enough to make you my mate so I could do it with my own hands instead of sitting on the sidelines crying."
"You son of a—"
"Enough!" Josie's rally voice echoed across the clearing, shutting everyone up. That voice had captivated crowds with impassioned speeches and calmed restless mobs, but it was nice to know that it worked on petulant alphas, too. "This is hard enough without having to listen to you two have a pissing contest."
The alphas glared at each other for a moment longer before shrugging it off. Knox stalked off around the corner of the cabin, and Gray collapsed into one of the wooden porch chairs.
"Well, that was impressive," Olivia whispered as she started sewing up the wound. Josie hissed in a breath as the needle entered her tender skin, but the pain was nothing compared to what had come before. "Never seen anyone cool alphas down that fast."
"I've had a lot of practice," Josie admitted. "A rally can turn into chaos real quick if you don't know how to keep it under control."
Olivia made short work of closing the wound. In moments, she had tied off the stitches, washed off the blood, and dressed the wound with a fresh bandage.
"There you go. All done."
"Thank you, Olivia…I don't know what I would have done without you."
The omega shrugged off Josie's thanks. "I'm sure it'll be sore as hell today, but you should be better by tomorrow when it's time to go."
Josie suppressed a wince at the reminder. As glad as she was to have the government tracker out of her body, she wasn't sure how she felt about what came next.
It went without saying that she wanted justice. She'd already decided exactly which media outlets she'd take her story to first. With the evidence she had gathered—the chip and the chains she'd been bound with—Josie was confident she could blow the lid off the government's plan.
But there was a part of her that wasn't thrilled at the prospect of going home. A part that wished Knox hadn't woken her up this morning, that she was still dozing peacefully in his bed, waiting to spend another day with him—laughing with him, teasing him, loving him.
Wait. No. Not okay.
The bond that had grown between Josie and Knox might be warm, and no one could argue that they were short on chemistry—but she didn't love him. She couldn't.
She was simply mourning the end of their time together like she might the end of a vacation. She'd experienced something new, something grand, and now she didn't want to go back to reality, to work and her old routines. That was all.
"You know," Oliva said thoughtfully, keeping her eyes on her work as she cleaned up, "Gray and I were surprised to find that you were still your old self when we drove up this morning."
Josie blushed, knowing exactly what Olivia wasn't saying. But she'd been under the impression that Knox had made it pretty damn clear to everyone that he had no intention of changing her nature. "I guess you underestimated Knox's resolve."
"And yours."
Shocked laughter burst from Josie's lips. "You've got to be kidding."
"I've seen the way you look at him. It's exactly the way I used to watch Gray through my lens before he found me."
"Knox is an amazing guy," Josie allowed. "Your mate doesn't give him enough credit."
Olivia smiled. "True enough."
A low grumble emanating from the porch reminded Josie that the alphas were able to hear every word they said, so she chose her next ones carefully. "If Knox was able to live in the beta world, maybe things would be different."
"He can't. But you can live in the Boundarylands."
If only things were that simple. "No, I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I have work to do out there. Important work. People are depending on me."
Olivia nodded sadly. "You work to make women's lives better."
"Exactly," Josie said, relieved that the omega understood.
"It would just be a shame if you spent so much of your life fighting for everyone else's happiness that you missed out on your own."
Chapter Fifteen
One little touch.
That's all it would take…and Josie wouldn't be able to do this. One touch, and Knox might be able to prevent the emotional avalanche that threatened to bury him alive.
"I don't know how to thank you," Joice said in a voice thick with held-back tears. "I mean, I never could. You saved my life. You took me in. You..."
Her voice trailed off, and Knox knew that she wouldn't finish her sentence. Because to do so