Chapter 18

M onday afternoon, after the norms had been fed and taken care of, Alistair drove Maggie to her apartment so she could pack. She'd noticed a vehicle following them after they left the park, and he explained that no one left the park alone because they'd had issues from time to time with bad guys wanting to harm them.

She shouldn't have been surprised that there was a whole other world going on with the shifters, who seemed to be everywhere but still unknown to humans.

"They're going to help you pack too," Alistair said.

"That's nice," she said. "I've lived in this place for a while, and I might be a bit of a knick-knack hoarder."

"I've got a whole bookshelf you can put whatever you want on, and we can always get another one."

"Oh right, my books," she said with a chuckle. "You may need to go ahead and pick up another bookshelf or two."

When they arrived at her apartment, she was surprised to see a large bouquet of flowers on the front porch that were wilted as if they'd been there for a while.

She glanced at Alistair, who shook his head. "Those aren't from me."

"I didn't think so, because that wouldn't make sense since we've been together this whole time."

Her stomach twisted into a knot as she got out of the SUV and walked toward her front door. The huge bouquet was in a white vase that was inside a shallow cardboard box. She took the envelope from the card holder and opened it.

I remembered that pink lilies were your favorite. Please forgive me. Let's talk about the future. XX Seth

She let out a little growl as she crushed the card in her fist.

"Pink lilies are your favorite?" Alistair asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'm allergic! I just happen to like pink flowers. I can't tell you how many times he got me lilies and I'd have to throw them out or give them away. He never listened. I always wondered if he did it on purpose, got me flowers that I was allergic to just to see what I'd do."

"What an asshole," Jasper said as he joined them on the porch, along with Alfie, another wolf who was part of their safety escort.

"Yeah," she said. "Could someone toss this freaking thing in the dumpster before I have to take an allergy pill?"

"On it," Jasper said. He lifted the box and hustled away.

"I'm sorry," Alistair said, pulling her close and kissing her temple.

"For what?"

"I should have gotten you flowers. You're my soulmate. I should know you like pink flowers, but not lilies ."

She tilted her face to his. "I don't need you to buy me flowers. You've already given me your heart, which is more valuable and important to me than anything that dies easily like flowers." He looked irritated that Seth had sent flowers, so she added, "I think he did this on purpose, to goad you, to try to point out that he knows me better. But he proved he doesn't. And we've only known each other for a week. He knew me for a whole year and couldn't get something simple like that right. He's definitely an asshole."

"I promise to never get you lilies," Alistair said.

"I have some ideas of what you can get me, though, if you're taking suggestions." She waggled her brows lasciviously, and he let out a low growl.

"Ugh," Alfie said. "Should I leave?"

Her cheeks heated as Alistair laughed. "You're fine. Let's pack up my sweetheart and get home."

She unlocked the door and let everyone in, then directed the two wolves to put the clothes and shoes from her closet into trash bags, while she and Alistair raided the bathroom for her toiletries and personal items.

"Stay out of my underwear drawer," she cautioned the guys.

Alistair punctuated that with a snarl. "Yes. Definitely."

"Gotcha," Jasper said. "We'll just stick to the closet."

They spent an hour packing her things. She'd need more time to gather the rest of her belongings and deal with the furniture, so they made plans to come back the following week.

On the way out of the apartment complex, they stopped at the management office and she turned in her one-month notice.

Her phone buzzed as they pulled out of the leasing office.

"Oh hi, Mom," Maggie said, putting the phone to her ear. "How's it going?"

"Hi, honey. We're good, how are you doing?"

"Really great."

"Do you have a job this week yet?"

"No sub jobs. I'm actually going to help Alistair at the park this week with the animals. I'm going to take a job there; I'm just trying out a few things before I decide."

"Oh, really? What kind of jobs?"

"Well, there's taking care of the animals."

"That sounds dangerous."

"Only the ones that aren't dangerous, like the deer."

"Ah, okay. What else?"

"There's a petting zoo with the most adorable baby goat. I just want to take him with me. And there's also an aviary and bird hospital, and there's a possibility I could work at the aviary and give talks about birds. That would mean a lot of study for me, though, since I don't know much about birds aside from how noisy the gulls are when you're trying to eat a sandwich on the beach."

Alistair let out a chuckle.

"Sounds neat, honey. I'm glad that you're finding work. But are you sure you want to work at the park when things are still so new between you and Alistair?"

"I'm very sure. He's my forever guy, Mom."

There was a pause, and then her mom said, "I figured. He's very taken with you, and you've clearly fallen for him too. I'm happy for you. We'd love to have you both over for dinner so we can get to know him more. How's this weekend?"

She glanced at him, and he mouthed Sunday?

"How about Sunday?"

"Perfect. Let's say six. You can bring your peanut butter pie if you'd like."

"Oh, I haven't made that in forever. I bet Alistair will love it."

"It's a favorite of ours too." Her mom paused and then said, "Have you heard from Seth?"

"He sent flowers to my apartment. I threw them away because they were lilies."

She made a disgusted sound. "It's the only flower you're allergic to! How could he keep getting it wrong?"

"I know, right? But anyway, why do you ask?"

"He showed up here last night to ask if we knew where you were, that he was worried about you. Your dad told him to take a hike, that he'd already embarrassed himself enough at the wedding trying to say that Alistair attacked him. He made a scene after you two left; he and Brian got into a shouting match in the hall when Brian tried to calm him down. It was pretty awful."

"I'm sorry that happened, but thanks for telling him to leave me alone. He needs to take a hint."

"Definitely. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't…home."

"I'm staying with Alistair. He lives at the park, so it's really safe and no one can get into the employee housing without a code. Plus there's round-the-clock security."

"Oh, wonderful. Hopefully he will take a hint and find someone else to bother. If he shows up here again, I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Did I apologize for suggesting you two were out of line at the wedding? We were just caught off guard."

"You didn't, but it's okay. It was pretty crazy."

"No, it's not okay, and I'm very sorry to both of you. I'm so glad you're with a guy like Alistair who is protective, not a butthole like Seth."

Maggie chuckled at her mom's use of butthole instead of asshole.

"Thanks, Mom. Forgiven and forgotten."

"Wonderful! Oops, Dad's calling. I'm sure he wants to know what's for lunch. I'll see you Sunday, love bug. Love you!"

"Love you too."

The call ended, and she said, "You told me the other day that shifters have great hearing, plus you're faster and stronger than a human."

"Yes and yes."

"So you heard that?"

"The love bug part?" He cut her a sideways glance and she smiled.

"Yes, but everything else?"

"I heard it all. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but it's hard to ignore that kind of thing with strong hearing abilities."

"It's so weird he showed up at my parents'. Sounds like something a desperate guy would do, and I'm glad I don't have to deal with him anymore."

"He definitely sounds desperate, but you're amazing so I'm sure he's kicking himself for being such a jackass."

"Well, he can just be a jackass all by himself, because I'm safe at the park with my sexy elephant alpha mate."

"You know it." Alistair kissed her hand and smiled at her.

She loved his smile.

She loved everything about him.

"Let's get home," she said. "I know I'm supposed to help out in the aviary, but I can tell them I'm running late."

"How late?" he asked, his voice going low.

"Pretty late. Like two hours?"

"Make it three."