make a trip with me tonight, I can at least bring over a couple of twin beds and a futon mattress.”
Lorelei caught her arm. “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful.”
“No. God, no.” Eden covered Lorelei’s hand with her own. “This is hard. And awkward. It’s the most confusing day of my life, and I wish I knew how to handle all of it better.”
The woman stared down at the bagged sheet in Eden’s hand. “One of them was going to rape her. Kaley. But he screwed up, started taunting her about how maybe he should do it in front of Zack instead. We all thought he was dead, and when Kaley heard that…she lost it.”
Zack couldn’t stand to listen. Eden had to. “What did she do?”
“She ripped his throat out,” Lorelei whispered. “With her bare hands.”
Eden was unprepared for the surge of brutal satisfaction. “Good,” she rasped, her voice holding an edge of a snarl that shocked her out of the moment. “Oh hell, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Why not?” Lorelei’s smile was a little vicious, almost feral. “He was trying to hurt her. Worse, he was going to use her to hurt someone she cares about.”
“Zack.” Eden had heard his heart rate soar every time someone mentioned Kaley’s name. She’d felt the deception, had almost been able to taste the lie in the air. No wonder she’d never been able to fool him during their childhood. “He was lying about her, wasn’t he? Are they involved?”
“No, he wouldn’t bring her down like that.” Lorelei hesitated. “They hurt him, Eden. I mean, Zack had shit going on before—we all knew it—but this thing in Memphis? It almost broke him.”
“This wasn’t a happy place for him,” Eden said carefully. Even brushing those memories kindled fierce anxiety in her gut, the terrifying pressure that made her feel like she no longer fit inside her own skin. “I can’t imagine what he went through, but it must have been bad to drive him back here.”
“Now you know. As much as I do, anyway. I figured you deserve that.”
“Thank you.” Eden shifted the box of linens to the stack going downstairs. “I need to get my dad out here. He was always the only person Zack would talk to.”
Lorelei leaned back on her heels. “He knows, right? About the werewolf thing?”
“About Zack? Yeah.” Eden smiled wanly. “About me? No, not yet.”
“But you can tell him.” The other woman’s smile matched hers. “I’m a little jealous.”
Yet another way she was lucky. “Once he gets done shaking me, he’ll probably spend his free time over here feeding you all until you hate the sight of food.”
“It’d take a while.” Lorelei’s smile faded slowly. “Jay. How long have you known him?”
“Four—no, five years?” Eden narrowed her eyes and tried to remember. Jay had arrived in town a few years after she’d come back from college, replacing the old Chief of Police at his retirement. “I haven’t known him well for that whole time, but he’s in my dad’s diner pretty much every day.”
“You trust him.”
It wasn’t a question, but Eden still answered it without hesitation. “With my life.”
“Okay.” Lorelei looked away. “I don’t want to have to worry about his friends, but…it’s exactly the way the alphas in Memphis took over, you know? None of them were strong enough to stand alone, so they banded together. I don’t think I can help being a little nervous.”
A different sort of pressure built inside Eden. An ache just below her breastbone, one that blossomed in reaction to Lorelei’s slumped shoulders and tired eyes. She took a step forward, then another, watching Lorelei for any sign that the woman was about to retreat.
She started to raise her arm, but froze when she caught the slight stiffening in the other woman’s shoulders. “I’m sorry,” she said softly, letting her arm fall back to her side. The pressure became pain, glass shards in her throat, and she had to force each word out carefully. “If there’s anything I can do to make it easier for you and your friends, tell me. I’ll tell Jay to keep his friends away from the farm for a while, if that’s easier.”
“No,” Lorelei said forcefully. “I just wanted you to know. So you could understand. But we’ll all deal with it, I promise.”
She wanted to snarl that none of them should have to deal with anything right now. But if Eden pressed the issue, Lorelei might not be as ready to confess to other worries