Haunted Sanctuary (Green Pines Sanctuary)

by Moira Rogers

  Jay swung down onto the ladder. “May as well eat before Austin hands the grill over to Gary for the afternoon. Damn kid can’t cook.”

  “He’s getting better,” Eden chided. “Papaw always said Dad was a disaster in the kitchen when he started out too. Gary will learn.”

  “Uh-huh.” Jay covered the last bit of distance with a jump and reached up to steady Eden. “All the same, an early lunch sounds good to me. Then I can make myself scarce while you take care of business.”

  When she had both feet on the ground, she stared back up at her window, her expression caught between amusement and awe. “Does being a werewolf make you less clumsy? I think I would have broken a leg trying to climb down that thing in my heeled boots last week.”

  “It’s not all bad, especially once you get used to it.” He looped an arm around her shoulders and felt a little of his own stress melt away at her proximity. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

  The diner had mostly cleared out by one-thirty. At a quarter to two, Eden slipped into the kitchen and smiled at her father. “Can Gary spare you for an hour so we can go upstairs and talk?”

  Austin Green wrapped his gnarled fingers around his favorite coffee mug and leveled a stare at her. “Probably. What’s all this about?”

  Gary was pretending not to listen as he scraped a spatula over the griddle, so Eden tilted her head toward the back stairs. “Family stuff.”

  “You gonna tell me you and the chief are courting? Because I have eyes.”

  Her cheeks flamed. Gary smirked, but wiped the expression off his face when he glanced up and caught her furious glare.

  Her dad stood there watching her over his coffee mug like she was still fifteen and owed him an answer. “It’s not about that,” she ground out. “It’s about Zack.”

  Austin straightened and nodded toward the back staircase. “Have you heard from him?”

  “Yes. But it’s complicated.” She climbed the narrow stairs behind him, skipping the creaky fifth step out of habit. Everything was familiar and new at the same time, the memories of her childhood a ghostly echo under the sharply focused version provided by her newly honed senses.

  She’d already learned that the quickest way to go crazy was by concentrating on the details, so she fought to block them out as she followed her father into the apartment over the diner. “Zack’s at the farm.”

  “Since when?” he asked sharply. “And why am I hearing about it like this?”

  Fast was the only way to do it. Fast and brutal, and Eden allowed herself only one terrified moment to wonder if she’d still have a father before blurting out the truth. “Because I was attacked by a wolf at the farm two nights ago. A werewolf from Memphis who was there to hurt Zack. And I—I changed. Like Zack does.”

  The mug slipped from his fingers and shattered on the floor. “You what?”

  Eden flinched. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know how else to say it.”

  He waved away the words and stepped over the broken mug to grasp her shoulders. “Are you all right?”

  The painful knot beneath her heart loosened for the first time in two days. Her father wasn’t Zack’s father. He would never hate her for a twist of fate beyond her control. “I’m okay,” she whispered. “I’m okay, because Jay—Chief Ancheta—he’s like Zack too. That’s why he’s here. He helped me.”

  Her father stared at her, an expression of helpless confusion twisting his features. “You’re a wolf now. And so is the chief.”

  The urge to soothe him pulsed with every beat of her heart. Not as strong as with Lorelei, but undeniable. “I’m okay,” she said again, putting force into her voice. She caught his hands and pulled him toward the dining room table. “Jay’s not going to let anything happen to me. He likes your cooking too much.”

  Her father took a deep, shuddering breath. “Where is Zack? I want to see him.”

  “He’s on his way over.” Eden caught his hands. “Dad, he’s hurt bad. Whatever happened in Memphis, it broke him.”

  “Worse than living with Albus?”

  Eden swallowed hard and closed her eyes. “I’m pretty sure they tortured him.”

  Austin sighed, heavy and tired. “The last time I heard from him, he said things were okay. That he was doing fine.”

  The wolves who had fled Memphis with Zack seemed to care about him. Maybe he had been okay, before it all went to hell. “It was a werewolf thing. Almost like a war. Zack and his”—she had to stop stumbling over the word—“pack. Everyone who survived came here. Jay thinks he can take care of them, but I don’t know if anyone can take care of Zack. I don’t know if he’ll let them.”

  He shook his head. “Zack’s alive. I don’t care what’s been done to you, how you’ve been hurt, as long as you’re living, you can heal.”

  “He’s family, right?” Eden concentrated as she clutched her father’s hands, too aware of the broken phone in her purse. A moment of temper, a spike of panic, and she could crush his fingers. “We can help him.”

  “Well, of course.” His brow furrowed. “You said he brought others with him. Do they need anything?”

  A tiny part of her wanted to throw the whole mess in his lap. Pretend she believed her father could fix anything, maybe pretend she’d ever believed it. God knew he’d always tried.

  He’d never stop trying. That was what mattered. “Yeah, they need a lot. Food, furniture and supplies. I thought we could open up our old house. Some of Jay’s friends are coming in from out of town to help.”

  “It might need some work—cosmetic things, mostly—but I don’t see why not.”

  She heard heavy footsteps on the stairs and leaned in to hug her father. “Thank you, Dad. For not freaking out.”

  A shadow of pain sparked in his eyes. “I wouldn’t, Edie. You’re my child. That could never change.”

  “I know,” she lied, glad he couldn’t hear the tremor under the words. “Zack’s coming up the stairs. Are you ready to see him?”

  He rose and slid his shaking hands into his pockets. “You bet.”

  Zack’s knock was almost tentative. When her father didn’t move, Eden rose and pulled open the door with a wide smile. “Come on in. I was just about to ask Dad to make coffee.”

  Zack took one look at her father and frowned. “You already told him.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh.” He looked past her to Austin. “I never wanted her to get hurt. If I’d known, I would have taken them somewhere else.”

  If the words registered, her father showed no sign. Instead, he walked up to Zack, his faded blue gaze taking stock of every scar, every line on his nephew’s face. Then he lifted a hand, patted Zack’s cheek and pulled him down into a hug.

  Eden held her breath as Zack stood there, stiff and awkward in the embrace of a man who had never really been related to him—not by blood, anyway, even if Zack looked more like Austin than Eden ever had. But the bonds of their sad, broken little family had never rested on blood.

  Austin clutched Zack to his chest like a long-lost son, and Zack’s reserve melted under it. After an eternity, he lifted his arms and hugged the older man back, that tired, tentative gesture alone enough to make Eden’s eyes burn. She turned away and hurried into the kitchen, covering her tears under the mundane task of making coffee.

  Zack was alive. His so-called father was dead. The ghosts of Green Pines couldn’t hurt him anymore, and Jay and his friends would make sure the same was true of whatever ghosts had followed from Memphis.

  After so many years of secrets and suffering, maybe the Green family could finally start to heal.

  Chapter Four

  By the time Jay pulled his beat-up old truck into his driveway, Eden thought the short walk to the front door might be more than she could manage. Not physically—her body still thrummed with enough inexhaustible energy to leave her fidgeting, but her mind and heart hadn’t caught up.

  Or maybe being a werewolf only made your body stronger. Maybe the rest of her would never catch up, a
nd she’d be a battered, stunted soul in a too-healthy body.

  Like Zack, whispered a traitorous inner voice. Like Lorelei and Mae.

  Eden pushed the thought away and waited for Jay to kill the engine before grabbing his hand. Touch rooted her now, like hopping onto a steady rock while the ground around her turned to quicksand. The darker thoughts melted away, replaced by her own attraction and the wolf’s more cunning interest.

  “How are you holding up?” he asked softly.

  “I don’t know.” She ran her thumb over the back of his hand, savoring the heat of him, the way even the barest brush of skin felt illicit. Intimate. “I needed to get away from the farm again…but I still feel selfish for coming back here with you.”

  “We can be there in a matter of minutes if anything happens. Zack has my number.”

  She knew. Just as she’d known she’d reached her limit when Mae had snapped at one of the men over something tiny and foolish, her snarling tone more like a wounded animal’s than a human’s. The need to soothe her throbbed at the base of Eden’s skull like a migraine waiting to split wide open, but her attempts to reach out to the girl only provoked more fear.

  Time. They all needed it, and no one knew if there would be enough. “Does it get easier? Not being able to help them, I mean. Not being able to make them feel safe.”

  He hesitated, and she realized he was thinking of doing it to her right now, thinking of lying to make her feel better. But finally he said, “No. The only thing you can do is try to make a safe place, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

  If Lorelei’s pain stuck in Eden’s throat like shards of glass, what was her own agony doing to Jay? She shifted on the bench seat, easing close enough to touch his jaw with her free hand. “Does that mean I’m hurting you?”

  “No, nothing like that.” He covered her hand with his and smiled faintly. “I just know how you feel, that’s all.”

  “Good.” She smoothed her thumb over his lower lip and remembered what it had felt like to kiss him. Hot and heady, every sense alive and screaming for more. More touch, more taste…more skin. “I feel safe right where I am. Confused as hell, but safe.”

  His smile grew, and he reached down to retrieve the grocery bag from the floorboard beside her feet. His arm brushed her leg as he moved, and his smile faded as he straightened. “You never said how it went today. Breaking the news to your father.”

  “He coped.” Jay’s throat had been so close to her mouth that she could have bitten it. Sank teeth into skin, left a bruise. A territorial statement she wasn’t brazen enough to make with words. The thought intoxicated her, and she stumbled over her next words. “He, uh, he was more worried about Zack than me, I think. Zack looks worse off…”

  “Looks can be deceiving.” Jay dipped his head and caught her gaze. “Eden?”

  His eyes were gorgeous. Dark and warm. “Yeah?”

  His fingers brushed her cheek. “Come inside. I’ll make dinner, and you can relax.”

  She realized she was swaying closer to him when her lips bumped his palm. She froze, her mouth parted on his skin, torn between the urge to lick or bite and the knowledge she had to pull back.

  Not like this, in the front seat of his truck. She closed her eyes and eased away. “I’m sorry. I’m having trouble with the concept of personal space right now.”

  “You might for a while yet, but I’ll try not to lean on you if I can help it.”

  Eden opened her eyes with a frown. “Lean on me?”

  “Push you,” he explained. A moment later, a swell of something filled the space between them, a call and a warning all wrapped up in one.

  She almost rolled to her back with a whimper. A growl worked its way up her throat as her wolf fought the urge, leaving her torn between conflicting needs—test him by meeting challenge with strength, or fold and beg for the safety of his protection.

  Eden made the choice before her wolf could, ducking her head and burying her face against his chest with a choked groan. “I don’t think I’m a very smart wolf.”

  He tangled his fingers in her hair. “You’re new, honey. Cut yourself some slack.”

  His chest was solid under her cheek. His hand in her hair tugged just enough to be a quiet show of dominance, one edged in sensual promise. She swallowed hard and wet her suddenly dry lips. “Is this how werewolves flirt?”

  “Better than having to sniff someone’s ass, isn’t it?”

  It startled a laugh out of her. “In most circumstances, I imagine.”

  “Mmm.” He rattled the bag. “Steak. You haven’t lived until I’ve grilled one for you, and that’s a verifiable fact.”

  Steak sounded delicious enough to set her stomach to rumbling, but when she lifted her head, Jay’s fingers stayed tangled in her hair. The pull was a different sort of delicious, dark and hot, and she caught his gaze as he freed her with teasing slowness.

  He released her with a half-smile. “Fair warning. I’m going to kiss you again tonight…but not just yet.”

  Her heart skipped a few beats out of sheer glee. “I’d warn you about what I’m going to do in response, but I can’t tell if my inner wolf will pick a fight with you or try to tear your clothes off. Probably one of those two, though.”

  “Finding out is half the fun.” Then he pushed open his door and slid out of the truck.

  She tugged absently at her own door handle, transfixed by the fantasy of wrestling to see who would come out on top. She forgot that the passenger door only worked from the outside until Jay pulled it open for her.

  Eden stared at him for a moment before easing off the seat, clutching her overnight bag. “I didn’t know you could cook,” she said, carefully picking a topic that wouldn’t involve either of them naked and rolling on the ground.

  “I can—badly,” he confessed as he laid his hand on her elbow. “But open flame and I get along really well.”

  “I’m hopeless. The family skill in the kitchen must have skipped my generation.”

  Jay led her around the side of the house to the back door. “I survive on breakfast foods and eating out. Aside from the steak, you’ve already tasted the best I have to offer.”

  “You probably help keep my dad in business some months.” She stepped through the back door and hesitated just inside. This was a warning Jay deserved. “He’s got some ideas about you and me. He might decide to have a talk with you.”

  Jay followed her across the threshold. “You’ve been staying at my house, spending all sorts of time with me. Of course he’s got ideas.”

  Eden dropped her bag on the couch and sank beside it with a relieved sigh. “Don’t let him nag. I’m a grown woman, and he has to get used to that.”

  Jay laughed as he set the grocery bag on the counter. “How do you know he’s not going to tell me how pleased he is we’re an item?”

  If anyone could sidestep her father’s grumpy disapproval, it would be the Chief of Police. “I bet you charmed all your girlfriends’ parents growing up. Or were you not always this responsible and upstanding?”

  “Not by a long shot.” He pulled a glass dish from a cabinet and began to gather items from the refrigerator. “I was quite the hellion, actually. Into all sorts of stupid shit.”

  “So you started out a bad boy and ended up a cop?”

  His expression sobered. “I managed not to run afoul of the authorities, but one night I wound up on the wrong end of a bad fight. A local pusher who used half-feral werewolves as muscle.”

  Oh, God. “How old were you?”

  “Twenty-two.”

  Barely more than a kid. “ Did you find someone to help you?”

  “Yeah.” His gaze lost focus, as if he was looking at something very far away. “They left me in an alley, and I would have died if Murray hadn’t found me. He was an old wolf by then—older than I knew, probably. Practically lived on the streets.”

  Eden shivered in spite of the warmth of the room. “I think I must have had it easier than anyone.”
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br />   “I don’t know.” He shook his head as if to clear it and laid the steaks in the glass dish. “There’s no such thing as easy. There’s only the difference between problems that are obvious and the ones that are hidden, right?”

  She was an expert in the hidden problems. Not just an expert, but a conspirator in keeping them hidden, a thought grim enough to drive her off the couch in search of a distraction. “Can I help with anything?”

  “Salad?” He gestured to the counter beside him, and his voice softened. “I looked at the reports, Eden. The paperwork on the complaints and investigations. It’s all pretty clear, especially if you know why they never found any evidence of injuries on your cousin.”

  Eden froze halfway to the kitchen, her first reaction one of overwhelming, irrational panic. Anger followed hard on its heels, an outraged sense of betrayal and exposure. “You looked at my family’s records?”

  “I did,” he said evenly.

  She bit back her gut response. You had no right. He was putting his life and his reputation on the line to clean up her family’s mess. Of course he had the right. But it didn’t make her feel any less naked. All the lies, all the practice putting on a bright smile and pretending everything was okay—gone. Swept away in the space of a heartbeat.

  He knew.

  Anxiety prickled over her skin. “You could have asked me,” she managed finally, rasping words that sounded so wounded to her own ears. “I would have told you.” Those words sounded like a lie.

  “I think you would have wanted to,” he countered. “But old habits die hard. Trust me, I know.”

  Yes, they did. She laughed, short and bitter. “Yeah. I have a history of lying to the authorities about the subject, don’t I?”

  “That isn’t what I mean. You were a kid, Eden.”

  She had to open her eyes. Face her shame, face the too-strong wolf who felt like an enemy right now. “I was a kid who knew what was happening, and I lied. I lied for years, and Zack’s sorry excuse for a father beat the skin off his back more nights than not.”

  Jay abandoned the marinade and held his arms open. “Come here.”