Kian's eyes narrowed in a mixture of disgust and concern. "You're not going to want one of these, are you?"
"No, I'm perfectly happy," Paige reassured him. "I just understand where Faith is coming from."
Troy watched as every claimed alpha nervously watched his mate to gauge her reaction to Kian's question. Some seemed as indifferent as Paige—but others seemed to be considering the subject seriously.
He shuddered to think that Faith might have started a trend. His poor brothers.
"You've got to be kidding me, Gail," Randall, the oldest mated alpha in the settlement, growled in exasperation. "We've been mated for twenty damn years, and now you want a wedding?"
"I didn't say I wanted one," his mate said. "Just that it would be nice."
"That's the same damn thing! Come on, Gail, there's a goddamned beta here—that's how low Troy's been brought down."
"He's the minister," Zeke said, coming to Troy's defense. "He has to be here. Can't have one of these things without one."
Randall crossed his arms. "I don't give a shit who he is. I've already had enough betas running wild on my property this year. I won't have any more."
"That's fine," Gail said, taking her mate's arm with a smile. "We'll just have the ceremony at Evander's instead."
Randall had just opened his mouth to protest when the front door of the house opened.
Troy's breath caught in his throat. He'd never seen anything so beautiful in his life.
Faith stepped out onto the patio, her golden hair curled and swept up on top of her head, falling in long spirals around her face. In her hands was a bouquet of holly and white snowdrops.
The white dress that Mia had helped Faith order was made of lace, closely fitted on top before flaring out into skirts that reached all the way to the ground.
It was magnificent.
She was magnificent.
Troy stepped out from the garage to get a better view. Every alpha and omega gathered in Troy's yard was transfixed. Every objection his brothers had raised only moments earlier was forgotten as they took in the sight of his beautiful mate.
His bride.
The nervous-looking minister followed behind her, taking his place at the center of the steps. He beckoned at Troy to take his place at Faith's side.
Troy stepped forward, suddenly not caring that he'd lost that pool game. Fuck, he'd happily lose a thousand more if it made her happy.
"Are you ready?" the minister asked Faith.
Troy took her hand, warmth spreading through him as she smiled up at him.
"Absolutely," she said. "I've been waiting for this day my whole life."
* * *
Welcome to The Boundarylands Omegaverse!
Thank you for reading TROY, Book 5 in the series. There are so many more hot alphas from the Boundarylands waiting to meet you.
Keep reading for a sneak peek of the next book in the series, available here: ZEKE (The Boundarylands Omegaverse)
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* * *
ZEKE: The Boundarylands Omegaverse
She wasn't going to make it.
Wailing sirens filled Darcy Winters's ears. Flashing blue and red lights lit up the inside of her car. No matter how hard she floored it, the canyon a blur along the deserted highway, the cops were gaining on her.
"Come on. Come on," she muttered as she gripped the steering wheel even tighter, leaning forward as if the force of her will could push her little hatchback faster.
It didn't work.
A split second later, Darcy screamed as one of the cop cars rammed her rear bumper, and the impact slammed her forward into her steering wheel.
She glanced frantically into the rearview mirror to see what she already knew was there—the cop car practically on top of her, preparing to come at her again.
At least Darcy was prepared for the next impact. She held tight to the wheel as her car was shoved to the right, barely missing the guard rail, and through some miracle managed to stay on the road.
The bastards were trying to force her off the road.
Of course, they were. By now, the Baron brothers had to know where she was headed—the only place where their authority didn't reach.
The Boundarylands.
Darcy was under no illusion that she'd be safe there. Not in the traditional sense of the word. She was a lone woman, driving straight into the heart of alpha country. Yesterday, she wouldn't have dreamed of doing something so stupid and reckless.
But a lot had changed since then.
The most important being that Scott Baron was dead.
His blood was still all over her hands. On her clothes. In her hair.
And his brothers were on her tail, fired up for vengeance.
How the hell had she gotten mixed up with an entire empire of corrupt cops?
The same way she always ended up in trouble—by ignoring her head and listening to her heart instead. Though in Scott Baron's case, Darcy had been following someplace south of her heart.
Of course, she wouldn't have to worry about any part of her anatomy if she didn't stay focused on getting over the boundary.
She was close—less than a mile away. No doubt that was why the Baron brothers were becoming more desperate, bashing into over and over, leaving rubber on the road. Someone up above must be looking out for her because Darcy had somehow managed to avoid plunging over the edge to her death.
But then, on the next impact, she heard a deafening pop, followed by a cascade of raining glass.
Darcy screamed as both her back window and windshield exploded, splintering into a thousand little fragments of safety glass.
Those bastards were shooting at her now. They were done fucking around. They wanted her dead, and they no longer cared if it was messy.
Well, screw them.
Darcy hunkered down in her seat, gritting her teeth and bearing her full weight on the gas pedal. It didn't do a damn bit of good—her little two-seater was already topped out—but at least she wasn't giving up.
Just up ahead, she could see the sign clearly marking the boundary between the beta world and alpha territory.
She was almost there.
Another shot sounded behind her.
And another.
Darcy's screams had become a hoarse wail, but she kept going…until finally, her tires passed over the line.
And just like that, the cop cars fell back, the last of their gunshots echoing in the night.
The treaties didn't allow beta cops to enter the Boundarylands, not in an official capacity anyway. Of course, Darcy knew first-hand that the Baron brothers didn't care about rules. But apparently, the threat of getting torn apart by beasts twice their size was enough to deter them.
Darcy risked poking her head up just high enough to steal a glance in the rearview mirror. Sure, enough, both police cruisers had pulled to a stop just over the border on the other side.
Darcy let out a gasp of relief, savoring the first deep breath she'd taken in the last twenty-four hours. Especially because it would probably be her last for a while.
Because now she had to figure out what the hell she was going to do next.
The Boundarylands were every bit as dangerous for Darcy as for Scott's brothers. Maybe more so.
After all, everyone knew the only thing alphas liked to do more than kick beta ass was to destroy beta women—throwing them down, riding them hard, and hoping they came out the other side an omega.
And if they didn't—
Darcy shuddered at the thought, but then her anger flamed again and ignited her determination. She didn't plan on surviving the Baron brothers just to end up a broken husk of a woman
chained some alpha's bed, that was for damn sure.
Some of that certainty faded as a warning chime sounded, and the fuel indicator lit up on her dash.
Fuck.
She knew she was running low, but she hadn't realized how low until now. It hadn't been her prime concern while she was dodging bullets, and it wasn't like she could pause in the middle of a car chase to top off the tank.
What the hell was she going to do?
Darcy had no idea—and she only had about fifteen miles to figure it out before the well ran dry.
She balled her hands into fists and hammered the steering wheel, cursing every shot of tequila and top-shelf vodka that had led her to think it was a good idea to go home with Scott fucking Baron just twenty-four hours ago.
Unsurprisingly, her little fit of anger didn't help matters.
Especially when she glanced into the rearview mirror to see that the cop cars had doused their headlights and were slowly rolling over the boundary line.
Oh shit.
She hadn't expected that. Darcy knew the Barons would never give up hunting the woman who'd killed their brother, but for some reason, she hadn't expected this. Ignoring the Treaties was tantamount to a suicide mission.
At worst, she'd thought they might call for backup, and there'd be a blockade waiting for her at the other end of the Central Road. Or maybe they'd ditch the cop cars and come looking for her in civilian clothes.
But no.
Apparently, they weren't willing to wait for their vengeance.
Darcy's mind raced as she tried to think of a new plan. Anything would be better than just flinging herself at their feet and begging for mercy.
But there was no other option.
She was stuck—moving deeper into the Boundarylands with every passing second, surrounded by nothing but dense forest and wild alphas, with a couple of bloodthirsty brothers on her tail.
She was well and truly fucked.
Her only hope now was that all her tires would pop at once, and she'd die in a fiery crash rather than a bullet to the head.
Wait.
That honestly wasn't a bad idea.
Not the dying part, of course—but the Barons didn't have to know that. A crashed car, smoke, and fire—it just might provide the distraction she needed. Hell, at this point, Darcy figured it was the only chance she was going to get.
She waited for the next turn in the road, and when the police cruisers had disappeared momentarily from the rearview mirror, she grabbed her heavy purse, wedged it down on the accelerator, and cracked open the door. After whispering a little prayer, she threw herself out the door before she could chicken out.
The air left Darcy's lungs as she hit the ground, loose scree tearing into her bare arms and ripping her clothes. Somehow she managed to stay tucked tight as she rolled, letting the movement absorb the impact. She came to a stop to the sound of twisting metal as her car collided with a tree.
Darcy raised her arms to shield her eyes as she lifted her head…but nothing happened. No fireball, no flames—just the remains of her little car wrapped around the trunk of a towering redwood.
Well, shit. Maybe that sort of thing only happened in movies.
Darcy didn't have time to wallow in disappointment. She pushed herself up to her feet and hobbled into the woods, barely making it out of sight as the cop cars careened around the turn and came to an abrupt stop.
Moving as quietly as she could, Darcy sank to her knees on the loamy forest floor behind some dense shrubs, wincing at a sharp stab of pain in her hips. It seemed she'd taken more damage in that fall than she first realized.
"What the fuck is this?" The sound of Robert Baron's voice sent shivers down Darcy's spine as he stepped out of his car.
"Keep your damn voice down," his brother David cautioned. "Do you want one of those things to hear you?"
Robert frowned. Being the oldest of three brothers, he didn't like being told what to do…but being the dumbest meant he had gotten used to it.
"Like they didn't hear the crash," he muttered. "You think she's inside?"
"How the fuck should I know?" David said. "Go look."
Robert shot his brother a dark look before unholstering his pistol. "Fine. But if that bitch is in there, I'm ending this now."
Darcy shuddered at the sight of his departmental-issued Glock…the same kind of gun she'd used to kill Scott.
She had to get away from here.
"Two more steps and you'll be trespassing on my property," a deep, impossibly low voice rumbled.
Darcy snapped her head toward the sound and saw a man standing amidst the trees no more than ten feet away.
No, check that. Not a man.
A goddamn giant—well over seven feet tall and built like a tank. Darcy shrank involuntarily from the sight.
She instantly knew who he was. What he was.
An alpha.
And just like that, Darcy knew that she was well and truly screwed.
Pre-Order ZEKE today
The Boundarylands Omegaverse Series
Book 1: KIAN: Available Now
Book 2: TY: Available Now
Book 3: SAMSON: Available Now
Book 4: MADDOX: Available Now
Book 5: TROY: Available Now
Book 6: ZEKE: Available June 23rd, 2020
Book 7: ARIC: Coming Soon
About the Author
Ever since she was little, Callie Rhodes’ imagination has been landing her in trouble. From daydreaming about far off worlds in class, to escaping into the made up stories of her mind in the meeting room, she’s been creating tales to take her away from the real world for as long as she can remember. Now she lives among the tall trees of Northern California, and has found a way to make a living off her fantasies.
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