Page 1 of Jasper (Were Zoo #20)

The early morning sunlight streamed through the leaves of the trees that surrounded the small town of Northbelle. Melody inhaled the pine-scented air of her wolf pack’s territory as she made her way to her best friend Ellie’s house, which doubled as the local coffee shop thanks to a she-shed that had been converted into a coffee bar. A carved wooden sign over the door declared the name, “Chantal’s Coffee,” named after Ellie’s mom. Only the pack came to the coffee shop, not only because it was the most tiniest town ever, but because shifters kept apart from humans so they didn’t accidentally reveal their nature to them.

Chantal’s mom, who was like a second mom to Melody, had invited her to work there during the summers while she was in high school, and she’d gone full time once she finished. She loved the smell of freshly ground coffee in the morning, and hanging out with her bestie too.

Melody pushed open the creaky door, a jingle of the overhead bell announcing her arrival.

“Morning, Chantal! Morning, Ellie,” Melody called out as she stepped into the little shop. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and cinnamon rolls greeted her.

Chantal looked over from where she worked the espresso machine. “Morning, honey. Ready for another busy day?”

“You know it.”

Ellie stepped out of the pantry with a stack of to-go cups. “Hey, babe! Did you see the sunrise? I took a picture because it was so pretty.”

“You’re always taking pictures of the sunrise,” Melody said with a smile.

“I love it. I should have gone into photography instead of making coffee every day.”

“Hey, it’s our family business,” Chantal said. “You can photograph stuff in your spare time, sweetie. Now, let’s open for business—it’s nearly six.”

“Too early,” Melody said with a yawn. She unlocked the steel window at the front of the shed and pushed it up, locking it into place. Wiping off the counter with a sanitizing wipe, she got to work stocking the counter before the pack members showed up for their daily coffee and cinnamon roll.

It took only minutes for the crowd to arrive. The pack had a construction company that worked odd jobs around the area, and they always got started early. While she took orders and payments, she heard the occasional under-the-breath comment about the non-wolf, which was her.

She’d gotten used to hearing that kind of thing, ever since she’d been unable to shift when she was a teenager. It had been rough having one foot in two very different worlds, a wolf but also not a wolf. The only people who didn’t seem to care were Ellie and her mom, plus Melody’s own parents.

Well, there had been one other person who hadn’t cared she couldn’t shift: Jasper. He’d never made her feel like an outsider. Her childhood sweetheart, her soulmate , had left her behind seven years ago without a word. She missed him fiercely and the loss of him was like a missing limb. Sometimes, she hated him for it. But no matter how many years passed, she’d never moved on, never tried to take another mate. She was just always alone and didn’t think she’d ever really get over the loss of her soulmate.

“Hey,” Chantal said stiffly. “Melody is my employee and my friend, and you’ll keep your mouth shut or get the hell away from my shop.”

Melody realized she’d gotten so lost in thought she hadn’t moved from the little register where she kept the money. A male named Vince had clearly been the one saying things about Melody and she hadn’t even been paying attention.

Anytime she thought about Jasper she got lost in the past.

“Fine,” Vince said. “Can I just get my coffee? I need to catch up to Alpha Grimes.”

Melody accepted payment while Ellie handed his coffee over. The male gave Melody a curled upper lip annoyed look, and Melody just shook her head and took the next order.

“Thanks, Chantal,” Melody said quietly.

“You’re safe here with us,” she said.

That was very true. The pack might like to remind Melody that she didn’t really belong, but Ellie and Chantal never did. And neither did Melody’s parents. Their unwavering love and support had gotten her through the roughest of times when she was dealing with the discovery that she couldn’t shift. Her mom, with the best hugs on the planet, and her dad, with his playful teasing and kind words, had made her feel loved and valued even when she struggled to see that in herself.

“Hey, Mel, can you grab extra coffee beans? I forgot them when I got the cups,” Ellie said.

Melody shut the register lid after taking payment for two cinnamon rolls and a cup of dark roast, and said, “You got it.”

“Hey, we’re still on for tonight, right?” Ellie asked.

“Movie fest? Heck yes.”

“Good. I’ve got just the perfect movie in mind.”

“Uh-oh. Should I be worried?” Melody asked as she paused at the pantry door.

“Not at all. Be excited. Live a little.” Ellie grinned.

“The last time you said that, we went on a pop-up fair ride and got trapped on it for an hour.”

“It’s not my fault the carnies didn’t put it together right!”

As Ellie laughed, Melody walked into the pantry and grabbed the coffee beans. The day was just getting started, but it was sure to be an interesting one because her best friend was a nut and always kept them on their toes.

It would be awesome if she had a mate by her side and some kids running around, but that was a dream that was probably never going to come true. So she’d make do in Northbelle with what she had and be grateful she got to live in such a pretty place.

Jasper Breslin made his way through the Amazing Adventures Safari Park as the sun peeked up over the horizon, casting the trees and buildings in ambers and oranges. His wolf was on alert, the beast rolling under his skin, as he took in everything around him on the hunt for danger. Recently, a group of hyena shifters had made numerous attempts to get to Ginny, a hyena who’d escaped from her dangerous grandfather and found her soulmate in August, one of the gorillas who called the park home.

Even though the threat against Ginny was put down for good—the battle had been truly epic—the security team hadn’t eased off on any of the new measures put into place by the lions who were in charge of keeping everyone safe.

That was the thing about the park: it was not only a business that employed people, it was also cover for the shifters who kept their animal natures secret from humans. All the shifters lived and worked at the park, and that meant safety was paramount.

If the secret of shifters ever got out to the general public, it would be the end of life as they knew it.

“Hey!”

Jasper paused as he was about to pass the bird sanctuary and swiveled around. He saw his best friend, Alfie, another security team member.

“Hey, man,” he said. The two bumped fists.

Alife yawned. “I hate morning shift. I don’t like being up before the sun.”

Jasper actually preferred the night shift himself, but that was because he didn’t sleep well.

He hadn’t slept well in seven years.

“It’s just until a spot opens for us,” Jasper said. “Maybe we’ll get back on the night shift soon.”

“I hope so.”

“You do realize,” Jasper said as they continued their trek around the park’s interior, “that we’ll still see the sun rise on the night shift at the end of the shift.”

“Yeah, but I don’t mind the sunrise when I’ve been up all night; I just hate being up early . I hope when I find my soulmate that she’s a night owl too. Imagine if she was an early bird and I had to change my entire outlook on early mornings.”

Jasper chuckled. “You would, though.”

“Oh hell yeah, one hundred percent. I just hope she’s a night owl. Good things happen at night.” Alfie waggled his brows, and Jasper shook his head at his nutty friend.

“Maybe she’ll show up on the tours this weekend,” he suggested.

Alfie hummed in a way that sounded like he didn’t think it would happen, a short grunting yeah right .

“What about you?” Alfie asked.

“What about me what?”

“Aren’t you hoping your soulmate will show up soon? On one of the tours or maybe she’ll just happen to walk into the park?”

Okay, so this is why Jasper didn’t tell anyone about his past. It left too many questions hanging around like knives poised to slice through him.

Regardless of his past and the violet eyes that haunted what little sleep he did get, the park hosted VIP safari tours, with free tickets sent out to single males and females in the Tri-State area to encourage people to come to the park. The hope was that the shifters—posing in paddocks as normal animals—would find their soulmates if they came on the tours.

The idea had spawned only a few soulmates, even after thousands upon thousands of tickets had been sent out. Most recently, a teacher had brought her elementary school class for a group tour and the alpha elephant, Alistair, had realized she was his soulmate. It was a sweet thing when it happened, but it would never happen to Jasper.

He wasn’t going to find his soulmate on the tour because he knew where she was already: Northbelle, Pennsylvania.

His childhood home and pack.

They’d grown up together, and he felt like he’d known his whole life that they were soulmates. But just before she turned eighteen, everything went to shit and he was forced to leave the pack and move to New Jersey to join up with alpha wolf Joss’s pack at the park.

She hadn’t followed.

His sweet wolf soulmate, Melody.

“You okay, man? You’ve been crazy-quiet,” Alfie said.

Jasper jerked himself out of the memories of the past and cleared his throat. “Yeah, sorry. It would be cool as hell if the safari tours worked like the alphas want them to, with our people finding their soulmates frequently. It’s just not working, though. It would be awesome if your soulmate walked through the gates today.”

“Hell yes, it would be. For both of us.”

Well, that was definitely not happening. But the lie to his friend got him out of the discussion he didn’t ever really want to have with anyone. Only Alpha Joss knew the reason he’d left the pack when he was nineteen and moved to the park.

He’d been ghosted without a word, left to flounder in a world without the love he’d counted on and coveted his whole damn life.

No “Sorry, I can’t come with you,” or “Go to hell, you freaking bastard.”

Just…nothing.

And that cut worse than the harshest curse.

Shit, he needed to stop thinking about her. Whenever she popped into his head, his wolf went nuts and he’d end up battling severe insomnia for days.

What the hell was going on that he was thinking about her so much?

“You know what?” Alfie said as they stopped at the front gates to look out at the empty parking lot.

“What?”

“I think good things are coming for us. Soon.”

Jasper arched a brow. “Oh yeah? You feeling psychic?”

“Maybe. My wolf’s ready to find my soulmate, and I bet yours is too. I think it’ll happen.”

He clapped Alfie on the shoulder. “I’m sure it will.”

After checking the gates, they picked up the pace and got back on their path around the park, checking the paddocks where their people would be hanging out in animal form for tours, and the one paddock of normal, non-shifter animals, which included the unofficial park mascot: Tank the moose.

As the wolf paddock, currently empty of course because it was hella early, came into view, he thought once more about the tours and soulmates, and how very strange it was to know where his was but be unable to claim her or even see her.

It was a hell that he was trapped in.

Without her, he was doomed to be alone forever because his wolf would never be satisfied with anyone but her.

By the time their shift ended at three p.m., the park was busy. Recently, the gorillas, who handled repairs in the park, had reopened a carousel that had been put into storage. People loved the carousel, with the plucky music that played on repeat all day long and the gleaming horses that circled endlessly.

It was run by Ginny, the hyena shifter who’d been set free of the people trying to kill her by August and the other shifters in the park, who’d battled the danger that had come for her.

He stopped to stare at the carousel as it circled, the horses all topped with young children who laughed and waved at their families every time they went by.

His walkie squawked and he turned from the sweet scene that made something deep in him ache because he knew he’d never have kids of his own unless he asked Joss to put together an arranged mating—which he’d never do in a million years—and answered.

“Jasper.”

“Hey, it’s Jupiter. Stop into the security office before you go to clock out.”

“On my way.”

He clipped the walkie on his belt and turned from the carousel to go to the office.

Inside the small building that served as the security office and a place for VIP tour guests to pick up their souvenir photo albums, he found Jupiter, who was head of security, and Lucius, both lion shifters.

“How was your shift?” Lucius asked.

“No problems.”

“That’s what we like to hear,” Jupiter said. “I know you like the night shift, so I was wondering if you would like to switch with Amadeus for a while? He’s tired of the night shift and wants to spend more time in the paddocks during the tours.”

“Yeah, sure. Tonight?”

“No, he’ll work tonight, but you can start tomorrow night. Eleven p.m.”

“Works for me.”

“Awesome, thanks. Enjoy the rest of the day.”

Jasper turned in his walkie and clocked out, then headed into the employee cafeteria to take the private stairwell down to the wolves’ private living area. There, among the small homes that were covered with stone to look like actual dens, he collapsed onto his bed and closed his eyes. He didn’t bother stripping because he wouldn’t sleep much anyway, even though he was exhausted and weary.

If only he could stop thinking about her.

If only he could move on.

If only…she’d show up and tell him everything that happened had been a mistake and she’d come for him so they could finally be together.

But that was a pipe dream and something that kept him from resting peacefully.

Growling at his inner monologue and his wolf who refused to stop thinking about her, he closed his eyes and forced himself to think of anything but her.

It was futile, but maybe he could get some decent rest today and hopefully tomorrow would be different.

He doubted it, though.