But Sloan had been anything but happy. When Emily's second miserable heat passed without a bond forming, Sloan became convinced that she was to blame. He was certain there was something broken inside her that needed to be fixed. Something that kept her from behaving like a real omega.
As Emily toweled off, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she tried to take off down the road now. Would she make it only a few yards before the invisible force of a growing bond with Cade stopped her? Or would she be able to just keep on running?
Did she even want to run?
Emily shook the thought from her head much as she shook the water from her hair before wrapping it up in the towel. It was a waste of mental energy. Even if she did want to leave, there was nowhere to go. She would never voluntarily return to Sloan, but his threats of violence meant no one else would touch her.
If only…but no. There was no point wishing that she could go back to Vancouver.
Even if Emily found a way to escape the Boundarylands, it would never work. There was only one thing more reviled by beta culture than alphas, and that was omegas. Half a dozen of her beta friends had witnessed her transition. Even if they hadn't, she'd been away too long for anyone to believe that nothing had happened, that no alpha had touched her.
Her friends might pretend it didn't matter—for a while. But after the news got out and the reporters started hounding her, and she was let go from her job, and her family disowned her—well, soon enough everyone else would fade away, too. Emily would be alone, never able to blend in again.
I'm going to wipe away everything and everyone that came before me.
Cade's words echoed in Emily's head like a song she'd heard played over and over.
She knew he'd meant them in a sexual sense—in her experience, alphas meant just about everything sexually—but for a moment, Emily closed her eyes and allowed herself to imagine what her life would be like if Cade could make good on that promise in all aspects of her life.
If Emily could start over...if, one day, she woke up without a past, fresh and new, her future a blank slate…and if on that day the first thing she saw the intense, handsome alpha who looked into her eyes like she was the only woman who ever was…
The fantasy filled Emily's mind, crowding out her pain and sending the last of the tension in her shoulders away with it.
It was a beautiful thought…but it wasn't real.
Emily had to keep reminding herself of that as she dressed and finally emerged from the bathroom.
She found Cade gazing out the window at the front of the house, even though it was a moonless night and there was nothing to see. Even in profile, he was big enough to fill up nearly all the space.
There was something about his bearing, the languid way his arms hung at his sides, perhaps, or the tilt of his head …and Emily knew in an instant exactly what he'd been doing outside.
The same thing she’d been doing.
When Cade turned to face her, his eyes betrayed a hunger that burned even more intensely than before. A connection arced between them, a spark that was almost tangible, like the buzz of a high-tension power line.
Emily had never felt this with Sloan.
And she knew with total certainty that if she tried to make a run for it now, her body wouldn't let her get more than a foot or two out the door.
Emily wrapped her arms around herself tightly, trying to hide the truth from Cade. "Where would you like for me to sleep? On the floor, or one of these chairs, or—"
"In my bed."
"Oh, okay," Emily stammered. "Then where will you sleep?"
Cade didn't bother answering. He didn't need to.
Emily's body welcomed the possibility, a rush of slick dampening her pants and her nipples tightening to an ache. But before she could try to slow the speeding train headed for a collision in his bed, Cade beat her to it.
"It's a warm night," he said in a casual tone that belied the near-feral lust in his eyes. "I can sleep out in the bed of my truck."
The wake of conflicting emotions that followed his words was so overwhelming that all Emily could manage was a whispered "Thank you."
"Don't thank me," Cade said, opening the linen closet and pulling out a wool blanket. "It's just for tonight. Once the wind shifts back in from the west, the nights will get colder again, and I won't be content to sleep outside."
"Of course," Emily mumbled, heat stealing over her face with the knowledge that he wasn't worried about the temperature, and his contentment didn't hinge on a warm bed but rather who was in it.
But the thought didn't make her panic the way it had even a few hours before. So far, Cade had kept his word about everything. He hadn't touched her in anger or in lust. He'd provided her food, shelter, and the luxury of a bath.
And now he was giving her plenty of warning.
Which meant that the dilemma posed by what he was offering would keep until tomorrow, when Emily's body would be rested and refreshed and her mind would be clear.
She would give herself until then to figure out what to do about the terribly uncomfortable comfort offered by an alpha she'd never asked for, who'd tricked her into drinking the poison of hope.
Chapter Eight
When Emily got into Cade's bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, she was prepared to wait a long time for sleep to come.
Falling into bed exhausted was nothing new. The chores at Sloan's house never seemed to be done, but even on those days when he'd run her ragged washing and cooking and cleaning, she still struggled to relax enough to fall asleep.
Somehow, dealing with the knowledge that not only was Cade only a few yards away under the stars in his truck, but he had gone there willingly so that she could have the comfort of his bed, only made her feel worse.
Emily didn't know why, but for some reason, Cade's kindness and generosity were even more unsettling than Sloan's resentment and anger. The latter caused her brain to get stuck on high alert, always scanning for danger, always anticipating the next threat. But the former…well, Emily wasn't sure exactly why it stirred her up so much, only that it was exquisitely unnerving.
But to her surprise, as she settled into the crisp white cotton sheets and lightweight down comforter and soft pillows in the huge bed, all Emily felt was comfort. The alpha-sized mattress was every bit as huge as Sloan's, but instead of feeling lost as she did on it, she felt right at home.
Maybe it was the faint scent rising from the linens, the same one she'd caught when she was nestled in his arms—earth and pine and fresh wind through the treetops. Without thinking, Emily nuzzled deeper into the pillows to inhale it.
The deeper she breathed Cade's scent, the more relaxed Emily felt. Tension ebbed from her body until she felt detached from it, as though she were drifting weightlessly in a warm sea.
It didn't take long for sleep to steal in and carry her away.
The next time she opened her eyes, the soft, golden light of morning filled the room.
Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes in astonishment, Emily sat up in the bed feeling utterly rested. She hadn't had such a good night's sleep since coming to the Boundarylands.
She looked around the room, taking in the details she'd missed in the dark.