Lure of Oblivion

Ezra placed himself on the edge of the bench, meaning he was almost within touching distance of Gwen. He shot her a smug smile. Well, he wouldn’t be so pleased when he realized she was there to damn his precious and exceedingly stupid son.

The gray-haired council member cleared his throat. “I am Parker Brant.” After introducing the other members, he rested his gaze on Gwen. “According to what I have read, you witnessed a shifter, Andie Windsor, being attacked and are here to tell your version of events—a version that massively conflicts with that of the accused.” His eyes then cut to Brandt. “Before we go any further, I must ask if you still wish to plead your innocence.”

Brandt lifted his chin, looking like a petulant kid. “I did nothing wrong.” The thing was . . . he probably didn’t think he had done anything wrong.

Parker turned back to Gwen. “We would like to hear from you first, Miss Miller. Please come forward.”

It went against everything in Zander to let her walk away. He wanted to scoop her up and take her home. Instead, he lightly squeezed her shoulder and spoke into her ear. “You’ll be fine, baby.”

Gwen nodded, blowing out a breath. On legs that were surprisingly steady, she moved through the gate and crossed to the chair at the right side of the panel. Feeling all eyes on her made her skin itch. She shifted on the uncomfortably hard seat.

“Please tell us what happened that night,” said Parker.

She took a deep, preparatory breath. “I heard laughing. Loud, boisterous laughing. Straight away, I knew someone was either on our land or nearby. It wouldn’t be the first time that teenagers had gathered there to get drunk or smoke cannabis. I grabbed my shotgun, and I followed the sounds. Soon, I heard the cries, the horrible sounds of metal hitting bone. I hurried, and then I saw them. Andie was on the ground, her face all messed up and her clothes dirty. She was trying to crawl away from someone—he kept hitting her with a metal pole while his friends laughed and urged him on. I shot at the ground near their feet to make them run off. Then I helped Andie back to my house and called the sheriff to report the incident.”

“Can you identify this male that you saw assault Andie Windsor?”

“Yes.” Gwen glared at the asshole in question. “His name is Brandt Moore.”

Curses and abrasive mutters came from Moore’s group. Only Ezra and Colt seemed unsurprised that she’d reneged on her deal. They’d probably half expected it, given that Brandt had turned up at her house again.

Emilio studied her carefully. “This is the same account that you gave to Sheriff Johnson the night it happened, but you recently altered your statement.”

Gwen straightened her shoulders. “It was made clear to me that it was the only way I would keep my family safe. I didn’t see the harm in giving a different statement to the sheriff—he hasn’t exactly had any official involvement in the case, so I doubted he’d care.”

Harrison narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean when you say the sheriff had little involvement?”

“Sheriff Johnson didn’t hold the boys for more than an hour. He seemed skeptical when he took Andie’s statement, he didn’t do a drug test to corroborate or even dismiss her story, he didn’t take photos of her injuries, and he wouldn’t have even taken my statement to support her story if I hadn’t insisted on it. He was also of no help to her when Brandt and his friends terrorized her, harassing her into altering her statement. Finally, she did.”

“As did you,” Emilio pointed out. “And you say it was to keep your family safe?”

“Brandt and his friends harassed me to change my statement.” She told them how the harassment had begun as pranks and steadily got worse. “Brandt didn’t once plead his innocence to me or insist that I’d seen someone else that night. Brandt confessed that he wasn’t sorry for what he’d done and that, in his view, Andie’s nothing more than an animal.

“After one particular night when Brandt almost assaulted me with a bat, his father showed up at my house and tried to bribe me into changing my statement. Like his son, he’s very much anti-shifter. When I refused, he threatened to make me pay.”

Landon flicked Ezra a brief glance. “And did he?”

“A couple of weeks later, I was attacked by a flock of goshawk shifters.”

From his seat, Ezra snickered. “I don’t associate with shifters. How can I have had anything to do with that attack?”

Parker shot him a hard look. “When I want to hear from you, I will say so.” His eyes returned to Gwen. “Please continue, Miss Miller.”

“They came out of nowhere. Knocked me to the ground. Descended on me. Clawed and bit at me. If it wasn’t for the Mercury wolves, I don’t know if the goshawks would have stopped. I believe Ezra Moore hired them. I’ve heard many goshawk flocks are happy to sell their services.”

Harrison rolled a pen between his fingers. “Yes, that is true.”

“I didn’t just fear for myself, I feared for my family and for the Mercury wolves who were living with us to offer protection. So I altered my statement to keep us safe.”

After a long moment, Harrison said, “You may sit down, Miss Miller.”

Well, thank God for that. Ignoring the glares that she could feel coming from Moore’s side of the gallery, Gwen returned to her seat beside Zander. He kissed her temple and rubbed her nape, and she leaned into the contact, needing it.

Parker looked at Brandt. “Please take a seat over here, Mr. Moore.”

Brandt’s stride was cocky as he made his way to the chair. He didn’t sit on it; he lounged on it like it was a park bench or something.

“Tell us your account of what happened.”

“Me and my friends found the cougar crawling through the marsh on Miller land. We tried to help her, but she seemed confused and scared. Looked at us like we’d been the ones who’d hurt her. When Gwen shot at us, we ran—who wouldn’t when bullets are flying? I’m not saying the cougar was lying when she pointed fingers at me; I think the drugs just muddled up her mind, and she confused me with the person who’d hurt her. I think she later realized she was wrong and that’s why she changed her story. She herself says it wasn’t me. There’s really no reason for this hearing.”

“There is every reason for this hearing,” clipped Parker. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking this operates like a human hearing. If we believe a matter needs exploring, we’ll explore it.”

The door opened, and the beefy-looking guy from earlier crossed to the panel. He whispered something to the council members.

Gwen leaned into Zander. “Did you catch that?” He shook his head.

Once Beefy was gone, Parker spoke again to Brandt, “So, you believe that the cougar was possibly so confused by the drug that she mistakenly blamed you.”

Brandt nodded. “It’s what makes most sense to me.”

Harrison sighed. “I won’t deny it’s possible that Miss Windsor was confused by the drugs, but it wouldn’t account for Miss Miller seeing the accused beating the cougar with a pole. From what I understand, Miss Miller wasn’t drugged.”

“Considering that Miss Miller changes her mind so often and feels it is no problem to do so, I would say it’s obvious that she’s not a credible witness,” said Moira, Brandt’s mother. A harsh look from Parker made her mouth snap shut.