Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Only once he’d driven away did Gwen shut the door. Turning, she found that her brother and Bracken had joined Zander. “Marlon, could you help Mr. Devlin with whatever he needs—I’ll be right back.” Because she needed some fucking air.
As she made a beeline for the kitchen, she could hear Marlon trying to dissuade the shifters from following her. Shoving open the back door, she stepped out onto the deck and inhaled deeply. The cool air filled her lungs, soothing her.
Sitting on the deck, she let her head drop forward. She was just so fucking tired of all this shit. Not that she intended to back down. Hell, no. She just didn’t want to be vilified for doing the right thing.
Hearing the door creak open, she glanced over her shoulder to see Zander staring right at her, hundreds of questions in his eyes. Just fucking great.
Zander hadn’t heard all of Gwen’s conversation with the human who’d just left, but he’d heard enough to grasp the gist of the situation. And he was fucking pissed. A female shifter had been assaulted, and neither the culprit nor his family gave a rat’s ass. In their eyes, the victim was inferior to them and deserved no justice simply because she was a shifter. In addition, Gwen was the only person who was prepared to stand up for that shifter, even though it meant going against her own kind—people who were clearly harassing her.
His sister’s face flashed in his mind. Shelby had been thirteen when she was hit by stray bullets in a drive-by shooting. Several humans witnessed the incident and had identified the human shooter, but by the time the trial came around, all of them had “forgotten” relevant details. Why? Because running up to the trial, the bastard had pretended to be the victim, insisted that shifters were simply out to get humans. He’d riled up other anti-shifter humans, and they’d all focused their hate on Shelby, who’d suddenly become the guilty party. The witnesses had also been slated, and they’d eventually folded under the pressure.
Shelby’s testimony hadn’t been enough, and the shooter had walked free. He’d later shot someone else, this time at point-blank range. The situation wasn’t the same as Gwen’s, but it was similar enough to bring back all the rage and contempt Zander had felt for the shooter and his prejudiced supporters.
Nowadays, many anti-shifter humans grouped together. The extremists were violent, radical, and seemed to know no boundaries. They were known to use car bombs, grenades, and other explosives to attack shifters, their territories, and even their businesses—uncaring that there could be human casualties. They’d gotten so bad that even other humans were turning against them. Risking their wrath wasn’t advisable. Yet, Gwen was prepared to speak up for this female shifter who wouldn’t even speak up for herself. He admired that. Respected it. Appreciated it.
“What was all that about?” Zander asked her.
“Sorry if your sleep was disturbed by the visitor,” she said in that coolly polite and formal tone that, for some reason, offended him. “Marlon will prepare whatever you want for breakfast.” She faced forward once again as Marlon listed various options.
Unwilling to be dismissed, Zander stepped off the deck and moved to block her view. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Gwen swallowed a tired sigh. “If you’re worried that you might get caught up in what’s happening, we’ll certainly understand that and give you a refund.” Personally, she thought that was a pretty reasonable offer, but he didn’t appear to like it.
“Tell me what’s happening.”
Gwen frowned. He really thought she’d share her personal business with him? Surely he’d heard enough to understand that this was a private and very serious matter, one she wasn’t about to share with a complete stranger just to satisfy his curiosity. “You’re a guest here.”
Not seeing what that had to do with anything, Zander pushed, “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Look, Mr. Devlin—”
“Zander. My name is Zander. Use it,” he clipped. He wasn’t sure why it bothered him that she didn’t, but he wasn’t sure of a lot of things when it came to Gwen Miller. His wolf had again backed away from her, and the situation was getting old, fast.
“You’re a guest here.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that. Not sure why you think it’s relevant.”
“This doesn’t involve you. Like I said, we can sort you out with a refund—”
“I don’t want a refund.” He squatted in front of her. “I want to know if I heard correctly, and you witnessed a shifter being physically assaulted.”
She inhaled sharply. “Good hearing.”
“You’re being pressured to change your statement?”
Marlon sat beside her. “Pressured is an understatement. They’ve tried pretty much everything to make her do what they want.”
Zander wondered just what “pretty much everything” entailed. “But you won’t give in?”
She blinked. “Why would I?”
“Some humans would prefer not to go against people like the asshole who was just here, especially when they’re being targeted this way.”