Finding His Mate (His Mate Book 1)

Chapter 3

WEDNESDAY

"Can I open my eyes now?" Liam asked me, turning his head around.

"Not yet. We're almost there, I promise."

I pulled up into the parking space that was reserved for me, right at the very front of the location.

"Okay. I'm going to open your door and hold your hand. Once you step out of the car, I'll let you remove the blindfold, and see where we are."

He nodded. "Sounds good."

I grabbed his hand, feeling how soft and tiny it was, compared to my own scarred and calloused ones. He stepped out of the car, and I untied the back of the blindfold. As soon it was removed, his blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the light.

"The Toronto Zoo!" he exclaimed, once he could register the place in front of us. "Oh, it's been such a long time since I've visited! I wonder if they still have their penguins."

"Yeah, they do. In their African section, I think. Anyway, let's head on in."

He checked his watch. "But...it's past 3:30. I don't think we're allowed to go in an hour before it closes."

I waved my hand. "No need to worry about it."

"Isn't it closing soon?"

"I said, I've figured everything out. We've got time. Come on."

The first exhibit Liam wanted to visit came as a surprise to me.

"Let's check out the Arctic section!" he exclaimed.

"What? You want to start with that?" I was kind of expecting him to check out the African continent first, as he was a big fan of the Madagascar movies. When we were 10 and I stayed over for a sleepover, I vividly remembered him insisting on watching Madagascar 2 every single night due to his obsession with Marty the zebra.

"Of course! My friend told me they had a snowy owl. I don't want to miss out on seeing Hedwig. I'd like to imagine that I have a magical owl companion of my own, too. Now, come on! The zoo won't explore itself."

And so we trekked on over to the Arctic where the arctic animals resided. It was a smaller exhibit, with a small handful of animals available to see, but nevertheless, it was still quite interesting. Liam was ecstatic when we met the iconic character from the books, and insisted on taking several photos.

One of the exhibits contained some arctic wolves. I pointed at a particularly small one, with fluffy white fur, who was rolling around on the ground playfully. "That's you, Liam."

"Huh? Oh, that kind of looks like me," he noted. "Although my fur's a bit darker. It's so adorable!"

"I agree." However, all I could picture was Liam when I looked at that little furball.

We continued along our journey, walking through the rest of the Arctic section, while 'oohing' and 'aahing' at all the animals.

"Oh, that looks very plump and meaty." I eyed one of the individual reindeer on display, my stomach rumbling in anticipation.

"Dylan!" Liam exclaimed exasperatingly. "This is a zoo, not a supermarket, and most definitely not a hunting ground."

"I know, I know," I said, raising my hands in defence. "But you can't deny that some of these exhibits look tasty. I mean, the goose we just passed looked really nice and protein-packed. Perfect size for the cold winter months."

"What's the point of coming here if you're just going to fantasize about eating everything?" He crossed his arms and sighed at me.

I shrugged. "I don't want to eat everything, of course. For example, I wasn't interested in those fields of grass we passed."