the center of the shed, then pulled the door shut. She turned on the heater and found a cabinet with blankets and layered a few of them on the floor by the heater. She toed off her boots and stripped off her coat and gloves, then settled on the pile of blankets in front of the heater as warmth seeped into her skin.

Alfie sat next to her, his fur bristling as he snuffled her, and let out a soft growl.

“Okay,” she said. “You can’t talk, but you have two ears to listen. So I’m just going to talk until you can turn back to human, and then you can talk. How’s that sound?”

He nodded, then licked her jaw again.

She stared at the red glowing element in the heater, then turned her gaze to the wolf next to her. “In a million years I never would have expected this could happen. I feel like I’m dreaming, but it’s such a good dream I wouldn’t ever want to wake up. You saved me two times. You were exactly where you needed to be to find me, to protect me, and I was mad because I didn’t know why you wouldn’t stay all night with me. Now I know. And I’m crazy about you.” She paused, then leaned against him. “When you turn back, I’ll say the words. Until then, let me tell you what happened when I was a kid and my brother told me I could fly if I only found a large enough umbrella.”

As she launched into one of the funnier stories of her childhood, she felt a peace settle over her. She was the mate of a wolf shifter, and privy to a world that few knew existed. She cherished Alfie and would never want any harm to come to him or his people. So she’d keep the secret, no matter what.

He was worth it.

Chapter Thirteen

Alfie listened intently while Myla talked, weaving stories of a sweet childhood, surrounded by people who loved her. His own life had been like that at the start, but being a shifter could be dangerous and unpredictable, and he’d lost everyone who loved him. When there had been no one to keep him in his old pack, and he’d tired of his alpha using his tracking skills to do harm, he’d ventured to New Jersey to join up with Joss’s pack.

He never would have done that, never would have been in the same state as his soulmate, if things hadn’t gone terribly wrong when he was younger. There were things he wished were different about his past, but being here with Myla was worth the heartache that had paved the way. And somewhere in the great beyond, his family was smiling down on him now.

Myla had grown quiet after a while, and Alfie curled up around her, resting his head on her knee. She absently stroked his head, humming a tune he didn’t know.

As the time wore down, and he could feel his ability to return to human coming back to him, he eased away from her and stretched, giving her arm a swish with his tail.