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CHAPTER ONE

Gwen Miller sla to a halt They were here again She could hear their footsteps rustling the high grass as they as, salty water, and humid air

She sighed and rubbed her temple God, she was too tired for this shit

Making as little noise as possible, she rose fro and padded down the boardwalk that ran over theher feet fro shadows as she crept closer to her home And there they were All threeof theh they were built like linebackers and had proved they were capable of seriously sick shit

Apparently, they weren’t getting the e that they needed to keep their asses away from her damn house That was unfortunate

She slipped her hand into her pocket and threaded her fingers through the knuckle stun gun in her pocket, but she didn’t switch it on Not yet

As one of the boys raised a bat to the windscreen of her truck—motherfucker—she made a tsk sound All three swerved to face her, eyes wide Going by the state of their pupils, they’d all been drinking And going by the cans of spray paint at their feet, they’d co mess of her truck and maybe even her home, which doubled as a B&B

The buzz and drone of the insects stopped, and the cool breeze paused—as if nature itself aiting to see how this would play out

“Evening, boys,” Gwen drawled “So, you’re back Not getting bored of this at all?”

The ringleader and pain in her ass, Brandt, gave her asmile and put his hand over his heart “You don’t like my company? I’m offended” His expression sobered as he went on “You knohat to do if you want me out of your life”

Yeah, she did

“You can make this stop so easily, Gwen You just have to do a little thing for e your statement Hell, even she had the sense to alter hers”

“She” being the feo with ahim on Gwen had found them in the trees near the border of her family’s land, and she’d shot at theed and shaken shifter, Andie, to her home, where Gwen had called the sheriff

That call had proved to be a waste of time

The sheriff hadn’t arrested the boys—he’d brought the That had lasted ht with Brandt’s socially influential father, Ezra Moore Neither of thehts The police hadn’t taken photographs of her injuries or done a drug test that would have proved her drink had been spiked They’d pretty

That didn’t h Andie had reported the attack to the shifter council, which was originally formed to appease humans who didn’t like that shifters solved probles often prevented wars between packs, it also punished huainst shifters if human law enforcement didn’t take care of it themselves As such, Brandt would have to stand before the council—soly, he didn’t want to do

The boys had harassed Gwen for weeks, trying to force her to alter her statement They’d also done the same to Andie, as scared out of her damn mind and eventually folded under their intimidation tactics Gwen couldn’t really blame her Andie wasn’t part of a pride, so she had no protection from her kind Gell, she didn’t back down for anyone

The shifter council didn’t care that Andie had backed off Once an incident was reported, the council always investigated it