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Then the bus’s stop sign pulled back and the flashing lights disappeared. The car swerved to the side and she suddenly realized where she’d seen it before.
Brent!
She unbuckled and shouted, “Stop!”
Romeo hit the brakes and she raced from the car.
“Run, kids! Run!”
The back door of the sedan swung open, and a man’s leg slid out. She dialed into her wolf and moved faster, shouting again for the kids to run away, but they stopped and stared at her slack-jawed in confusion. She grabbed the edge of the open door and swung it hard, slamming into the man’s leg and making him shout. With an angry growl, she pushed the kids behind her and backed them into a yard.
Romeo raced toward her with a furious roar, his phone to his ear. The car sped away, tires screaming.
“It’s Brent’s people,” she shouted at Romeo. “I’ll stay with the kids.” He froze for a second, then ran back to his truck. He lifted his hand in a wave as he shot by her in the truck, following the vehicle.
“What the hell’s going on?” a male called as he ran down the sidewalk after them.
Ashley straightened from her defensive crouch and turned to the kids, who were holding onto each other.
“You guys okay?” she asked. “I’m Ashley, Romeo’s mate.”
“We’re okay,” the tallest of the three kids said, a young girl with a pink stripe in her hair. “You’re Romeo’s mate?”
“Yep.” She turned to meet the male, who was the father of one of the other kids. She quickly told him what she’d witnessed.
“She stopped that man,” his kid said, hugging him.
“Thank you, Ashley,” he said. “I’m Manny, by the way. My mate Mari usually meets the kids and walks with them, but she had a doctor appointment, and I was late getting home. Shit, that could have been bad. Who do you think it was?”
“Humans Against Shifters.”
He growled, his eyes flashing. “Romeo’s following them?”
She nodded.
“I’m going to call Midas. If you walk the kids home with me, I’ll take you to his house. He’s going to want to know everything.”
“Of course. If the bus has a dash cam, maybe there’s footage of the car in case Romeo can’t catch up to them or they get away.”
“I’ll check,” Manny said.
They walked the kids to their houses, Manny explaining what happened and the parents tearfully thanking Ashley for her vigilance. By the time Manny took her to Midas’s house, Romeo called.
“They got away, damn it,” Romeo said. “I’m on the way back. Where are you?”
“I just got to Midas’s. How did they get away? You were just a minute behind them.”
“They pulled off and abandoned their vehicle. I tracked them, but they got picked up by another vehicle and took off before I could get the license plate.”
“It was Richard behind the wheel,” she said. “I don’t know his last name, but he was pretty high up in the organization. With Buck dead, he’ll probably take over as number two. I’m sorry you lost them.”
“Me too.”
“I’m sorry, too, that I thought Brent would go underground. I honestly thought he would.”
“It’s all right, sweetheart. You’re not to blame for anything that he does.”
She let out a grumble from her wolf. “I know. I still feel bad.”
