They'd arrived at his property.
Emily felt an involuntary shiver of terror, despite knowing all along where they were going. Actually being on this stranger's land made everything a lot more real. A sick sense of dread filled her stomach, and she struggled to draw in a breath.
"You need to turn around," she blurted, her hands clawing at the seat in fear. "You need to go back."
"Why?"
"Because your friend was right." Why couldn't he see the obvious? "This is going to end badly."
"Zeke ain't my friend," Cade muttered and kept driving.
Emily thought she'd lost the will to resist, but the farther down the narrow drive the truck went, the more frantic her breathing became, the stronger her urge to flee. She'd misunderstood everything. This alpha was never really the threat at all.
"No!" She was screaming, but she couldn't stop. "He was right. I have to get back to the bar before Sloan wakes up. He'll lose it when he finds out I'm gone."
Cade glanced at her, eyes narrowed. "You can't really want to go back to that omega-beating piece of shit."
Want? There was a fucking joke. What part of Emily's life for the last two months had anything to do with what she wanted?
"Y-you don't understand," she sputtered, desperate to make him see reason. "He'll come after me. He'll come after both of us."
"And wipe the floor with me, right?" Cade slung her previous warning back at her. "Nope—that didn't happen last time, and won't happen now. Don't worry, you're safe with me."
Like hell she was.
Emily felt like she was going to explode with frustration at this alpha's reckless stupidity. At best, this was a lateral move—same misery, different alpha. But at worst…oh, shit, at worst, Cade was headed for a one-way trip to hell, courtesy of Sloan.
Either way, Emily was a goner.
But no one had bothered to tell that to the tiny flame inside her, the rebellious spirit she'd never asked for. Emily couldn't outrun Cade, and trying would only provoke him further.
But that didn't stop her from yanking open the passenger door and throwing herself out of the truck.
Chapter Four
One minute Cade was rounding the final turn on the ascent toward his house, thinking he'd finally convinced the little omega that he meant her no harm, and the next—bam!—she opened the passenger door and jumped.
Cade slammed his foot down hard on the brakes, causing the truck to skid sideways on the dirt road. Behind him, a dust cloud rose into the air, obscuring the view in the rear-view mirror.
It didn't matter. Cade didn't need his eyes to know where the omega was—not when her scent was filling up his senses.
He hadn't been going fast when she'd decided to bail out—around twenty miles an hour—but she still hit the ground hard, tumbling over onto that sweet round ass.
Even after that, she still had some fight left in her. She jumped back up, dusted off her jeans, and took off running back toward the Central Road.
Cade cursed under his breath as he threw the parking brake and got out of the truck. What the hell did she think she was doing? For someone who'd been living with an alpha—even a sick, useless bastard like Sloan—she seemed to have forgotten that there was no way she could outrun an alpha. So why was she trying?
Because she's panicking, the voice in his head answered loud and clear.
Cade should have seen this coming. The scent of her fear had grown sharper and stronger with each passing mile. He probably should have guessed that she was about to do something desperate. But what the hell did he know about omegas?
He didn't like to advertise the fact, but Cade didn't know much about women in general. He'd grown up one of three brothers and attended an all-boys school until his nature became clear. Now that he was in the Boundarylands, he barely spent time with any women at all, outside of the occasional evenings he spent with the ladies who came to Evander's every Friday night. And hardly any of that time was spent talking.
For some reason, he'd figured that the helpless, beaten omega he'd found in the parking lot would be grateful for his help. Instead, she had risked a broken neck by throwing herself out of his moving truck.
Showed what he knew.
Even with a head start, and running like the devil himself was at her heels, it took Cade only moments to catch up to her.
"Hey…lady," he said as he jogged beside her, only now realizing that he didn't even know her name. Hell, he hadn't even thought to ask. No wonder she didn't think much of him with manners like that. "Stop this right now. Take a fucking breath, then come back to the truck."
She gave no sign she'd heard him, just kept on running, despite the fact that she'd obviously done something to her right knee, which threatened to buckle with every step. She must have injured it when she rolled out of the truck—and if she kept this up, it would only get worse.
Fuck. He didn't really have a choice here. Even though he knew she was going to hate him for it, Cade reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her short.
But he only succeeded in causing her survival instincts to kick into high gear. She spun around in his grasp and lashed out at him, kicking his shins and smacking his chest with her free hand, desperately trying to pull free.
"Let me go!" she screamed, her voice as anguished as it was determined. "I won't do this again, you son of a bitch."
She was afraid…of him. And while her ineffectual blows bounced off Cade without hurting a bit, the terror in her voice sliced right through him.
She feared him as much as that bastard Sloan. Maybe even more.
Cade looked down at his hand, circling her slender arm. It looked massive by comparison. Even her flesh was turning an unnatural shade of white where his fingers clutched her much too hard. If he didn't ease up, he'd end up hurting her accidentally.
Your friends back at the bar made it pretty clear you liked to use your fists to solve your problems.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Cade wasn't often in a position where he so overpowered another person, except with the whores, and they were used to alphas and not easily cowed. He instantly released her, but the omega surprised him, staying put instead of taking the opportunity to bolt again.
She stared at the imprint of his hand on her arm before crumpling to the ground in front of him. She covered her head with her arms and rolled into a protective ball.
"I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm so sorry." The words fell from her lips like a prayer, one she was obviously used to repeating. "I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."
For the first time in his life, staring down at the helpless, cowering omega, Cade had no idea what to do. As the youngest of three boys, he had learned to stand up for himself early, and once he came to the Boundarylands, he'd never come up against a problem his fists couldn't solve.
But he couldn't fight his way out of this.
What Cade really wished he could do was to rip off Sloan's head to punish him for the pain and trauma he'd obviously caused this beautiful omega. But that satisfaction would have to wait. Right now, Cade's rage and bloodlust weren't doing this woman any good.
Unfortunately, Cade had no idea how to comfort, how to soothe. He'd never needed to learn. His family was loving, but they showed it with wrestling matches and triple-dog dares and pranks that sometimes ended up with someone getting stitches. Even his mother was more comfortable joking around than hugging.