“You know what that does to cats.”
“Good thing their exhibit isn’t close by, then,” Cooper countered.
Eli pursed his lips. “I understand you’re pathologically nosy, but it really is critical that no one knows I’m here. No one. Broadcasting my affairs to every busybody and his brother who barges into my business isn’t exactly conducive to that, wouldn’t you agree?”
Cooper opened his mouth, but Dean spoke first. “If it’s so important no one knows you’re here, why did you reveal yourself to us in the first place?”
“Yes, I can see now that was my mistake.” Eli sighed. “To be brutally honest with you, I thought Cooper had recognized me. But I’m beginning to understand this whole glaring, staring, nostril-flaring thing is less ‘I know that wolf’ and more of a permanent feature of his face.”
Dean snorted and Cooper shot him a betrayed look. “Well, he’s not wrong,” Dean muttered defensively.
Eli jerked his head to the left suddenly and stood. “Someone’s coming. I need to go.”
“Wait—” Cooper protested.
“We’ll be seeing each other again, soon. Just...buy me some time? Please?” Eli pleaded, already fetching a pile of clothes that had been hidden behind the concrete pile.
“You could have been dressed all along?” Cooper asked.
At the same time Dean said, “We’ve got this. Go. And good luck.”
Eli blew a quick air kiss in their general direction and hurried deeper into the brush with the long green shimmery fabric trailing behind him.
“C’mon.” Dean tugged Cooper in the opposite direction, toward where even human ears could hear the approach of another person by now. “We need to cut them off before they can get closer and risk seeing your friend.”
“You certainly jumped on Team Eli pretty fast,” Cooper said, even as he followed quickly.
“Obviously I’m Team Eli. A wolf just turned into a man and asked for our help. This couldn’t be any more of a quest if he’d unfurled a scroll that said This is a quest on it,” Dean hissed. “Which is why I keep saying, you need to get into gaming. Your literal job is helping werewolves. You have got to start being cooler than—”
“Excuse me! Hey! You—you can’t be back here.” An extremely tall young white man was approaching them from down the dirt path, about twenty feet into the brush from the paved trail. He wore a zoo employee uniform of gray polo shirt tucked into unfortunate cargo pants and—more strikingly—had brown, fuzzy, pointed animal ears sticking out of his shaggy blond surfer hair and whiskers painted on his face. “Sorry, guys. But this is not open to the public.” He looked between the two of them suspiciously and then over their shoulders, as if searching for other ne’er-do-wells. He had a remarkably deep voice for someone so lanky, and though the kid had to be a decade younger than them at least, Cooper felt a bit like a teenager caught sneaking around by his dad.
Dean just waved a greeting and in the amiable, unconcerned voice of someone who didn’t often experience consequences, said, “Sorry, man. We got carried away following one of those wandering peacocks.”
Cooper hoped Eli heard that.
The zoo worker was still scanning the trees and took a step closer as if to walk past them. “Is anyone else—”
“Just us,” Dean cut him off. “Well, us and the peacock. I’ve always wondered why you guys let them roam loose. Aren’t you worried they’ll fly away? Or wander into a wolf’s den?” He gestured at the exhibit.
“Nah, they’re just big, fancy chickens really,” the man said, turning his attention safely back on Dean. “If any of them ever do get brazen enough to fly straight into a predator’s den, well, let’s just say those aren’t the ones passing any grand ideas to the next generation.”
“Hear that, Cooper?” Dean said cheerfully. “I think we’re politely being told to keep to the path or natural selection is going get us.”
“No, no.” The man laughed, much more relaxed now. Dean had a knack for putting people at ease with his simple, easygoing nature that had both bewildered and filled Cooper with jealousy when they were kids. “That’s not quite how it works. Not for people, anyway.” The man winked at Dean. “I’ve seen you picking up Dr. Odell before. You’re her...”
“Her husband. For now.” Dean laughed. “She might change her mind if she finds out I’ve forgotten my fifth-grade science.”
“I won’t rat you out. We’ve just got to be careful, you know? Lots of kids running around today and parents who think the perfect photo op outranks safety.” He looked at Cooper curiously.
“My bad, this is my brother, Cooper,” Dean said. “And sorry, remind me of your—”
“Ryan. Ryan Basque.” They all shook hands. “I’m one of the curators here.”
“That’s like a head zookeeper, right?” Cooper asked.
“Yeah! Well, kind of. I oversee a couple of the exhibits,” Ryan said. He rolled his shoulders back, clearly proud.
“Sounds like a cool job,” Cooper said, and Ryan grinned. He had a very friendly face now that it wasn’t furrowed with suspicion. Beyond boyish. Puppy-like.
“The coolest. But I’ve always been in the animal business. I grew up on a farm. Led tours abroad.”
“Is this lady one of the exhibits you oversee?” Dean asked, gesturing toward the wolf enclosure.
“Nah, not my specialty. I was just driving by when I saw you running into the woods.” He reached up and tweaked one of the furry ears on his head. “Ryan the Lion is giving tours this afternoon. You guys want to sign up? You get to ride in the jungle cart.”
“I don’t—”
Dean interrupted Cooper to his dismay. “Sounds great!”
Ryan clapped his hands together excitedly. “Awesome! Get ready to take a ride on the wild side!”
“What happened to that thing you were saying about people bending over backward to make me happy,” Cooper murmured to Dean as they followed Ryan back to the paved path where a large, black-and-white striped golf cart was parked. “Just so you know, this doesn’t make me happy.”
“But complaining about it sure does. Along with helping your friend,” Dean said knowingly. “The path to happiness isn’t always the most direct.” Ryan honked the horn, and a sound like an elephant’s trumpet rang out. “And sometimes you’ve got to take the zebra-striped jungle cart to get there.”