Page 30 of August

“When the hell did this happen?” he asked. Some of the feed was still in bags, but the bags were clearly soaked with ammonia.

“We don’t know,” he said. He straightened and rested his arm on the shovel’s handle. “Luna came after school to help feed the animals and she ran out of food halfway through. She nearly passed out from the smell it was so toxic back here.”

Rhomi shook her head and stepped away from the window. “This is awful, all this waste!” She took the shovel from Mercer as he moved to the wheelbarrow.

“I’m going to wheel this around to a maintenance trailer so we can get it bagged up and off the property. Stay with Rhomi and Luna, would ya?”

“Sure thing,” Alistair said.

He looked around the room and then realized something was wrong with one of the windows.

“The screen is missing,” he said. “When you came in here was the window open?”

“No,” she said. “It was the worst smell ever, so I opened the windows to air it out. I didn’t notice a screen was missing.”

He ushered her out of the room. “You’ll get a headache if you’re in there too long. Let me call Caesar.”

Caesar, the lion alpha, was in charge of park security along with his son, Jupiter. After a quick chat with them, he made some other phone calls to secure feed for the little animals.

Once Mercer was back at the barn, Caesar said, “I’m going to run to one of the feed stores. I called ahead and they’re gathering enough food to get us through until we can get a replacement delivery, which Cael is going to order as soon as he gets back to his office.”

He pulled Mercer aside and said, “You know the issue with Ginny the jackal?”

“Yeah.”

“I think this might be related.”

“How so?”

“I have no idea, but there’s zero reason for anyone to break into the damn petting zoo to ruin the food unless there’s an ulterior motive.”

Mercer frowned. “Like someone thought Ginny was here?”

“Maybe. I truly don’t know, but the whole thing is suspicious. Jupiter is running the security feed now to try to track when someone came over here, but just keep your eyes peeled with Rhomi and Luna, make sure neither of them go anywhere alone.”

“You got it. You be careful too.”

“I will. I’m taking along a few of the wolves to help me load up the feed so I won’t be on my own.”

He didn’t think someone would try to take him out or anything—he was a big male even without being in his shift—but you never knew. And from all accounts, Ginny’s grandfather was a murderous maniac, and who knew what he’d do if given the chance?

Ten minutes later, Caesar was behind the wheel of an unmarked loading van with three wolves: Alfie, Benjamin, and Silvanus.

The feed store wasn’t too far away, but the park alphas had a rule that no one—even alphas—went anywhere alone.

“You really think someone used the baby norms to try to find Ginny?” Alfie asked.

“Maybe. It’s weird,” Alistair said.

“Damn, that sucks for her and August,” Silvanus said. “It must be so hard knowing someone is trying to kill you.”

The males nodded in agreement.

“We just have to keep each other safe,” Alistair said. “That’s what our people do best—watch out for each other.”

He watched the mirrors frequently to ensure he wasn’t being followed, and as far as he could tell he wasn’t. But something in his gut told him that whoever had messed with the animal feed had done it for a reason.

And they might just be gearing up for something much worse.