Page 51 of August

“You did the best with the information you had.”

“So what really happened to you?” she asked.

“I think we’d all like to know that,” her male said. “I’m August, by the way.”

Ginny sniffled again and said, “Sorry, so much happened I can’t think straight. This is my soulmate, August.” She put her arm around the big male, who was now dressed similarly to Cliff in jeans and a T-shirt, then pointed to him, “This is my brother, Cliff.”

He shook August’s hand. “Thanks for keeping my sister safe.” He glanced around the cafeteria at all the people watching and listening. “Thanks to all of you.”

The story wasn’t a long one because he’d spent most of the last few weeks simply looking for his sister. But the start of it? A doozy.

“So the day that you disappeared, I was called to grandfather’s house. I just had a…fucking bad feeling that something was going to happen. You and I had talked the night before about how dangerous it was getting. Remember that I’d told you to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice?”

Ginny nodded.

“But we never talked about where to go because I thought we might have more time, honestly. My plan was to take you and head to one of my friend’s homes in Alabama. He’s a coyote shifter and has a small family group, and was willing to take us in and help keep us hidden. At any rate, I walked into the house and knew the second I stepped foot in there that Grandfather was going to engineer my death. He had some males waiting to ambush me, but I was ready. I fought back and killed one of the males and then escaped, taking off into the woods away from our house to lead them away from you. I ran for a few hours, making sure to leave a trail so they could follow me. When I made my way back to the house, you were gone. I eavesdropped on Grandfather’s house and heard you’d taken off. I searched everywhere for you. I found your trail, but it went cold when I hit the river that bordered the property. I’ve been looking for you since.”

“How did you know to come here?” August asked.

“I saw the article in the news about the jackal being found, and I knew it was you. I came into the park a few times, but I didn’t know there were shifters here. I thought you might be in one of the animal paddocks or locked up somewhere. If I’d spoken to someone, we might have been able to reconnect.”

“I thought I saw you in the security videos yesterday,” she said.

“You did. But I saw Diedrich’s mate Celia, and I was pretty sure she recognized me, so I bolted. I knew time was running out, so I tried to intercept the pack. But when I followed their trail, it led here where you were in danger.”

“Thank you for showing up when you did,” Ginny said.

Cliff nodded. It was all so convoluted. Pack laws that dictated mandatory retirements and no surviving heirs were inherently dangerous to future generations, creating madmen like their grandfather who wanted to hold onto their alpha position by any and all means necessary.

They’d lost their parents and aunt and uncle, and nearly each other.

Cliff said, “Do you want to come with me as I check out the males in the theater?”

“Sure,” Ginny said.

There were plans to be made and laws to follow, and while Cliff might not be entirely ready for this next part, he really had no choice.

Ginny still couldn’t believe her brother was alive.

Hell, she couldn’t believe she was alive.

August held her hand tightly as they walked to the theater.

“You okay, sweetheart?”

“Yeah. Still in shock, I guess.”

He stopped and they faced each other. “Anyone would be,” he said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “You were chased and had to fight for your life, and you were alone because I thought you were safe outside of the cafeteria, but I ended up putting you in more danger. I’m fucking sorry, Ginny. I’m so sorry I made a bad choice and you almost died because of it.”

She shook her head. “First of all, you didn’t make a bad choice, you made a split-second choice with the information you had, which was that the bad guys were in the cafeteria. You didn’t know they were outside. And second, I ended up not being alone because Tank came to my rescue.”

She’d planned to do her best to claw her way out of the danger in that paddock, when that moose charged the males, tossing them with his antlers, butting his head against them, and kicking them like playground balls. Then he’d stood in front of her, a towering, snorting, furious animal, and bellowed a war cry, daring them to cross him.

He’d bought her time for August to get to her.

And, surprisingly, the brother she thought was dead.

She still couldn’t believe that Cliff was alive and well.