and fears. “Okay,” she said instead, trying to silence her newly awakened wolf’s agitation. “What about the others? Are there any in particular who need to be given some space?”
“Mae. Without question.”
The one who’d been stalked. Eden rubbed a hand over her arm as a chill shivered through her. “The man who hurt her. He was one of the ones who came here last night?”
“He was.” Lorelei turned back to the box and began unpacking the rest of it, then continued matter-of-factly. “Don’t worry. He’s dead now.”
The pressure intensified into a nagging tickle, and Eden scratched at her arm, wondering how the inside of her skin could itch. “Does she need attention? I have a friend in the next town over, someone with counseling training.”
“That’s nice of you to think of, but I don’t think it would help. There’s so much—” Lorelei’s voice cracked, and she swallowed hard. “There’s a lot she couldn’t talk about. The worst things, in some ways.”
The memory rose in spite of Eden’s best efforts to hold it at bay, vivid in the way it replayed itself in her nightmares. Zack, seventeen and shirtless, with the height of a man but the build of an underfed teen. She could still smell the rain, hear the thunder that accompanied each flash of lightning.
She would never forget the sight of him, shirtless and bleeding, his back torn up by his father’s belt but already healing. The rain washed away the blood, and by morning there was no proof of the way Albus Green beat the hell out of his kid. No marks, no witnesses.
No one but her. Gawkish, terrified Eden, nine years old and rendered mute by the promise he’d extracted from her so many years ago she couldn’t remember not having made it. The defining rule of her childhood, the Green Rule. Don’t tell anyone.
Eden’s arm itched. Burned. She dug her fingers into her skin, the metallic scent of blood a welcome distraction from the nightmares. “I understand,” she told Lorelei in a voice that didn’t sound like hers. Too distant. Too calm.
Lorelei’s hand settled over hers. “You’re bleeding.”
Pull yourself together, Eden. She gathered every scrap of willpower she’d ever called hers and pushed the power of her wolf into an angry, painful knot in her chest. It made every breath hurt, but it allowed her to smile and pull her hand from her arm. “I was always bad at scratching things that itch. You should have seen me with the chicken pox.”
“Okay.” Lorelei rose and wiped her hands on her jeans. “I need to make out that list for Jay. Do you want to come with me?”
Eden didn’t itch anymore. She hurt, like her wolf was clawing up the inside of her skin, trying to get out.
As long as the pain stayed internal, she could hide it.
She leaned down and hefted the box of china. “Absolutely. Some stuff we’ll have to buy, but I might have a lot of it in my house or in storage. My mom’s family were a bunch of packrats.”
“We’ll figure it out. We always do.”
With all of the advantages she’d been given, Eden could do nothing less. She wouldn’t allow herself to consider any alternative.
Chapter Three
“I’m just saying, I wouldn’t have paid for it myself.” Louis Stevens leaned back in his chair.
Jay spared his deputy a glance as he searched through a stack of files on his desk. “It was my fault. Why shouldn’t I pay for it?”
“It’s a service vehicle, that’s why.”
“We’re underfunded, Lou.” And the detached door, deep scratches and bullet holes were better dealt with by another werewolf. “Besides, my guy down in Dyersburg knows his shit. He’s kept my old truck running this many years.”
“That is impressive.” Lou snorted and swiveled his chair from side to side. “At least the deer got a happy ending.”
“She’ll live to graze another day.” Jay straightened and stretched his back. “Are you sure you and Baker’ll be able to handle it for a week without me?”
“Heck, yeah.” Lou reached for his coffee. “You going to actually do something exciting with your time off? Baker thinks you spend your vacations studying how to be a better cop.”
“I’m helping a friend move.” It was as close to the truth as his coworkers would get. “I’ve got a few projects to work on around the house too.”
“That’s grim, man. No wild parties? No exotic vacations?” Lou grinned over the rim of his mug. “No sexy librarians?”
Obviously, Jay hadn’t hidden his interest in Eden as