"Or little girl," Darcy interjected, plopping down to join them. She'd tucked a wildflower in her hair, which was purple these days instead of pink.
"Or both," an omega named Paige said with a laugh as she darted around them, trying to wrangle her own toddling twins.
Emily smiled to herself. Truly, she didn't have a preference. She was simply delighted by the embarrassment of riches in her life—a devoted alpha who loved her more than she thought possible, a baby on the way, and a community of true friends.
Three months ago, Emily would have never dreamed any of this could happen. Hell, she wouldn't have believed she'd survive this long.
But here she was, under an azure late summer sky, the first hints of autumn coloring the tips of the leaves in the copse of trees next to Gail's house, enjoying the company of friends.
Emily didn't care what anybody said—she knew this was heaven.
"Anybody want a last cup of tea before the men get back?" Gail called from the porch, holding up two pots. One held traditional hot tea for omegas who were pregnant or nursing, and the other was filled with a little more kick.
"Too late," a deep voice said. Randall stepped from the trees, followed by the other alphas. "We're already back."
Gail's smile grew at the sight of her mate coming home. "Don't think that means I'm putting away the bourbon," she said cheekily.
Randall shook his head, sunlight glinting off his silver hair. "Didn't think it would. Ladies," he said, dipping his head in acknowledgment.
The alphas circled the blanket, their clothes dusted with sawdust, and Emily jumped up to greet Cade.
Even after all these months by his side, the thrill that arced through her every time she saw him hadn't faded. She couldn't get enough of the way his golden eyes danced when he looked at her.
She threw her arms around him, and he lifted her into the air, spinning her around before giving her a hard and hungry kiss.
"How was it this time?" she asked quietly.
Cade shrugged. "Better. The brothers still give me shit, but—"
"But you still deserve it," Zeke said, punching his shoulder as he walked by. "Don't worry, Emily. Your mate will live down his past…eventually."
"Probably right about the time his own pup starts picking fights at the bar," Aric teased.
Emily gave Cade an apologetic shrug. She knew that making nice wasn't easy for him, but he did it for her sake, and for that, Emily was deeply grateful.
"Gail's still got a pot of bourbon on the porch if that would help," she told him.
"Damn straight, it would." Cade took her hand and led her toward the porch.
Soon everyone was gathered around the steps of the house, sharing the tea.
"Still haven't heard any news from the north," Randall said.
"Is that unusual?" Emily asked.
She'd spent almost all of her time up north at home with Sloan. Other than the occasional trip to the bar, the only people she ever saw were his close friends. She knew now that those bastards probably weren't representative of the uplands as a whole, but despite all the shit they had talked, they never mentioned the lowlands.
Cade shrugged, his expression darkening. "The lack of news isn't too unusual. But we trade with them for most of our gas and fuel, and they haven't delivered in months."
Cold fear twisted deep in Emily's belly. "You mean you haven't received one in three months," she clarified miserably. "Not since Sloan died."
"Pretty much," Randall said.
Cade pulled her into his arms. "It's not your fault, love."
"No, it's not," Randall agreed. "Bad alphas need to be culled from the pack no matter the cost. But we should probably still make the trip up there and check on what's going on, while we still have gas in our tanks to do it."
Emily looked up at Cade. "Does that mean you're going to join them?"
"Of course," he said with a faint smile. "If anything goes wrong, old man Randall's gonna need me to back him up."
Randall laughed. "It would be the first time your fists ever came in handy."
"Watch who you're calling old man, pup," Gail chided Cade.
"Cade's right, though," Randall said. "I hope it's nothing, but in case there's bad blood, we'll be glad to have some fighters in the group."
Emily didn't like the sound of that. "Just promise me you won't go looking for trouble."
"You know I can't promise you that," Cade said with a wicked grin.
Hope laughed. "I hate to be the one to break it to you, Emily, but your mate is trouble."
True enough. "At least promise me that you'll come home in one piece."
Cade's grin faded as he gazed deep into her eyes. "Now that I can promise, love," he said as he bent to kiss her. "I will always come home to you."
Welcome to The Boundarylands Omegaverse!
Thank you for reading CADE, Book 8 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: ROMAN (The Boundarylands Omegaverse)
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ROMAN: The Boundarylands Omegaverse
"I've got a bad feeling about this, Dad."
Phoebe Whitfield tried to corral her racing heartbeat as she leaned forward to get her father's attention. With her younger brother Holden riding shotgun, there was nowhere for her to sit but on the thin mattress in the cramped sleeper compartment behind the cab of the eighteen-wheel tanker that her father and Holden had stolen several hours earlier.
"Hush," Ed Whitfield whispered over his shoulder as he slowly turned off the winding two-lane road onto a narrow dirt drive—no small feat for a vehicle of that size. "You know these guys can hear everything."
Phoebe rolled her eyes at her father's words. He made it sound like he was talking about a couple of his old drinking buddies down at the corner bar instead of the pack of massive, brutal alphas who lived in this remote mountainous territory.
"We got this, Sis," Holden told her, full of brash confidence and warmed by the contents of the flask he and their father had been passing back and forth. "This ain't our first run."
Maybe not…but Phoebe was willing to bet it was their first hauling a half-empty tank of fuel when they'd been paid to deliver a full one.
But she knew bringing that up wouldn't do a bit of good. She'd just get hushed again.
After all, this was the first time she'd actually entered the Pacific Northwest Boundarylands, while the men of her family had been working it for years.
After a decade spent running black market goods in and out of the Boundarylands, her father considered himself an expert on all things alpha. Holden had joined the operation a few years ago after graduating from high school and was only too happy to back their father up.