All he could give her was the brutal truth, layer one more blanket of cruelty on her world. “You couldn’t have stopped what was happening to him, Eden. It isn’t as though no one knew. There were investigations, examinations. They figured Albus couldn’t be beating Zack because he always healed too fast. They wouldn’t have listened to the truth.”
“I could have told my parents. If they’d known how bad it was…” She clenched her hand around the blankets. “It’s not right that people can know and not fix it.”
“No,” he agreed. “But when you have to hide away, you lose some of the protections people take for granted. Look at what happened in Memphis.”
“Zack talked like all the cities are like that. Is it really that bad everywhere?”
“Not in the smaller towns.” And not in the sanctuaries.
The import of what they were about to do hit Jay like a punch. As soon as his friends arrived, they’d be making a stand, probably even traveling to Memphis to deliver their message in person. From now on, Clover would be a safe place, a haven where wolves in need could take shelter.
More would come—provided he could hold the line and keep other alphas out of Clover.
Eden pushed up on one elbow and studied him. “You thought of something.” She placed her hand on his chest. “Something that made your heart beat faster.”
She’d be in for the long haul, even if she had no idea what they were in for, and it was his job to teach her. “Do you know what sanctuary means?”
Her eyebrows drew together. “Only in a human context. Does it mean something special for werewolves?”
“It means everything.” He settled his head on the extra pillow and let his hand rest on her hip. “The cities are bad, like Zack said. Most of them have alphas who take what they want and don’t really give a damn about anything else. Sanctuaries are different. They’re about safety.”
After a moment she stretched out to face him, her hand tucked under her chin. “Is that what we’re going to do? Turn the farm into some sort of sanctuary?”
“If I don’t, the wolves from Memphis will keep coming after Zack and the others.”
“Oh.” A moment’s silence as her gaze roamed over his face. “And they’ll respect that? It seems too easy. Why wouldn’t everyone do it?”
“They’ll respect it because they have to. Because we’ll kill them if they don’t.”
Her breathing hitched, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m still not used to how good that feels to hear.”
He wouldn’t start any fights, but he damn sure wouldn’t sit by and let others get hurt or killed by his inaction. “We’ll do what it takes, Eden. I promised you—if your cousin came here in need, we’d help him, right?”
“You did.” When she opened her eyes again, the blue was lost to glowing gold. “Do you know what scares me most?”
Likely an intangible, something he couldn’t wrestle into submission with his bare hands. “Tell me.”
“I want to hurt them.” The words were barely a whisper, a rasped confession. “All those years of watching helplessly, but now I feel strong. And I want to find the men who harmed Zack and tear out their throats.”
A woman like her, who abhorred violence and had never lifted a hand to another in her life—no wonder it confused her. “Protection, Eden, not vengeance. Don’t do yourself the disservice of confusing them, okay?”
“It feels the same. It feels…vicious.”
Only time would teach her the visceral and very real difference between the impulses twisting her and wanton anger. For now, he pulled her tighter, tucked her face against his neck. “Sleep, and trust me. Just for now.”
The tension bled from her body a bit at a time until she was soft and pliable, cuddled up as close as she could be. Her breath tickled his throat as she sighed. “I do, you know. I trust you. Not just for now.”
“Good.” Trust, first, and then no more words. He’d show her, instead—what it meant to be a wolf, to be alpha.
What it meant to belong to him.
Chapter Five
Jay set the cardboard tray of coffee cups on the rickety table and stepped back. “Thanks for coming in so quickly. I’d say I owe you, but I think we already know that’s true from way back.”
“We all owe each other,” Colin drawled lazily as he claimed a cup. “No one keeps track except Shane, and he can’t help himself.”
“I keep track of plenty of things,” Shane retorted, his fingers still clicking on the keys of his laptop. “But not that.” He stopped typing and closed the machine. “You said this had to do with Memphis.”
“Memphis.” Jay took his own seat in the tiny kitchen. The smaller house on the farm was just that—small—but it was the only place where any privacy could be found, and they needed it for the discussion they were about to have. “Turns out, the rumors are true.”
Colin’s expression hardened into one of dark fury. “All of them?”
“Near as I can tell. A handful of enforcers got together, overthrew their alpha, and now they’re running wild down there. Rape, torture, you name it.”
Fletcher cut off Colin’s angry snarl with a hand on the other wolf’s arm. “If some of their victims are here, you’ve got to choke it down, Colin. I’d wager they can’t handle rage of any sort right now.”
“No, far from it.” Jay began to pass out the rest of the coffees. “The enforcers targeted a smaller pack in the city. Took their alpha when he wouldn’t fall in line—that’s Zack. With him out of the way, it was open season. They toyed with the ones that amused them and killed the ones that didn’t. So, right now, I have three top priorities. One for each of you. Shane—”
“I know.” He gave a small salute. “I’m nice and non-threatening, so I’ll be dealing with the refugees.”
“You’re the only one not likely to scare the shit out of them,” Jay agreed. “Colin, I need you to hit your contacts hard and find out everything you can about these a**holes in Memphis. We need a game plan.”
Colin shook off Fletcher’s hand. “Fine,” he grated out. “But it better end with us wiping these bastards out of existence.”
Fletcher caught Jay’s gaze and held it for a moment before deliberately shifting the conversation. “So Colin’s making phone calls, and Shane’s petting and soothing. What’s that leave for me?”
“A different kind of babysitting.” The kind that would break Eden’s heart if she knew. “Zack. Who the hell knows what those bastards did to him? He’s had a few shaky moments—to be expected, I know, but we need to be sure that’s the extent of it. I don’t think he’d ever forgive me if I let him hurt someone.”
“All right, I can do that.” He lifted both eyebrows. “Do you need me to start signing checks while I’m at it? This place is looking pretty sparse, Ancheta.”
Fletcher could well afford it, but Jay shook his head. “I’ll hold you to that when we figure out something long-term. If we’re not generating some kind of income, money’s a moot point.”
“Paying it back’s a moot point,” Fletcher argued, leaning forward to brace his elbows on the table. “Having it’s damn important, whether you’re generating income or not. Come on, man. They deserve a few creature comforts.”
“And I’m going to handle it. I’ll take plenty of your money, Fletch, believe me, but I’ll do it later.”
“Not even for essentials?” he pressed.
“Maybe,” Jay finally allowed. “Drop it?”
Fletcher didn’t back down the way Colin or Shane might, but after a moment he nodded, indicating that he was willing to step aside and recognize Jay’s place as leader. For now.
“This house is where we’re staying?” Colin asked, filling the silence.
“Yeah.” Better for everyone if the strong newcomers stayed separate from everyone else—at least for a while. “There’s one more thing I’ve got to say. I don’t think I need to, but I’d hate for there to be misunderstandings later.”
Fletcher’s gaze turned considerably more wary. “And that is?”
“The women,” he answered bluntly. “They’ve been through a lot, and it’s sheer instinct for them to look for something solid now. Something safe. But it’s a bad idea.”
Shane almost choked on a sip of coffee, and Fletcher snorted. It was Colin who eyed him with amused disbelief. “Good advice. Maybe you should take it, since the snarly little blonde smells like she slept under you last night.”
Leave it to Colin to call him out on perceived hypocrisy. “The snarly blonde’s not from Memphis. Eden is Zack’s cousin, and I’ve known her for years. She was just turned and has no Guide, obviously, so it’s up to me.”
Colin sat back and ran a hand over his dark hair. “Ah, shit. Well, that explains why she feels so…volatile. Have you thought about getting someone down here to perform an official Guide-Initiate bonding?”
Shane opened his laptop again. “I have a friend who’d do it in a heartbeat.”
Jay rose with a nod. “We need Guide magic,” he agreed, “not to mention some heavy-duty wards around the farm. Nothing too fancy, but I’m betting they’ll take some time.”
“You need a pack witch,” Fletcher said quietly. “All the safest sanctuaries have them. That is what you want to do here, isn’t it? Sanctuary?”
It was still hard to say it out loud, to commit to such a monumental undertaking. As a cop, he was responsible for people’s safety all the time, every day. But that responsibility ended when potential danger did. They needed him for moments—sometimes the worst of their lives, but moments nonetheless.