Knox (The Boundarylands #12) - Callie Rhodes Page 0,42

didn't deserve her, the ungrateful bastards who'd tried to silence her.

But if he went to her now and carried her inside to make her his in every possible way, he'd be no better than those bastards. He'd be taking away her freedom…her choice…her passion.

So instead, he steeled himself against his own reckless longing and nodded. Then he summoned the smuggler who was standing a respectful dozen yards back with a wave of his arm.

Knox didn't trust Mica—he was a beta, and one on the wrong side of the law to boot—but the man had been the source of the scanner that had allowed Olivia to pinpoint the tracker in Josie's arm. If Knox was going put Josie's safety in the hands of any beta, it might as well be him.

It had obviously been a difficult three-day hike from the nearest beta town to the edge of Gray's land. At least the twenty-something pup was young and strong. He seemed honest, too—showing Knox the supplies in his pack to prove there was plenty to see them through the return hike—but Knox was holding back two-thirds of his payment until he had word that Josie was safe.

He damn sure wasn't about to take any risks now.

"Take care of her," Knox told Mica.

The kid had the grace not to mention the fact that Knox had told him that at least twice already. For a smuggler and a criminal, the scent coming off him was surprisingly honorable. "I will, sir."

"And if you even think about touching her—"

"—you will track me down and kill me," Mica said agreeably. "I understand, sir."

Knox looked at Josie, his heart twisting painfully in his chest. He had no idea what to say. No words could possibly do justice to the emotions roiling inside him right now. He couldn't even imagine what he'd be feeling if he'd touched her, claimed her. The thought of losing her then—

No. He was better off this way, never knowing.

"I guess this is goodbye then," Josie said with a failed attempt at a smile.

Screw that—Knox didn't do goodbyes. "The beta world doesn't deserve you, sugar," he muttered, his gaze dropping to the ground so that he missed the moment when she turned away from him for the last time.

The porch rail cracked in his grip as he watched her and Mica disappear into the cover of the trees. He stood there in the freezing cold for so long that he lost track of time, listening to their footsteps recede into the distance until they were so far away that even his sensitive ears couldn't detect them.

He sighed and released his grip on the rail, and it fell to the ground in pieces. He'd fix it tomorrow. Or not.

What did it matter? Gray had been full of shit—Knox hadn't taken the easy way out. He was no less an alpha for letting Josie go. Forget all the fights and scraps he'd been in over the years—this was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

Chapter Sixteen

"You might be the sorriest son of a bitch I ever met, you know that?"

Knox managed a feeble growl but didn't bother to lift his head off his pillow. He should have known that son-of-a-bitch Gray wouldn't stay away forever, but that didn't mean he was happy to have the alpha yelling at him from the hallway.

"Why don't you fuck off back the way you came," he muttered, knowing Gray was too sanctimonious to leave so soon. It was clear the bastard had something to say, and he wasn't about to leave until he'd said it.

Knox cursed the day he'd given Gray a standing invitation to come on his land. If he'd been thinking straight, he would've rescinded that invitation years ago. But if the last month and a half had proven anything, it was that Knox couldn't trust his own decisions.

"It's been six weeks, Knox."

Like he didn't fucking know that. As if he didn't know exactly how many days, hours, minutes had passed since Josie had turned and walked away from him forever.

"Have you dragged your sorry ass out of that bed even once in that whole time? I know for a fact you haven't done the dishes. This place reeks."

Exasperated, Knox finally gave up and rolled over to face the asshole. "What are you doing here, Gray?"

"What do you think?" Gray shot back, scowling at Knox with his arms crossed. "Checking in on your sorry ass."

Knox swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to ignore the sense