Elephants Never Forget: BBW Shapeshifter Romance (Safari Shifters Book 3) (4 page)

Branch was still in shock when he got home an hour later. He was sure it was all a fever dream. There was no way any of that had happened. A woman had asked him to leave, and he had responded by saying he wanted a relationship.

Oh, and he had marked her, too.

He put his head in his hands as his dinner threatened to come up. All of those things had happened, and now his elephant was restless.

He jumped up and paced his small living room. He was going to have to shift soon or he was going to lose his mind, but he wanted to get a grip on what he’d done first.

Marking a woman was a very big deal. It meant that she was his mate. According to shifter tradition, at least. He liked Maura and all, but it made no sense for her to be his mate. She was great in bed and hot as hell and easy to talk to and smart. That was why he had wanted to get to know her better. But that didn’t mean she was his mate. He wasn’t even looking for a mate. He had just been caught up in the moment, he reassured himself. He liked her a lot but there had to be more to mating than a good roll in the sheets.

His elephant didn’t like that thought at all.

Branch had to get out of the house. It was still early, but he went to the edge of the safari park, undressed and left his clothes on the van he was working that day. He let his elephant take over from there. Once the shift was completed, he headed for the elephant sanctuary. He passed a few of his co-workers heading in from night shift.

Branch was surprised to see a new calf when he reached the elephants. The bull wasn’t around, luckily, and he got a good look at the little guy. After a quick meeting, he set off to look for food. His elephant liked eating near the giraffes. There was lots of tree bark and low-hanging leaves for him to eat.

He felt much better after the short walk. He was starting to feel good, actually. A new calf, delicious leaves, and getting to watch the sunrise surrounded by animals. Pretty nice way to make up for his behavior earlier.

That was what made him most uneasy. It wasn’t how he would normally act. Usually, he would have a great night with a girl and skedaddle before she woke up. This had been one of the rare occasions when he wanted to sleep over. He wanted to make love with Maura two or three more times before he went in to work. Maybe get some dinner later and repeat the whole thing. But she’d tossed him out, and it had hurt. He’d felt awful when she told him to go.

Branch couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. She’d hurt his feelings and he had to let her know. Which he also hadn’t done since college. It wasn’t like she owed him anything, either. She was on vacation, for goodness’ sake! What did he expect her to do? Drop her whole life for some guy she barely knew? They were from the same town but so what? He knew he was being out of hand, but it didn’t change anything.

He did want to keep seeing her. Even after she went home, they could still talk. Maybe it would go somewhere one day. He did go home for Christmas and Thanksgiving, so it wasn’t impossible. She’d said she didn’t want to get serious since she’d just gotten out of a relationship, but what he had in mind would work perfectly for her. They would go slow and be friends first. He wasn’t ready to settle down just yet and neither was she. So why was she being so difficult?

There was a possibility that she didn’t like him at all.

His elephant didn’t think that was true, and he agreed. She liked him too. And he liked her. And they were both single.

No, something else was going on. He needed to talk to her again. He still had a few days before she left.

It was getting close to time to clock in and he began walking back to the vans. When he got close to the entrance to the park, a crocodile stepped into his path. He fought the natural instinct to stomp on it and run, and the croc changed into a grinning Finn Nunez.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

Branch shifted back to human. “I almost squished you, man. Stop sneaking up on me like that.”

“I didn’t sneak up on you. You weren’t paying attention. I’ve been trying to get your attention for miles.”

“Shoot. I guess I have a lot on my mind.”

“What’s going on?”

“A lot.” Branch caught Finn up on his dilemma on the way back to his van.

Finn whistled. “Lily is going to be pissed you slept with her new buddy. She hates when we interfere with her short-term friends.”

“I didn’t mean to, honest. I thought it was going to be a short little thing.”

“Not anymore. You marked her. Congratulations. You’ve found your mate.”

“Maybe not,” Branch said. “I don’t feel any different.”

“Really?” Fin laughed. “You’re talking about seeing this girl when you go home for the holidays. I’ve never heard you say that about anyone. Ever. I didn’t even know you had a family.”

“She’s from my home town. She probably already knows my parents. Not that I said I’d introduce her to anyone.”

“Sure, man. This is different. You know it is. Don’t fight it. Just let it happen and you’ll be much happier.”

Branch put his clothes back on. “I’ll need to talk to her first, no matter what. She didn’t seem too keen on seeing me after her vacation was over.”

“I’m sure she’ll change her mind. Good luck.”

“Thanks. I’m going to need it with this girl.”

***

Maura had no time to waste after Branch left her room. She had to get down to the bus and get to Safari Town.

The six a.m. bus was almost full. There were a few tourists, but mostly it was employees headed home. Most of the employees didn’t look like people getting off work either. There were a lot of short dresses and button-down shirts.

It seemed like a lot of the employees had flings with tourists. It made her feel better about telling Branch to go. He would get over it. There would be hundreds of pretty girls flying into Safari Island before the day was done. He could find someone else to keep him company.

When she got into town, she headed for the beach as discreetly as she could. She wasn’t sure of the exact spot where she was supposed to meet Jimmy. The beach wasn’t terribly long, and she could see most of it from a bluff.

It didn’t take long for her to spot his raft in the sand. She ran over and looked around.

“Jimmy?”

“Over here,” he called back. She found him stretching in the sand. “I got in a little earlier than expected. Want to help me break up the raft?”

She hugged him tightly. “I’d love to. Thank goodness you’re here. I’ve been sweating bullets.”

He patted her on the back. “No worries, my dear. I’m here to take care of everything and get you home safely.”

“I’m surprised you were able to get to shore without being seen.”

They pulled the raft to shore and pulled out the knives he had in his backpack. Their mission had been thwarted a year earlier because someone had spotted the boat. This time, Jimmy had used a rubber raft and they were going to sink it. They cut it up as much as possible and then let it wash away from shore. It sank pretty quickly.

“Nice job,” Jimmy said. He high-fived Maura and put her knife back in his backpack. “This is going to be a major success. You’re going to be a hero.”

She blushed. Hopefully, he’d never find out that she’d spent the night with Branch. Jimmy didn’t like any of the resort employees. He thought all the shifters were traitors. They were helping abuse animals that they shared a form with.

She didn’t agree with that sentiment. The employees didn’t know what they were doing.

“Stop. I’m only doing what I think is right.”

“And it is. We should get out of here before it gets too busy. I thought we could walk around the Safari Walk before trying to get me into the hotel.”

“Perfect!” Now she wouldn’t have to explain why they had to wait. Lily was working until ten in the morning. They would be able to get in with no problem once she was off. “I haven’t gone to look at the shops yet and it’ll be more comfortable than hiding out on the beach.”

Jimmy nodded. “Tell me, how has the trip been going?”

Maura thought as they walked to the bus stop. She couldn’t give too much away, but she didn’t want to outright lie. “It’s been nice. I met a very nice employee. She had dinner with me and showed me Safari Town. It was pretty useful. I got a good idea of how the employees move around.”

Jimmy frowned. “I hope you aren’t getting attached to her. The employees are as bad as the company they work for. Even worse, I’d say.”

“How so?”

“Many of them are shifters who are working to keep other animals penned up. That’s disgusting.”

“I don’t know if I’d say that.” Maura chose a seat at the back of the bus this time. “They don’t know what they’re doing.”

“You can think that if it helps. I’ll have to disagree vehemently. They know exactly what they’re doing. How do they think the animals get here? Magic? No, they have to be trapped and taken out of their natural habitat for human amusement. You would think shifters would feel for their animal brothers and sisters.”

Maura shrugged and looked out the window. She hated it when Jimmy got all riled up. His normally cool, calm demeanor became agitated and he’d almost foam at the mouth.

She’d never heard him go on about shifter employees before. Usually, his anger was saved for the humans who visited Safari Island and zoos around the world. Maura didn’t believe in keeping wild animals penned up for people to gawk at, but she could understand people doing their jobs.

They got off the bus in the shopping district. It was much nicer than the main drag in Safari Town. It was also the most crowded place she’d been while on the island. There were tourists everywhere. Shops lined the street and Maura wanted to go into all of them.

“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked Jimmy as they reached the third shop. It was a bakery, and Maura wanted to pick up a dozen of their safari cookies. She’d already bought a photo of an elephants in Safari Park at sunset. She wasn’t sure where she was going to hang it, but she had to have it. The picture was the perfect way to remember her time with Branch on the island.

Jimmy didn’t seem too happy that she was spending money. She should have known that he’d object to spending on tourist trinkets, but she had no problem doing the normal tourist thing. That was why she’d agreed to come to the island for her honeymoon. She didn’t appreciate his morose attitude, either. She was helping him and it was very risky. Walking around like he had a chip on his shoulder and hated the place was going to draw attention to both of them. People weren’t usually miserable on their vacations.

“I think I’d like to go lie down for a bit,” he said curtly. “We have a big night ahead of us and I think our time will be better spent resting.”

Maura bit her lip and nodded. “Sure. We can go back now.”

When they were halfway to the hotel, her phone buzzed. It was a call from Branch. She let it go to voicemail and then listened. He was asking to see her that night. He claimed he wouldn’t take no for an answer since it was so important.

“Who’s that?” Jimmy asked.

“My cousin,” Maura lied. “She wanted to know how the trip was going.”

“So far, so good?” Jimmy gave her a thumbs up. “Right?”

“Right.” As long as she could keep Branch away until they were done with their mission. She was skating on thin ice.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Branch couldn’t wait any longer. He’d been texting Maura all day, and he’d called her about a dozen times, but she hadn’t responded to him yet. Lily wouldn’t tell him anything, either. He was going crazy thinking about his potential mate and needed to talk to her. He knew it was a long shot, but maybe she was upset too. He’d talked with Chet while they were on break and that was his theory.

Maybe Maura was freaked out because Branch had marked her. He hadn’t told her that was what had happened, but she could have figured it out. She could be really mad at him.

He wanted to know what she was thinking and talk with her about the whole mate thing. Since she wouldn’t take his calls, he was going to see her.

He took the bus to her hotel after dinner and snuck in. It wasn’t that difficult, since the guy at the front desk was flirting with one of the maids. Branch just walked right in and took the elevator to Maura’s floor. He was lucky the Honeymoon hadn’t put in elevator attendants like the family-friendly hotel had. It made sense to have security in the family hotel, but it was expensive and had kinks they hadn’t worked out yet.

When he got to her room, he knocked a few times. He wiped his palms on his jeans before trying the handle. No luck.

“Maura?” His voice was shaky and he could barely contain his emotions. He didn’t know why he was so upset. Something didn’t feel right about the whole thing. She had to be in her room. She didn’t have any plans for the night, and she wasn’t with Lily. Unless she was out taking a walk, there was nowhere else for her to go.

He laid his forehead on the door before pounding on it again. “If you’re in there, please open up. I need to talk to you.”

He didn’t hear any movement and the room looked dark. He backed up and sat down on the floor opposite Maura’s door. He might get in trouble, but he was going to sit here until she came back. Whether she was in there or not, she had to come in or out sometime. Lily had said she hadn’t checked out early, so he knew all her stuff was still in the room. All he had to do was be patient and hope none of the cleaning crew threw him out for loitering.

He sat on the hard floor with a million thoughts running through his mind. Was she out with someone else? Lots of tourists did it. There were lots of single shifter men running around. You could take a guy home from every part of the park while you visited. There were whole groups dedicated to getting new notches in their bedposts while visiting the island. He’d run across them before. At the time, he’d been pleased to make someone’s night. But he would be very upset if that was what Maura was up to.

That didn’t sound like her at all. Though, she had surprised him already. She was much bolder and more aggressive in bed than he’d anticipated. Her whole shy and nervous act could be a trick. That didn’t sound right either, but he couldn’t be sure.

His elephant told him to be patient and trust in Maura. His elephant was sure she was his mate, but Branch didn’t believe it yet.

He liked her, and his friends had told him that his feelings were typical for shifters meeting their mates for the first time. Still, he had to see her again. He wanted to hear what she thought about it all.

The longer she shut him out, the less sure he was. His mate wouldn’t treat him like this.

It was over two agonizing hours before she turned up. She was almost on top of him before she noticed him.

“Oh!” She tripped over his leg. “Branch? What are you doing here?”

He should have gotten up, but he was feeling low. “I was looking for you.”

“For what?”

Branch looked up to answer the obvious question. He saw that Maura’s eyes were red-rimmed. “Have you been crying?”

“No. I’m fine.”

He got up and held her at arm’s length. “You’re kind of a mess. What happened? Did someone do this to you?”

She shook her head and pulled away. “I’m fine. Really. What did you want?”

He watched her fumble with her room key. Her hands were shaking. “Is it something I did? I came here to talk to you about what happened last night. So I apologize if I did something wrong.”

She got the door open. “Come in, please.”

Branch came and sat on the bed in her suite. “Thanks.”

He wasn’t sure how to proceed anymore. She was obviously upset about something. He didn’t want to make her any sadder.

She got some water from the mini-fridge and came to sit next to him. “Last night was wonderful. I’m sorry I had to kick you out so fast. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Thank you. I thought it was great too.” Branch rubbed her shoulder where he’d bitten her. “I did do one thing a little wrong. How much do you know about shifters and their mates?”

“A little,” she whispered with wide eyes. She put her hand over his. “Did you mark me?”

He sighed. “I did. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“What does that mean? Am I your mate?”

Branch stood up to pace. He was feeling very nervous suddenly. “Yes. Maybe. I’m not sure. I mean, I’ve never had a mate before, you know. I don’t know how these things are supposed to go.”

“Well, how do you feel?” Maura asked breathlessly.

“I feel like you could be my mate.” Branch leaned against the wall to face her. “My animal is telling me that you’re the one for me, but my human side is conflicted. I think you’re keeping things from me, and I’m not sure if you want to be serious.”

Maura bit her lip and looked down. She started speaking and stopped a few times before bursting into tears.

Alarmed, Branch came to kneel in front of her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Look, we don’t have to sort this all out now. We have forever. I’ll be home for the holidays and we can talk then. I know you’ve had a rough couple of months and I don’t want to add to your burden.”

He couldn’t stop talking. She wouldn’t stop crying, and his elephant hated seeing her upset. Whatever he had said, he wanted to take it back.

Maura looked up at him with tears running down her face. “I made a big mistake and I need your help.”

***

It was time for her to come clean, even though Branch wouldn’t want to speak with her, let alone date her, once he knew what she’d done. She was even ashamed to look at herself in the mirror.

“I got mixed up with someone I thought had good intentions, but I was so very wrong.” Maura hung her head and wiped her eyes, then she told Branch all about Jimmy and PFA. “We came back to the hotel to get some rest and I fell sleep. When I woke up he was gone.”

“Okay. So he’s going to drop a bunch of pamphlets all over the park.” Branch looked relieved. “We’ve dealt with many of his kind. I’m disappointed that you’d have such a low opinion of Safari Island, though. Why did you even come here if you thought we were evil?”

“I didn’t think it was evil. I just don’t like zoos.” Maura couldn’t even look at Branch as she spoke. “I think it’s wrong to keep the animals locked up for people to gawk at.”

“All the animals here are from zoos that have closed down. They were all born in captivity and would have died if they were let out in the wild. We don’t capture any animals.”

Maura’s mouth dropped open. “No. That can’t be.”

“It is.” Branch sat next to her but kept hold of her hand. “You’ve been getting bad information. You can check the website or talk with one of the other guides.”

“I did check the website,” Maura said, dismayed. “There was nothing about rescuing animals.”

“You must have looked in the wrong place, or maybe it’s changed since I looked at it last. Either way, I can tell you for a fact that our animals are all rescues.”

“It was all lies. Jimmy has been lying to me this whole time.”

“It’s okay. You made a mistake, but nobody got hurt. I’ll call security and they’ll track him down in no time.”

Maura started sobbing so hard she couldn’t talk. Branch held her and rubbed her back. “It’s going to be okay. I’m not mad at you, and nobody is going to hold this against you. You’re sorry and you made a mistake. Please don’t cry.”

When she had managed to control herself a little, she told him the worst part. The part that would make him hate her. “I think he’s going to do more than hand out flyers. I think he wants to hurt an animal.”

Branch’s hand on her back went still. “Why do you think that? That’s the opposite of the PFA’s message.”

“It would be bad publicity for the park if they let an animal die. He just wants to get cameras out here and people asking questions. I don’t think he cares how it happens. He was saying strange things while we walked back to the hotel and he has knives with him. I could be wrong, but my gut is telling me he’s going to hurt an animal.”

Branch let go of her and stood up. He let a string of curses fly and punched the wall. “Come on. We’re going to the park, and we’re going to try to find him. I’ll call security right now.”

Maura followed him downstairs. They waited at the front desk for security to arrive. She couldn’t stop crying the whole time. Her face was puffy and her eyes felt swollen too.

Branch held her hand while they waited. “I’m still not mad at you.”

She looked up, shocked. “Why not? You should hate me.”

He shook his head. “You told the truth. I know you don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“So, would you still want to see me at Thanksgiving?” she asked shyly. It was probably out of the question, but she had to try. She liked him too.

He kissed her gently on the cheek. “I would.”

A brown-haired, muscular man approached them. He didn’t look friendly at all. “You called security?”

“Hey, Shane. We’ve got a big problem.”

Branch introduced Maura to Shane Cole, one of the security wardens on the island. He usually worked in at the theme park, but he was the closest to Honeymoon Resort. Branch told him everything he knew about Jimmy Tony.

“Can you guys come with me?” Shane asked as he pulled out his phone.

Branch looked at Maura. “You don’t have to come with us.”

“I want to,” she said. “This is my fault too. I’d like to help any way I can.”

“Great.” Shane led them to his Jeep and they all piled in. “Can you describe Jimmy Tony for me?”

Maura nodded. She told him what Jimmy looked like and what he had been wearing the last time she saw him.

“Any idea which animal he would try to hurt?” Shane asked.

“It would be something big, like a wildebeest, elephant, or a rhino. Maybe a giraffe.”

“We should check the giraffes first,” Branch suggested. “The installation is closed temporarily. It would be easy to sneak in.”

“We’re headed that way now.” Shane was driving at breakneck speed.

Maura didn’t know if Jimmy Tony would really hurt an animal, but she didn’t want to give him a chance. If he did kill an animal, there was no way she would be able to date Branch. She would feel too guilty. For the sake of their new relationship, she had to stop Jimmy.