Chapter 1
Jenni Brisban finished braiding her long hair and secured the end with an elastic band. She tucked her work shirt into her khaki shorts and slipped her feet into tennis shoes, then headed to the kitchen to fill her travel mug with coffee. She wasn’t normally a morning person, but since she started working at the new sweets shop in the Amazing Adventures Safari Park, she’d begun to get used to the early mornings.
The park was owned and operated by shifters who kept their animal natures carefully hidden from humans. Jenni was one of eight lions in the pride that called the park home. The pride was her only family, taking over for the mother who’d chosen to leave them and the then twelve-year-old Jenni to become the alpha female of another pride. Like real lions, the alpha didn’t want the child of another male around, leaving Jenni unwelcome there. She’d been heartbroken by her mother’s decision, but the pride rallied around her and became her surrogate family: the alpha, Caesar, was the father she’d never known, and the others were the brothers who drove her crazy.
After fixing her coffee the way she liked it, with vanilla creamer and an extra spoonful of sugar, she walked out of her home and headed to work. Her home was underground, in the pride’s private living area. The floor was a cushiony material the color of dried grass, the walls were painted to mimic the savannah, and the ceiling was wired with lights to give the illusion of sunlight. Each group that called Amazing Adventures home had a private area. The groups were linked through a central marketplace underground. Among the other shifter groups in the zoo were bears, wolves, elephants, and gorillas.
“Hey, Jenni,” Xavier called as she left her home.
The lions worked security for the park and up until recently, Jenni had, too. But she’d grown tired of the security office, watching the monitors and patrolling the park, and had been excited to take a job making candy.
“Morning,” she said.
He waited for her at the door that led out of the private area to the hallway. Each shifter group had two ways to get topside – a general staircase that led to a hidden entrance in the employee cafeteria, or a private set of stairs that would lead up to a storage shed in each group’s paddock. They spent time in their shifts nearly every day, so that visitors to the park could enjoy the safari tour.
“What are you making in the shop today?” he asked, holding the door open for her.
“Taffy. It seems to be my specialty.”
He made a face. “Not banana taffy.”
She laughed. Lexy, who was human and mated to Win, one of the gorilla shifters, made a lot of banana flavored treats, including taffy. The sweets shop had been closed for years, after the mated couple who had run it opted to retire. Lexy opened the shop, and invited Jenni to help make candy, along with Lexy’s best friend, Trina.
The shop was having a private event that night for the zoo, and Lexy and Trina’s families were coming. The shop would officially open to the public on Friday morning.
“No more banana taffy, we’ve got about fifty pounds of it. Today I’m making watermelon and lemon.”
“Cool,” Xavier said.
They climbed up the stairs to the employee cafeteria. The bear shifters handled the food in the zoo, from the marketplace, where their people could get meals to the cafeteria for when they were on duty. She stopped next to Xavier at the long counter, where heat lamps kept freshly-made breakfast sandwiches warm, and selected a bacon and egg bagel.
“What’s going on in security?” she asked as she opened the wrapper and took a bite.
Xavier grabbed two sandwiches and walked with her out of the building. “Nothing new. We added new security cameras around the perimeter of the park, and there are more monitors in the security office. Do you miss us?”
She snorted. “Don’t take it personally, but no.”
He shot her a grin. “It must be nice to be around girls instead of just guys.”
“That’s an understatement.”
Jenni was the only lioness in the pride. Jupiter, Caesar’s oldest son, was mated to a human female named Celeste, but she and Jenni were still getting to know each other.
“See ya later,” Xavier said.
Jenni waved goodbye, leaving Xavier at the security office. She headed down a path to the sweets shop called Lexy’s Sweet Treasures. It was a few minutes until six and Jenni could see that the lights were already on in the shop. She hurried her steps, finishing her sandwich before she reached the door. The bell over the door tinkled as she pushed it open.
“Morning,” she called out.
“I’m back here,” Lexy said. “Trina is on her way.”
Jenni walked through the swinging door that led to the commercial kitchen and found Lexy at one of the huge stand mixers, adding chunks of butter to the bowl.
“What are you making?” Jenni asked as she dropped her wrapper in the trash and went to wash her hands.
“Sugar cookies. I have these cute cookie cutters that look like all the animals here. I’ll cook them with sticks in them so they’ll be like a cookie lollipop.”
“Sounds adorable.” Jenni put her yellow apron on and tied it at her back.
“How was your night?”
“Fine.”
She turned on the taffy machine and took one of the tablets that they kept on hand for recipes, locating the recipe for lemon taffy. As she gathered the ingredients, Lexy said, “Just fine?”
“Yeah. I’m just… can I be honest with you?”
“Oh gosh, you’re not going to quit already, are you? I love having you here!” Lexy looked positively panicked.
“No, of course not! I’m just feeling lonely.”
“Oh,” Lexy said. “Good. Well, I don’t mean good, I mean, I’m glad you’re not quitting. The VIP tours aren’t producing mates like the council thought they would, huh?”
“Unfortunately, not.”
Because shifters were unknown to humans, they couldn’t just meet someone and tell them everything about their people. The carefully guarded secret was important to the safety of shifters everywhere. Their kind believed in soulmates, that there was one person in the world for every shifter, and meeting that person was like love at first sight. One glimpse of their mate, and their beast was ready to settle down.
Fewer and fewer of their people were finding their soulmates, and the council – made up of the alphas of each group – had decided to send out coupons to eligible males and females in the tri-state area for their VIP tours. They were hopeful that their people would find their mates on the tours, but so far, only two males had found theirs from the tour – Zane and Jupiter. Win and Justus had also found mates, only through chance meetings, one via flat tire and one from the sweets shop.
“There are four new mates now. I think it’s a good sign,” Lexy said.
Jenni hoped so, but she wasn’t feeling super positive at the moment. Hardly any males came on the VIP tour, so Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, she would be in her shift and watching Jeep after Jeep of females come by.
“I hope so.”
“What are we hoping for?” Trina asked as she walked into the kitchen.
“For Jenni to find her soulmate soon,” Lexy answered.
“Aw. I’m sure it’ll happen. What guy wouldn’t want to be with a beautiful lioness like you?”
Jenni’s cheeks heated at the compliment and she smiled. “I’ll just keep my fingers crossed.”
“And toes,” Trina said, “for good luck.”
“Meanwhile,” Lexy said, “let’s get on with the morning. The party will be here before we know it.”
Jenni turned her attention to the recipe for lemon taffy and pushed the thoughts of finding her soulmate to the far corner of her mind. Part of her knew that she’d find him at the right time and that she couldn’t hurry fate. But most of her, the pacing anxious lioness, wanted to find him right now so they could get started with the next chapter of their lives.
Together.