Paige smiled up at her. "Excuse me for not getting up. It's getting harder and harder to move around. Once I'm down these days, I'm there for a while."
Mia beamed down at her new friend. "No apologies needed." She leaned over and wrapped a hug around Paige's shoulders. "You're glowing."
"That's a nice way of saying that the slightest movement makes me sweat."
"That's not what I meant at all," she said. "You look amazing."
"And you look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you," Paige said. "Happier…and less kidnapped."
Mia laughed…actually laughed out loud. She couldn't believe that less than a week after having her life threatened, she'd be laughing with friends. But then again, almost everything about her life surprised her now.
But apparently, not everyone shared the humor of the situation. Behind her, Mia felt Ty tense as his hand gripped her shoulder more tightly.
"I don't understand how you can find that funny," he said. "You could have been killed."
Gail waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, Ty. Poor Russell and Kian have been trying to figure out our omega sense of humor for months now."
"You can't figure out something that doesn't make sense," Kian said. "I don't even try anymore."
"We just leave them here to giggle at nonsense while we go do something productive," Russell agreed.
Ty's expression tightened. "What did you have in mind?"
"I've been working on restoring a water pipeline about a mile from the house," Russell said.
Mia and Ty shared a look. A mile—that wasn't too far away.
"That sounds okay," he said with a nod.
Without another word, the alphas headed off to get to work.
They couldn't have been more than a hundred feet away when Gail started laughing again.
"Well, it's about time," she said. "I thought they were never going to get to work and give us some space."
Gail reached over the small table at her side and poured Mia a cup of tea.
"Ty's still hesitant to leave me alone," Mia admitted.
"I'm not surprised," Paige said, taking a sip from her own cup. "After what happened, it's a wonder that he's willing to let you out of his sight at all."
"Honestly, so am I," Mia admitted. "I wasn't sure he ever would."
"Both of you have been through so much." Sympathy tinged Gail's words.
"Yeah, but it's all over now," Mia said.
Paige's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure?"
Mia took a sip. The tea was strong and flavorful. The porcelain cup felt fragile and feminine in her hands. She wondered if Ty could order one for her. It was the kind of thing she'd like to have in the house—something pretty and impractical that was just for her.
She nodded. "The FBI left the parking lot of the bar."
"Yes," Paige said cautiously. "But that was only the FBI."
"What do you mean?" Mia asked, cocking her head.
"The man who came after you a week ago wasn't an agent," Paige said. "He was military."
"No one's seen any soldiers either since then," Mia said.
Paige shot Gail a concerned look. It must have been a contagious one because the other omega's looked worried too.
"I think that's the point," Gail said. "If the man who captured you was from a special forces unit, you might not see the next until it's too late."
"I hate to ask, but…would your father give up so easily?" Paige asked.
Mia's face fell.
No. He wouldn't. Senator Baird never gave up on anything. Not unless he was forced to. Not unless someone stopped him.
But maybe that had happened.
The truth was she didn't know. Being in the Boundarylands meant being almost completely out of touch with the beta world. She didn't know if Agent Christie had been successful in taking down her father.
Mia could only pray that he had.
Her feelings about him had changed since coming here. The nagging sense of shame she had carried all her life—that somehow she was responsible for the way he treated her—had vanished completely, giving way to smoldering anger. At first, it felt uncomfortable, and Mia wished she could simply forget him completely. But as the days passed and her confidence grew, a nagging sense grew inside Mia that her father should be made to pay for the way he had hurt her.
She had never mentioned this to Ty, fearful that she might ignite his fury when there was nothing to be done about it. Instead, she took comfort in the certainty that she would never allow any man to mistreat her again—and that Ty would make sure she'd never have to make that decision.
The wind kicked up around the porch, sending leaves and brush skittering past. The women had to grab at their napkins to keep them from flying away.
"Let's talk about something else," Mia said over the roar of wind. "Something happier. Like what you might name the pup."
Paige smiled at the change of conversation. "I like Wyatt if it's an alpha, and Isobel if it's an omega, but Kian still isn't sure."
The wind grew stronger. So strong that Mia had to hold onto both the cup and the saucer to keep them from falling out of her grasp.
Suddenly she realized that it wasn't just wind blowing down on them as a strange sound filled the air. Slow and rhythmic…and somehow familiar. Mia felt like she once knew the sound but had forgotten it.
Whomp. Whomp. Whomp.
It came faster. Louder.
The wind blew harder.
And then it came to her all of a sudden.
Helicopter blades.
Oh, shit.
Mia jumped up from the porch and ran out onto the lawn in front of Gail's house. Sure enough, two black helicopters were coming in fast, speeding across the sky toward her.
The blood drained from Mia's face as she realized what was going on.
This wasn't some lone soldier hiding behind a tree, waiting for her to amble past.
This was a full-on assault.
With a plummeting heart, she realized that Agent Christie hadn't been able to stop her father after all.
"Get Paige inside," Mia shouted to Gail above the deafening roar of the blades. "Lock
