Page 44 of August
He grasped his soulmate by the back of her shirt and bolted for the door, shoving her outside and hauling the door shut to keep her safe from whoever was inside.
She screamed his name and pounded on the door.
He turned back and let his gorilla out enough to enhance his strength and speed.
Two males slunk from the shadows of the back of the cafeteria. They wore all black, their fangs and claws visible.
“The roof, huh?” August said, aware that the access door to the roof of the building was ajar. He’d missed it when they walked into the room in the first place, too preoccupied with watching outside to check out the room. He’d kick his own ass later for not being more vigilant.
For now, he’d kick their asses.
The bigger of the two males, who was still not nearly as big as August, strode forward, his black claws shining in the overhead lights. “This has nothing to do with you, stranger. We’ve come to take Ginny to her grandfather. There are laws to uphold.”
“She’s not part of your pack anymore,” August said.
It would be super handy if he had claws, but he’d just have to make do with his big muscles.
Jackasses.
“You’re not in control here,” the smaller, weaselly-looking one said.
August smiled. But just for a moment.
Then he roared and struck.
He backhanded the smaller male and grasped the larger one by the neck, heaving him over his shoulder toward the window. The male hit the one-way glass, which shattered on impact.
Grabbing the smaller male by his scraggly hair, August pulled him behind him as he stepped through what had once been a floor-to-ceiling window and dropped him next to his friend.
Outside the cafeteria, the park shifters were fighting more strangers, most dressed all in black like the two males he’d taken out. He looked around and didn’t see Ginny.
She screamed his name.
He looked in the direction of her cry for help and saw her being chased by a male down the path toward the safari paddocks.
Fuck.
“I’ve got these guys, go get her!” Alistair shouted as he lifted a black-clad male in the air and slammed him down on top of the two males August had left on the ground.
Without a word, August raced toward his soulmate.
This was Ginny’s nightmare. She was being chased. And she didn’t really know where she was going. She had vague memories of the walk around the park with August and his friends, but she hadn’t really cataloged anything for future reference.
She ducked around a stall that sold popcorn and cotton candy and peeked around the corner.
She recognized the male coming for her—Diedrich, her grandfather’s right-hand.
He wasn’t stopping—he knew exactly where she was.
She inhaled deeply and let her jackal go enough to enhance her speed. She was fast in her shift, and she needed that speed right now.
The sound of glass shattering made Diedrich pause for a moment, and she took the opportunity to race away. And also scream August’s name.
She hoped to hell he was okay. She couldn’t believe that he’d pushed her out of the cafeteria to protect her, but he’d inadvertently pushed her right into a melee with jackals attacking the security team.
That’s when Diedrich had spotted her, and now here she was, running for her life.
She stumbled as several deer ran by and nearly took a header into the tall stone wall that surrounded each paddock. Down the path ahead, she could see people in dark clothing coming her way, and she knew they were jackals.