Cael (Were Zoo Book 11)

four vehicles, each carrying a driver and guide with room for the VIP. The guide told facts about each animal group at the paddocks, but the point of the tours was not about the animals, but about finding soulmates. At this point, after dozens of weekends with hours in their shifts, only five soulmates had come from the tours—two for gorillas, one for a bear, one for a lion, and one for an elephant. Cael was happy for the males who had found their soulmates through the tours, but he knew that everyone was disappointed that more soulmates hadn’t been found. It seemed like a simple enough idea—bring in unmated human males and females and hope for soulmate matches, it just wasn’t as effective in reality as they’d all hoped it would be.
He joined his friends near the fence, watching as Jeeps stopped and a human male or female climbed out, walked to the fence for a pic, and then got back in the Jeep. With each human, the tour guide would wait to see if one of the elephants felt a connection and when they didn’t, the Jeep would head to the next paddock.
As Jeep after Jeep stopped and then moved on, Cael grew disheartened. But his elephant was still anxious and...excited?
He mulled over the feelings as another Jeep pulled to a stop in front of the paddock.
A light breeze blew in his direction, and he caught the most delicious scent—the female in the Jeep.
She smelled amazing...like honey and sunshine.
His beast went nuts in his head, trumpeting loudly and making him feel like he’d go deaf from the inside out. He marched to the fence and inhaled again, but this time he picked up something more as she climbed from the Jeep and walked to the fence.
She smelled like a shifter.
Bear if he wasn’t mistaken, but not the grizzly and black bears in the park. He wasn’t sure what type of bear she smelled like, and the scent was subtle and not as strong as other shifters.
His curiosity was overridden by his elephant’s excitement as she curled her fingers over the fence. He touched her fingers with his trunk and awareness jolted through him. She was his soulmate.
And she was stunning.
Curved for days, beautiful dark brown eyes...no wait, they were pale blue? What the hell was going on?
“Hey, whoa,” Benjamin said. “We don’t really recommend touching the animals, Novi.”
Cael tossed his head back with an annoyed grunt, and Benjamin clearly understood that something more was going on than with the usual VIP tour. “Ah, I get it,” the wolf male said with a nod. “Hey, Novi, why don’t you turn around and I’ll take a pic of you with the elephant.”
“Does he have a name?” she asked, slipping her fingers away from the fence, turning for the picture.
“Um, yeah, but I don’t remember what it is off the top of my head.”
Cael mentally rolled his eyes. The tour guides used to tell guests what their names were, but the last time someone went on the tour and found their soulmate, she’d been told the gorilla’s name and then thought someone was playing a prank on her when she met the actual male with the same name. Now they didn’t tell people the shifters’ names, only the normal, non-shifting animals.
“Oh. He’s really big.”
Benjamin chuckled and tried to cover it with a cough. Cael touched her shoulder through the fence, not wanting to lose the connection. She turned to face him and declared she wished she could stay longer, and he was of the same mind. Unfortunately, she had to leave for the rest of the tour.
She let out a soft growl and rubbed her fingers against his trunk and then stepped away. Her eyes were glistening with tears.
He watched her leave, desperately wanting to rip the fence apart and follow, but he knew he couldn’t. He did the only thing he could at the moment and that was lift his trunk high in the air and trumpet loudly. The sound blasted from him, full of joy at finding the other half of his heart.
His friends joined in.
Once the Jeep was gone, Cael turned and hurried to the shed to shift so he could meet his soulmate at the office. He changed back to human and dressed, then opened the door and found Alistair standing just outside.
“She’s my soulmate,” he said excitedly.
Alistair nodded, his ears flapping.
“I think she’s a shifter. Bear, maybe. But her scent is weird, it’s kind of watered down or not strong. I’m not sure what it means.”
Rhapsody walked up, snacking on one of the apples. “What would it mean if her scent is not strong? I thought you either smelled like a shifter or you smelled human.”
He looked at her baby. “Khap smells like you and Kelley. Maybe my soulmate is a mix and I just can’t pick up what the other shifter type is.”
“You’d think she would’ve said something to let you know she knew you’re a shifter,” she mused.
He shrugged. “Maybe she didn’t trust the people with her.”
“Maybe. Well, go see her! I can’t wait to meet her. I hope you’re able to bring her to meet everyone soon.”
“Me too. But I have to follow protocol and that means I can’t tell her what I am, she has to tell me she knows.”
“Good luck!”
Cael smiled and pulled the shed door shut, then hurried down the stairs. He came back up into the park through the employee cafeteria. As he hurried to the park office, he thought about what he’d seen with his soulmate. She definitely growled, but he’d also seen her nails get dark and what looked like small, pointed fangs when she opened her mouth.
And then there were her eyes, which had been brown but turned blue.
She