Lucius didn’t like that Sidney was nervous, but as they waited in the employee lot for their escort to her mom’s salon, he couldn’t help but feel how nervous she was. She was practically vibrating with nervous energy, pacing by the SUV he was going to drive.

“My car?” she asked, chewing her bottom lip as she turned on her heel and walked the length of the SUV.

“It’s here somewhere,” he said. “My dad said he brought it to the employee lot.”

“Okay.” She blew out a breath. “I don’t care about it. My mind is just going a mile a minute and it passed through my runaway train of thought.”

He smiled and reached for her as she came back his way. Pulling her close, he loved how she melted against him.

“It’s going to be okay, sweetheart.”

She tilted her face to look at him. “My pacing is a dead giveaway that I’m nervous. I can’t just be still when I’m anxious.”

“Yeah, but I can also feel your worry. Whatever happens, I’ve got your back. Your mom’s had some time to think about everything. Maybe she’ll be really happy for you.”

Sidney pursed her lips, then sighed and rested her head on his chest.

“I don’t really like confrontation,” she said. “If I did, I would have left ages ago, but it makes my stomach hurt to think about talking to her and telling her I’m quitting.”

He knew she wrestled with not giving her mom notice for the job as well, but they’d made some arrangements her mom could utilize, and she’d told him she’d been to salons where they didn’t even have a front desk person full time.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry that things happened the way they did, I’m sorry I can’t live anywhere else, and I’m extremely sorry that because my lion couldn’t wait to meet you, I’ve messed up your relationship with your mom.”

She grasped her hands together behind his back. “I’ve already forgiven you, so I don’t want you to keep apologizing, okay?” She tilted her head back to look at him, squinting one eye as if to show she meant business. “And honestly? Even though my stomach hurts because I don’t want to get into another argument with my mom, I feel free. For the first time in years, I feel like I’ve got freedom to make my own choices.” She went onto her toes and kissed him. “I choose you, Lucius.”

His lion growled in happiness as he chased her lips and deepened the kiss. He wanted to go back down to the house so he could show her how much she meant to him, but his sensitive hearing picked up people approaching and he knew they really needed to get on the way anyway.

The sooner they left, the sooner they were back and having dinner with the pride, and then…whatever the night brought.

“Hey, guys,” Amadeus called. “Ready to go?”

Lucius reluctantly loosened his hold on Sidney so some space appeared between them, and let out a little snarl toward his brother.

She grinned at him. “Be nice, he’s helping us out.”

“I’d rather be nice to you.”

“You can be nice to me later.”

“Oh, I will,” he said, letting his lion out a little so his voice lowered.

Behind his brother was Benjamin, one of the wolf shifters, and Indio, one of the elephants.

“Hey,” he said, introducing them to Sidney. “We need three escorts?”

“On the way back, I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if we swung by the feed store so I can grab some supplies for the petting zoo?” Indio asked. “The place we order from has a shipping delay.”

“Yeah, of course,” Lucius said. He opened the passenger door for Sidney and helped her in, then said, “We’ll see you guys at the salon. The apartment is above it, so we won’t have to go far to grab her things.”

“If there’s heavy furniture I’m going to call sitting in the SUV instead of hauling things around,” Benjamin said.

“No furniture, just clothes and toiletries,” Lucius said with a chuckle.

“Oh whew,” Indio said. “I was a little worried I’d invited myself along and would have to move a couch or something.”

“Unbelievable,” Amadeus said. “We’ve all got extra strength from our beasts and you’re both bitching about furniture.”

“It’s still the weekend, give us a break,” Benjamin said. He grinned. “Now if it was my soulmate, I’d be flexing so much she’d swoon.” He popped a pose like a bodybuilder and Lucius groaned.

“Let’s go before he strains something,” Lucius said.

While the trio flexed and compared their biceps, Lucius got behind the wheel of the SUV and said, “Baby, I love those guys, but they’re all kind of idiots.”

She smiled. “I’m glad they’re willing to escort us. I don’t have much to bring to your house, but it would take us a couple hours to pack if it was just us I think.”

“Your house,” he reminded her. “What I have is yours now.”

She beamed at him and it made him feel ten feet tall.

Backing away from the spot, he drove down the aisle, turned right, and passed through the guard station, waving at Felix who was inside and hit the button to lift the gate for them. “Not too long now, sweetheart,” Lucius said as they left the park and headed toward the parkway. “Do you want to talk about your mom or something else?”

“Anything else,” she said. “Distract me with something.”

He hummed. “Have I told you about the lion mating ceremony yet?”

“No. What’s that entail?”

“Well,” he said, glancing in the rearview and seeing his friends behind him in another SUV, “picture it being pitch black outside, the whole pride gathered in the paddock, and me chasing a rabbit…”

Sidney opened the back door of the salon and stepped inside, holding it open for Lucius to follow her in. The familiar scent of hair spray and shampoo swirled in the air, and the soft hum of a hair dryer and the quiet chatter of stylists and clients made Sidney feel both at home and more stressed.

As they walked through the storage room that doubled as an employee breakroom, she spotted her mom cleaning her station.

Taking a deep breath, Sidney left the storage room and walked over to her mom.

“Hey, can we talk?” Sidney asked quietly. She tried to sound casual but she could hear the stress in her voice and it made her chest ache.

Her mom glanced at her. “I’m a little busy. I’ve got two clients coming in soon and you skipped out on me this weekend, so I’ve been running around crazy catching the phone and booking appointments.”

“Mom, it’s important.”

“Fine.”

Her mom gave a final swipe of the counter with a cleaning wipe and dropped it in the trash. Folding her arms, she said, “What’s going on?”

Sidney glanced at the nearby stations. Two other stylists were working on clients and she suddenly felt like everyone could hear what she was about to say. Grasping her mom’s arm gently, she led her away from everyone.

“I want to tell you that I’m quitting and won’t be coming back to the salon to work, and I’m also moving out.”

A myriad of emotions flashed over her mom’s face before her brows lowered and she frowned severely. “You’re quitting? Just like that? You can’t be serious. Anyone else would give me at least two weeks’ notice.”

Her mom’s voice was so sharp and her gaze so harsh that Sidney wanted to wilt. She could see Lucius out of the corner of her eye and knew she was doing the right thing. The alphas of the park had been gracious enough to let her come with an escort and pack her things and quit her job, but they weren’t going to let her stay away from the park or Lucius. Too much was at stake and they still didn’t fully trust her.

But even if they did trust her, even if she could stay at the apartment or work a couple weeks and help out, she wouldn’t. She’d given enough blood, sweat, and tears to this salon and was ready to move on with her life.

“I’m very serious. The guy I went on a date with last night, he’s my Mr. Right. My forever guy. He asked me to move in with him, and I’m going to. I want it, more than I’ve ever wanted anything, even doing my art.”

Her mom scoffed loudly. “You’ve known him a day and he’s your Mr. Right? Give me a break, Sidney. You’re throwing away everything for a guy you just met? What are you going to do when this all blows up in your face and you’ve burned bridges?”

“I haven’t thrown anything away,” she said, feeling indignant. “I’m moving on. It’s time, for goodness’ sake. It’s what I need to do for my own sanity and what I want to do, because he’s a great guy and we’re going to build a life together.”

“What about the salon, Sidney? You can’t just walk away, it’s the family business and you’re valuable. Your dad and I put everything into this business.”

“I know, Mom, but it was never supposed to be my life. I didn’t want to go into the salon business, I never wanted to be a stylist. You’ve never treated me as if my wants and needs matter. It’s always what you want or what’s best for the business.”

“You can’t leave me in the lurch!”

Lucius walked out of the storage room and put his arm around Sidney. She nearly collapsed into him—she hadn’t realized how much she needed his support until he joined her.

“I can help with that,” he said. His voice was deep and smooth, and filled with confidence. “My name is Lucius and Sidney is not only my girlfriend but she’s my forever-girl. I will happily cover the cost of a temporary receptionist until you find someone to replace Sidney.” He handed over an index card that he’d printed the information from the temp agency on. “Someone can start as early as tomorrow afternoon if you call the agency in the morning.”

Sidney’s mom stared at him in silence. Then she snapped, “You’re the hero, now, huh? You think you can throw money at me and it changes anything? You can’t pay to replace my daughter, and this salon is a family issue and not your problem to fix.” Her eyes blazed and she knocked the card out of Lucius’s hand. “You want to run off together? Fine. But if you walk out of that door, Sidney, you can just keep walking.”

Sidney flinched at her mom’s tone. “Mom.”

“No,” her mom said. “You make the choice right now, young lady. You want to leave, then go. But don’t come crying to me when it all falls apart and you have no one and no place to live.”

Sidney blinked at the sting of tears. Lucius gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Let’s go, sweetheart.”

She nodded, not sure she could speak without sobbing. Without another word, they turned and left the salon through the back door. She pushed at the emotions churning in her stomach and pointed to the metal staircase that led to the apartment.

His friends joined them as they climbed the stairs to the apartment she’d lived in for most of her life, and she opened the door.

“Let’s get this over with,” she said.