Page 56 of Alistair

Except for now, when she’d found Alistair and his people were a package deal: Kelley the animal handler and his beautiful mate, Rhapsody, and adorable son, Cael the vet and his sweet mate, Novi, and Indio, who grumbled good-naturedly about being the last single male in the memory.

Alistair told her that he’d waited his entire life for her, that being forty and single was a milestone he hadn’t expected to reach. It was so strange to her to think that they’d been living in the same state since he came to the park, and that they’d been so close but yet so very far away. If she hadn’t come to the park with her class, they might never have met.

That was a life she didn’t want to contemplate.

Alistair’s warm hand rested on her shoulder, and she tipped her head back to look up at him.

His eyes were glowing in the flickering firelight.

“Dinner’s ready, my mate. What can I bring you?”

“One of everything,” she said.

He nodded, his face lit with gold and shadows, his elephant letting out a low rumble. When he returned a few moments later, he set a plate on her lap and took the seat next to her with his own plate.

Around the firepit, Kelley, Indio, and Cael joined them and plates were handed out to everyone.

The wafted steam from the plate filled her senses and her stomach growled.

“Thank you for cooking for us,” she said.

“It was my pleasure.”

She loved how he said the word pleasure. Like he was just daring her to consider all the things that pleasure could mean.

She held his gaze for a moment, something hot and unspoken settling between them, and then she turned her attention to her food. If she didn’t stop ogling her sexy mate she’d never eat, and then they’d never get to the ceremony.

Her stomach flipped.

She was about to be the first human alpha female of an elephant memory that any of them knew of. There was so much she needed to learn about their people and about being a leader, this introverted woman who hadn’t known shifters were real two weeks ago.

The secret lay heavy in her heart. It was so important, so gravely important that it remain a secret from the general human population. Now that she knew the truth and loved Alistair with every inch of her being, she also loved the memory and the people who called the park home.

She would never betray their trust.

And she’d do her damnedest to be the best alpha female that any memory had ever had.

Alistair lifted his bottle of water. “I want to make a toast.” He waited for everyone to put down their plates and lift their drinks. He turned his head toward her and smiled. “To the best thing that could possibly happen to a shifter: finding their soulmate. I was half a male, just existing and not living, and then I met Maggie. My life is infinitely better with you in it.” His voice lowered a little as he dropped to his knees in front of her, the water bottle in one hand and something shiny in the other. “Maggie, sweet female and holder of my heart, will you do me the honor of not only being my alpha female, but also my wife? Will you marry me and make me the happiest elephant on the planet?”

She stared at the ring as he held it, the firelight dancing on the surface of what looked like several cut stones.

“Yes!” She nearly shouted the word, and then giggled as tears sprang to her eyes. He slipped the cool metal on her finger and pulled her into his arms for a deep, long kiss. The others clapped and whistled.

“I asked your dad,” he whispered against her lips. “He and your mom gave me their blessing.”

Her heart clenched as she gave him one more kiss, and then buried her face in his neck. “Thank you,” she said, the words muffled against his warm skin. He smelled like charcoal and smoke, like home and love.

“I love you, Maggie-mine,” he said.

“I love you too.”

He kissed her hands and then took his seat next to her. “Let’s eat,” he said. “We’ve got an alpha welcome ceremony to get to.”

She tucked into the food that the guys had prepared: steak, mac and cheese, and grilled veggies.

The group talked about the VIP tours and Indio finally finding his soulmate, everyone hoping it would be in the near future. Maggie knew he was worried he might be waiting years to find his soulmate, like Alistair had waited for her. She didn’t really understand what it was like to have an animal dictating her love life, because humans dated and fell in love without ever giving any creature any notice.

But what she did understand was that finding Alistair had been a long and twisty road, filled with potholes and landmines. It was honestly a miracle that she’d come to the park when she did, that he’d been where he was so they would cross paths. To think she might never have met him if she’d made different choices: stayed in a toxic relationship, chosen a different substitute teaching assignment, or not taken Alistair’s phone number the day they met.

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