Atticus by R.E. Butler
Chapter Four
Atticus felt like a teenager again as he and Lori left the picnic table and walked through the park. He wanted to hold her hand, because his gorilla craved the connection, but he didn’t want to push her. It was clear from their conversation that she’d been on the run too long to relax. Even though the park was protected by tall stone walls and technology, not to mention the patrols, she still didn’t feel safe. If only he could tell her that she was being protected by shifters, maybe she’d find some security in that.
Certainly he and his gorilla were not interested in anyone hurting her again. The asshole hunting her was a polar bear shifter. They were notoriously reclusive with their own kind, which wasn’t really anything new. The park was a unique place among shifters because there were so many different kinds living and working together. Not just gorillas and elephants, but lions, bears, and wolves. In the last year they’d added even more unique shifters: an owl, a red fox, a panther, and most recently a stallion. Because Lori was Novi’s mom, and Novi was mated to one of the park’s shifters, that meant that every single male and female in the park considered Lori family too.
And if there was one thing that shifters did, it was take care of their family members.
They reached the bird sanctuary, which was run by owl shifter Jess and her wolf mate Auden. Jess had an affinity for birds, and was even rescued from a male intent on harming her by some natural owls who came to her defense. The sanctuary took in injured wild birds, and Jess and Auden nursed them back to health, using Cael’s expertise when they needed it.
They stopped in front of a large cage with a bald eagle sitting on a tree branch in the enclosure. Lori looked so sad that without thinking, Atticus reached out to comfort her. When his hand touched her shoulder, she jumped and gasped.
“I’m sorry,” he said. He squeezed his hands into fists and mentally kicked his own ass. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
She shook her head and exhaled. “It’s not your fault. I’m just jumpy. I think...I worry I’m always going to be this way.”
“You’ve been traumatized, Lori. Don’t apologize for your natural reactions. I didn’t mean to scare you and I’m really mad at myself that I did. I just thought you looked so sad, I wanted to comfort you.”
She stared at him in surprise for a long moment.
“You did?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
Because you’re my soulmate.
“Because I liked spending time with you today and I didn’t want you to be sad.”
She chewed on her bottom lip, then said, “I liked spending time with you too. I haven’t done that in a really long time.”
“Which part?”
“Relaxing.” She reached out her hand and he frowned.
“What?” he asked.
“You can hold my hand if you want to. I kind of want you to. But,” she rushed on, “I’m not trying to start anything with you. My life is ten kinds of complicated.”
He slid his hand into hers and his gorilla hooted with glee.
“It’s okay,” he said. “This is what I wanted to do since we started our tour.”
“I feel like a teenager.”
He grinned. “Me too.”
She looked back at the eagle. “I was just wondering if he’ll be alone forever. It seems like a lonely life.”
“I don’t know, but Jess and Auden take really good care of him.”
“I’m sure they do. It’s not the same as him having a mate, though.”
She clearly identified with the eagle. Maybe she felt like she was in a cage too. A cage built by the crazed shifter trying to kill her and Novi.
“No, it’s not.”
They finished their walk through the sanctuary and made their way through the park and to the employee section where the large maintenance building housed the vehicles that needed work. He could hear a pneumatic drill whirring when he entered the code to the door.
When they walked inside the building, Neo stopped using the drill and lifted his head. “Hey, Atticus.”
“Hi, Neo. This is my friend, Lori. She’s Novi’s mom, Cael’s girlfriend.”
“Nice to meet you. I was just about to take a break.”
“Don’t leave on my account,” Lori said.
“I’m not,” Neo said. “I’m just anxious to go meet my girl, and I don’t mind stopping work early to get to see her.”
Neo hurriedly put away the tool and said goodbye, leaving Atticus and Lori alone.
“So this is where you work?” she asked, turning in a slow circle. There were a handful of park vehicles inside. Some needed simple routine maintenance and some needed more complicated repairs.
“Yep.”
“You like it? Working on Jeeps and trucks?”
“I do, actually. Keeps me busy, keeps my mind at ease.”
She let go of his hand and sat behind the wheel of one of the VIP tour Jeeps that needed an oil change. His gorilla howled at the loss of contact with her, but he was thrilled to see her smile. “When I was a teenager, I wanted a Jeep so bad,” she said. “I’ve never even driven one. I like the blue camo paint job.”
“I’d let you drive it, but it needs work. We don’t really take these out of the park, but I’d love to let you drive another one back to the apartment if you’d like.”
“Really?” she asked, her face lighting up.
He decided right then to figure out a way to get her a Jeep to drive.
“Absolutely. We just need to go to the employee lot where we keep the vehicles.”
“Do you need to go back to work?” She hopped from the Jeep and gave him a thousand-watt smile.
He did, actually. But was he the boss or wasn’t he?
“Everything can wait. I’d like to spend some more time with you.”
“Me too.”
Ten minutes later, she was behind the wheel of one of the Jeeps and he was sitting beside her, navigating her through the employee access road that ran alongside the stone walls away from the park visitors. She floored it, the Jeep speeding along the dirt road. “This is so fun!” she shouted above the engine.
He just grinned. She looked so free and happy. He was one hundred percent glad he’d let her do this.
They drove around the park two times before stopping in front of the apartment complex. She turned off the engine and faced him, her cheeks pink and eyes dancing with excitement.
“Thank you so much. That was the most fun I’ve had in ages.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”
“I didn’t scare you too much on the hairpin curve, right?”
He’d absolutely hung onto the door handle for dear life, but he’d loved the look of joy on her face. “Not a bit.”
“Liar.” She laughed. “I had such a good time, thank you.”
“Me too.” He got out of the Jeep as she did. She looked up at the apartments and then back at him. She seemed positively torn, the joy from the Jeep ride fading fast.
“I’m not asking for anything but to get to know you, Lori. You don’t have to tell me how hard your life is. I get it. I hate what you’ve gone through, but I’m not trying to pressure you one way or the other. May I see your phone for a moment?”
She pulled her cell from her pocket and unlocked it. He opened the contact list and entered his information. While he was tempted to send himself a text so he had her number, he didn’t. That would be her call.
“You can text me, anytime day or night. I won’t text you first, it’s all up to you. If you’re scared or just want to talk, I’m a good guy for that, I promise.”
She pursed her lips together as she took back her phone. When she looked at him, her eyes were shining like she was trying not to cry. His heart ached and his gorilla wanted to fold her up in his arms and bring her down to his home to take care of her.
“Thanks, Atticus.”
He gave her hand a squeeze as he walked by her to sit behind the wheel. “I’ll talk to you later, maybe,” he said.
He turned on the Jeep when she nodded at him then turned toward the complex. She walked up the stairs to the second floor and stopped in front of her door. She looked back at him for a moment, and he wondered if she might call down to him or come back, but she didn’t. She unlocked her door, stepped in, and closed it behind her.
Well, that sucked. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye. But he wasn’t going to push her. He had no idea how much hurt she was dealing with, how much fear choked out her wants and desires. He could only offer her his friendship and companionship if she wanted it.
He pulled away from the parking lot and headed toward the employee lot. As he drove, he called Jupiter, a lion in charge of security.
“Hey, Atticus.”
“Hi. I’d like to drive Lori to her work tomorrow.”
“Oh? Why?”
“She’s my soulmate.”
There was a long pause. “Her situation’s not good, you know.”
“I know. I’m going to talk to Cael and Novi, but I need to be the one to drive her to and from the park. My beast won’t allow anything else. But I’ll be careful and not pushy, I promise.”
“Good. I’ll make the necessary changes. We use the unmarked SUVs to drive her, with another vehicle following discreetly behind to ensure no one else is following her. I’ll send you her schedule, it’s pretty regular, Sunday through Thursday.”
“Perfect. Thanks.”
That out of the way, he texted Cael and asked to meet with him and Novi to discuss her mom and their situation, and then he went back to work at the maintenance shed. But the last thing he was thinking about was the oil change.
He was only thinking of Lori.
