brothers might be dead, but the police department they'd all worked for might have come looking for vengeance.
But Darcy abandoned the idea almost as soon as it occurred to her. Two rogue cops were one thing, but there was no way in hell the department would risk an official visit to the Boundarylands.
There had been a huge scandal a year ago when the army had bungled a covert mission to pull out a senator's daughter turned omega. If the military couldn't do it with all their resources and firepower, there was no hope for the SWAT team. In fact, after a month, they'd almost certainly written Darcy off as dead.
"Who was it?" she asked.
"The alpha who was fixing your car." Zeke held up a familiar set of keys.
"Oh, good," she said, wondering why he sounded so upset. "Though I'm not sure how much use it'll get since I don't think you'll fit in the passenger seat."
"That won't be a problem," Zeke said flatly, "if you decide to go for a ride alone."
Darcy gaped at him. That's what he was worried about? Even after she'd given him her damned claiming bite? Unbelievable as it was, apparently Zeke was still worried she might up and disappear.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Darcy sighed. Ignoring the lingering soreness in her legs, she clambered out of bed, marched over, and snatched the keys out of his hand. "As someone I know likes to say—what part of I never want to leave is so hard for you to understand?"
Then she went to the window, yanked it open, and tossed out the keys. "There. Now can we start our life together for real?"
Zeke finally stepped into the room. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Now we can."
Chapter Eighteen
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get pink hair dye shipped to the Boundarylands?"
Darcy's friend Mia handed her a small box she'd just unpacked from a huge crate of goods.
"Oh my God, thank you," Darcy said. "I know it's technically a luxury, but with the way my roots are growing in, it sure feels like a necessity."
Mia smirked and went back to unpacking. "It was worth it just to see Ty's face when he opened the box and thought it was for me."
The two of them were in the large storeroom at the back of Evander's, and Darcy was curled up in a giant desk chair that belonged to Mia’s mate Ty.
"He was right to be worried," Darcy teased. "Pink's not really your color. But order some purple, and I'll be glad to dye your hair for you."
"No, thank you," Mia laughed. "I'm good just the way I am."
Darcy smiled and picked up the giant flannel shirt she was repairing after Zeke accidentally caught it in a trap. She'd offered to help with the unpacking, but only Mia understood her complicated organization system, so Darcy had gotten into the habit of bringing her mending basket when she stopped by to visit.
The first time Zeke brought her to Evander's, she'd quickly learned that the bar was the central hub of the southern portion of the Pacific Northwest Boundarylands. In addition to providing a place for the alphas to do their drinking and socializing, it also served as a small general store. Mia was the one who managed all the ordering for the things the community couldn't build, hunt, grow, or barter for.
"Anything else good come in this shipment?" Darcy asked as she stitched the long tear back together.
"Not really," Mia said. "Just the basics this time—flour, sugar, a handful of special orders."
The door opened, and another omega came in, two small paper bags in her hands.
"Faith!" Mia exclaimed, rushing to greet Troy's omega. "What are you doing here?"
Darcy set down her mending and joined the other two in a three-way hug. She had surprised herself by how quickly she had settled in to her new life here in the Boundarylands. Back in the beta world, Darcy had always struggled to make close friends, especially with women.
But here, everything was different. Even though the omegas all came from different backgrounds, with a variety of personalities, skills, and points of view, they all got along somehow. Just as Zeke called all the other alphas his brothers, these omegas had quickly become Darcy's sisters.
"Troy wanted to come by and pick up those parts that just came in," Faith said, extricating herself and handing each of them a paper sack. "And I begged him to let me come along. And