The mastiff hits her like a freight train, rolling her with a loud snarl. I dive, fingers closing on its collar, yanking with all my strength.
Belle snarls again, snapping at the other dog, and Grace’s scream slices through the air.
“Get…behind…the bench!” I shout.
For half a second, I think I’ve got him under control—then the bastard bucks like a bull, slamming me shoulder-first into the ground. Pain rockets down my arm.
I shove myself up, heart pounding. The black dog stands its ground, growling and snapping its teeth at Belle, both dogs vibrating with fury. Neither gives an inch.
Grace stumbles around the bench, clutching the back of it, pale and swaying, her eyes wide with terror.
Grace
I’m going to be sick. The pounding in my skull, the bile clawing at my throat, the sight of Belle—my sweet, Belle—being tossed around like she’s a rag doll.
She snarls and barks, a furious wall of muscle and fur and teeth, throwing herself between me and the monster trying to tear her apart. AJ has his hands locked on the mastiff’s collar, but the beast already drove him to the ground once.
Seeing him hit the hard-packed dirt—the man who’s carried me, who’s held me together since the moment we met for the second time—shatters something deep inside me. I can’t breathe, and I’m barely keeping myself upright against the bench.
The mastiff lunges again. AJ goes down hard, his entire body jolting, and a scream tears from my throat.
Shouts explode all around us. People. Men. Too many of them. Boots pounding.
“Grab the hose!”
“Got an extra leash here!”
My chest seizes, and when I try to crouch down behind the bench, my knee gives out. The ground pitches, and I stumble, catching my heel on the edge of the cement.
Air whooshes from my lungs as my shoulder smashes into the wood slats. The grass and the bench and the people and the sky all blur together. My ears ring with barks and snarls and shouts, the chaos pinning me down, paralyzing me.
A hand appears in front of me. Thick fingers. Pale skin. The cuff of a dark sweatshirt.
“Here,” a man says softly. “Let me help you.”
I blink up at him. A hoodie shadows part of his face. Hazel eyes catch the sunlight. Something stirs in the back of my mind. Familiar, but not. Fear skitters over my skin.
Before I can speak, his hand closes around mine, helping me up with surprising care. His grip steadies me when my knees buckle, and for a heartbeat, I’m caught. Trapped between gratitude and cold, primal fear.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see two men race toward the dogs with huge, stainless steel bowls, water sloshing over the sides.
“You okay?” the man asks. He’s polite. Concerned.
I can’t find AJ. He’s lost in the middle of the shouts and the barks. Where’s Belle? I need to find Belle!
“Ma’am? I need to know you’re all right.”
I nod. My throat won’t work. I don’t know him. The way his eyes search mine makes my stomach turn. Like he’s waiting for me to look down. To cower.
Belle’s snarl shatters the moment, dragging my focus back to the fray.
“Call animal control!” AJ roars, fury roughening his voice.
“We’ve got more water!” another man yells.
A sharp, piercing whistle slices through the air. It’s so strident, it stabs straight into my skull. Belle whines, then shakes her head.
The mastiff bolts. One second it’s snarling, and the next, it’s gone. Nothing but a streak of black muscle clearing the chain link fence like it’s only an inch tall.
