"No, you're not." Cade made no move to rise, staring at her from his position near the ground. There was an almost feral quality to the set of his face that further stirred something inside Emily. "What you are is afraid."
Emily bit her lip, wishing it wasn't true.
"I guess I haven't really helped with that, have I?" Cade dusted his hands on his jeans before standing. "I should have realized that hauling you out of there so quick would only scare you more."
Not quite an apology, but a hell of a lot closer than she'd ever heard an alpha get.
Emily still didn't dare look at Cade. She focused on her dusty sneakers instead. They weren't much to look at, but at least they didn't make her stomach feel like it was doing somersaults.
"So," she said when the silence between them had gone on too long. "What happens now?"
She'd been expecting another round of commands— get back in the truck, sit in her seat, be quiet and stop asking questions—but Cade surprised her.
"What's your name?"
"Emily," she said after a moment's hesitation. "Emily Dover."
A trace of a smile flashed across Cade’s face, as though he liked the sound of it, and Emily experienced a rush of warmth that traveled through her whole body.
"Tell me the truth, Emily. Do you really want to go back to Sloan?"
The memory of Sloan's last backhand came into Emily’s mind, the sting of his hard knuckles digging into her cheek, but it vanished just as quickly, replaced by the memory of Cade's embrace.
It was so tempting to believe, to go along with the spun-sugar fantasy Cade was selling. But Emily had to be stronger than that. Omegas like her didn't get to make choices like these, and forgetting it even for a moment meant she would pay.
"I should," she answered honestly. "The longer I'm away from him, the angrier he'll become."
Cade shook his head and moved closer to her, but Emily instinctively took a step back, keeping distance between them. He didn't look pleased about it, but at least he didn't lash out at her.
"I didn't ask you what you should do. I want to know what you want."
Emily shrugged helplessly. How could he ask her that? Her autonomy had been ripped away from her the day she set foot in the Boundarylands. It had been so long since she had made a choice of her own that she couldn't even say for certain if she wanted to live or die anymore.
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do. Do you really want to go back to the man who did that to your face?"
Emily automatically touched her cheek where Sloan's last blow had drawn blood. She resisted the urge to scoff—it was nothing compared to some of the other souvenirs he'd left her with.
Of course, the beating Sloan would deliver when they were back together would be his worst yet…one she might not recover from. But that didn't mean she was any safer with Cade.
"How do I know that I'd be any better off with you?"
The muscles along Cade's jaw tightened. Emily wasn't sure if it was because he was offended or simply because she'd mouthed off. "You'll just have to trust me."
Emily let out a little burst of laughter, but there was no humor in it. The thought of trusting anyone in the Boundarylands—let alone an unmated alpha—was completely ridiculous.
"I already promised that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you ever again," Cade said sharply.
So she had offended him. Emily understood. She didn't like being called a liar either.
"It really doesn't matter what I want or what you promise," she told him. "Either I go back to Sloan on my own, or he'll come and get me, and you don't want to be around when he does."
Cade smiled with lazy amusement. He might be a cocky fool, but Emily couldn't quite manage to completely dismiss him. Just another thing to blame on those damn eyes of his, like pools of molten gold set into tawny skin. This time when he took a step toward her, Emily stayed put.
"I'm pretty sure that the bastard learned his lesson the first time I knocked him out cold."
Emily regained enough of her composure to roll her eyes. "You must have blindsided him. Because trust me, that alpha can hit hard."
Cade's brash confidence vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold, dark fury that sent shivers up Emily's spine. Even during his worst rages, Sloan never looked as terrifying as Cade did at this moment.
Emily was briefly gripped by the instinct to turn and escape his wrath, but then she realized something amazing.
Cade wasn't angry at her. He was angry for her.
"Don't call that scumbag an alpha," he snarled. "He doesn't deserve his God-given nature. No real alpha would ever go after someone who can't fight back, let alone hurt an omega. That sorry excuse for a man is just a worm. No—I take that back. Worms have purpose. They fit into the world. That son of a bitch is just garbage on the side of the road."
Speechless, Emily gaped at Cade. He’d just said everything she'd ever secretly thought about Sloan but never dared to put into words.
A strange longing crept under Emily's skin--to reach out and touch Cade, to take his hand, cup his cheek, drink in his lies. She wished she could at least tell him how much it meant to her to hear someone else say what she didn't even dare to whisper.
Instead, Emily balled her hands tightly at her side, fighting off the dangerous dual advances of hope and trust. A single moment of connection didn't erase two months of hell, she reminded herself.
But…maybe there was something in between.
"I don't want to go back to Sloan." Emily whispered the admission, as though even here, in the depths of the woods, her tormentor might hear her.
Cade simply nodded. Before she could react, he lifted her up in his arms, cradling her against his chest.
"What are you doing?" Emily yelped.
"What does it look like? You hurt your knee. I'm carrying you back to the truck."
Cade had noticed that she’d hurt herself?
Emily bit back the demand to be put down. He was right. She had hurt her knee…and it felt good to be carried. That was why Emily made sure to hold herself stiffly as far as possible from the alluring warmth of his warm, broad chest.
Feeling good was for other girls.
Chapter Six
Emily sat up a little straighter in her seat when Cade pulled up in front of the wood-shingled house at the end of the drive.
It wasn't a showplace—no home magazine would ever feature it on its cover. It might never receive any architectural awards, but it looked sturdy, well-constructed, and built to last.
She could tell at a glance that Cade was a better carpenter than Sloan would ever be.
Designed in a simple one-story ranch style, the house had a rustic vibe, but its remote setting deep in the forest allowed it to take advantage of beautiful vistas of the surrounding redwoods and mountains in the distance.
It was as stunning as the view she had in her old place.
Not Sloan's house, of course, but her place: the condo she had rented before she came to the Boundarylands, overlooking Vancouver Harbor.
She had loved her old home for the sense of safety and comfort it provided. She loved its clean white walls, the soft carpet underneath her bare toes, the incredible view of the boats bobbing in the sparkling water, even the sea birds swooping and diving outside her window.