The next morning, while Zander was in town helping Dustin with a small crisis, Darren was getting ready for the festival. He couldn’t stop thinking about the day ahead, and everything that could so easily go wrong. At least Bobby was excited. The following Monday, he’d be back in school and Darren could only hope that life would return to normal, but as much as being around Greg made him cringe, he knew Bobby needed to be around his father.

When Zander came home, Darren put on a smile, not wanting the Alpha to worry about him more than he already was. “Hey,” he called as Zander walked through the door. “Did you get the sheep back?”

Zander rolled his eyes. “Yeah, no thanks to the Williams kid. I’m still not sure what they’re teaching in school these days if he thought it was a good idea to round up terrified prey animals by shifting into his wolf form.”

Darren covered his mouth to smother his laugh. “The perils of small-town shifter life.”

“Is Bobby all set?” Zander looked up at the stairs.

“He should be. He’s just catching up on the reading they assigned over break.” Darren reached for his jacket but stopped at the last minute. He hadn’t felt well for the last few mornings, but his lightheadedness and nausea were starting to get to him.

“You alright, babe?” Zander asked worriedly.

Darren nodded. He knew if he showed any sign of being sick, Zander would want him to stay home. As much as he’d love the excuse to avoid seeing Greg, it wasn’t fair to Bobby and Darren knew Greg would accuse him of faking it to get out of the visit. “Yeah, I’m fine. Would you mind running up to get Bobby?”

“Sure.”

A few minutes later, they were on their way to the fairgrounds. Bobby was chattering excitedly in the backseat about all the rides he was going to go on. As they came within view of the parking lot, Darren found himself scanning the rows for Greg’s car. He finally spotted the Alpha leaning against the sleek red Mustang he’d insisted on splurging for even though it was hardly a vehicle conducive to family life.

Greg opened the door to the backseat as soon as they had parked and Bobby jumped into his arms. “Hey, kiddo!” the Alpha laughed. “Ready for some funnel cake?”

“He shouldn’t eat before he goes on the rides,” said Darren. He hated that he always had to be the voice of reason because Greg refused.

“Your dad’s right,” Greg said, even though he usually would have brushed it off as Darren being “paranoid.”

The omega frowned. Maybe the counseling was doing some good, after all.

“Can we go on the ferris wheel first?” Bobby pleaded.

Greg eyed the line that was wrapped halfway around the fairgrounds. “Looks pretty crowded right now. How about we go over to the game booths first and your old man’ll win you a stuffed animal until the line thins out?”

“Okay!”

Darren followed them toward the bright booths and lighted rides. Zander took his hand and he let out a deep breath. “Just a few hours,” the Alpha whispered. “We can do this.”

“Yeah,” Darren said, smiling. “We can.”

The first hour didn’t pass as torturously as Darren expected. Greg was on his best behavior, which was irritating in its own way, but he didn’t complain about the fact that he had two constant shadows as Bobby led him around the fairgrounds. Whenever they went on a ride, Darren and Zander watched from the sidelines. Darren was almost relieved Bobby was too fixated on Greg to ask him to go on any of them. His nausea hadn’t gotten any better.

“Whoa,” Bobby said, his eyes widening as they locked on a big stuffed dolphin hanging over one of the game booths. It was a gallery-style shooting game, and judging from the looks on the faces of the people leaving the booth, it wasn’t an easy one to win.

“You want the dolphin?” Greg asked, following the boy’s gaze. “I’ll get it for you.”

Darren watched as Bobby and Greg wandered over to the booth. The Alpha laid out a few bills on the counter and the attendant passed him an air rifle. Darren swallowed hard. He knew it wasn’t real, but the sight of Greg with any kind of weapon in his hands still made him uneasy.

How was he going to deal with this until Bobby reached adulthood?

“Son of a —“ Greg cut himself off as he scowled at the untipped target. “This is bullshit, the game’s rigged.”

Darren frowned. He’d had as much of a sailor mouth as the rest of their group back in the day, but he’d always put his foot down on swearing in front of Bobby.

“Let Zander try!” Bobby cried. “He’s a hunter.”

Zander hesitated, clearly unsure of whether he was supposed to forfeit his status as a distant observer.

“Sure. Go ahead,” Greg said smugly, shoving the rifle into the other Alpha’s hand. “Give it a shot.”

Zander shrugged and put another five on the counter. He took aim at the target and fired. The paper flag went down immediately and the strobe above the booth went off.

“We have a winner!” the attendant called. A few of the townsfolk around them laughed and clapped as the attendant took the dolphin down and handed it to Bobby.

“Thanks, Zander!” the boy cried, giving him a one-armed hug as he clutched the stuffed dolphin against his chest.

“Sure thing, kid,” Zander laughed, ruffling Bobby’s hair.

“Yeah. Nice shot,” Greg said with a smile that probably only seemed stiff to Darren. The omega told himself he was just being petty, that he wanted to see the worst in Greg because that was all the Alpha had ever shown him.

“I’m hungry,” Bobby announced once they’d gone on a few more rides.

“I’ll go grab us some grub,” said Greg. “You guys find a table.”

Darren took Bobby’s hand and followed Zander over to an empty picnic bench. Bobby’s dolphin took up most of the table.

“Are you having fun?” Darren asked.

“Yeah! I wish it could be like this all the time,” said Bobby.

As Darren was struggling to come up with a reply, a scream from across the fairgrounds drew his attention. It took only a few seconds for Darren to see what the rest of the crowd was beginning to. That dark shadow creeping over the plains wasn’t a shadow at all. It was a herd of cattle heading right towards the fair.

“Stampede!” someone cried, sending the shocked townsfolk into a full-blown panic.

Zander grabbed Bobby and Darren and pulled them both away from the table. Soon, the herd of people running in terror became more of an imminent threat than the approaching stampede.

“Take Bobby to the parking lot and stay put, the herd’ll never run towards a bunch of cars,” Zander ordered, handing Darren the keys.

“Where are you going?” the omega cried.

“Someone’s gotta take care of this before people get hurt. Don’t follow me,” he said firmly before running right into the frenzied crowd.

Darren’s heart raced with fear for his mate, but he gathered his son into his arms and rushed to do what Zander had told him. “This way!” he called to a small group of omegas with their children who seemed to be at a loss for what to do. They followed him to the lot and Darren realized that Zander was right. The herd was still moving fast, but they seemed to already be shifting course to go around the lot. On the other hand, they were headed right for the festival grounds, where more than a hundred people were still gathered.

Darren could already see Zander’s wolf running toward the herd in an attempt to change its course. A few others followed his lead and shifted to help, but the herd was still coming at them.

“Watch him, please?” Darren asked the female omega who’d taken shelter with them along with her children.

She nodded. “Of course.”

“Bobby, stay with her and don’t leave until I get back, do you understand?” Darren asked, leaning down to speak to his son.

“Where are you going?” the boy cried.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” With that, Darren rushed back toward the remaining crowd. “You all have to move!” he cried, struggling to make his voice heard over the arguments and panic. In their human forms, even shifters behaved like prey animals sometimes. He pushed a few people in the direction of the parking lot in his desperation. It caught on eventually, and others started helping him direct the crowd.

As the crowd thinned out, Darren could hear the sound of a young child crying. His heart lurched and he searched the booths until he found a little girl who’d been left by the dunking booth. While Zander and the others had begun to succeed at changing the herd’s course, there were still a few panicked stragglers who’d maintained their original trajectory and one of them had just taken out a booth.

Darren lunged and scooped the girl up in his arms, ducking behind the booth to shield them both as the steers ran past. The three who’d broken off from the herd trampled half the tables that had been set up along with several tents, but they left the booth Darren and the girl were taking shelter behind intact.

The omega stood and caught sight of a beta running toward them. One look in her terrified eyes and he knew it was the girl’s mother. She took the girl from his arms and sobbed gratefully. Darren urged them both to go back toward the others before doubling back. The stragglers were still on their own course and if someone didn’t get them back with the others, they’d head straight for town.

Darren took his wolf form and started running at breakneck speed to catch up to the cattle. He finally managed to catch up to the one in back and nipped at its flank, knowing he was in danger of getting kicked in the head if it didn’t work. The bull raised its head and let out a panicked bellow, but it was enough to get him to run back towards the rest of the herd Zander and the other wolves had managed to round up into a tight group headed back to the pasture.

Pushing himself past his limits, Darren outstripped the first angry bull and snarled fiercely at the others. They stumbled back, bellowing angrily as they ran to join the rest of the herd. Once they caught up with the others, Darren caught sight of Zander’s large gray wolf at the edge of the herd.

Zander did a double-take when he saw the smaller black wolf and slowed to keep pace with him. The Alpha growled in disapproval, but Darren kept running alongside him, leading the herd into the broken pen with the others. A couple of the other Alphas shifted back into their human forms to pull the iron gate shut once the last of the herd had run in.

The poor cattle lowed in confusion as Darren stopped to catch his breath. He was going to be feeling the effects of that run for the next month. He shifted and collapsed on his hands and knees, still panting when Zander reached to pull him to his feet.

“Are you hurt?” the Alpha demanded. His eyes were full of more fear than Darren had thought him capable of feeling.

“I’m fine,” he said breathlessly. “The bulls were heading into town, I had to —”

Zander pulled him into a tight hug that expelled the breath from his lungs and buried his fingers in his hair. “I told you to stay put,” he growled.

Darren couldn’t help but smile as he returned the embrace. “Since when have I ever been known to listen?”

Someone cleared his throat behind them and when Zander pulled away, Darren saw Truman, another Alpha from Sawyers, standing with his gaze averted as he held out a small stack of clothes. “Got these from the barn. If you’ve got a second, Zander?”

The Alpha took the clothes and pulled them on quickly. Darren changed into the second set of clothes and walked over to join them as the gathered Alphas examined the broken gate. One named Thomas was already applying a fresh set of chains.

“How did this happen?” Zander demanded. “This gate was supposed to be locked.”

“It was,” Truman said, tossing a heavy padlock to Zander. “See for yourself.”

The Alpha frowned down at the lock in his hands. The bar at the top had been severed clean in half. “This was cut.”

“Question is, why and who?” Thomas demanded.

Darren’s heart beat faster. “A distraction,” he said, turning back towards the fairgrounds. He started running and Zander called after him, but he ignored the Alpha. There wasn’t time for an explanation if what he feared was true.

“Bobby!” Darren cried, searching the crowd. Bobby was too short to see, but he caught sight of the blonde omega he’d left him with. When he pushed his way through the crowd, his heart sank when he realized Bobby wasn’t with her children. “Where is he?” he demanded. “Where’s my son?”

The other omega gave him a bewildered look. “It’s alright. He’s with his father.”

Darren froze. The nausea that had plagued him all day became unbearable, and his head started spinning so badly he felt like he might fly off the face of the earth itself until Zander took him by the arm.

“What is it?” the Alpha asked, his gaze calm but intent. “Where’s Bobby?”

“Greg has him.” Darren’s voice didn’t sound like it was coming from his lips. “He did this.”

The confusion in Zander’s eyes disappeared in an instant. He looked around and started barking orders to the other Alphas within earshot, ordering them to start searching the fairgrounds for anyone who matched Greg or Bobby’s description.

Darren knew it didn’t matter. They were gone. The realization that Greg was capable of even worse than Darren had given him credit for filled him with fresh terror on his son’s behalf. If Greg was willing to put hundreds of people in immediate danger, there was nothing he wouldn’t do.