Things changed.
But not all things.
"Ah, you know how it is. I just don't like winter much." Troy lifted his mug and drained his second beer.
Zeke gave a grunt of understanding. "It gets better, you know," he said solemnly.
Troy shoved off the rail and turned to face the other alpha, his smile abruptly disappearing. "What does? Winter?"
Zeke shrugged. "And all the shit that comes with it. The time. The boredom. The loneliness."
Fuck that. Troy spoke before thinking. "I'm not lonely."
"Really?" Zeke said, looking off somewhere past the tree line of the forest that bordered Evander's on all sides. "It's just that some people might wonder why you're here on a Monday night losing all your money to me."
"I'm also here every Friday night balls deep in one of Nicky's girls," Troy shot back.
Zeke's smirk returned, though at least he had the grace to cover it with a fake cough. "I don't think that proves what you think it does."
"Maybe you can go weeks at a time without getting off with a girl," Troy said, "but I can't. I guess my blood just runs hotter than yours."
Zeke shook his head slowly, his expression turning cold. "You of all people should know that's not true. You've seen what I do to anyone stupid enough to stand in my way."
It was true. Troy had seen Zeke covered in blood, driven by pure rage. The man was as fearsome as any brother in the Boundarylands.
"Well, some of us like to fight," Troy said, backing down. "And some of us like to fuck."
"I'm just saying that we all get to a point where we crave something more," Zeke said.
Troy shook his head. Why this bastard had picked tonight of all nights to try to get inside his head, he had no idea.
"What I don't get is why you're acting like some old sage talking to a pup. You may be five years older than me, Zeke, but you haven't been here any longer than I have."
"Six," the alpha said, his scowl giving way to a hint of a smile.
"Do Nicky's girls charge you double, old man? 'Cause they sure deserve hazard pay for having to put up your ugly-ass face."
Zeke laughed. "Come on. I'll buy you another beer with the money you lost to me. Least I can do since you won't be able to afford a girl this week."
"Fuck you," Troy said, but they were already headed back in.
He didn't make it to the door, though.
Zeke turned with his hand on the doorknob when they both caught the sound of an engine—old, tired, and still miles away.
But coming closer down the Central Road.
Troy tilted back his head and tested the air. Whoever it was, they weren't close enough for him to discern much from the scent.
But what he could sense only darkened his mood.
"Beta," he muttered.
"And not one we know," Zeke agreed.
Troy sensed a faint but distinctive note to the beta's scent. "And female."
"Shit," Zeke muttered. "That can't be good."
No kidding.
It had been a strange year in the Boundarylands. It seemed like every time a woman showed up—one who didn't work for Nicky, anyway—trouble wasn't far behind.
Troy returned to leaning on the railing, waiting. Every second brought the car closer, telling a story of its own.
The engine reeked of hot oil. Whoever was behind the wheel had pushed the machine hard for hours, but hadn't maintained the vehicle well enough for the job. The belts whined. The tires barely had enough tread left to keep themselves on the icy pavement. Whoever it was, they'd been incredibly lucky not to wipe out on the snowy roads.
It was a miracle that the woman had made it this far.
And if she had any brains in her head, she'd turn around now.
But Troy already knew that she wasn't going to. With every passing second, he could sense a little more of the woman's determination. Her desperation.
This beta was hellbent on getting to Evander's.
Troy couldn't sense her destination, of course. But he didn't have to. He knew there was no other place she could be headed. Evander's Bar was the only establishment considered neutral territory in this part of the Boundarylands. It was the only place she could go.
"I can send her on her way if you want to go back in and get that beer," Zeke said, his voice revealing a faint uneasiness.
Troy waved off the offer. He didn't give a crap how cold it was out here, or how long he had to wait for this piece-of-shit car to pull into the lot. He was going to be waiting when the stranger got out.
Because Zeke only had it half right. Troy might—might—be a little lonely, but he was definitely bored as hell. Short days and long nights with nothing but beer and the prospect of getting his ass kicked in pool every night had left him crawling the walls, desperate for a distraction.
This stranger careening toward him might be a goddamn idiot, but she was bound to be a distracting one…at least for as long as it took to scare her back the way she'd come.
Troy stifled a grin of anticipation as the smell of smoking brake pads drifted through the trees.
"Double or nothing on that cash I just lost, that she hits the trash can on the side of the building when she makes the turn," Troy said.
Zeke paused. "Just one can, or all of them?"
A mechanical shriek filled the air as the driver hit the brakes coming around the corner.
"Every last one."
"Deal."
A top-heavy panel van shot into view, taking the turn into the parking lot way too fast. If it had been a dry summer day, she might have been all right.
But she'd picked crap weather for her visit. Her brakes locked mid-turn, and she overcompensated. The bald tires spun uselessly on the hard-packed snow, drifting hard to the right. Troy folded his arms and
