Alpha's Legacy (Black Moon Saga Book 3)

11. The Zookeeper

As it turns out, the best part of going to the zoo is not the animals, or even the zoo. It’s the drive there, talking and laughing with Rowan and Tian the whole way. Now that Tian has relaxed about Rowan being friendly with me, and Rowan seems to be settling back into his chatty, cheerful self full of jokes and stories, the morning seems to fly by with us just talking and driving along.

Eventually, with our excitement building the closer we get to our destination, the topic of conversation returns to our zoo plans, with Rowan asking about what we can expect when we get there.

“Understand that I have selected this particular zoo on this particular day for important reasons,” Tian explains to us. “It’s a big place with a lot going on, and there are lots of options for how to get around, including guided tours. And I have a friend who is one of those tour guides, so we’ll be with him today.”

“He’s a supernatural?” Rowan wonders. “And he works there?”

“No, he’s one of the rare humans with insight into the supernatural world. His is an exceptional circumstance that I won’t get into the details of, but suffice it to say that he knows what we are, and knows how wildlife tends to respond to us. But he also knows the layout of the place well enough to be able to help us navigate while keeping our distance. And as our tour guide, he is prepared to field suspicions with plausible explanations, though I don’t anticipate many problems.”

“Oh, I see.”

Rowan gets uncharacteristically quiet after that, getting lost in his thoughts all by himself in the back. But then he breaks his own silence with a sudden burst of random animal facts.

“Did you know that there’s actually a lazier animal than a sloth?” he asks, though it seems rhetorical because he doesn’t wait for an answer before adding, “Koalas. They sleep most of the day, only awake for a couple hours, give or take. Then they crawl around, doing all their business for the day, before eating themselves into another food coma.”

“I’ve also heard they can be quite aggressive though,” Tian comments, quirking his eyebrow with amusement at Rowan’s sudden wildlife lesson.

“I mean, no more or less than any other wild animal,” Rowan tells him. “And I would actually argue that it’s less. They’re pretty calm unless provoked. The ones you have to watch out for are the giant pandas.”

“Well, they’re bears,” Tian points out. “It’s not surprising for a bear to be aggressive.”

The two of them go back and forth discussing facts about various animals, and though I don’t have much to contribute, I enjoy listening to it. I’m not only learning a lot, but it’s fun to see them interact like that. It’s shocking how much random information Rowan seems to keep in that brain of his.

“How do you know all this stuff?” I can’t help asking, impressed that he seems so knowledgeable about creatures that we can’t even get up close to.

He inhales forcibly, seeming to think and prepare himself for quite a response.

“Believe it or not, there was a time back when I was younger that I thought I would someday be able to become a zookeeper,” he tells us, his face and voice taking on a wistfulness as he remembers his younger self.

“I imagine that you would have had to have been a pretty young pup to have still been holding onto such a dream,” Tian comments knowingly. I can tell that it’s merely a statement, and not him teasing or poking fun in the least.

“Mmhmm, I was,” Rowan agrees. “That was back before I knew that ‘people’ wasn’t a singular concept, that there wasn’t just one kind of people out there, and we don't all have the potential to do anything we want in life.”

“What do you mean?” I wonder, not entirely following what he’s saying.

I glance up in the rearview mirror to see him smiling at me as if I’m some adorable child or something, and I have to fight back my urge to scoff and roll my eyes at him. I’d love it if no one looks at me like I’m “cute” ever again, starting with this guy.

“When I was little, I had a vague awareness of being a werewolf,” he begins explaining. “I knew that I was a person, and one day I even learned the term for what you call people like me. Werewolves. It’s probably a lot like human children one day learning in school that their species is called ‘human’ and that it’s different from all the other animals out there. But what took a few more years to sink in for me was that there aren’t only werewolf people, but there is this whole other type called ‘humans,’ and they’re the ones you see on television. So, all those people I saw who were veterinarians and zookeepers and circus trainers, they weren’t like me. But they looked like me, and they talked like me, so I never thought anything of what it all meant then.”

“Oh, I think I get what you mean now,” I tell him, realizing that he’s talking about one day realizing that there are also humans out there, and that the rules in life are different for them.

“Yeah, I imagine you do,” he says, and it sounds almost teasing. When I glance up to see his face, though, I’m met with nothing but a warm smile.

“So, imagine how devastating it was to then learn that werewolves are not the sort of people who can get close to animals, and that when you are a werewolf, there are a lot of other things that you can’t just go around doing because these other people, these ‘humans,’ are not supposed to know anything about werewolves. It’s safer just to stay in your pack, and at Redwood, that means that the sort of person I actually am is the sort who’s going to grow up to work in the orchard, just like everyone else I know.”

That seems to silence us all for a few moments as we reflect on it. His angst is entirely too familiar. I’ve felt a lot of the same things over the years before eventually coming to accept that because of the society and the family that I’ve been born into, my future has already been determined. Though I’ve also come to appreciate, for the most part, that it’s not a bad life. There are a lot of things about it that I’m actually looking forward to, though I get the sense that the same might not be true for Rowan.

“I can see why our trip to the zoo was something that excited you almost immediately,” Tian comments, breaking the silence. “I’m glad that, even without realizing what it would mean to you, I decided to invite you along.”

“Yes, this means the world to me, Alpha,” Rowan tells him sincerely. “I would have gladly settled for hearing all about it from Anna Jade and maybe seeing some pictures on your way back through, but this is so much better. I am actually still pinching myself because I truly can’t believe this is real. Nothing like this ever happens to me.”

Tian turns in his seat to look back at Rowan, giving him another of those warm, fatherly smiles.

“You know, I can’t help wondering why someone with ambitions like yours hasn’t ended up in one of our training programs,” he says. “Be it warrior training, medical, or some other specialized skill. As part of the Black Moon pack, there are other paths available to you than just helping around the orchard. Have you applied to any?”

“To the warriors, yeah, and I’ve been rejected twice,” Rowan explains, his frustration evident in his voice.

“I don’t see why. Just looking at you, I can tell you’re a strong, capable young man. How old are you?”

“Nineteen,” Rowan reveals, shocking me. He seems younger. I thought he might even be younger than me, maybe 16 or so.

“Well, then it’s not your age,” Tian laughs uncomfortably, obviously not expecting that response either.

“No, it’s that my father went rogue a few years back after some drama between him and Commander Blake. I don’t know the specifics, but some days, I wish he had taken me with him.”

Tian had turned to look out the windshield again, but at that revelation, his head snaps back around to stare down Rowan.

“No, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean I wish I was a rogue, because I don’t,” Rowan clarifies. “I just wish he hadn’t left me alone in a place that doesn’t really want me now that he’s an outcast. I always figured that I just had to keep my head down and make it through until I was eighteen and then I could go for a different assignment, but from what I can tell, none of the training programs will want me because of my connection to a rogue.”

“No, that can’t be right,” Tian argues, turning around and staring thoughtfully out the window for a moment. “There’s nothing in the policies or protocols that should be preventing you from being accepted if it’s your father who’s the problem, and your own record is clean.”

“It is,” Rowan assures him. “Commander Blake has made sure of it. He took me in himself when my father left, and he’s been breathing down my neck ever since and making sure I keep my nose clean.”

“And your mother?” Tian asks, his tone soft as though he expects it will be a sensitive topic for Rowan.

“Died when I was a baby,” Rowan answers tersely, seeming uncomfortable even talking about it.

Tian sits with what Rowan has told him for a little bit, seeming to think it over before he starts nodding his head as if he’s come to a decision.

“I’m going to look into this for you, Rowan. Something isn’t right. You shouldn’t be blocked out of our programs like that, and I can’t think of a single reason to explain it.”

“I appreciate that,” Rowan tells him gratefully. “But honestly, even if you can’t do anything, it’s the trying that counts. And besides, you’re taking me to the zoo, so there’s really nothing left for me to complain about.”

“If only my own children were as easily satisfied,” Tian chuckles, glancing over at me. “Well, except for this one. She’s too easily satisfied. Never asked for anything for herself until recently.”

“What’d you ask for?” Rowan sits forward and asks curiously.

I can sense and hear him right behind me now, as if he’s leaning over the side of my seat. A glance in the rearview confirms my suspicions.

“To go to the zoo,” I answer him, grinning my amusement at him in the mirror.

I’m sure Tian meant more than that, more like this whole road trip idea, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to bring it back around to what Rowan’s so excited about.

“That she did, though it was a bit of a trick. She gave me a choice between visiting the zoo or going to Las Vegas, which is no choice at all,” Tian laughs, turning and exchanging an amused look with Rowan.

“Oh yeah, no kidding,” Rowan agrees. “One of my friends has a cousin who ended up being mates with a girl from Riptide. Went to Vegas to visit her pack, and came back cursing the place and everyone in it. She ended up being forced to reject him because of some political mating that had been arranged for her while she was here on vacation, and he barely got out of there alive.”

“Thank you, Rowan, for providing such a concise illustration of why it’s such a risk for shifters to visit Vegas,” Tian comments dramatically, turning to give me a pointed look.

“I get it, it’s dangerous,” I tell him, rolling my eyes about how he’s suddenly turning this into lecture time. “But what I don’t really understand is why.”

“The factions,” Rowan answers for him. “I only recently learned about it all from that guy, but it sounds intense. There are like four or five shifter factions all vying for control of the city, fighting over the most profitable areas and engaging in an endless turf war that the humans know almost nothing about. So, humans are fine going there, but if any of the factions get even a whiff of an unauthorized supernatural setting foot on their turf, it can get ugly.”

 “And that’s only scratching the surface,” Tian adds. “There are some underground vampire factions that operate there as well, and not the friendly sort. Plus, there’s a fair amount of caster activity in the city, though not all of it is dark as there are a couple witch covens through there, but there’s also a cell of warlocks that serve as a sort of mercenary group of casters-for-hire. So, any or all of the shifter factions may be working with or against any of the other supernaturals, and the alliances and boundaries are constantly shifting. It’s not only a dangerous place, but one that’s nearly impossible to keep up with. The Council has an entire team dedicated to it, and even with those kinds of resources behind it, their intel is speculative, at best.”

“Okay, yeah. Wow,” I respond after listening to their long-winded explanations. “I suppose that is kind of intense.”

“I’ll say,” Rowan agrees, chuckling at my understated reaction.

“But we’re still going though, right?” I tease Tian, turning to smirk at him for a second.

He smiles and shakes his head at me, sighing as he says, “We’ll see. I can only work so many miracles at a time, Anna Jade. Zoo first.”

“Yeah!” Rowan enthuses from the back seat.

“Alright, settle down there, buddy,” I playfully chide him. “We’re almost there.”