hard. That he'd do all the glorious, wicked things that he'd tempted her with, back when they'd somehow shared the small cabin without giving in to temptation.
But just because she wanted that, there was no guarantee that Knox did, too. After all, she'd been gone a long time—three times longer than the time they'd spent together. Knox could easily have already moved on.
Worse, Josie wasn't sure she was even welcome on his land anymore. He might be angry with her for walking away after he'd swallowed his pride and asked her to stay. The truth was that he had every right to resent her…even to hate her.
Knox was an alpha, and alphas didn't take insults lightly. No, they got revenge…blood revenge. Josie knew the risk she was taking when she stepped over the invisible border onto his land, but it was a risk that she was willing to take. In a sense, it was her only choice.
Because after being back in the beta world for a month and a half, Josie knew that death was better than a pale imitation of life.
When she saw a wisp of smoke rising above a break in the tree line, Josie knew that she was almost to the cabin. It wouldn't be long before she learned her fate.
But after walking only a few more steps, Josie heard a familiar, low rumble. Under the layers of winter clothes, her body responded, her blood heating and her nerves quickening with anticipation.
"Knox!"
Josie waited breathlessly for the echo of her voice to subside, but there was no reply. There was no sign of him; nothing disturbed the peace of evening falling in the forest.
She knew he was there, though. She felt his presence not just by his growl but by a shift deep inside her, an instinct she trusted more than any other sense. Fresh energy filled her from some unknown source, and she felt driven to go to him, to reclaim the feeling of the peace and rightness she'd been living without for too long.
She started in the direction of the sound and had gone half a dozen more steps when a massive, looming shadow stepped out of the dense trees.
Knox.
Josie stopped short, her heart hammering. Her breath caught in her throat. Time seemed to stop as they gazed at each other, neither moving.
He was the first to speak, his voice unreadable. "You came back."
She started toward him as though drawn by a magnet, every cell in her body yearning for him, propelling her forward. "I had to."
Knox's expression didn't change, but something shifted in his dark eyes, a glimmer of an emotion that lived on the border between sadness and hope. "I thought you had work to do."
"And I did it." The snowflakes that had been gathering on her parka for the last hour were now melting away, unable to survive the heat that rushed through her. At this rate, she'd soon have to strip off some layers—but first, she had to tell Knox what had happened since she left. She owed him the truth—and not just about her efforts to put an end to the government's cruelty. "I gave my testimony. They have the evidence. They broadcast the hearings on national television. The world knows everything now."
Knox’s stance became more rigid as she drew closer, his unspoken thoughts battling on his face. "But there will be more hearings. More fights. You know this won't be the end of it."
"It's someone else's turn now." Josie forgot the rest of the words she had practiced as she stepped close enough to see Knox's face in the last of the evening light. She was surprised to see that he'd grown a beard, but it looked damned good on him.
The electric attraction taking over her body intensified. She wanted to launch herself into his arms, but first, she had to know if he still wanted her.
"The whole time I was away, I kept thinking about something Olivia said right before I left. She wanted to know if I was ever going to fight for my own happiness as hard as I've fought for everyone else's."
Knox narrowed his eyes, not giving anything away. "And?"
Josie took one last step, bringing her closer than the two of them had ever been before. She could feel the heat radiating off Knox's body just as it was from her own.
Six weeks ago, Josie had believed that the closeness she craved was dangerous. That if she gave in to her desires, they would ruin her