Chapter 16

M aggie had never been as pissed in her life as she was right this moment, when her forever-guy Alistair made up some nonsense about being able to turn into an elephant.

An elephant!

Of all the stupid animals to be able to turn into, he picked an elephant! Why not a tiger or a lion?

She shook her head as he called for his friends, then urged the women to turn away.

She opened her mouth to scold him, to tell him to stop the nonsense and take her home immediately, when he stripped fully and something happened.

Something…she couldn't really explain.

His skin shimmered, turning from lightly tanned to gray. There were loud cracking sounds as his body seemed to come apart and reform so fast she wasn't sure she was even seeing what she knew in her heart she was witnessing.

He grew bigger and bigger, turning from a man to an elephant in what felt like mere seconds.

She wasn't sure she was even breathing.

She tilted her head up until she could see him, tusks and all.

He let out a curious sound, and she had the hysterical urge to ask if anyone had peanuts.

Her whole body went numb and her heart pounded loudly in her ears, and then everything went white.

When her vision cleared, she was lying on the grass and the five people he'd called his family were gathered around her. An elephant peered over her, his trunk grazing her shoulder.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You fainted," Novi said. "How do you feel?"

"Crazy. I…didn't just see what I saw, right? I'm dreaming?"

She sat up slowly as her head swam and everything tilted for a moment.

"You're not dreaming," Cael said. "We're shifters."

"Well, not me," Novi said. "My biological father is a polar bear and he could shift, but my mom is human, so I can't shift. So I kind of know how you feel, because I didn't know shifters were real until I met Cael and learned the truth."

"This doesn't seem real," Maggie said.

"It's very real," Indio said. "Your soulmate is an elephant shifter and he happens to be the alpha of our memory."

"Alpha?"

"The leader," Kelley said. "Indio, Cael, and I are cousins, and Alistair is our uncle and also our alpha. He came here to the park a long time ago and started the memory with Indio, and Cael and I joined up a few years later."

"This doesn't seem real," she repeated. She could hear the disbelief in her own voice, but she knew what she'd seen.

Alistair had turned into an elephant before her eyes.

One minute he was a guy she was in love with spouting what sounded like serious delusions, and the next he was an elephant.

Such a shocking event that it had caused her to pass out.

She looked at the elephant.

Alistair.

She could feel a connection to him, even though he wasn't a man right now.

She rose to her feet and said, "I want to touch him."

"He's your soulmate," Novi said. She gave Maggie an encouraging smile. "You can do whatever you'd like."

"Well, except run away," Kelley said. "We need you to stick around, and we need to know that you understand how serious it is that no one—and we mean no one— finds out the truth about shifters."

She looked at the five people who stood watching her. They were younger than her, but there was wisdom in their words. The weight of the truth was suddenly heavy on her shoulders.

If humans found out about shifters, it would be a disaster. Humans in general didn't like things that were different, and there probably wasn't much out there that was more different than a human who could turn into an animal.

"What other animals are there?" she asked.

"In the park we have wolves, lions, bears, and gorillas, plus a few others that have come in as mates, like Rhapsody," Kelley said. "There are human mates too, and we can get you together with them so you can talk to them about what it's like to keep this secret from your family. It's not easy, but it's worth it. Our people are a family, and not just because we're related. The whole park is a family that watches out for each other."

"I understand."

"We'll give you a little privacy so you can talk to Alistair," Cael said. "You've got until about ten-thirty, and then he'll have to head into the maintenance shed so he's not trapped in his shift all day during the VIP tours."

"Okay. What about you guys?"

"We'll stick around so we can answer any questions you have," Rhapsody said. "The guys have to change forms an hour before the tours. I told Luna that I'd be back in an hour so she could go work at the petting zoo, but Novi will stick with you if you want, plus the guys so they can answer any questions you have."

"Thanks."

She waited until she was alone with Alistair and then she moved cautiously to him.

He reached his trunk toward her slowly, and she reached out and touched it. His skin was warm and rough, and he was so huge that she had to crane her neck to see his head.

"So I thought you were keeping something from me all along, and I was right. I had no idea it would be something like this." She ran her hand lightly up and down his trunk, finding that just touching him made her feel more grounded and in control of her wild emotions.

Part of her, a very small part, wanted to run away screaming and not stop until she was far, far away. But the rest of her knew that Alistair was the man who had her heart. Just because he was an elephant didn't mean that he wasn't still the same man who had stood up for her with her ex and rocked her world so expertly the night before.

She'd been waiting such a long time to find a guy like him. Someone she could trust and open her heart to.

"I want to be mad at you because you kept this from me," she said softly. "But I understand how serious it is that the secret of your people needs to stay a secret."

He grunted and swung his trunk around to cup her waist. He dragged her against his leg and she laughed as she realized he was trying to hug her. Wrapping her arms around his thick leg, she rested her cheek against his warm skin. "I'm not mad, I promise. I knew you were special; I just couldn't imagine it would be something like this."

She stood in his embrace for a minute, then she stepped away and said, "We've got a while before we have to go into the shed, right? Can we walk around?"

He nodded, his ears flapping with the motion.

"Do you want some company?" Kelley called.

"Sure," she said. "I have some questions."

She looked up at Alistair and held onto his trunk, which he curled around her hand. "I love you. I also can't believe I passed out."

He let out a little laugh and she grinned.

The others joined them and they trekked around the entire paddock several times while she asked questions about being shifters and they answered candidly. She even had a chance to ride on Alistair's back for a while, which was the most spectacular thing she'd ever done.

After the guys shifted into their elephant forms, Maggie and Novi stood near the maintenance shed while the guys chased each other around the paddock, Alistair watching over them.

"Are you okay now? Not freaked out?" Novi asked.

"Yeah, I'm great. Did you freak out when you found out?"

"Absolutely. I always knew something was different about me, though. My eyes would change color when I got emotional, and my fingernails would darken and even my canines would lengthen a little. It wasn't until I went to the park and met Cael and some of his friends that I felt even more like something wasn't right. Once I knew the truth, it was like everything made sense."

"I feel like the strong connection we had from the beginning is because he's a shifter," Maggie said.

"Oh, definitely," Novi said. "Their animals let them know when they're near their soulmate, and it's easy for them to fall in love. It takes us a little longer, I think because we're always told that quick relationships, insta-love stuff, doesn't last."

"But it does with shifters and their soulmates," Maggie said. She could feel that was the truth in her heart. It might seem fast to people outside of the shifter groups, but she knew that Alistair was her soulmate and the only guy in the world for her. It didn't matter what anyone else thought about their relationship, it only mattered what she felt in her heart.

"Absolutely," she said.

"Are all the alphas mated?"

"Just three now. Joss the wolf alpha and Atticus the gorilla alpha. Both their mates are human too. When you go to the marketplace underground, you'll meet Jeanie since she runs the cafeteria, and Lori—she's my mom—works in the security office printing up the photo albums for the VIP tours."

"Your mom is mated to an alpha here? That's so cool that you get to share the truth with her and don't have to keep it a secret."

Alistair trumpeted loudly and the others responded, then he made his way to them, his trunk swinging as he moved.

"I'm going to hang out with the guys while the tours are going on," Novi said. "It's why I'm wearing the animal handler uniform. The mates are allowed to be in the paddocks wearing this uniform during the tours. It lets us hang with our mates without it looking suspicious to the guests."

"I'd love to do that sometime. This was amazing."

"We'll have a big dinner to celebrate your mating once you guys move down into the private area."

"What private area?"

"Alistair has a lot to show you, but trust me it's so much nicer than the apartment."

Maggie hugged Novi and then turned to her big elephant soulmate.

"I'm ready to talk to you again. I enjoyed hanging out with the memory, but I really miss chatting with you."

He nodded.

She hauled open the doors of the shed, which were big enough for him to walk into. She closed the doors behind them and then watched as he returned to his human form. Someone had brought his clothes in from outside and set them on a workbench.

She ran into his arms and hugged him tightly, tears springing to her eyes.

"I don't know why I'm so emotional right now, I'm just so happy to see you again," she said, laughing a little as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"It's okay, sweetheart," he said. "I'm feeling pretty damn emotional myself. I was scared that you'd reject me. You were so mad at me when I was telling you about being a shifter."

"I thought you were playing a joke on me!" She brushed at the tears on her cheeks and kissed him. "What would have happened if I didn't want to be with you?"

He pressed his lips together, then said, "You would have had to stay at the park anyway. You wouldn't have been able to be left alone until you came to terms with the truth. It's why we don't tell the truth until we win our soulmates' hearts. We have to know that love is there first before we talk about being shifters."

"I understand. And I can see why you'd be afraid I would bolt. If I hadn't passed out, I probably would have tried to leave. It crossed my mind that walking away was a good idea, but it was too crazy for me not to see if you could actually become an elephant. And you did!"

"What did you think?"

"I think you're pretty damn cool. Alpha."

He grinned and kissed her. As he dressed, he said, "After we mate officially, you'll be alpha female of the memory."

"What? I'm human."

"Doesn't matter, you're my soulmate."

"How does that happen?"

He opened a door in the floor and said, "I'll tell you all about it. But first, I want to show you my real house."

"Underground?" She peeked down the stairwell.

"Yep. It's worth it, sweetheart. I promise."

"I trust you."

She really did. It might have been a weird and bumpy road to get to this place, but she loved Alistair. It was new love, early love, but it was love all the same.

She had no regrets in breaking down the walls she'd erected around her heart to save herself from heartbreak.

He was worth the risk.