Page 34 of August

“The feed for the petting zoo was tampered with, and several males left in an unmarked park vehicle to replace it. We’d nearly hotwired it when they returned, and after a short battle, we fled to avoid getting caught,” Diedrich said.

Which left them in the current state of not being any closer to locating Ginny.

“Fine,” Josiah said, waving a hand dismissively. “We’ll move on. One way or another, we’ll drive Ginny into the open and take her.”

He stared at the males, the most loyal of all in his pack.

He’d reward their loyalty, but not until his position as alpha was guaranteed and he had no more heirs.

He longed to return home, his position as alpha secure forever.

All he needed was to get to Ginny. And he would.

Soon.

August rolled to his back, careful not to disturb his sleeping soulmate. Ginny had put on a brave front when they’d walked through the park, but by the time they got down to the house in the private living area, she was sobbing. He sat with her and held her while she cried, and when she’d asked him to distract her, he’d been more than happy to drive her to higher and higher plateaus of pleasure until she hadn’t been able to form a coherent thought and drifted off to sleep.

He was a little too wired and pissed to rest, even though he was physically exhausted himself. His gorilla was furious that she’d been in danger. He kept thinking she was safe in the park, but the jackals were getting smarter.

He’d never had anyone want him dead before.

He couldn’t imagine how Ginny was feeling to be so betrayed by someone who was supposed to love her. It wasn’t enough that her grandfather had systematically killed everyone in her family, but that he refused to leave her alone when she’d clearly left, chasing her through several states…it boggled the mind.

Their people had been through some crazy shit before: dangerous panthers and polar bears trying to take out mates, owl shifters with vendettas, and even an entire wolf pack that tried to take over the park.

There was no shortage of crazy in the world, it seemed.

He heard a knock on the front door. Slipping from the warmth of the bed, he grabbed jeans on the way out of the bedroom and shut the door behind him. When he’d pulled his jeans on, he opened the front door.

Atticus stood on the front porch with his son, Zane.

“How’s she doing?” Zane asked with a low voice.

August stepped onto the porch and shut the door. “She’s exhausted mentally and emotionally. She knows we have to stay down here, and even though she won’t say it, I know she doesn’t like being cooped up.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “She was so excited by those damn carousel horses. She told me she’d never had a real purpose before, never been excited to learn how to do something like refinish them and help put it together. I hate that it’s all tainted, and I hate that I thought we were safe there. I feel like an ass.”

“You’re not an ass for believing a secure building in an employee section would be safe, and to be fair, we didn’t find any evidence that anyone was back there,” Atticus said. “This is all troubling on several levels. We can’t shut the park down. The alphas have discussed it and it would be a temporary fix at best. The reality is that we need to find her grandfather and force him to leave her alone.”

“How do we do that?” August asked.

“We’ll be watching for them,” Zane said, folding his arms over his chest. “They’ll come back into the park at some point and we’ll hold them. We’ll force her grandfather to vow to leave her alone if we return his people.”

August hummed. “Do you think that will work?”

“It might,” Atticus said. “The alternative is that we kill him and anyone following him. According to our laws, it’s certainly within your rights to keep your soulmate safe, and the rest of our people too, but we don’t want to use deadly force unless we have to.”

“Do you really think he’ll walk away from her if we have some of his people captive?” August asked.

“It’s worth a shot,” Atticus said. He gave August a long, quiet look, then he said, “I know you’re well and able to protect Ginny. I don’t want to confine you to the living area because it’s no way to live.”

“What do you suggest?” August asked.

“We’re going to put you both in the security office. We’ve added more cameras to the entrance, and we’ll have Ginny watch the monitors to see if she recognizes anyone. There will be security around the building as well as inside, so it will be safe there for you both. If she sees anyone she knows, we’ll send security to apprehend them.”

August nodded in approval. “That sounds like a good plan.”

“They may take a few days to try to come into the park,” Atticus said. “But hopefully, she’ll see them quickly and we’ll be able to get this matter put to bed once and for all.”

“Thanks,” August said. “I really appreciate what you’ve all done for me and Ginny. It’s hard to believe that her grandfather is so intent on keeping his position as alpha.”