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The following afternoon, Zara met Nancy by the tea garden that was in the process of being created. The ground was staked and had been tilled, and they were waiting for Dexter to build the wooden box that would surround it to keep the animals from getting to the young plants.

Zara took out her new foraging book that Crew had given her and a pencil, and flipped to the back where she’d made a drawing of the territory so she could mark where they found things.

“I’m so glad you wanted to walk around with me,” Zara said. Since Crew said no one could go anywhere alone, even in their territory, Zara had needed someone with her in case there was trouble.

“I was going to do laundry today, so I’m really happy to be doing this instead,” Nancy said with a grin. She pulled her floppy hat a little lower on her head and said, “Where are we going to start?”

“Well, I know there are blackberries here”—she pointed to the barn with the equipment—“but when I was out with Crew, we found wild blueberries so I wanted to just do a slow search heading that direction, along the split-rail fence.”

“Sounds good to me, lead the way.”

“I got through a few chapters in my foraging book last night, so I’m curious what we might find.”

“I’m so impressed with your knowledge of foraging. How did you learn? Did you just pick it up as you went or were you taught?”

They started walking along the fence, Zara keeping track of their steps and the path they took with a GPS program on the new phone Crew had picked up for her that morning while they were out shopping. He’d been so gracious taking her to the mall so she could get clothes, encouraging her to buy whatever she needed. They’d hit up a farm supply store as well, where she bought some comfortable hiking boots and gardening gloves.

She was very glad for the hiking boots now since the ground was uneven and she knew her old tennis shoes wouldn’t be helping her much.

“Our herd was small and my mom was one of two foragers who scoured the territory for plants, harvesting wild crops. She searched for food, and plants to dry for medicines and teas. When I was little, I went everywhere with her and she taught me everything she knew about foraging, but she’d never had any formal training or even read much about the area and the plants. She’d been taught by her mom what was safe and what wasn’t, and she passed that on to me.” When her mom died, she’d been thrust into the job of herd forager, the assumption from the alpha was that she’d happily spend her days rooting around in nature for whatever was useful and helpful for the herd. And she was happy to do it, but it just made her miss her mom. The alpha had hardly given her time to grieve her parents before he called her to his home and told her it was time to get to work.

“What a jerk,” Nancy said.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “And his son is worse than he ever was.”

“I hope we never see him again. It was a terrible thing to go after the machinery and vehicles like he did, but I’m so thankful for the shifters at the park who were willing to help.”

“That was really amazing,” she said.

They stuck to the treeline so they could stay in the shade, and Nancy told her about meeting Dexter and falling for him, then learning about shifters.

“It must have been so weird to know that this whole world of shifters was in secret like that,” Zara said. “I can’t imagine.”

“It was!” Nancy said with a chuckle. “What was bad for me, though, was that I was forbidden to tell Dani. I hated to keep a secret from her, especially as she got older. I knew she could tell there was something going on, but she never guessed it was that. I mean, who would? Your whole life you think it’s just humans in the world and then you learn there are horses and gorillas and bears and wolves and who knows what else is out there!”

“My old herd only allowed stallions, so we never had to worry about keeping secrets like in your situation. I would imagine it would be really hard to keep something so huge from someone you love.”

“It was,” Nancy said. “I understood when she was a child, because kids make mistakes and might say something they shouldn’t. But once Dani was an adult, I pushed back with Dexter about it, but he’s a very by-the-books sort of fellow and he didn’t want to say it was okay to break a stallion law just because his step-daughter was human. And he wasn’t willing to change the law just for himself, and I understood that. If laws can be changed willy-nilly, then what’s the point?”

“True.” She paused and crouched down, peering through a dense patch of grass.

“What do you see?” Nancy asked, leaning over.

“I think it’s mint,” Zara said. She scooted forward and reached for a leaf, plucking it and bringing it to her nose. With a swift inhale, she smiled. “Yep. Here, give it a smell.”

Nancy sniffed and said, “It’s sweet and minty.”

“It’ll make great tea, and also have you ever tried lemonade with strawberry and fresh mint? Now that I know Crew likes lemonade, I want to try to make him different kinds.”

“That’s so cute, and no, I haven’t ever had it that way, but I’d love to try it.”

“With the late strawberries in the garden, we should be able to make a pitcher for dinner.”

“That’ll be perfect for the burgers we’re planning to grill.”

Nancy and Dexter were hosting dinner for the herd, and Zara was looking forward to it. She’d never been part of such camaraderie like she was here; it was incredible to be part of. Her whole life she’d wanted to be really included, and thanks to Crew and his herd, she was.

They gathered several bunches of mint and Zara logged the location on her map. They continued their trek for a while longer, then turned back to the farmhouse, after Zara had spied daisies that Nancy picked for a dinner-table bouquet.

With a hug, they parted ways at the shed, and Zara watched Nancy get in a small golf cart and drive down the dirt road. Zara waved with a smile and then walked to the farmhouse to take care of the mint. When she walked into the house, she heard Crew talking in the den and decided the mint could wait.

She wanted to see her mate.

* * *

“So tell me about the safari tours,” Zara said as they sat around the big dinner table at Nancy and Dexter’s and ate burgers with fresh-cut fries and a large pitcher of lemonade with fresh mint and strawberries.

“A few years ago,” Neo said, leaning back in his chair, “the alphas decided they wanted to send out free coupons for VIP tours to humans in the tri-state area who were single, according to a database they purchased. The coupons were for an individual tour and photos at all the animal paddocks, with the idea that soulmates might be among those who came on the tour.”

“That’s pretty neat,” she said. “How many soulmates have been found?”

“Not nearly as many as we’d all hoped for, but the alphas are happy for even just a few of them. Most recently, they started sending out the coupons by email, and Lucius, a lion shifter, had his soulmate come through. But he wasn’t even in his shift for the tour; he was working security and they met that way.”

“It’s incredible that so many groups live and work together. Talk about safety in numbers,” Zara said.

“And the herd is an ally of the park as well,” Crew said. “We met them when Dexter’s company was hired to build an apartment complex at the back of the park. We didn’t know there were shifters there, and they didn’t know about stallions.”

“Holy crap,” she said with a chuckle.

“The alpha wolf’s mate gave me a tour coupon,” Dani said. “My parents didn’t want me to go—they’d planned for a herd to come visit, hoping that I’d be soulmates with one of the stallions so I could share in the secret— but I snuck out and went to it anyway.”

“Thank goodness,” Neo said.

“It really worked out for the best,” Dexter said. “If Dani hadn’t gone to the park and met Neo, then Khyle wouldn’t have felt compelled to shift for her and broken the laws which caused me to step down as alpha. Tris came to the park because of a wolf named Auden, and she wasn’t happy there—right?”

“Nope,” Tris said. “I liked the park, I just didn’t feel at home there, so Dani brought me to meet the guys, and I took the caretaker job.”

Khyle brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “And that’s where we met.”

“Wow,” Zara said. “How incredible that all your lives were intertwined like that.”

“So the unmated shifters are always hopeful every weekend,” Neo said. “Like my buddies Patton and Seneca.”

“Are there many unmated females?” she asked.

“Just Heidi, she’s a wolf,” he said. “Most of the shifter groups didn’t have any females at all until soulmates were found, like the gorillas and the elephants. It’s just the way of shifters—it seems like they’re mostly male.”

“Stallions are like that too, mostly male.” She reached for Crew’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m glad to be here and part of the herd.”

“Speaking of that,” Crew said, “we wanted to have a party, to do a joint mating ceremony and make it official for Zara to be the alpha female and join the herd. Maybe Saturday?”

“That works,” Tris said. “What would you like for dinner? Something special, like steak?”

“Perfect,” Zara said. “And mac and cheese too.”

“You got it,” Tris said.

The conversation continued as the herd discussed the party, and Zara smiled. The herd always made her feel so welcome and included.

When the meal was over and they were on the way back to the farmhouse, she and Crew walked behind the others, taking a slow stroll in the dark with the stars lighting up the sky. The only sounds were the crunch of gravel underfoot and the crickets in the grass.

“I really love it here,” she said.

“I’m glad.”

“It’s peaceful, you know? It makes me feel hopeful about the future.”

“What kind of hope?”

“Kids.”

She glanced at him; he was looking back at her with a grin. “I can’t wait to start a family with you.”

“Well, I haven’t been on birth control, so it could happen anytime.”

He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. “Whenever it happens, it’ll be the perfect time. How big should our family be?”

“We’re both only children, so three or four maybe?”

“That sounds perfect. A nice, big family with kids who will grow up knowing how loved they are by their parents.” He paused and she stopped to face him. “You’re so special to me, Zara. Meeting you was the best day of my life, and every day since then, I just fall a little bit harder for you.”

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said.

They kissed and she swore the crickets chirped louder for them.

“I’m not done wooing you yet,” he said with a rough voice when the kiss ended. “I plan to make you the happiest female on the planet.”

“I’m very happy already.”

“Bank on it getting much better,” he said. “I’m a very determined male.”

“I think you’re the guy for the job.”

“You know it.”

They held hands and continued the walk to the farmhouse. Zara was definitely falling hard for her soulmate. How could she not? He was sexy and sweet, but also protective and so careful with her. She knew she’d never have to worry about him breaking her heart or hurting her; he was loyal and caring to a level she hadn’t known existed before.

Someday soon, she knew she’d fall completely for Crew and she’d get to say the three words she’d never said to anyone else before. She was glad she’d saved those words for him. He was worth the wait.