Page 37 of August
“Like if there was a specific issue, it would be cool if someone might say, hey, we should call Ginny about this, she could fix it. I’ve never had anyone really rely on me.” She rubbed the space over her heart that panged at those words. Even her brother hadn’t relied on her, not sharing his plans for them to escape. They’d waited too long. If he’d only told her his fears, then they might have been able to get away together.
“You okay, sweetheart?” he asked with a low voice.
“I just miss my brother. I never really got to grieve for him. It’s been one long nightmare from the moment I saw them carry him out wrapped up in that rug to now. I don’t know if my grandfather will ever give up trying to get to me.” Her eyes stung and she squeezed them shut because she didn’t want to cry.
August pulled her close, the chairs bumping with a clacking sound. She buried her face in his neck and wrapped her arms around him and let herself go into the grief that she’d never had a chance to really feel.
While she’d been captive in that cage and worried if she’d die, trapped in her jackal form, she’d grieved in a way for her brother, and her parents and aunt and uncle. But it felt good now to cry and just miss them all.
August rubbed her back and held her close while she let herself go into the feelings she hadn’t really dealt with. It was all so very unfair.
“Let’s go out on a date,” August said when the park was closed and Ginny’s eyes were positively aching from staring at the monitors and wondering if she’d find someone from her past lurking around.
She sat back in the chair and looked at him curiously. “In the park?”
“Well, yeah,” he said, giving her a sheepish grin. “More like a group date too.”
Her brows rose. “Do tell.”
“Well,” he said, standing and stretching with a grunt. “I was texting with Zane about putting you on the maintenance team once things are settled with your grandfather and it’s safe for you to be out and about in the park with me, and he mentioned that Adriana wanted to go out on a date, but the alphas have put the kibosh on that kind of stuff.”
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah, they don’t want to risk anyone being used to try to get to you, you know, like how Alistair stopped the jackals from hotwiring the park vehicle.”
“Oh, that makes me feel bad.”
“Don’t, sweetheart. It won’t last forever, I’m sure. And whatever we have to do to keep people safe is worth it, okay? But anyway, I mentioned that we’d talked a while back with Tarquin and some of the others about using the theater for movies for our people.”
“There’s a theater?”
August explained that the park had a small theater that showed educational films and let park patrons get out of the elements for short periods of time.
“It’s got a big screen. The seating isn’t super comfy, just carpet-covered benches, but we could bring in pillows and blankets and snacks, and find a movie on a streaming service to watch. Zane put out the word to the gorillas who have mates, but then the unmated guys were grumpy about that, so it’s a group date plus Patton and Nathan.”
She chuckled. “That sounds really great.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. Lori wants the females to meet in the theater and discuss the movie choices while us guys go get the snacks and drinks.”
“When?” She stood and rolled her neck, not realizing how stiff she was from sitting for so long.
“Now.”
“Oh! How cool.”
“I’m glad you like the idea. Someday I’ll take you to a real theater. But in the meantime, this is a good substitution.”
“I love it, honestly. I think it’ll be lots of fun.”
They said goodnight to Justus and Lucius and left the small building, heading to the theater. It was near the main food area, where stalls were manned by bears and sold ice cream in the warmer months, burgers and fries year-round, and snacks like cotton candy and various types of popcorn.
“I hadn’t noticed this building, it’s cute,” she said when they reached the theater.
“It’s not manned by anyone,” he said. “The movies play on a loop, and there’s a schedule posted at the entrance and in the park brochures. They’re geared toward children and families, mostly about the park’s history and the animals.”
He opened the door and let her in, and she greeted the females standing in the center of a large room that had dark carpeting. Lori, Lexy, Adriana, and Dani all hugged her, animatedly sharing their excitement for a group movie date.
August gave Ginny a kiss on the cheek. “Snacks?”