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She stretched out on the bed and propped her head on her upturned hand. “Call your boss. Alpha, I mean. Geez, this is going to take some getting used to.”
“You can talk to the human mates about it. There are some pretty interesting stories there.”
“How many human mates are there?”
“For the lions, just two: Devlin, who’s mated to Jenni, and Celeste, who’s mated to Jupiter.”
“I haven’t met either of them yet.”
“Celeste works in the nail salon in the market. Devlin works in the accounting department. Both are underground.”
“Wait, what?”
He smiled. “I’ll tell you everything while we walk to the paddock, I promise.” He put his hand up as his alpha answered. “Hey, Caesar, I need your help.”
ChapterSeventeen
Rhomi walked with Mercer through the deserted park. Well, it wasn’t entirely deserted because there were security people milling around and she and Mercer were being followed closely by three guys.
One was Jasper, who’d been out on the apartment’s walkway, and the other two were Alfie and Amadeus. She’d been curious about what animals they were but didn’t ask because she wasn’t sure if it was something she was allowed to know. And she honestly wasn’t sure she wanted to know the animals that lurked under the skin of the people around her.
Her mind flitted to the people she’d been around all week at the park. What was the ratio of shifters and human mates?
“You’re being awfully quiet,” Mercer said.
She glanced first toward the aviary as they passed by, wondering briefly if the jackal woman was really okay, because she couldn’t imagine being a person trapped in a tiny cage like that by hoarders, then she looked up at Mercer.
“I’m just wondering how many humans know the secret.”
“Not a lot,” he said. “But you’re not alone by any stretch. So you met Joss. He’s a wolf, and his mate, Jeanie, is human. Then there’s Adriana, her mate is Zane, a gorilla. Jupiter’s mate Celeste is going to meet us in the paddock so she can talk to you while I’m in my shift.”
“Is that it? Just three?” she asked when he stopped talking.
“No, my brain is just fried right now,” he said with a sigh. “I feel so shitty that you were scared and my lion’s mad too.”
“It’s not like you set me up to see her turn into a human; I’m not mad at you about that.”
“But you’re still mad?”
She shrugged. “A little? I mean, wouldn’t you be at least somewhat mad if I’d held back some huge secret?”
“No.”
She laughed and bumped him with her shoulder. “Liar.”
“Yes, I’d be mad, but I’d let you convince me to forgive you with your sexy body.”
Her cheeks heated when the guys around them chuckled softly.
“I already agreed to that for later, remember?”
“Oh, I definitely remember.” He put his arm around her and drew her against him as they wove their way through the park. The paths were well lit so she had no trouble seeing in the darkness. It was late, but she wasn’t sure how late it actually was.
“You forgot about Win and Lexi,” Alfie said.
“Oh, right,” Mercer said. “Win’s a gorilla and mated to Lexi, who’s human. Lexi’s friend Trina is mated to Justus, he’s a bear. Neo, also a gorilla, is mated to Dani, and their alpha Atticus has a mate named Lori. And then there’s Lark, who’s mated to a wolf named Evan.”
She hummed, thinking over all the names. “How do they deal with their families?”
