"Yes," she said, and Cade felt his heart lift. "I'm starting to realize that."
"Good," Darcy said fiercely. "Because if I thought for a second that this little shit was abusing you—"
"Who the hell are you calling little?" Cade cut in, pulling himself up to his full seven feet, three inches, so that he towered over the omega.
Even then, she didn't seem the least bit afraid. "You. You're the little prick who tried to pick a fight with my alpha, aren't you? And on the day those men trespassed on his land and tried to kill me!"
Cade ground his teeth in frustration at the unfairness of her words. Yes, it was true that he'd tried to rile Maddox into finally throwing a punch that day, but that was before someone went after Darcy. And more importantly, if it wasn't for him, Maddox would have never been tipped off about the trespassers in the first place.
Which made him kind of a hero, actually.
But before he could point that out, Cade noticed that all three omegas were giving him identical don't-give-me-that-bullshit looks. Okay, maybe not a hero—but he sure as shit wasn't the villain here.
"Let's focus, people," Hope called out. "Time to get to the second part."
"The second part?" Emily echoed apprehensively. Apparently, she wasn't enjoying this intrusion any more than he was.
Darcy's expression darkened, at odds with her bright, zany style. "When your alpha left—"
"He's not my alpha," Emily snapped.
Damn straight, he wasn't.
"Sorry," Darcy said. "I meant to say that Sloan was pretty pissed off when he left yesterday."
"That's not really news, Darcy," Cade said tightly. "Let me guess—he's threatening to kill me."
"Well, yeah. But he also said he'd be back with friends to help him."
Cade shook his head derisively. They all knew alphas talked shit like that when they were riled up. But going through with such a reckless plan—trespassing on Cade's land, violating alpha law, killing a brother—that was something else again.
"Thanks for coming out, ladies, but you can all go back home now," Cade said. "I ain't worried."
"But you should be."
Everyone turned to see Emily gazing over their heads into the distance, looking not at all pleased to have the last word.
Chapter Fourteen
Emily grumbled in frustration.
Cade wasn't listening—and Emily wasn't having it.
If there weren't so many other things to worry about, like not getting killed, she might take the time to appreciate what it was like to feel anger again. But as it was, she'd realized two months ago that was an emotion that would do her absolutely no good.
Everything was different with Cade, and along with the feelings that had emerged as she began to trust him, it was as if color and life had returned to her world.
But appreciating all of that would have to wait. Right now, she had a damn stubborn alpha to convince, and there wasn't time to sugarcoat her words.
Yes, Cade had been remarkably patient and kind with her so far—but that wouldn't do a bit of good if Sloan killed him. The challenge was going to be the arrogance that seemed to be ingrained in all alphas, that convinced them that they were better than everyone else at everything.
"What's so important you can't say it in front of our visitors?" Cade demanded after Emily dragged him inside the house.
Emily wasn't about to admit that she was trying to help him save face in front of a group of omegas. "I want you to listen to me. Sloan—"
"How many times do I have to tell you that I can take care of Sloan?" Cade dared to give her a condescending smile, as if they were talking about a leaking faucet rather than a brutal killer.
"Maybe you could," Emily conceded, "if it were a one-on-one fight. But you heard Darcy. He's gone home to get his friends to help. You can't fight all of them."
Cade shrugged as if this fact changed nothing. "So he'll bring a few more lazy, washed-up excuses for alphas and they'll take up all the barstools at Evander's for a few days. You heard how quick Sloan went down—those uplanders don't exactly impress me."
Irritation set Emily's blood to simmering. How could Cade be so dense?
For months, she'd followed a few simple rules: don't provoke an alpha. Don't disagree. Don't ask for anything. Apologize for everything.
But the time had come for a new set of rules.
"You don't know what you're talking about," she snapped, loud enough for the other omegas outside to hear. Emily didn't care. Let them whisper to each other, let them go home and tell their mates. Hell, let them and everyone else in this place give Emily the side-eye for the rest of her life.
Better to be known as a broken, disobedient omega than a dead one. Better for Cade to take a little shit from his brothers than end up a battered and bloodied corpse, torn apart by a vicious pack of alphas from the uplands.
As angry as she was, the image caused Emily's stomach to twist. She couldn't—wouldn't—let anything happen to her alpha.
Emily grabbed Cade's hand. If her words couldn't get through to him, maybe her touch could. If he could feel her racing pulse, the heat of her fear, maybe he would see that she was serious. That she knew what she was talking about.
When he looked into her eyes—really looked, so that she could see the confetti swarm of gold in his irises, some of his alpha swagger left him. "Emily…"
"You don't know Sloan," she insisted.
"I don't have to."
He still wasn't hearing what she was saying. Emily took a breath and let it out slowly, and then she did something that took every bit of her courage and her will.
"If you won't listen to me, I'm leaving. I'll get in your truck, and I'll drive. If you won't let me take it, those omegas out there will take me to the border. You can come after me if you want, but the first chance I get, I'll leave again because I will not stand aside and watch you be killed because of me."
When she was finished speaking, Emily felt ill—because she knew two things that the stubborn alpha in front of her didn't:
First, that she wouldn't be able to leave him without every bit of her nature resisting, tethering her to her alpha.
Second …she'd go anyway. Even if it killed her. Because at least then only one of them would die.
He was looking at her in disbelief. "You can't."
The words weren't even out of his mouth before she snarled, "I will."
Maybe it was the animalistic sound of her growl that did the trick, the fact that Emily was no blushing brand-new omega, but one willing to show her claws. But Cade blinked.
And then he backed down.
"What the fuck is it with this guy?" he asked, with none of the swagger of a moment ago. "Come on, Emily, he's flesh and blood just like the rest of us."
"No, Cade." She looked deep into his eyes, praying he would see past all her pain and trauma to the hard core of sheer will it had forged in her. "You really don't know anything about him. He's not like you."
"What are you talking about?"