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
