His gaze was just as heated as it had been before in the kitchen, and she very much wished they weren’t topside so she could spend a good amount of time kissing and touching him.“When are we done here?”she whispered.
“Ready to call it a day?”he asked with an arched brow.
“No, I just want to know when our break is before we have to head to your dad’s for dinner with the others.Since you’re looking at me like you could eat me up.”
“I could.”He mused for a moment.“And I will.”
* * *
Sunny and Seneca walked from his house—which he reminded her was nowtheirs—to his dad’s for dinner with the sleuth.She was nervous because she was officially meeting everyone.
“The sleuth has over twenty members now,” Seneca said, “since several of our people have found their soulmates.Dad’s got the biggest house for a reason—when he hosts dinners, he needs lots of room.”
“I bet!So whenever there’s a soulmate, the sleuth has a big dinner?”
“Yep.”
“The park is so different from the prowl.I imagine it’s a lot different from my dad’s tiger pride as well, but I don’t know anything about them.He never talked about his people when he and my mom fled after having me.”
“The park works so well because our people all came together to keep each other safe.If one of the alphas was trying to be the boss of everyone and there was always a power struggle, it wouldn’t work.”
“That’s true,” Marcus said from the open front door of his home.“When I joined up, the other alphas explained that they always wanted to lead the park as a group and not have any one group over another, or any alpha ruling all.I’ve met some alphas over the years who would have wanted to come in and take over everything.”
“I imagine Dario would be like that,” she said.
“I think so too,” Seneca said.
“Thanks so much for putting a dinner together,” she said, giving Marcus a hug.“You’ve made me feel really welcome.”
He smiled at her.“You’reverywelcome as my son’s soulmate.I’m glad you’re here.”
The house smelled amazing, like fresh-baked bread and smoked meat.The low hum of chatter inside quieted when Marcus led them into an enormous kitchen and dining room with tables laden with platters and bowls.
“All right,” Marcus said, his voice booming, “we’re here tonight to get to know Sunny, Seneca’s soulmate.Once they’re mated fully, she’ll be a member of our sleuth and part of my family, but whether or not she’s wearing his marks, she’s already part of us and we’re glad she’s here.How about we go around and everyone introduce themselves and say what they do in the park?”Marcus pulled out a chair at the head of one of the tables where two chairs were empty on one side.As she and Seneca took their seats, he continued, “I’ll start.I’m Marcus and I’m the alpha, but I’m also part of the prep brigade and I fill in for the burger stall and anywhere else I’m needed.”
“I’m Justus and I’m mated to Trina.I work in security because I can’t cook for shit.”
“Watch the swears,” a blonde next to him said.She smiled at Sunny.“I’m Trina, his mate.And I’m pregnant.Our little one can hear now, so Justus has to stop swearing like a sailor.”
“I’m trying!”
Trina smiled indulgently.“I work at the candy shop with my cousin Lexy, who is mated to one of the gorillas.Jenni, a lioness, works there too.”
After Tayme and Rory introduced themselves to her again, she met Tarquin and his albino doe mate Lucy and her younger sister Luna.The couple usually worked the lunch shift at the burger stall but had been off that day, and Luna worked at the petting zoo.One by one, the other members of the sleuth greeted Sunny and shared a bit about themselves.When it finally came around to her, she introduced herself and then said, “I just wanted to thank you all for being so kind to me.I never would have guessed when I was exiled that I’d find my home in a safari park with a bear for a soulmate.My half-tigress is so happy she’s purring in my head like a train.”
Marcus lifted his glass.“I propose a toast.To Seneca and Sunny and finding each other despite being hundreds of miles apart.And to the sleuth, may everyone find the happily ever afters they deserve.”
They all lifted their glasses in cheer, and she touched hers to Seneca’s and gave him a kiss.
“To us,” Seneca said.
“To later,” she added with a purr that his bear echoed, his eyes flashing in agreement.
Hours later, when they wandered back into the house from the dinner party, she was so happy that she felt like she was glowing.She felt like she was still healing from losing her friends and the prowl so abruptly, but thanks to the bear sleuth, she felt far from the scared female who’d shown up at the park with only a sliver of hope and a hastily packed suitcase.
Seneca ducked and hauled her over his shoulder with a playful growl.She let out anoofand then laughed, brushing the hair from her face.
“Am I walking too slow?”she teased.
