Page 37 of Alfie

She zipped up a duffel stuffed with clothes and said, “I’m going back to work on Monday, and you’re going to drop me off and pick me up?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ll keep doing that as long as I work there?”

“They’re your friends and you like the work. I don’t want to clip your wings. I will be there for you for however long you want to be there, no matter what.”

She hummed. “I like the idea of being a curator of the little theater in the park. It was neat to see it today.”

They’d spent a little while inside the theater that morning, sitting on the carpet-covered seats and talking about what it might mean for her to work there.

“But I’m not ready to put away everything from my old life just yet. Is that okay?”

“Of course. You’re the most important person in the world to me. I want you to be happy above all else.”

“I am happy,” she said. “Because you’re the guy I’ve been waiting my whole life for.”

He helped her pack up several bags, and then she asked if they could stop for lunch at a diner near her apartment. The guys were very happy for a lunch break somewhere new, and spent the time in the faux leather-covered booth telling her stories from the park. Like the time Tank had figured out how to unlock the gate and gone meandering through the park, leading to new and better gates at the paddocks. Or the time the brakes stopped working on one of the tour Jeeps when Alfie and Evan had been giving a tour, and they came inches from crashing into the Jeep farther along the safari tour trail.

This time, when they came back to the park, he wasn’t keeping anything from her. She now knew what he really was and where he really lived. And she was accepting of all of it.

There were things still to be figured out, like the mating ceremony and her job, but she was ready to be with him full time, and he was more than ready to have her in his life and in his bed.

The small details would come in time.

For now, the only thing that mattered was that they were together.

Alfie had found his human soulmate, and she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Chapter Sixteen

Myla had lasted a week at the theater before the part of her that was connected to Alfie—however that happened with soulmates—had decided they were too far apart during the day. She turned in her notice, and her bosses let her work one week and then take the rest of her two-weeks’ notice as her vacation time. On her last day, she packed up her little locker and grabbed a bag of popcorn for the road, and then walked out of the theater with a smile on her face.

Alfie kept telling her that he would be there for her however she wanted, whether she stayed at the theater or took a job inside the park. Although she could feel that he wanted her close, because she knew she wanted to be close to him, she never felt an ounce of pressure to make any changes to things. He let her make the choice herself, and that made her feel so close to him.

Joss and Jeanie had been happy to have the mating ceremony during the January full moon. Myla had never given the full moon much thought, but she could feel a subtle change in her mate as it drew closer to that time of the month. He was a little more protective of her, a little more growly, and holy stars did he rock her world even more in the days leading up to the full moon. She’d never been quite so satisfied, and deliciously sore.

The day of the full moon, she called her mom from the little theater in the park. It was supposed to snow later that day, and there was a quiet stillness to the air with the upcoming weather change. She thought it might be weird not to share such a big part of her life with her mom because she’d always shared everything with her. But even though she trusted her mom explicitly, she understood the need to keep that part of herself tightly under wraps.

“Your bridesmaid dress is supposed to be delivered today,” her mom said.

Myla sat on one of the carpeted seats and looked around the space. Alfie was on the other side of the room talking to Caesar about the wiring for the lights and upgrading the speaker system. The lions, it turned out, handled the construction projects for the park as well as being in charge of security. Everything within the park was handled by one group or another, from the elephants who took care of the norms to the wolves that ran the safari tour.

“I can come for a visit this weekend to try it on,” Myla said. “I can’t wait to see it.”

She’d ordered the burgundy dress from a website Alice had suggested, to match the wedding colors of burgundy and silver. The silver and burgundy strappy heels she’d found would surely hurt her feet, but they looked great and matched the dress perfectly.

“Would your fella like to come? I can make dinner.”

As if Alfie wouldn’t want to come anyway. He loved her family, and they loved him. “My favorite?”

“What’s Alfie’s favorite? Maybe I should make his?”

She pulled the phone from her ear. “Alfie?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“What’s your favorite meal?”