Chapter 1

A lpha elephant Alistair London climbed from the SUV and shut the door, staring at the bar where the three members of his elephant memory were waiting for him. The three males were his nephews—Cael, Kelley, and Indio—and they'd invited him out for drinks to celebrate his fortieth birthday.

He was feeling a little sullen and not-quite-in-the-mood to hang out at the human-run bar near the Amazing Adventures Safari Park, where they all lived in secret from humans, working in the park as a cover to keep their true natures hidden.

He hadn't thought he'd be forty and unmated, but here he was. Two of his nephews had found their soulmates: Kelley, who'd had his soulmate, Rhapsody, scale the fence at the park and run right to him; and Cael, their resident vet, who'd met his soulmate, Novi, a less-dramatic way, on the safari tour.

It was just him and Indio now, as the only two unmated males in the memory.

Blowing out a breath, he scrubbed a hand through his dark blond hair and plastered a smile on his face.

He walked into the bar and scanned the dimly lit room, finding his family in the far corner. Kelley lifted a hand and beckoned him over to where the males were waiting along with Rhapsody and Novi.

"Happy birthday!" the group exclaimed as Alistair pulled a stool out and sat at the table.

"Thanks everyone," he said.

A human female approached and set down a coaster. "What can I get you?"

He ordered a beer. Appetizers were already on the table, including his favorite potato skins.

Rhapsody set a colorfully wrapped box in front of him. "This is from all of us," she said, smiling broadly.

Alistair's mood lightened considerably as he opened the gift, pulling off the spiral ribbon and lifting the sides of the foil paper. Inside the box was a pair of wireless earbuds. His last pair had fallen out while he'd been working in the non-shifter animal paddock and Tank the grumpy moose had stepped on them.

He grinned. "Thanks, everyone. This is perfect."

The server returned with his beer and left after wishing him a happy birthday.

Kelley pulled a container from under the table and placed it in front of Alistair.

The clear plastic was covering a large cupcake with white frosting and chocolate drizzle.

"Open it," Novi said, holding up a single candle and a lighter.

Alistair removed the cover and set the cupcake on a small empty plate, then took the candle and lighter.

As he set the candle in the center of the cupcake, he smiled at his people. Indio had followed him from their memory years ago when he'd decided to join up with the other shifter groups who were living and working at Amazing Adventures. Not long after that, Cael and Kelley joined them, and ever since they'd been taking care of the norms—natural animals that didn't shift, including grumpy Tank—with Indio, Kelley, and Alistair trained as animal techs to assist Cael.

Alistair stared at the unlit candle, then looked at his family. "I was feeling a little bummed when I got here tonight. It's been amazing seeing you find your soulmates, but I'm forty. I thought I'd find her by now, and I wonder if I ever will."

"Don't say that, man," Indio said. "I haven't found mine either. But I believe it will happen for us both. This year."

"So sure, are you?" he asked, arching a brow.

"Hell yes," Indio said. "I'm putting it out to the universe, you know? Manifesting it. You and me gotta hold on to hope and keep believing, like that song from the olden days."

Alistair wrinkled his nose. "The eighties are not the olden days."

Indio hummed and then laughed as the others joined in.

Sighing, Alistair said, "You guys exhaust me, but I love you."

Cael elbowed him. "Light the candle and make a wish."

"I'm forty."

"You're never too old for wishes and hope," Rhapsody said.

With a hum, he clicked the lighter and lit the flame. The group sang "Happy Birthday" to him, purposely off-key, and then clapped and whistled.

Alistair closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His mind spun with all the things he could wish for, if he were the sort of male who believed that blowing out a candle would make a wish come true.

Then he opened his eyes and blew out the candle, thinking hopefully, I wish I'd meet my soulmate soon.

They clapped again and he chuckled.

"What did you wish for?" Indio asked.

"He can't tell, it's bad luck," Novi said. "That's what my mom always says."

"Good point. Keep that to yourself, we don't want to jinx anything," Indio said. "Especially if you wished that I'd find my soulmate."

Alistair narrowed his eyes. "Use your own wish."

"Oh hell, you could have shared it," Indio protested.

"Maybe next year," Alistair said.

He signaled the server and asked for a knife, then cut the large cupcake up and let everyone have a piece. As he ate his slice of sweet vanilla cupcake, a yearning filled him. That he might find his soulmate soon, and that Indio would too. So they'd both know the joy that Cael and Kelley had with their forever girls.

Lifting his beer, he held it aloft and said, "To the future: to happily ever afters and soulmates."

"To the best uncle any of us could hope for," Kelley said.

"To birthday wishes coming true," Indio said.

"Hear, hear," the others said as their drinks clinked together.

The yearning morphed with hope, and Alistair smiled. Maybe this would be the best year of his life, maybe he'd find his soulmate and could finally fill the void in his heart.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

The following day, Alistair attended to his duties taking care of the non-shifting animals. It was going to be a busy day because a group of elementary kids were coming for a private tour of the park, including the safari tour, which would take them along the paddocks where the shifters would be in their animal forms. Along with the elephants who called the park home, there were also wolves, lions, bears, and gorillas.

Normally, the tours were reserved for VIPs on individual tours or large groups during specially scheduled times, but they'd closed off the tours to everyone but the kids for the afternoon.

The time was drawing close to when the kids would be going through the safari tour, stopping at each paddock and getting information from the guides on the animals along with a group picture in front of each gate.

His heart panged sharply and he rubbed it with his fingertips.

Shit, that had been happening all morning.

Maybe he needed to see Doc Paula, the wolf healer, and get checked out.

Except he knew he was in excellent health.

His elephant trumpeted again, and he let out a grumbling growl.

What the hell was going on?

Then the thought occurred to him that maybe his elephant was acting up because he needed to go somewhere. While he doubted his elephant was psychic, he'd been feeling antsy since yesterday, and right now, he felt like he needed to go somewhere .

But where?

Out into the park, he was sure of it.

He finished walking around the paddock looking for trash and dropped the trash bag into the receptacle. He shut the maintenance shed door and then walked swiftly to the gate and stepped out onto the path. As he made his way again to the main part of the park, his heart started to pound and his elephant stamped in his head.

He could smell the food cooking in the stalls as they prepped for lunch, and the scents in the air were enough to make him consider taking a hard left and grabbing a burger from Tarquin and Lucy's stall. But instead, he stopped and looked around.

"You okay, Alistair?"

Alistair rubbed the space over his heart again and looked at Xavier, one of the lions who handled park security and was out on patrol. "I'm good, I think."

"You seem like you're looking for something," the young male said.

Alistair tilted his head and inhaled, sorting through the scents of food and people, but he didn't pick up anything out of the ordinary.

Still.

Something was going on.

"I think…" Alistair said.

"Think what?"

"I think my soulmate's here."

"What? Where?" Xavier asked, looking around.

"I don't know," he said. He smiled at the male and clapped him on the shoulder. "But she's somewhere. I can feel it in my bones. My elephant dragged me out here, so he sensed it."

"Wow, that's amazing! So you're just going to walk around?"

"Yep."

"Well, good luck, man!"

"Thanks."

Alastair nodded at Xavier and started walking. He wasn't sure where his soulmate was, just that he was certain she was within the tall stone walls that surrounded the park. He just had to find her.