“I did. I saw you and the other male working on the security booth, and I knew exactly who you were but I wasn’t…” She stopped, not really sure how to phrase what she’d been thinking.
“What?” he prompted gently.
“I never wanted to take a mate,” she said. “When my parents were killed and my brother cautioned that we needed to leave, I knew that we’d be on the run for the rest of our lives, or at least until our grandfather died. My brother said that our mates would be used against us, like our aunt was against our uncle, so my grandfather could lure him to his death and then kill her too. The first thing I thought when I saw you was that I wasn’t going to put you in danger by claiming you.”
He squeezed her hand a little tighter. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore. You’re in a safe place. Not only are the doors code-locked and secure, but I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“But I was worried about you too.”
He leaned closer and his warm scent enveloped her like a hug. “I’m not going anywhere, Ginny. I just got you, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
She opened her mouth to tell him that he was stuck with her too, when someone knocked on a door.
“Hold that thought,” he said. He got up and walked out of the room. She took a moment to look around, seeing the big sleigh bed made of dark wood, with a matching nightstand and long dresser with a small flat-screen TV. A closet door was open, showing neatly arranged clothing on shelves and rods. There was another door, which she thought might be for a bathroom, and the thought of that made her realize she needed to pee.
Scooching to the edge of the bed, she stood and walked to the door, opening it and peering inside. She found the light switch, which illuminated a bathroom done up in dark green. She closed the door and used the toilet, then washed her hands.
She walked out of the bathroom and followed the sound of voices to the family room, where she found Atticus, the gorilla alpha, that she’d met when she was first freed from the cage in the aviary hospital.
“Hello, Ginny,” he said. He had his arm around a female, who smiled.
“I’m Lori, his mate,” she said, extending her hand. “How are you doing?”
“It’s nice to meet you, and I’m doing well, thanks.”
“We wanted to stop in and see how you were both doing,” Atticus said. “And go over a few things.”
The four of them sat, she and August on a couch and Atticus pulling Lori onto his lap as he sat on an oversized chair.
“What’s up?” August asked.
“First, of course, is that we’re so glad to hear you’re good. Second,” he said, “is that we want to be sure we know everything about your past, Ginny, as well as share the ground rules for you going forward.”
Her brows rose.
Ground rules?
She glanced at August, who gave her an encouraging smile and took her hand.
For a brief moment as she felt the warmth of his skin against hers, she wondered if it was a mistake to be here, to stay, knowing that her grandfather would never give up, but she shook the thought away.
She’d never really trusted anyone as her grandfather systematically took out her entire family, but she felt in her heart that she could trust August, and his alpha and the others in the park too.
She’d never had much in the way of romantic dalliances in the past, a quick tumble here and there to stave off the need that made her ache from time to time, but mostly she refused to get close to anyone for fear they’d be killed.
She inhaled and cleared her mind as she let the breath out slowly. She wasn’t going to live in fear, but she knew she’d need August’s help with that.
“I’ll tell you everything from the beginning, so I can be sure I haven’t left anything out,” she said. “It started a few years ago, when my aunt suddenly went missing…”
August listened intently as Ginny spoke about her family history. Her grandfather was a murderous asshole, killing his own children and grandchildren in order to remain alpha. It positively boggled his mind.
He’d thought he had a good idea of her history from what Jupiter told him, but now he knew the full story, and it was unbelievable what she’d endured.
“The males that found me in the woods, I believe they were waiting near the park, and when I stole the SUV, they caught up to me so fast. I couldn’t shake them. I thought they were going to run me off the road, so I exited abruptly and they still caught up to me.”
“You were going to shift and run?” Atticus asked.
She nodded and brushed at a few tears. August put his arm around her, his gorilla hooting in displeasure at how upset she was.