Page 5 of Alfie

Eddie!

Chapter Three

Alfie had eaten an entire basket of fries as soon as they hit the table, enjoying the chatter with his friends about how different the park was over the holidays and with the opening hours going to weekends-only during the winter.

He felt his neck prickle, and his wolf sat up in his mind with a curious hum.

Looking around, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Just humans in a bar, who had no idea there was a wolf, bear, lion, and gorilla hanging out at one of the tables.

Humans only ever found out about shifters if their soulmate was one. Only after the couple was in love, when the shifter was certain they had the heart and loyalty of the human, could the secret be revealed. It was so vitally important to their kind that no one outside of their community knew the truth, that the secret had to be protected at all costs.

They essentially had no idea how many shifters there were in the world or all the different kinds, because they didn’t keep in touch. There was no central council of shifters or any kind of secure online platform that would allow them to know what other groups were up to.

Instead, the park shifters were an island unto themselves, and only when another shifter group crossed paths with them—like jaguar Sera’s group—did they discover a new ally or enemy, depending on the situation. But only soulmates lived at the park; no other groups were welcome to take up space among them.

Not that any had ever asked.

The park was unusual as far as they knew, with so many groups living and working together. The only thing similar that he was aware of was the circus that several elephants had been part of—a traveling group of elephants that included wolves and bears.

His wolf hummed again, and Alfie rubbed the space over his heart.

He didn’t know what was going on, but he was suddenly alert.

But for what?

His gaze landed on the door and his heart started to pound.

It opened and a female stood in the doorway.

Long, dark hair, face like an angel, curves evident despite the thick winter coat.

His wolf let out an ecstatic howl in his head that would have deafened him if he’d let it out.

Without a doubt, he was staring at his soulmate.

Then he saw a shadow behind her and he let out a low, nearly silent growl.

A hand grabbed her, and she let out a gasp as the male stepped into the light and called her a bitch.

Alfie was out of his chair in a heartbeat and across the bar.

He put one hand on the male’s shoulder and the other on his hand, squeezing on his wrist hard enough to cause him to let go. Then he pushed him solidly away from the female and stepped outside, crowding the male away from her.

“Who the fuck are you?” the male asked, rage coloring his cheeks.

“Not someone who calls women bitches, that’s for damn sure.” Alfie looked over his shoulder and saw his soulmate, wide-eyed and awe-struck, just outside the closed door. His friends had ventured out, nearby but not imposing. Alfie appreciated them. “You want this guy to grab you like that again?” he asked her.

“No.” She shook her head firmly.

“Take the hint and leave, while you can do so with two working legs,” Alfie said, squaring up to the male and letting out his wolf enough to connect to the ancient, embedded instinct in the human that he was in mortal danger, without revealing the truth of his shifter nature.

His wolf would like to come out and claw the male from stem to stern, but that wasn’t something Alfie could allow. No matter how satisfying it might actually be.

The human looked past Alfie and tried to take a step around him to get to her.

Alfie put his hand on his arm again, and this time he put more pressure into the hold, making the male wince. He kicked out and nailed him in the knee, and the male let out a shout and hit the ground as Alfie held his wrist and twisted it sharply. “I said leave. She doesn’t want you around, and I’m not the kind of guy who lets assholes treat beautiful women badly. Do I need to break something of yours you like to get that through your thick head?”

“Let me go!”