Cael (Were Zoo Book 11)

a clicking sound. He put the shrub back in place and pushed the fence, which turned out to be a gate. It swung open, and he stepped inside and held the door for her. She walked through, and he shut the gate behind her.
The large paddock was covered with grass, with a pond and trees dotting the area.
“How many animals are in this paddock?” she asked.
“We’ve got seven white tailed deer and four antelope, plus Tank.”
They walked toward the big shed, and Cael took her hand. Their fingers linked and she liked the way it felt to hold his hand, like it was such a natural thing to do. She wanted to rub up against him and smell him, run her fingers all over his skin.
And she wanted to growl too.
He handed her several carrots from a counter inside the shed and took some for himself. “Let’s see if Tank’s being friendly.”
The moment they stepped out of the shed and Tank saw the carrots, he made a lowing grunt and lumbered toward them. “He’s so big!” she said, giggling as the moose came near. She couldn’t stop smiling as he got close enough to take a carrot from her, the green top of the vegetable swishing as he crunched loudly.
Cael rubbed Tank’s nose and scratched between his antlers.
“I think he likes you,” Cael said as Tank took another carrot and made a happy humming sound.
“Aw. This is so neat, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could share it with you. Usually it’s just me and the animals. It’s nice to have someone with me.”
“You don’t have other vets here?”
They said goodbye to Tank and headed toward the gate. When they were back on the dirt path and Cael had locked the gate, he took her hand again and said, “I’m the only vet, but I do have three keepers that help out—Kelley, Indio, and Alistair.”
“You must be really busy being the only vet.”
He hummed and then said, “I am, but I love it.”
They reached the beginning of the tour and the elephant paddock. She grasped the links and stared through them, searching for the elephant that had come so close. She counted three elephants, not four.
“I don’t understand,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“Where’s the one that came up to me?” She looked up at Cael, her fingers tightening on the links.
“Are you sure he’s not one of those?” he asked, gesturing toward the three that were milling around.
“Positive,” she said. She turned back to the paddock and shook her head. “What happened to him? What’s going on?”
“Why?” he asked softly. He put his hand on her shoulder, and she felt a familiar jolt of awareness.
It was so damn much like when the elephant touched her.
But she must be losing her mind.
“You’ll think I’m crazy,” she whispered.
“I promise I won’t. You can tell me anything, Novi.”
“I felt connected to the elephant that came up to me. I can’t really explain it, but I felt like I’d been destined to see him, and that makes me feel like I’m losing my marbles to be honest.” She turned to face him. He was so sexy, so sweet. So protective in a way she’d never experienced before.
They’d only been together for a couple hours, but she never wanted their time together to end, even though she knew it had to.
“You’re not going crazy,” he said. “You felt a connection to the elephant, and judging by the way he acted toward you, he felt connected to you too.”
“So what, he’s my spirit animal?” she asked, rubbing the space over her heart with her fingertips as she glanced into the paddock again, wondering where he was.
“Something like that,” he said. He grasped the fence links and looked down at her. As she met her gaze, she swore she saw his eyes change from gray to brown for a moment, then back again. The same golden-brown color of the elephant that had touched her fingers.
“Cael?”
“Yeah?”
What was she going to ask him? If he was the elephant? That was not just losing-her-marbles crazy, that was lock-her-up certifiable.
Instead of speaking her mind, because she wasn’t sure she could even articulate the weird thoughts, she cleared her throat and blinked away the sudden sting of tears, and said, “I need to get going. I didn’t tell my mom I was coming here and if I’m too late, she’ll worry.”
Cael cleared his throat. “Of course. I’ll walk you out and we can pick up your photo album on the way.”
With a nod, she looked into the paddock one last time, wondering where her elephant was, and wondering just when she’d started to think of that particular elephant as hers.
By the time they reached her car, she was torn in half, wanting to stay but needing to go.
“Give me your phone,” Cael said.
She unlocked it and handed it to him. He pushed a few buttons, and then his phone buzzed. “I just sent myself a text and added my information in your contacts. Text me and let me know you got home safely, okay?”
“Okay.” She took her phone back and shivered when he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Thanks for my photo album and dinner.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“And the tour.”
He smiled.
She went onto her toes and brushed her lips across his. He hummed and as her fingers grazed the front of his shirt, she felt his chest vibrate and that feral something within her responded in kind, but with a low, happy growl.
“I’d like to see you again,” Cael said, his voice rough.
“Me too. I work on Monday, but I’m off on Tuesday.”
“Then I’ll see you on Tuesday.”
She took one last look into his gray eyes and got into her car. She pulled out of the parking