"H-had to," the man sputtered. "Couldn't let her escape. Couldn't let her tell."
Tell what?
Oh, who the fuck cared? Enough screwing around.
Ordinarily, Maddox would've simply broken the intruder's neck. But he was irritated enough to take the time to snap both his legs first. The beta's howls echoed through the trees, letting his accomplice know what was waiting for him once the alpha caught up to him.
Maddox dropped the beta to the ground and put his boot on the man's neck. Twisting his heel, he put his full weight down, crushing the man's throat to a bloody pulp.
Then he focused his senses on the second one. The one who still held the rifle that reeked of fired gunpowder. Being a beta, he hadn't made it far, less than a quarter-mile. Maddox could catch up to him in no time.
A moan, weak and fragile, drifted up the hill. Maddox stilled. In the silence of the forest, he could just make out a faint heartbeat.
The woman's was still alive. Whoever she was, she had some fight in her.
Maddox could respect that. But if he went back to her now, the second beta—the gunman—would go free.
Why was he even wasting time on this while a murderer went free?
But the beta wasn't a murderer yet. And he wouldn't be, not unless Maddox chased after him and let the woman die.
Fuck.
Maddox grumbled to himself in aggravation as he jogged back down the hill. Strangely, the woman's heartbeat grew stronger as he crouched at her side.
Maddox had never been a social animal. Ever since he'd come to the Boundarylands at the age of sixteen, he'd done his best to avoid everyone. Especially betas.
It wasn't hard. The treaties clearly stated that betas were only allowed in neutral territory. As long Maddox stayed away from places like Evander's Bar, he never had to bother with them.
His childhood in the beta world had made it clear they weren't worth the bother. His alpha brothers might have their irritating habits, but they were nothing compared to the betas'. Those pigs only knew laziness, greed, and bitterness.
But Maddox wasn't picking up any of those emotions off this woman. He already knew she was honest, and obviously, she was afraid. But being this close, he could sense so much more.
She was curious, determined, and…annoyed.
The combination made no sense. So Maddox did what he always did when confronted with a problem he couldn't immediately solve. He ground his teeth and threw himself into action.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he hoisted the woman up and draped her over his shoulder. He tried to ignore the soft moan of pain that escaped her lips, but for some strange reason, he couldn't. There was something about the rounded softness of the woman's body. Direct contact with her made him more…aware somehow.
Fortunately, before he could think any more about it, she lapsed into unconsciousness.
Maddox found himself running as fast as his legs could carry him through the forest. He didn't realize he was headed for home until he was halfway there.
Something weird was happening. This was more than his instincts at work. His body moved without thought or reason, bypassing his mind entirely. Something deep and primal inside him didn't want this woman to die and was propelling him to do everything he could to save her.
Not that it would do any good. Maddox's shirt was already drenched in her blood. He was too experienced a hunter not to know that someone bleeding that heavily didn't have a chance of recovery.
Still, he couldn't stop running.
The woman's limp arms dangled. Her head bumped against Maddox's chest with every stride. He found himself acutely aware of every one of her soft curves.
It didn't take him long to reach his cabin. Once there, he laid her unconscious body on the split log he used as a bench out front. Then he ripped off his shirt and tore a strip of fabric from it. Carefully lifting her shoulder, he tied the makeshift bandage around her chest to staunch the flow of blood.
This is a waste of time, he mentally chided himself. You let an intruder go free just so you could bury a beta with pretty eyes.
That's when he felt it—the same unnerving flutter that had coursed through him up on the hillside. But this time, it was even more powerful.
At the same time, the woman's faint scent shifted, the sharp tang of death giving way to a rich, irresistible lushness—the first rain showers in spring, freshly tilled soil, the sun drying morning dew.
Fuck.
Maddox staggered backward.
An omega.
The woman wasn't a beta at all. She was a goddamn omega…and his touch had started the change in her nature.
No wonder he had been acting irrationally. He should have noticed the shift inside her long before now. But the shift in her scent and energy were too subtle even to his heightened senses. No doubt because she was already half dead.
Fuck, Maddox muttered again. He gathered the omega into his arms and rushed toward the rusty old truck parked next to his cabin.
It was just his luck that a goddamn omega had to get shot on his land.
Maddox was probably the only alpha in the Pacific Northwest Boundarylands who didn't dream of finding his omega. Bonded mates were a pain in the ass—needy, pointless, a waste of time and resources. Even worse, they made an alpha vulnerable. An omega was the last thing he wanted.
But if there was one thing Maddox knew, it was that nature didn't give a damn what he wanted.
* * *
Maddox smashed the accelerator to the floor. The old engine wailed and screamed, protesting the demands being placed on it, but somehow the ancient truck managed to pick up speed as he pushed it down the Central Road.
He didn't use the hunk of junk often. There was no need. It had been months since his last trip to Evander's to trade a pile of pelts for supplies, and he hadn't been planning on another visit until closer to winter.
He sure as shit hadn't planned on using the damn truck as an ambulance.
Maddox looked over at the omega slumped on the bench next to him. He kept his right hand draped across her chest, monitoring her shallow breaths and willing them to keep coming. It was all he could do.
He knew how to tie a bandage and drive like hell, but he was no doctor. No one in the Boundarylands was.
But he knew where to find the next best thing.
Maddox didn't slow down as he took the turn onto Randall and Gail's property. He hit every rut in the road at full speed, banging his own head on the roof of the cab.
Not that a couple of bumps mattered. He was as good as dead already. Maddox didn't have a standing invitation to be on Randall's property. He was a trespasser. No different from the betas who had crossed on to his land.
And no doubt his punishment would be the same.
But that wasn't important. Not when he was next to an omega whose life was slipping away.
Randall's mate, Gail, had been in nursing school back in the beta world. She was the closest thing the Boundarylands had to a medical professional and the only person who might save his omega.
His omega.
Maddox shuddered at the thought. Well, at least he wouldn't be her anything for long.
He pulled out of the trees and into a grassy meadow. A two-story house sat in the middle, encircled by colorful flower beds. Maddox found both the size and style of the place excessive and unnecessary.
He also found the owner waiting for him. Randall stood on the bottom step of his porch, club in hand and mad as hell. Gail was behind him. Her long hair, streaked with silver, caught in the breeze.
Maddox didn't hesitate as he jumped out of the truck, even though he knew he was about to get his head bashed in.
"Hold up," he shouted. "I've got an omega with me. She's been shot."
Randall's angry rumble carried across the grass. It was clear he wasn't keen on waiting to dispense justice. But at least the older alpha was willing to let Maddox retrieve the omega from the truck before cracking his skull.
"Bring he
r up here on the porch," Gail called without waiting to get the okay from her mate.
As Maddox strode across the clearing, cradling the woman to his chest, he felt it again. The sudden shock of awareness that kept throwing him off balance. The emotions that came with touching her were so intense…and so unfamiliar.
Maddox kept his head high as he rushed past Randall and up the porch steps. Gail hurried to make a space for her on the long, sanded wood boards.
"Lay her down here."
Maddox did as he was told.
Then he straightened up and turned around to face Randall and the consequences of his actions. Maddox only hoped it had been worth it. That Gail could save the omega's life. That she would find her place here in the Boundarylands.
Randall glared at him with stony eyes. Maddox's gaze slipped down to his hand and saw that the club was a crude two-by-six, bloodied and splintered at one end, a weapon commonly used by alphas to kill wild boars.
Maddox held his arms out at his sides, palms out, signifying he wouldn't put up a fight. He'd lived alongside death his whole life. He knew it well. He'd killed to survive and to protect what was his, all the while knowing death would eventually come calling for him.
Death didn't scare him. It was a simple fact. You live, you die. You don't choose when, and you don't pick how. Apparently, this was his time.
"Thank you for letting me get her to Gail," he told Randall.
After all, if the situation was reversed, he probably would've killed before Randall could've opened his mouth.
But before the older alpha could raise the club, Gail stepped between the two men, staring daggers at her mate.
"Don't be ridiculous," she said. "This is an emergency. I've got a patient who needs all my attention, and I don't have time to attend a second one."
Randall growled in frustration...but he didn't bash Maddox's brains in. After a moment, he released the club, letting it clatter on the boards at his feet.
"I couldn't stop myself," Maddox found himself admitting. "She's an omega."
"No shit," Randall muttered.
"That's a good thing," Gail said, heading back to her patient. "A beta would be dead by now."
For a moment, the two men said nothing. Finally, Randall sighed and motioned toward a chair on the far edge of the porch. "Might as well sit," he said, but he didn't look welcoming.
Maddox wasn't happy either—he'd never liked sitting still. But he went over anyway and settled in, determined to ignore Randall.
Instead, he kept his eyes on Gail as she tried to stop the flow of blood from the omega's chest. His stomach churned, and drops of sweat dotted his forehead, even though he wasn't the one doing the work.
Finally, Gail lifted her head and turned to him.
"She's lost a lot of blood," she said. "Maddox, I need you to get over here now."
Maddox was up and halfway across the porch before he realized what he was doing. Since when did he answer someone else's commands? Especially an omega's.
"Your omega needs blood," Gail said. "She's only lasted this long because of her changing nature. The faster she changes, the better her chance of survival. Since your touch awakened her, your blood will get her there faster."
The muscles in Maddox's jaw tightened. "Will this bond me to her?" he asked.
Gail blinked. "Will this bond you to her? Sugar, you started bonding with her the second you two touched. But yeah, it'll probably speed things up."
Speed things up. Maddox didn't like the sound of that.
Gail gave Randall instructions to bring out medical supplies before turning back toward Maddox.
"Lie down," she told him. "Not there! Closer. Right next to her. Your blood needs to go straight into her, and I only have a couple feet of tubing."
Once Randall was back out with her bag, Gail kneeled over the omega. Maddox watched as she slid a thick needle into a vein on the inside of the woman's elbow. Then she turned toward him.
Maddox closed his eyes as the needle entered his arm. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as the blood began to flow. Then he tried to prepare himself for the worst agony of all— caring about someone else.
Chapter Three
Two days.
That's how long it had been since Maddox had made the fateful decision to go back for the woman. Two days of worry and strain and other emotions he didn't care to name.
Much of the first day had passed in a dream-like fugue. He remembered laying on Randall's porch, feeling his blood flow into the omega's body. Once she'd stabilized, he'd carried her inside, placing her down on a bed that was far softer than anything he'd ever owned.
Then he'd waited.
He stood vigil at her bedside for the rest of the day and all through the night. He'd watched the rise and fall of her chest with every breath, listened to every thump of every heartbeat, afraid to let his guard down for even a second.
The next morning, Gail announced that the omega had turned a corner. Her vitals were strong, and she was would likely recover from her injuries. All she needed now was rest.
Randall had been only too happy to tell him that while the omega could stay under Gail's observation, it was time for Maddox to get the hell out of his house.
But Maddox didn't go far.
No matter how much he wanted to climb back in his truck and head home, he couldn't. He might not know her name, but the woman wasn't some unconscious stranger.
She was his omega.
It didn't matter that Maddox didn't want her. He needed her. Her scent sung with the memory of his touch. Her body was alive with his blood. Every part of her called to him, and there was no way he could leave her behind.
So he'd stayed on Randall's land. He'd paced around the house until he'd worn a path into the ground. He'd even been prepared to sleep, curled up like a pup, on the porch.
But before the moon had even crested the eastern hills, Randall threw open the front door. A deep scowl was etched into his face, but, at least this time, he wasn't wielding a club.
"You're not going to leave without her, are you?" he said.
Maddox looked the other alpha dead in the eye. Randall had to know the answer to that question better than anyone. "Would you?"
After a long moment, the alpha finally swung the door open wide.
"Fine," he said. "You can take her home."
Gail's strained frown met Maddox on the other side. "I don't think that's a good idea. She's stable, but that's not the same as healed. She still needs time."
"We're out of time," Randall said flatly. "She's already going into heat."
She was? Of course she was. No wonder Maddox couldn't drag himself away. Already her scent was finding its way down the hall and into his nostrils. Gone was the acrid tang of her fear and the dark cloud of impending death. Now there was a brightness to her scent, like the first green shoots poking through the snow in the spring.
Maddox had to resist the urge to shove Randall out of the way to get to her. Apparently, being outside had muted her scent just enough that he could keep his need under control. But now that filter was gone, and he felt the blood coursing through his veins with the force of the Niagara Falls.
"But if he takes her now, it might kill her," Gail protested as Maddox strode down the hall.
He knew she wasn't talking about him taking her home. She could rest and recover in his bed just as well as in hers. She was talking about him giving in to the instinctual desire that was already making his balls ache. The need to answer the call of her heat and take her hard. Fill her with his knot and deepen the bond between them.
This wasn't about him being a horny son of a bitch. This was the most powerful force in alpha nature, and it would not be denied.
"You think we're going to be able to keep him away?" Randall asked his mate, following close behind. "What do you want me to do, tie him up in the front like a dog? He'd still find a way to get to her."
Maddox was only half listening. He was focused on one thing
and one thing only—getting closer to his omega.
Even so, he couldn't help pausing in the doorway when he saw her. She was still lying on the bed where he'd laid her down, but everything about her was different. It was clear that Gail's care had brought her back from the edge of death.
Her hair, her face, her whole body had been washed. The dirt and sweat were gone, leaving fresh, clean skin, burnished gold and pulsing with the hum of life.
Maddox tightened his jaw. She might be doing better, but like Gail said, she wasn't fully healed. The thick white bandage across her chest made that crystal clear. So did the stacks of medical equipment and supplies on the bedside table.
Gail appeared at the door beside him. The look she gave him was both troubled and apologetic at the same time.
"Please be gentle with her," the omega urged. "She's …fragile."
Maddox pressed his lips together. A part of him wanted to assure Gail he'd do his best, but gentle wasn't in his nature. And neither was lying.
Instead, he kept his mouth shut as he went to the bedside. Holding his breath, Maddox reached out and traced his fingertip over the rounded curve of the omega's shoulder. Her skin was silken and smooth and warm, and that small contact ignited every nerve ending inside him, like a match to dry tinder.
He couldn't wait any longer. Leaning over, he gathered the omega up in his arms. He cradled her close, but the feel of her body pressed against his didn't sate his hunger—it only made it grow stronger.
He wanted nothing more than to shred the thin gown that Gail had draped over her generous curves, revealing her breasts and nipples…her belly and thighs…and the sweet spot in-between.
Maddox growled at the sight, a low rumble that sounded like a tree branch splintering under the force of the wind.
"I'm taking her home." It wasn't a request.
Behind him, Gail sighed.
"I'll put together some supplies," she said, coming inside the room and starting to pack bandages, antiseptic, and tape into a bag. "But you'll need to follow my directions to the letter. The dressing should be changed twice a day. In a day, you can expose her wound to the air. Do you understand?"
"What do you think?" Maddox snapped. He wasn't a pup, and he didn't need to be talked to like one.
Maddox (The Boundarylands Omegaverse Book 4) Page 2
