A defeated-looking Colt remained still and silent as the others shouted and cursed and protested. The council members merely left through a door near their panel, effectively dismissing them.
Brandt whirled on his father. “Do something! You can’t let them take me!” By then, three stocky males had entered the room and were already heading his way.
Red-faced, Ezra promised, “I won’t let him, I’ll—”
“You said you wouldn’t let this happen!” yelled Brandt. “You said you’d get me off!”
Arriving at the bench, the three males grabbed Brandt, Rowan, and Mack. As they were hauled away, their parents and Ezra’s chauffeur, Thad, struggled to follow. More shifters piled into the room, forcing the humans to step back while the boys were shoved through the door that the council members had disappeared through.
“Let’s leave now before their attention turns to us,” said Andie.
Gwen nodded. “Good idea.” But it was too late. No sooner had they all begun sliding out of the bench than Brandt’s mother, Moira, came storming toward Andie.
“You lying whore! My son never touched you!”
Andie just regarded the hysterical woman steadily. “I can see in your eyes that you know that’s not true.”
“You’re pinning it on him because you hate humans!” Moira screeched. “This is a hate crime! And you . . . you’re not even a person! You’re an animal!”
Andie gave her a brittle smile. “And yet, I’m not the one who drugged and beat someone with a metal pole while my friends laughed, am I? Now back the fuck off.”
Gently bumping Andie aside, Gwen said, “Move your ass, Moira; your time to embarrass yourself is up.”
She raised her hand to slap her, but Gwen grabbed it. “No, Moira. Your boy made his bed. It’s his own fault if he finds it lumpy.”
“Get your hands off my wife!” Ezra bellowed. He tried shoving his way into Gwen’s personal space, but Zander pushed him back.
“Fucking touch her and you’re dead,” Zander growled, eyes flashing wolf.
The asshole froze, gulping because, yeah, Zander could be a scary bastard at times. As he opened his mouth, no doubt to issue a threat, Gwen waved a dismissive hand and said, “Spare me the ‘You’ll pay for this’ bullshit, Ezra.”
“Take Andie outside, Gwen,” said Zander, eyes on Ezra. He didn’t move his gaze from the bastard as his pack mates and Gwen’s family headed to the exit. His wolf lunged at the human, desperate to tear him apart. Zander barely kept him suppressed.
The last to leave, Yvonne lingered and said, “Emilio Mendes was right—it’s partly Colt’s fault that your son will pay at the council’s hands. But you’re at fault too, Ezra. In buying his way out of trouble his whole life, you taught him that he could do whatever he wanted and there’d be no consequences. Now he’s learning the hard way that there are. So if you want to start blaming anyone for what happened here today, look at yourself first.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Arriving back at the house, Gwen was surprised to see yet another SUV parked outside. Four people exited the vehicle—two of whom she’d seen before. She did a quick study of the unfamiliar tall, sable-haired female and the huge male at her side with perceptive brindle-brown eyes. As she took in the fluid way they both moved, Gwen was quite sure they were shifters.
“What are you guys doing here?” asked Bracken.
Jesse snorted. “What do you think we’re doing here? There’s a chance you’ll need backup. We came. And, yeah, I’d like to get my fucking hands on Rory after he sent the cops to Harley’s club.”
Gwen waited with her family and Andie while the Mercury wolves and the newcomers exchanged greetings. It was obvious to her that they were all close.
Zander turned to her. “Gwen, you remember Jesse and Harley. This is Jaime and Dante. They’re the Betas of the Phoenix Pack.”
Gwen gave the new arrivals a quick hello and then introduced her family and Andie. “We appreciate you coming.”
After greetings were exchanged, Yvonne and Marlon made everyone a light lunch. While they ate, Zander and Derren told the other shifters what happened at the hearing. A little overwhelmed by the number of people, Julie soon made her excuses to leave. Once she and Chase were gone, the others all went outside to look at the views of the marsh.
As Gwen stood with Jaime and Ally out on the boardwalk, she asked the Beta female, “How’s Makenna and the baby?”
“They’re both fine,” said Jaime, eyes lighting up. “The baby is adorable, isn’t she? Makenna won’t agree to stay on our territory, so Ryan’s constantly freaking out. In his head, I mean. You wouldn’t know it to look at him.”
Recalling that Ryan’s default expression seemed to be a scowl, Gwen smiled. “Yeah, I can imagine.”
“Roni and Shaya really wanted to come, but I’m guessing you can understand why they didn’t.”
“Of course,” Gwen assured her. “It’s vital that the Mercury Pack isn’t left vulnerable. To be honest, I’m surprised Jesse and Harley came, especially after Rory pulled that firecracker stunt.” Zander had told her all about it.
“Jesse, Zander, and Bracken are really close,” said Ally. “I think it was hard for Jesse to stay out of this, so he’d have turned up here even if Rory hadn’t insisted on being a shithead. Harley will have come along to get a shot at vengeance.”
Gwen sipped at her coffee and then spoke to Jaime. “To be blunt, why are you and your mate here?”
Jaime tilted her head. “I’m not sure if Zander’s told you that our packs are closely allied with each other. In fact, we share Roni and Marcus. See, she’s a Mercury enforcer, and Marcus is a Phoenix enforcer, but neither wanted to switch packs. If either of our packs have trouble, one always has the other’s back.” She paused, her smile approving as she stared at Gwen. “What you did for Andie . . . it was a brave thing.”
“It was the right thing,” Gwen pointed out.
Ally nodded. “But sometimes the right thing is scary and difficult to do. You still did it.”
“Although you didn’t do it on behalf of shifters everywhere, I wanted to say thank you.” Jaime lifted her mug to Gwen, as if in salute.
Uncomfortable with the praise, Gwen just nodded. Noticing Harley and Andie slowly heading down the boardwalk, she said, “They seem to be getting along well.”
Ally nodded. “Harley spent the first half of her life in a pride, but she spent the second half in the human world—she lived with her aunt, who took care of her. She can relate to how Andie must feel, having lived among humans for a long time. Has Andie decided what she’ll do next?”
Gwen shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope to find out later.”
From where he stood on the porch with Jesse, Zander watched Gwen interact with the other females. She seemed relaxed around them. He liked that. He wanted her to feel comfortable with them so that it would make the transition to his pack easier. He also wanted her to feel that she had friends when she moved there.
“When do you think the Moores will attack?” asked Jesse.
“It’s possible that they won’t. They hired goshawks to hurt Gwen not long ago.” The memory made Zander’s wolf snarl. The beast was brooding because he’d been denied the chance to attack and kill Ezra. “They might do the same thing again.”