Cael (Were Zoo Book 11)

spot and waved at him, then headed toward the exit. Realizing her tank was low, she stopped at the first gas station she came to and waited for the tank to be filled by the attendant.
Opening the photo album, she gasped as she saw the first picture of herself and the elephant. The big beast was right behind her at the fence, his trunk on her shoulder through the links.
And his eyes...they were the same gray as Cael’s!

Chapter Six
Cael slept like hell Saturday night. He tossed and turned, his elephant lamenting the fact that their soulmate wasn’t with them.
He should’ve asked her to stay, but he knew she would’ve said no. She hadn’t even told her mom she’d come to the park, and he’d been so distraught at her leaving that he hadn’t asked her why. He could guess that it had something to do with their being in hiding.
And what the hell was he going to do about that anyway? He had no idea how to help her, but he knew he needed to. His soulmate should never be in fear of anything.
There was a knock on his door, and he pushed off the couch where he’d been arguing with his elephant for the last few hours and opened the door.
Alistair gave him a curious look. “In case you were wondering, I could hear you pacing.”
“Sorry.” Cael opened the door further to let in his alpha and rubbed the space between his eyes with his thumb. “I’m having a hard time.”
“I’m sure.” Alistair sat on the couch, and Cael joined him. “What do you think’s going on? Do you think she’s a shifter?”
“I don’t think so,” Cael said. “I think she might be a hybrid. She smells like a bear, but the scent is diluted. She also seemed fully weirded out by her reactions. If she was a full shifter, then she would’ve recognized me as her soulmate and that I’m a shifter, right?”
“It’s possible,” Alistair said, “but I scented her when we were in the paddock as well, and to me she smells more human than shifter. If she’s some kind of bear, then it’s one we’re not familiar with in our park. But I don’t think the type of bear would matter so much as the fact that the scent isn’t strong. From what you told me about her past, and considering that her father has been after her for her entire life, it seems entirely logical that he’s a shifter and is trying to put her down because she’s a threat to their people.”
“I don’t understand how he can’t see that she’s not a threat to them, though. She clearly doesn’t even know what her father is.” Cael thought about how he’d asked her if she took after her father physically, which had been a leading question on his part to see if she’d tell him that she was a shifter, but she hadn’t. It wasn’t like he’d thought she’d just come right out and say that she was half human, half bear, but a part of him had wanted it to be that simple.
Then they could’ve spent the night together instead of him being miserable.
Which made him wonder if she was miserable too.
“Cael?”
He looked at his alpha. “Sorry, what?”
Alistair smiled knowingly. “It’s understandable that you’re distracted by meeting her and not being able to move forward with her in any significant way. When are you seeing her?”
“Tuesday.”
“What are your plans?”
“I have no freaking clue. We texted a bit when she got home, but we didn’t make any concrete arrangements.”
“I think you should make arrangements for one or more of the bear shifters to meet you when you’re out with her.”
“Why?”
“Because if she’s a type of bear shifter, even only part of her, she should recognize a commonality that may make her reactions stronger. Maybe Justus and Trina can meet you two out somewhere and it could appear as a coincidence.”
“What would the point of that be?” Cael was frustrated as hell.
“To force the issue of her paternity. You said she seemed to stop herself from saying too much about her father, aside from his murderous tendencies. I think that speaks volumes about how she’s feeling torn between her feelings for you as soulmates and her loyalty to her mom and their shared secret. I mean, hell, they don’t even seem to understand what they’re supposed to be keeping a secret.”
Cael nodded. “I’ve been wondering if her mom knows that her father is a shifter or if she just thinks he’s trying to kill Novi for some unknown reason.”
“There are sects of shifters who are deeply hidden and keep their interactions with humans to a bare minimum. If her father is part of one of those groups, he may not have expected a pregnancy to result and then panicked when it happened. Or his alpha may have ordered him to kill her.”
“I hate to say it, but it would’ve been better if he’d just brought her and her mom into their group and kept them close so they didn’t have to worry about the secret.”
“Good point. But he may have been punished for even being with a human, and then when she ran with Novi after he tried to take her from the hospital, it might have become a source of pride for him to track them down. Whatever the reason, they’re clearly in danger, and a male so intent on tracking the two of them down after twenty-some years is not simply going to give up.”
“Agreed. What should I do, Alistair?”
“What do you want to do?”
“Go get them and bring them here. Like right now.”
His alpha chuckled. “Okay, let’s call that plan b.”
Cael blew out a breath and let his head fall back onto