Page 45 of Mercer

“Not all of them have families to deal with, but the rule of thumb is that they tell their families they work and live at the park, and if they want to invite their family over to visit, they use an apartment as cover for housing.”

“So you really don’t live in the apartment?”

“No. Remember I mentioned stuff underground?”

“Yeah.”

“Each shifter group has private living space with homes for their people. I have my own house that I can take you to see after we’re done here tonight, if you’d like.”

They walked along the safari tour path and stopped in front of a wrought-iron gate. Beyond the gate was the paddock where the lions hung out during the tours. She couldn’t really make out anything in the darkness except for a building that he said was a maintenance shed, which had access to the underground space.

The gate was unlocked and they walked through. Mercer swung her up into his arms.

“What are you doing?” she asked, snuggling against him. He was so warm and smelled so good.

“You can’t see as well in the dark as I can, so I’m making sure you don’t trip on anything.”

“How am I going to see you change into a lion with how dark it is?” She was having second thoughts about this whole thing because she hadn’t realized how freaking dark it was in the paddock. She didn’t want to miss it.

“I’m going to shift in the maintenance shed with the light on so you can see.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Worried you’ll miss something?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Definitely.”

There was a loud creak, and light from the shed’s open door illuminated the nearby area. Someone stood in the doorway. Mercer carried her to the door and set her on her feet.

“Sweetheart, this is my alpha, Caesar.”

Caesar was a forty-something man with dark blond hair and piercing blue eyes, broad-shouldered like Mercer and built like a linebacker.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said with a nod. “I’m going to shift and so are the rest of our people. It’s been a while since we had a casual shift and run.” To Mercer, he said, ”Be sure to explain how Rhomi needs to stay put.”

A door in the floor opened with another loud creak, and people walked up the stairs and into the shed. They introduced themselves as they walked by and out into the paddock. The last two people were a man and a woman: Devlin and Trina.

“We’ll hang back with you,” Devlin said, “so when Mercer can’t talk, we can answer your questions.”

“Thanks,” Rhomi said.

“Are you okay? You look a little pale,” Trina said.

“It’s all so crazy,” Rhomi admitted.

“It definitely is,” Devlin said, “but you get to be part of an amazing group of people who care and protect their own like family. Whatever happens, don’t run.”

“I promise,” she said.

They both smiled at her and left the shed. Caesar said, “I’m going to close the door so you two have privacy. We’ll all be shifting out here, and you can join us when you’re finished.”

“Thanks, Caesar,” Mercer said.

He nodded and shut the door. Mercer turned to face her, taking her hands. “Are you okay, sweetheart? Trina’s right, you do look pale.”

“I just realized you smell like the plains, like sunshine and tall grass.”

“Yep. Lions smell like that, gorillas smell like the jungle, wolves and bears smell like the forest. Other shifters have different scents too.”

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