Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(44)

“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.”