Zeke (The Boundarylands #6) - Callie Rhodes Page 0,2

more steps and you'll be trespassing on my property," a deep, impossibly low voice rumbled.

Darcy snapped her head toward the sound and saw a man standing amidst the trees no more than ten feet away.

No, check that. Not a man.

A goddamn giant—well over seven feet tall and built like a tank. Darcy shrank involuntarily from the sight.

She instantly knew who he was. What he was.

An alpha.

And just like that, Darcy knew she had been wrong before. Now she was well and truly fucked.

Chapter Two

Zeke Proctor knew he should have started checking the traps on the western edge of his land this morning, rather than those nearest the road. The animals whose pelts he traded were usually smart enough to steer clear of the pavement, even though there was hardly any traffic.

If he'd started his rounds there, he would have been miles away when the roar of car engines at the boundary line reached his ears. He sure as shit wouldn't have bothered trekking all the way back to investigate the sound of some flimsy beta junk heap crashing into a tree.

And he definitely wouldn't be staring down a frightened woman with hot pink hair, a fringed miniskirt, and last night's makeup smeared under her eyes.

For someone whose appearance was so bright and brassy, she didn't seem to want anyone looking at her. Hunched behind a bush, she was paralyzed by fear. Every muscle in her body tensed as her gaze flicked from him to the two betas standing in the middle of the Central Road, then back to him. The panicked beat of her heart grew more frantic by the second, but Zeke had a feeling it wasn't because she was less than ten feet away from trespassing on his land.

Shit.

Zeke checked the angle of the sun, confirming that this interruption meant that he wouldn't finish his chores in time to hike up to Green Lake. Especially since the jack-offs the woman was hiding from in the road weren't lost hikers.

They were cops.

And as far as Zeke was concerned, there was no good reason for a couple of beta cops to be over the boundary. Not even if they were chasing a woman covered in somebody else's blood.

"You can calm the fuck down," Zeke told the woman, not bothering to conceal his irritation, but keeping his voice low enough so the beta cops wouldn't hear him. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Screw that. He didn't plan on even touching her.

Not that it mattered. Zeke's words clearly weren't getting through to the woman. Her round, honey-brown eyes didn't show even a spark of understanding—only terror.

Great…just great.

Why the hell did these betas have to play out their little drama next to his property line?

The temperatures had been warming over the last week, the snow gone except for traces on the highest shadowed peaks. The birds were starting to return, filling the trees with songs meant to attract mates. Spring was just starting to break through winter's brittle shell, and Zeke had planned to celebrate with a swim in the lake to mark the end of a long winter spent holed up in his cave of a cabin.

His plans definitely did not include dealing with petty beta squabbles, but this sort of trouble couldn't wait. Someone had to scare these outsiders back where they came from—and he was the only alpha around at the moment.

Zeke’s sigh came out as a growl, and the woman's eyes widened even farther.

He ignored her fear and inclined his head toward the road. "You want me to get rid of them?"

She didn't answer—just kept staring at him. It figured—betas didn't handle fear well, letting it lead them around like a ring in the nose. Zeke didn't get how they could stand to be so cowardly. Alphas were born more with than enough courage, just as coyotes were born with more than enough cunning. Betas, in his experience, had little of either.

Zeke didn't bother asking again. Turning his back on the woman, he stepped out of the trees and started for the road, not bothering to be quiet about it. With every step, Zeke crushed twigs and gravel underfoot, deliberately making his approach loud enough that even a beta couldn't miss it.

"Oh, fuck," the closer of the two beta cops muttered, unholstering his weapon.

"You don't want to do that," Zeke said as the second cop fumbled with his own gun, eventually managing to aim it directly at his chest.

Zeke studied the betas. There wasn't much difference between them. They