Page 34 of Alfie

After everyone was seated, Alfie introduced her as his soulmate, and she knew she was grinning. She just loved that word so much.

Then she was introduced to the alphas: Marcus, the bear alpha, who Alfie had told her earlier had lost his mate before he came to the park; Alistair, the elephant alpha, and his human mate, Maggie, who’d said Myla looked like a deer—and she had honestly felt that way. Then there was Atticus, the gorilla alpha, and Lori, his human soulmate; and lion alpha Caesar and Sera, his jaguar soulmate.

“And you know Jeanie and me,” Joss said with a nod.

She and Alfie sat in empty seats at a large group of tables pushed together with everyone seated around it.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Myla said.

“I’m sure it’s overwhelming,” Alistair said with a gentle smile. “But we just want to get to know you and for you to know who we are.”

The alpha men took turns sharing information about the park, from working hours and the winter closure, to how important it was to be aware of her surroundings and never speak anything out in public related to soulmates or shifters.

“You understand that Alfie can’t live anywhere else?” Atticus asked.

“I do. And I’m fine with moving in here,” she said. “But we were talking about my job earlier, and I’m not sure what the next step is regarding that.”

“Alfie can drive you to and from work,” Joss said. “For as long as you’d like to work at the theater, we’re fine with that. But if and when you’d like to come work for the park, we can find a place for you.”

“Doing what?” she asked.

“Do you like working at the theater?” Marcus asked.

“I do. I’ve always loved movies, so being able to see them whenever I want is a big bonus.”

“We have it on the list to refurbish the in-park theater,” Marcus said. “We currently show old shorts about the animals in the paddocks. People mostly go in the theater to get out of the heat or rain—the movies aren’t really a draw. But we could turn it into more of an event space, with short park-related movies shown at particular times.”

“I’ve often thought we should have some monitors in the safari tour line to give people something to watch,” Caesar said. “But someone has to pick them and deal with all that.”

“Oh!” Myla said. “I can totally do that.”

“You can do anything you want,” Alfie said.

After the initial meet and greet was over, everyone grabbed breakfast from the kitchenette. She and Alfie both got biscuit sandwiches. Conversation swirled around them, with the women asking Myla questions, and Alfie’s steady presence a balm to the nerves that had appeared when she’d first been faced with so many strangers.

When the meal was over, the women all shared their phone numbers with her and welcomed her to the park, and then she and Alfie put on their coats and walked back outside, with fresh coffees in branded safari park travel mugs.

“So, what did you think?” he asked. “You didn’t feel pressured, did you? They honestly don’t mind you working outside the park.”

“I think they’d rather I didn’t, though.”

“True, but they aren’t trying to stifle your life. They just like the people they care about to be where they are safe, and the safest place for me is the park, and that means it’s also the very safest place for you.”

“Because you’re my soulmate and you won’t let anyone hurt me.”

“Damn straight.”

She grinned at him. “If I have the weekend off, I need some clothes. Can we go to my place?”

“You bet. How about that tour first, and I’ll arrange for someone to escort us to your apartment. And I’ve got a surprise to show you too.”

“A sexy one?” she asked.

He growled softly, his eyes changing to amber for a heartbeat.

“It wasn’t going to be, but now I want to add a second surprise.”

“Ooh. Two orgasms. Got it.”