Troy had been briefly worried when he'd caught wind of Hope and Maddox crossing over onto his property. The last thing he needed was another dust-up between the surly alpha and his own omega—especially when he wasn't around to make sure it didn't escalate.
He had been ready to drop his tools and rush off to find Faith, but as it turned out, he didn't need to. Hope had the situation completely under control.
It struck Troy as pretty funny that everyone in the Boundarylands, even the most aggressive and powerful alphas, instinctively steered clear of Maddox and his legendary temper…but not Faith. She was the only person Troy had ever met who was willing to challenge his unpredictable neighbor. She might be half his size, but she wasn't afraid to tell him off.
Maybe Faith thought that God of hers would protect her. Or maybe she was counting on the fact that they were now technically family.
Or maybe she just didn't give a shit. After all, this was the woman who had crashed into Evander's armed with a list of demands, and then fired off a couple of shots when no one took her seriously. Faith might like to think of herself as some sort of pious Sunday school teacher, but deep down, she was a badass.
The thought made Troy smile.
He went outside to wait for the two women, wiping his hands on a shop rag as they came into view. The sun had delivered an unexpectedly warm afternoon. He breathed in the scents of melting snow and the roots of dormant foliage stirring under the earth, enjoying the contentment that radiated from his omega.
Faith had come here looking for her sister, and though the outcome wasn't anything like what she had planned, the two were now reunited. That was a start.
"Hey, Hope," Troy said, stuffing the rag in the pocket of his overalls. There wasn't any point to pretending that he hadn't been waiting for them—Hope had to be aware that he'd been tracking their movements all afternoon. "Good to see you."
"You too, Troy." Hope's smile seemed genuine. "Thanks for letting me catch up with my sister, and I'm sorry I didn't let you know I was coming first."
"It's fine. You know you and Maddox have an open invitation to come here any time you like."
"He and I appreciate that very much," she said. Though just about all of the residents of the Boundarylands were welcome on Troy's property, a formal invitation still carried a great deal of significance.
Hope turned to her sister. "I should probably get back home. Maddox gets a little weird when I'm gone too long."
Troy didn't bother to tell her that he'd already sensed the protective alpha waiting silently for his mate a couple hundred feet into the woods. He repressed a grin at the thought of the guy who'd wiped the floor with anyone who pissed him off in the past, standing around waiting like a beta holding his wife's purse while she was in a dressing room.
"Do you really have to go?" Faith asked, taking Hope's hand. "We've barely caught up."
"Don't worry, Little Bird, I'll come back and see you in a few days. Trust me, we're going to see each other all the time."
"Especially when the baby comes," Faith said excitedly. "I'll babysit any time you want. I can't believe I'm going to be an auntie!"
The joy in his omega's voice struck a chord of happiness in Troy—even if he didn't relish the thought of sharing his omega with a squalling pup in another alpha's house. Though with any luck, they'd soon have one of their own.
Hope gave her sister a long hug before turning to him. "And Troy, I had better not hear anything about you showing up at Evander's on Friday nights."
"You know that's not going to happen." Troy tried not to be offended. How could anyone imagine he could ever return to the pale comforts that Nicky's girls offered when he could be bringing down the house all night long with his beautiful, sexy mate?
"Good," Hope said. "Cause my sister isn't the only one in the family who knows how to handle a gun."
Troy laughed. Any alpha foolish enough to stray from his omega deserved a bullet in the back—but he respected Hope for making it clear anyway. He decided that he was glad that his omega had her sister nearby, even if it meant putting up with that irascible son-of-a-bitch mate of hers.
As Faith watched her sister walk into the woods toward her mate, Troy caught the scent of worry and unease taking root in her again. Apparently, the comfort and reassurance she'd found in the visit with Hope wasn't permanent.
"It seemed like you felt better after spending time with Hope," he said, choosing his words carefully.
"I do," Faith answered, her eyes on the forest where Hope had vanished into the trees. "I did."
Troy went to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He only meant to offer comfort—but still, touching her ignited the ferocious need that was always simmering just below the surface.
This was going to happen every time he touched her until the day he died. Faith was everything to him now, the only woman who would ever make him burn with desire.
And yet she still wasn't his--not completely, anyway. Not the way he craved. This need, too, was always there, always lurking in the back of his mind, no matter what he was doing.
Troy forced his thoughts back to the moment.
"I know this isn't what you had planned when you came here," he said. "But at least you can see that Hope isn't a prisoner. She's here because she wants to be."
"I've never seen her so happy," Faith admitted, relaxing into his arms
