Kian
The Boundarylands Omegaverse
Callie Rhodes
Contents
KIAN
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
The Boundarylands Omegaverse Series
About the Author
KIAN
Book 1 in The Boundarylands Omegaverse Series
No woman willingly travels to the Boundarylands.
It’s where they are—the Alphas.
They keep to themselves in the wilderness, and beta civilization knows to keep its distance. Especially beta women…for fear they may not be a beta after all.
The only way to know your true nature is to feel the touch of an Alpha. Omegas may be rare, but every woman knows their fates are hellish—held captive, broken, mated, knotted, and bred.
But Paige doesn’t have a choice. Hunted by a vengeful fiancé, her only hope for survival lays in the hands of a primal Alpha miles beyond the boundary.
The reality she finds in the Boundarylands is different than the horror stories she’s been told her whole life. Life is feral and wild, but it’s calls to her in a way she can’t refuse.
When Paige touches Kian’s body, everything changes, and in an instant she knows the Alpha beside her will either be her salvation or her doom.
Chapter One
“I’m here to report a murder.”
Paige Byrne’s voice shook as she said the words. The Sacramento PD desk officer glanced up from his stack of papers. His eyes met hers through the thick bulletproof glass barrier for a fraction of a second before dipping down again.
“Speak up,” he grumbled into the microphone.
“A murder,” she repeated, louder this time. “I just witnessed a…”
Her words drifted off. She couldn’t say it again. She’d reached her limit.
The officer’s head snapped back up. “You witnessed a murder?”
Paige nodded. “My fiancé. He…he…”
“He was murdered?” the officer tried to help.
Paige shook her head. “No. He killed a man.”
The words felt strange in her mouth. A part of her didn’t want to believe it was true. Even after everything she’d seen. Even after witnessing Craig press the gun against the back of that poor man’s head and pull the—
No.
She struggled to push the image away, but it was no use. No matter how hard she tried to escape the memory, the gory scene kept replaying over and over in her mind. It was nothing short of a miracle that she’d been able to keep herself together long enough to flee Craig’s warehouse and make it to the police station.
Now, without the wall of adrenaline and sheer will to keep it at bay, reality rushed in to swallow her whole.
The world tilted beneath Paige’s feet. A black fog rolled in from the side of her vision. She reached for the edge of the counter, but her fingers slipped. Her knees gave out beneath her and she crumbled to the floor.
Two uniformed cops rushed out the door to help her off the floor. Paige was only vaguely aware of them helping her to her feet and walking her down a hallway to a small room.
One of them took her name and personal information, then told her detectives would be in to talk to her shortly. The other cop—a female officer with a kind smile—stayed by her side.
“It’s going to be okay,” the woman said, patting her hand. “We’re going to take care of you.”
Take care of her.
That was the promise Craig had made. He’d told her that he would love and protect her. That he wanted to build a life with her. A family.
Then she’d watched as he killed a man in cold blood…right before he tried to do the same thing to her.
Paige pushed back the tears when a few minutes later two youngish men in suits walked into the room. They gave her gave her the same practiced smile that didn’t quite reach their eyes. Paige appreciated the effort, but she was feeling far too broken to be put back together with a simple gesture.
“Hello. My name is Detective Talbot,” the taller one said before gesturing over his shoulder. “This is my partner, Detective Crosby. We were told you were here to report a murder.”
Paige nodded. “My fiancé. I saw him sh—” The words lodged in her throat. After a breath, she composed herself and tried again. “I saw him shoot a man in the back of the head.”
“And where did you witness this?”
“Down at the port,” she said. “At the Mathieson warehouse.”
The detectives shot each other a narrowed glance. The taller of the two slowly tucked his slim notebook back into his breast pocket. “And what is your fiancé’s name?”
“Craig Mathieson.”
The room went quiet for a full second as the detectives looked at each other again. The shorter detective cleared his throat and glanced over at the female cop still at Paige’s side.
“Officer Wilcox, how about you get our witness here a cup of coffee?”
The female cop stiffened, but slowly nodded. There was a wary gleam in her eye as she looked down at Paige. “Do you take cream or sugar, sweetheart?”
“Both,” Paige answered.
The two detectives stayed silent as Officer Wilcox walked out of the room. The second it clicked shut, they swiveled back toward her.
“So, you witnessed Craig Mathieson shoot a man?” Detective Talbot asked.
“I did.”
“Tell us what you saw.”
Paige drew in a deep breath. She closed her eyes and tried her best to pull herself together, at least long enough to get the story out. Despite her best attempts, her teeth still chattered against each other.
“He wasn’t supposed to work today, but this morning he told me an emergency came up and he had to go into the warehouse for a few hours. He runs an agricultural supply company.” Paige stopped herself and shook her head. “At least, that’s what I thought he did…until today.”
Detective Crosby shook his head. It was clear he wasn’t interested in personal details. “Just tell us what you saw.”
“Exactly what you saw,” Talbot chimed in.
“Okay.” Paige took a breath. She could do this. She could. “I decided to stop by and surprise him for lunch, but when I got there he wasn’t in his office. I found him out on the warehouse floor. But he wasn’t alone. A man was kneeling in front of him with his hands tied behind his back. His whole face was a bloody mess, like he’d been beaten for hours. And next to him was this pile of white bricks. I guess it was cocaine or meth or—”
“Heroin,” Talbot answered.
Heroin. So that’s what Craig dealt in. And it sounded like the cops already knew about it.
“Then a second after I saw Craig lift the gun and…”
“Shoot the man,” Detective Crosby finished for her.
Paige nodded.
“And did Mr. Mathieson see you? Did he know you were there?”
“Not at first,” Paige answered. “But I guess he heard me run because a second later he was chasing after me. I barely got away.”
The detectives looked at each other. There was a world of meaning in their stern expressions, but Paige was far too traumatized to decipher it.
Talbot crossed his arms, looking down at her. “And you didn’t dial 911?�
��
“No,” she said. “I was running for my life. Craig didn’t just shoot that man. He shot at me too. He emptied his whole gun into the back of my car as I drove away.”
“I see,” Crosby said slowly.
“I’m sorry,” Paige continued, shaking her head. “I know I should have called 911, but I was so scared that I wasn’t thinking straight. All I wanted to do was get somewhere safe.”
Another long silence hung in the air. Paige tried to make out why it felt so strange. Something was wrong, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
“No, you did the right thing,” Crosby finally said, his voice dropping down to whisper. He took a step closer, and Paige felt a shiver run up her spine. “In fact, you made our jobs a lot easier.”
Crosby had just slipped his hand inside his jacket when Officer Wilcox threw open the door and strode in with a cup of coffee.
“Here you go, sweetheart.” The cop pushed past both detectives to get to Paige’s side. She pressed the hot paper cup into her hand. “Detectives, the sergeant wants to see you right away.”
They both narrowed their eyes. “What about?” Crosby asked.
“The Mathieson murder,” Officer Wilcox answered. “He wants you to go down with the uniforms to check out the scene.”
“The sergeant knows about this?” Talbot asked through gritted teeth.
“Yep.” Officer Wilcox said without looking up.
“How?” Talbot demanded. There was an edge to his voice that made Paige’s hands shake more than they already were. “She didn’t call the shooting in, and we haven’t filed a report yet.”
“I guess someone must have told him,” Officer Wilcox said.
“Yeah,” Crosby growled, unveiled rage boiling just under the surface. “I guess someone did.”
Paige didn’t understand either man’s anger. Why were the detectives so upset at Officer Wilcox? Why weren’t they writing down anything she said? Why weren’t they interested in the details of her story? Suddenly, Paige began to feel anything but safe in this windowless room.
“Miss Byrne, you’ll have to excuse us for a moment.” Detective Talbot’s voice had turned cold as ice. “We need to step outside to talk to Officer Wilcox for a moment.”
Paige swallowed down past the lump that was quickly growing in her throat and nodded. The terror that had just been starting to abate came roaring back to life.
At least Officer Wilcox didn’t seem intimidated by the detectives. Her gaze stayed steady and strong as she smiled down at Paige. She even gave her a wink before turning to face the men.
“Of course,” she said. “I’m happy to walk you over to the sergeant’s desk myself.”
Both of the men’s lips pulled down in displeasure, but Officer Wilcox herded them toward the door. Just before she disappeared into the hallway she turned around and gave Paige a pointed look.
“They won’t be gone long,” the officer said. “Make sure to drink your coffee before they get back.”
Her coffee.
Even though Paige’s hands were wrapped around the warm paper cup, she had almost forgotten its existence. She wasn’t even sure she wanted it anymore. Her stomach had turned sour.
Paige turned and placed the cup on the table next to her. As she let go a scrap of paper fell from her palm. Paige snatched it up and looked at the small, neat writing on the back.
Get out of the station while you can. The detectives work for Mathieson. Lots of cops do. No one here can help you. Go to the Boundarylands. Twenty miles past the border you’ll find Evander’s Bar. Ask for an alpha named Kian. Tell him I sent you, and he’ll protect you.
Paige shook her head at the words on the paper. Every last one of them scared her to death.
What was worse was that she instantly knew it was true. Of course the cops were on Craig’s payroll. That’s why they were happy she hadn’t reported anything. That was why they hadn’t written anything down. They were planning on shutting her up permanently.
Oh God, that meant she couldn’t stay in Sacramento. Hell, she probably couldn’t stay in California. She had no idea how far Craig’s influence reached.
But that didn’t mean she was going to flee to the Boundarylands.
Was Officer Wilcox crazy? Did she think Paige was suicidal?
No.
Fuck no.
No one went to the Boundarylands. They sure as hell didn’t drive twenty miles past the border and go poking around bars for alphas. Especially not women.
But what if she didn’t have a choice?
A wave of panic crashed so hard and fast over Paige that she feared she would collapse again under the strain. But she couldn’t. Not now. She had to think.
Oh God. What the hell was she going to do? Where could she go? Where could she hide?
The Boundarylands. Evander’s Bar. An alpha named Kian.
Paige stared down at the note, knowing she had to make up her mind quick. Officer Wilcox had said they would be back soon. Did that mean fifteen minutes or five? Either way, Paige didn’t have time to mull her options over. She needed to decide now. She needed to trust her gut.
No, that wasn’t entirely true. She needed to decide if she could trust Officer Wilcox—the only person so far who had actually helped her.
Tell him I sent you, and he’ll protect you.
It was ridiculous. An alpha who protected? It went against everything Paige knew about them.
Alphas were violent. Dangerous. Brutal. They hated civilization, and lived like animals in the untamed wilderness far away from the cities. There were clusters of them dotted all around the world, but no matter where they were these places were all known by the same name—the Boundarylands, because most people knew better than to cross into them.
They were more than men. Not just bigger and stronger, they were something more. Beneath all their muscle and brawn, they hid a secret nature. A part of themselves that was more than human. A part that was feral and savage.
Paige trembled at the thought. All women did. Because it wasn’t just the brutish strength of an alpha that made them terrifying. It was the sway they held over a woman’s nature.
Sure, you could pray that you were normal—after all, the vast majority of women were—but there was always the chance that something special flowed in your blood. Something untraceable that wouldn’t show up in any blood test or scan. But no matter how much she thought she knew herself, no woman really could ever know what was in her blood until she was in the presence of an alpha.
And if that happened, then your worst nightmare would come true. You would become an omega to the monster’s alpha. A biological anomaly that only existed to subserviently breed. It was a horrible fate.
That’s why every woman—and most men, to be honest—kept far away from the Boundarylands. It was the one place that no woman was safe.
But it was exactly where Officer Wilcox was telling her to go.
Which left Paige with a horrible decision—stay and die for certain, or run and face the possibility of a fate worse than death.
Chapter Two
It took a little under four hours for Paige to drive through the center of California and up to the edge of the Boundarylands. She kept the accelerator pressed down hard the whole time.
Paige exhaled sharply as the pavement on the highway changed, becoming rougher, less maintained. Her headlights switched on as the last of the evening light was swallowed up by the massive wall of towering trees.
Her stomach twisted into knots, ingrained fear causing sour bile to bubble up in her throat. Paige swallowed it down. No matter how afraid she was, she couldn’t turn back. Not now.
Not when Craig and his men were on her tail. She had no idea how close they were. Maybe fifty miles back, maybe only a quarter of a mile. On this winding two-lane road, there was no way of knowing for sure. All she knew was they were out there somewhere tracking her.
The bastard had kept calling her every hour like clockwork to tell her
so.
Paige hadn’t picked up, of course. She wasn’t a masochist. The last thing she needed was to talk to the man who wanted to murder her.
But she had listened to his voicemails. She couldn’t help herself. A part of her kept hoping Craig would drop some clue and let her know how much of a head start she’d managed to steal, but, just like always, Craig didn’t satisfy.
His tone had changed wildly from hour to hour. Some messages had been sweet, assuring her this was all one big misunderstanding. That her eyes had played tricks on her. That if she would just let him talk to her face to face, he could explain everything. In others, he’d taunted her, telling her that he was coming for her. That he knew how to track her car through its internal GPS. That it was pointless to run, and that if she stopped and begged for forgiveness, he might not kill her.
Might not.
Paige didn’t believe any of it. She knew that if she took her foot off the accelerator for even a second she’d end up just like that poor man back at Craig’s warehouse—splayed across the floor with a bullet in the back of her skull.
So she kept going, praying that she could make it to Evander’s Bar before Craig. Praying that when she got there she’d find the alpha she was looking for. And of course, praying that when she met him that she wouldn’t—
Paige shuddered. She refused to follow that last thought to the end.
Still, God couldn’t answer a prayer he couldn’t hear.
She tightened her grip on the steering wheel and bit into her lip as she rounded the next deep curve in the road.
“Please, God, don’t let me be an omega,” she whispered.
Kian: The Boundarylands Omegaverse: M/F Alpha Omega Romance Page 1