Page 6 of Lucius

“They’re on my list to see today too,” she said.

She also wanted to get one of the park’s specialty burgers and ice cream flavor of the day, and see the carousel that she’d read on social media had been recently refurbished after years in storage.

And somewhere was a kiosk selling cotton candy, one of her favorites.

“Have a great time, Sidney,” he said.

“Thanks, Felix.”

As he walked back toward the tiki hut, Sidney pulled out her sketchbook and a pencil from her pouch before rolling the leather back up and tying it closed. She loved a fresh sketchbook and had saved this one—handmade with a beautiful green leather cover hand-stamped with flowers and leaves—from a craft fair.

Opening it, she looked around and twirled the pencil in her fingers, deciding to draw a nearby plant with broad, dark green leaves. It would be good to warm up with it so she could hit the ground running.

Or drawing, as it were.

Her mind spun as she heard the distant trumpet of an elephant.

How freaking exciting!

Lucius had the strangest feeling as he patrolled on Saturday. His lion was alert, but then again he always was because being a security guard meant he needed to be paying attention to anything that might be an issue. But more than that, for the last half hour or so, Lucius’s lion was pacing in his mind and anxious.

Over what? He had no clue.

But his lion was pestering him togo.

If only his beast could actually talk, then he might know what the issue was. But all he could go on was general feelings, and right now, his lion wanted him to move.

He passed by the security office and paused as he caught a hint of something on the air. Lifting his head, he inhaled silently and turned in a slow circle until his lion let out a curious chuff in his mind as the scent hit him again.

Like peaches and sweet cream.

Holy crap it smelled good.

His lion let out a deep purr and Lucius followed the scent, which grew stronger as he neared the VIP tour.

“What’s up, man?” Felix called to him from the tiki hut where they greeted patrons.

He waved but didn’t say anything, too intent on following the scent.

Stopping as he reached the line for the VIP tours, he saw three women in line. The one at the front was about to be taken on the first tour of the day.

Someone touched his shoulder, and he let out a low growl that was barely audible and wouldn’t have been heard by any of the nearby humans.

“Whoa, you okay?” Felix asked.

Lucius looked at him and the male’s brows winged up. With a low voice, Felix said, “Your eyes are amber. What’s up?”

Shaking his head and trying to push his lion back, he whispered, “I don’t know. Something smells really good to me.”

Felix inhaled. “I don’t smell anything but the burger of the day. I’m starving.”

It was then that he realized the reason Felix didn’t smell what Lucius did, was because he wasn’t smellingsomethinghe was smellingsomeone.

Happiness filled him. He was following the scent of his soulmate. One of the females in line was his mate, he was sure of it.

“Are my eyes amber?” he asked.

“Nope, back to normal.”

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