Sondrae Bennett - Alpine Woods Shifters 4 (17 page)

A shiver snaked down her spine and she felt Cody squeeze her hands in response. Whatever she had to do to get out of this, she would do, not only for herself, but for him.

“Sorry I’m late,” someone muttered as a breeze from outside rushed in.

She turned to greet the lawyer, Justin. Older than her by several years, he hadn’t been in school with her, although she’d seen him around.

“Don’t worry,” he assured her. “This is going to be an open and shut case.” Which didn’t necessarily mean a good outcome for her, but even as she opened her mouth to lean on the humor that came so naturally, the door to the main chamber opened and an elder stepped out.

The man had to be in his seventies. His hair was stark white, and his round face and soft body showed signs of age. He should have looked jolly, but his eyes were cold as his gaze zeroed in on her.

“We’re ready for you.” He didn’t bother to see if they followed him into the room, but turned around and with a determined stride crossed the room to take his position on the bench.

With a last squeeze, Misty let go of Cody’s hand and strode forward. Before she stepped onto the podium in front of the council, she spared a quick look around. Her gaze found a few friendly faces in the crowd. Jason and his family had all shown up. As had Jen, Jarrod, and most of the foxes from town. The sight of Cody, taking a seat beside his skulk, snared her gaze for a moment before she pushed on.

But as friendly as the group to her right appeared, the group to her left appeared equally strong in their hatred. She didn’t recognize any faces, but the looks were all the same. Cruel and filled with rage.

Someone on the bench cleared their throat, impatience bleeding through. Squaring her shoulders, Misty tried to put on a brave face as she stepped up to the podium. Her attackers wouldn’t get the pleasure of seeing her cower.

“Misty Turner, you are brought before the council because of your attack on a group of hybrids within the town of Oakville. Do you understand the charges?” A man in the center of the group spoke out.

She looked over to the hybrids to her left. The phrasing made it sound like she had attacked them. It hadn’t gone down like that at all.

“She does, your honor,” Justin said beside her.

“No, I don’t. I didn’t attack them. I defended myself.”

Justin tried to shush her, but it was too late.

The man’s face filled with rage at being contradicted. Apparently, she’d mis-stepped without realizing it.

“We are aware of your claims. But you stand before us in seemingly fine health.” He gestured to the hybrids. Some of them moaned and clutched their sides. One man with a bandage on his face looked especially grieved. Drama queens. “While your supposed attackers have numerous injuries. How are we supposed to justify such a juxtaposition from what you say and what the evidence point to?”

She shot a frantic look at Cody. This was not what she had anticipated. Just a formality, they had assured her. But the further this trial went, the more it was looking like a set-up.

“They did other things. Pulled my hair and pushed me.” Now that she was saying it out loud, it did seem ridiculous. At the time, she’d feared they would kill her, but now that concern seemed so extreme. She closed her eyes and threw a frantic prayer to the heavens. Please let her come out of this intact.

“And that gave her permission to break his nose and his ribs?” A woman stood up in the group of hybrids, gesturing to two of the moaning people as she referred to them.

“Please, sit down. We will get to the bottom of this,” the council member placated. Then he turned a frosty stare toward her. “Ms. Turner, did you at any point, ask the hybrids to stop?”

Shocked by the question, Misty shook her head. Asked them to stop? Even if she had, they wouldn’t have heard her over all the screaming and yelling.

“Did you ever try to reason with them?”

Another shake of her head. These weren’t the questions she’d anticipated. Worry built, threatening to choke her. Why were they acting like she’d committed some horrid crime?

“What other options did you try before resorting to violence?”

Misty didn’t know how to answer. She merely shook her head as Justin spoke to the council, trying to redirect the line of questioning, only to be cut off.

“So you tried nothing to get away before attacking the people around you.”

Tears clogged her sight as she stared up at the man.

“Rupert, there’s no need to interrogate the girl. She’s just gone through a terrible ordeal.”

Grabbing onto the kindness like a lifeline, Misty turned to the older woman on the bench. Her eyes smiled down at Misty and allowed her to draw in a ragged breath. If she concentrated on the woman’s eyes, she could believe everything would be okay.

“We demand justice!” The same hybrid woman who’d called out earlier spoke. The crowd around her rose up in agreement.

For a moment, all Misty heard was the deafening volume of the hybrids demanding her head. Then a banging as her original questioner pounded his gavel.

“Quiet. Ms. Turner, Inform the council of the steps you took before lashing out,” he said.

Although the phrasing was better than before, she still caught the accusation in his gaze. She looked at the friendly woman instead and took a deep breath.

“I tried to get back to the vet’s office, or any building, but they blocked my way. I was surrounded. I tried to extricate myself from the crowd but they pulled my hair and pushed me into each other. They were shouting too loud to hear anything I had to say.”

Justin gave her an approving look.

The man nodded, then seemed to consult some papers on his desk. “At what point did you pull out the knife?”

A palpable hush fell over the room. Misty stared at the man in shock before finding her voice.

“Never. There was never a knife,” she croaked with an unsteady breath.

“There are numerous eye witnesses who said you brandished a knife and shouted, ‘Get away from me, you filthy hybrids.’”

All of a sudden, the room exploded in a rush of yells and shouts. The protesters in anger, and her supporters in indignation. Anyone who knew her, knew those words would have never crossed her lips. The gavel banged a few times before everyone fell silent.

“Are you claiming you’ve never seen this piece before and did not stab it into the shoulder of a man during the struggle?” A man brought over a bag with a knife in it. Blood stained the tip.

“I’ve never seen this before in my life,” she said with honesty.

“Your honor, we would be pleased to submit fingerprints for verification that she did not use this knife.” Justin spoke from beside her.

“There are ways around that,” the woman from the hybrid crowd shouted. Misty was at her wits’ end with the woman. Three times now she’d interjected against her. What had Misty ever done to her?

“Are you really claiming I had time, while I frantically tried to get away, to wipe down a knife? Seriously? I left my clothes in shreds on the ground so I could run as fox, but I had time to grab a napkin and make sure I left no prints?”

There was silence after that. The friendly council elder cleared her throat and spoke out. “Point made. I vote that we test the weapon. If, as she claims, her fingerprints are not on it, we have to conclude she did not use the knife and dismiss the case. Would anyone like to second the motion?” A few murmurs assented. “All right then. Misty, you are required to provide fingerprints. If we do receive a positive match, the case will continue at a date to be determined at that time. For the moment, you’re free to go.” Then with a wink, the woman slammed her gavel down.

“No!” The hybrid woman cried out. “It is clear the council does not have the best interest of the hybrid shifters at heart. This trial has been a joke. We demand more.”

“Who are you, exactly?” A man on the bench who hadn’t spoken before asked.

“I am the Premier of the hybrid shifters of eastern Colorado.” She raised her chin in pride at the words. Whispers exploded throughout the room.

“Excuse me? You can’t form a new pack and become a Premier just because you say it’s so. There is paperwork and permissions needed.” A frail woman on the board spoke.

“It is clear that the council is only concerned with the rights of pure breeds. We will form our own council under my leadership unless you listen to our demands and change your ways.”

The council exchanged looks before one woman swept a hand, gesturing to the podium where Misty stood. As the woman stepped forward, Justin ushered Misty over to Cody. His arms circled her from behind, and she leaned into his embrace. This trial was getting wildly out of control. Who was this woman?

“We demand the council incorporate hybrids into their ranks to ensure fair trials for our kind.”

The elders looked at each other, many nodding their agreement.

“It seems fair. Is that your only demand?” one asked.

“Seats for all the variations of hybrids in the world.” Her voice rang out clear.

This time the council hesitated.

Misty understood why as the implications slammed into her. There were far more hybrid breeds than pure breeds around nowadays. Giving that many council seats away would swing control into the hybrids’ hands. She shivered as she realized what would have happened to her today if such a thing were the case.

“That, we cannot agree to. As we do not assign council seats based on percentages, it would not be fair to the other species. We agree to give the hybrids the same number of seats every other breed has, which would be three.”

For a minute, Misty feared the woman would launch herself at the man. She looked angry enough to spit bullets.

“Fine. I will take one, and the other two will go to senior members of my pride.”

Again, the members of the council shook their heads. “That’s not how it works. The seats are determined by a vote among all the hybrids in the state. Your…pride…is only a small piece of the pie.”

The woman’s eyes were bright with anger. “No! Those are our demands. I need a seat! I deserve a seat!”

Cody tightened his arms around Misty as the woman exploded.

Her gaze swung in their direction. A few of the wolves and foxes stepped beside them.

“This is your fault. All of you. If you had just walked away and left my brother alone, none of this would be happening. I’d already have a foothold.”

Seemingly beyond rational, the woman rushed them.

Cody pushed Misty behind him and prepared to face the fuming bitch. The woman screamed as she launched herself at him, but Cody was too fast. He grabbed her hands and twisted, bringing her to the ground and covering her body. Across the room, the hybrids looked on with wide eyes as their leader screamed and raged from the floor.

“She’s bat shit crazy,” one of them muttered. A couple loyal followers tried to reach their fallen leader, but others held them back.

The council members all pounded their gavels, trying to restore order.

Jason and his brothers reached down and held the woman so Cody could rise. At the urging of the council, they carried her back to the podium and held her before the bench.

“Who was your brother?” one asked, obviously catching her slip from earlier.

She shook her head mutely.

“What is your name?”

Again, she refused to speak, raising her head in challenge.

The man sighed. “Do you have anything to say in defense of your actions?”

She didn’t speak.

“In that case, you will be taken into our custody until we can get to the bottom of this. It is becoming increasingly clear you stand at the center of the rioting and protesting lately. We will decide what to do with you after the facts have been assembled.” He banged his gavel and the wolves carried the woman to the side of the room.

“As far as the council seats for hybrids,” the man continued. “I believe it is a good idea regardless of the reason it was brought before this council.” A couple people around the room, both hybrid and non-hybrid, nodded in agreement. “In the next few weeks, we will set up a vote and provide hybrid shifters three seats on the council. If no one else is going to have a breakdown,” he paused a moment and gazed around the room, “I call this meeting adjourned.”

Misty breathed a sigh of relief as the gavel cracked down. She clutched Cody’s shoulders from behind until he spun around and swept her into his arms. Without a word to the supporters around them, he carted her with determined strides toward the exit in the back.

Misty threw a cheery wave at the crowd over his shoulder before he turned the corner. Relief swamped her. It was over. Had she been standing, her knees would have wobbled. With a giggle, she buried her nose in Cody’s throat and let his scent flood her senses as he carried her out of the building and down the street toward their car.

As the shock and worry from the trial faded, Misty’s senses went into overdrive. Cody’s scent surrounded her and she rubbed her nose against his throat. His steps slowed at the caress, his pulse picked up speed, hammering against her cheek. Turning her head, she rubbed her lips against the furious beat before opening her mouth and sucking. His taste, deliciously male, exploded on her tongue. It short-circuited all thoughts, leaving only an aching need to be taken by him. Filled by him.