Page 4 of Seneca

Marcus smiled but there was sadness there.His soulmate Bethany, Seneca’s mom, passed away when he was young.Bear shifters only got one soulmate, so his father would never have another, but he was hopeful the other bears in the clan would find their soulmates.

They headed down a secure stairwell to the underground area where their people lived.He parted ways with his dad at the bears’ private living area, where they all had small homes in a huge room that was decorated to look like the woods.Seneca continued on to the marketplace, where the shifters could grab supplies from the small store run by a wolf couple, get manis and pedis from the soulmates of two of the shifters, or a makeover from another soulmate, or get meals three times a day from the cooks.

“Yo!”Alfie called, raising his hand in greeting.

Seneca waved and headed to the counter to order the dinner special—meatloaf and mashed potatoes—and after grabbing his tray and a drink, he found two of his good friends at a table—Alfie the wolf and Indio the elephant.

It was late so the cafeteria wasn’t busy, but his friends were on a similar work schedule so they were able to meet up for dinner most nights.

While they ate, they talked about their shifts.

“Zero exciting things happened on my shift,” Alfie said.“We had a couple of big tours on the safari, but it was pretty quiet.We’re all booked for the VIP tours tomorrow, though.”He waggled his brows.“Maybe our soulmates will show up.”

“That would be awesome,” Indio said.“I’m the only one in the memory without a mate.”

The elephants had only four members.The gorillas and bears had low numbers in their groups too, but the lions and wolves had more.

“My bear’s been acting up the last couple days,” Seneca said.“Either of you have that going on?”

They both shook their heads.

“Maybe your soulmate will show up soon,” Indio said.“And maybe she’ll have a couple of sisters or friends for us.”

“Hell yes,” Alfie said.

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” Seneca said.“For all of us.”

“Hear, hear,” Indio said.

* * *

After they finished eating, Seneca still couldn’t shake the weird feeling from his bear.Talking to his friends and dad about what it might mean just reinforced his thought that maybe there was actually something good coming his way.

Like fate being kind and bringing him his mate.

Leaving his friends to make plans of their own, he decided to head back topside and take a walk around the park.

The park was set to close in an hour.There weren’t many humans in the park still, but the security team was on patrol to ensure none remained once the gates were closed.

Seneca stopped outside of the employee cafeteria and inhaled, tilting his head to listen to the park.The air felt different, charged with anticipation.He could hear people talking and milling around, and he could pick up the scents of the animals in the paddocks and the food stalls that were all now closed.

He opened his eyes and looked both ways before he followed his bear to take a circuit around the park.He wasn’t sure what he was going toward, but he felt the need to simply walk.He’d check out the paddocks and the safari tour, long closed but still with shifters milling around in their designated spaces in case any humans happened to get past the barriers, and around to the apartments in the back that were used by shifters who needed a home to show their human soulmate.

Maybe he’d pet a few of the baby animals at the petting zoo or see the birds in the aviary.Or maybe he’d just walk and take in the evening.

His bear rumbled in his head, very loudly, and he stopped in front of the paddock of normal, non-shifting animals that included the unofficial mascot of the park: Tank the grumpy moose.

Turning slowly, Seneca felt compelled to return to the main part of the park.

And this time, he didn’t question anything—he just walked.

Was something waiting for him there, by the cafeteria and the security office?

Or someone?

His bear let out a curious bellow and his heart clenched.

Holy crap.