Page 61 of Harboring Shantae

They needed to take Zion out before he hurt that little boy. Hollywood would lose his mind if anything happened to his son after he only just learned of his existence earlier that year.

"Zion, please. Just let Luey go. I will walk out of here with you right now. I will leave if you just let the children go."

Like hell, she would. Panther would kill the man before he ever laid a finger on her.

A little yelp caught his attention.

"Zion's released Luey ..."

Giggles didn't get the chance to finish the sentence over comms before Panther was taking off. He released his rifle and let the sling catch it.

Pouncing like his namesake, Panther tackled Zion from behind. They rolled a couple of times until he had the upper hand and was straddling the asshole.

Punch after punch, he rained down on Zion's face.

Blood spurted.

Cartilage crunched.

His fists ached from the beating he was giving, but still, Panther didn't stop.

His brain registered the fact that the body beneath him didn't move. It had gone soft somewhere around the first few punches, yet he couldn't force himself to stop; his arms were on automatic, throwing haymakers one after another until a strong arm wrapped around his neck.

"Enough!"

Falcon's loud command finally broke through the red haze as Falcon dragged him off the body. With nothing left to hit, he slumped forward.

There was no identifying the bloody face on the ground.

"Camron."

He spun around and caught Shantae as she leaped at him. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms locked him in. Panther buried his face in her neck and let himself take the first real breath since he found her missing from the daycare room.

"Are you okay?"

The words were garbled by the fact that his lips were pressed into the crook of her neck, but he couldn't force himself to let even a little distance between them.

"I'm fine. He never got close to me."

The only thing that kept him upright was the feel of her breath on his face and the beat of her heart against his chest. She was safe.

"And the kids?"

They had been so strong. Not a single whimper was heard until Zion pushed Luey to the ground.

"Shaken, but with their parents now."

Good. That was good. They were able to keep the trauma to a minimum by not shooting Zion in front of them. Hopefully, someone had led them away before they witnessed the damage he inflicted on Zion's face.

Panther moved over to one of the picnic tables. Now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off, his legs were shakier than he would like.

He had been so afraid that he wouldn't get to her before Zion made his move. He knew that if given the chance, Zion would've preferred Shantae dead than with another man.

"I was so scared. When the perimeter alarms went off and then I couldn't find you in the building, I almost lost it."

"The kids wanted to play outside. I thought it would be safe."

It should've been, and if he knew his boss as well as he did, the correction would be made immediately. The perimeter alarms warned them, but still gave Zion enough time to get his hands on one person.