The park was quiet.He actually really liked this time of day, when it was just the staff prepping for the park to open and no humans milling around.He could hear the janitorial staff moving around and the occasional call of a bird from the aviary or one of the baby animals in the petting zoo, but otherwise it was peaceful.
She looked around as she stood, her mouth turned down.
“You okay?”he asked.
She rubbed the back of her neck.“Yeah.I just feel…strange.I think I keep waiting for Dario and his enforcers to show up again.”
He hummed.“We’ll keep our eyes open for anything out of the ordinary and we’ll keep each other safe.”He smiled at her and she returned it, relief shining in her eyes.“I’ve got you.”
He took her hand and brought her around the stall and drew her close.She closed her eyes with a sigh and leaned against him.“I don’t want to live in fear.”
“Me either.”
They spent the next hour prepping the burger stall, working side by side.They moved in sync like they’d been working together for years and not just days.He’d always enjoyed working the grill, but having his mate by his side?It was bliss on a supernova level.
He cast a glance at her and couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have such a beautiful soulmate.
“What?”she asked.
“You’re beautiful.”
Her cheeks pinked and she elbowed him with a chuckle.“You’re damn sexy yourself.”
He leaned down to kiss her, when something caught his eye.A glint of metal and a blur of movement, and then the world exploded into thick smoke.
“Down!”he shouted, pushing Sunny away from the explosion and down to the concrete.
“What happened?”she asked in between coughing fits.
“Keep low, we’ll get away from the smoke,” he urged, giving her a push away from the thickest part of the noxious smoke.He grabbed his walkie and hit the button.“Code red!Burger stall.Smoke bomb.The park has been infiltrated!”
Justus’s voice crackled over the walkie.“On the way, hold tight!”
Sunny coughed as they crawled through the smoke.He couldn’t see but he knew where he was going and he had a tight hold of her shirt.“It’s Dario,” Sunny wheezed.“It has to be.”
Seneca agreed, his bear roaring in fury.As they cleared the edge of the smoke and he could finally see, he rose to his feet with Sunny at his side and found himself facing a wall of enforcers and Dario standing behind them, arms crossed and a cruel expression on his face.
“I’m not here to fight, but I will spill blood if necessary.Bring Fallon to me or I’ll kill Sunny.”
Everything inside Seneca went very still for a heartbeat, and then his bear exploded in a rage so white hot that he was instantly on his paws, tucking Sunny behind him.His clothes were in tatters around him, his body bulking at the sheer anger that rose inside him.
How the hell dare that male threaten Sunny?
He roared, fangs bared, and launched at the nearest enforcer, careful to stay close enough to Sunny to keep an eye on her.
Security team members arrived moments later as Seneca tossed a jaguar away, the male landing on a nearby table with a dull thud.Park shifters joined the battle, his dad coming to fight next to him.
He could feel Sunny behind him.He kept an eye on Dario, trying to get to him to put an end to the fight.It was pure chaos, and Dario managed to keep himself just out of reach.
Seneca slammed a jaguar to the ground and landed on him with all his weight, feeling the crunch of his ribs, and then he swiped at another with his big paw, sending him flying.He caught Dario out of the corner of his eye as he attempted to skirt around the fight to get to Sunny.
He growled and lunged, but Dario was fast and he missed his side, managing to only swipe his claws against his arm.
Dario snarled and spun and something metal shone in his hand.It arced through the air as he swung it down and Sunny screamed his name a moment before pain shot through him as a blade was embedded in his side.
He roared and staggered, blood pouring down his side.He tried to rise to get to Sunny to protect her, but his legs buckled.Dario pulled the blade free and raised it again.
And then?—
