Gray (The Boundarylands #10) - Callie Rhodes Page 0,3

sound or change of wind direction or blur of motion.

But that didn't mean that Olivia was reckless. On the contrary, she valued her own life enough to be very, very careful. That was why she researched every job extensively and took every precaution. Most of all, she always made damn sure every job was worth the risk.

Each photograph in Olivia's portfolio represented a reward that others wouldn't necessarily understand. She wasn't motivated by money or prestige—things that could be easily wiped out with one wrong move. All the cash and awards in the world wouldn't mean a damn thing if she ended up six feet underground because of a venomous snake bite.

The things that did matter to Olivia—the things that got her up in the morning and made her look forward to the day ahead—were less tangible. She longed to bring the beauty and fragility of nature to others through research, education, and raising public awareness. That was why she usually chose to work with universities or wildlife non-profits, assignments that helped her build a legacy that would mean something to the world long after she was gone.

Never in a thousand years would she have imagined that her end would come at the hands of a raging alpha while being coerced by some shady government agency—an end as undignified as it was likely to be unnoticed. Because an employer who threatened your family wasn't likely to let that same family know they'd gotten you killed.

A split second after Olivia's camera had been ripped from her grip, a massive hand poked through the opening in the blind and ripped the synthetic shell clean in half. The shelter crumbled around Olivia, poles, camouflage, and camera equipment toppling to the ground. It was all she could do to remain motionless on her lightweight tripod stool as her heart thundered wildly.

Remaining calm was her only hope of survival, and she ran through the disaster protocol in her mind: release tension through breath, focus on sensory input, repeat. She'd trained for this moment for years.

Okay…not this moment precisely. But nothing in her training could have prepared her for this.

Olivia had been given a quick primer by the leader of the heavily camouflaged team that had brought her here: if confronted, don't run; avoid eye contact; telegraph submission by making herself small and making no abrupt movements. Olivia didn't bother telling him that advice was old hat for her—Dealing with Apex Predators 101. She didn't need to be reminded that running from a wild hunter only sent their killer instincts into overdrive.

But she couldn't blame the terse, aggressive leader for what he'd left out—once those killer instincts had been tripped, your chances of survival were slim.

In this case, very slim indeed.

It wasn't as if a charging Kodiak was going stop midstride to determine if you were looking it directly in the eye or down at your shoes. All it cared about was ripping your belly open and feasting on your entrails.

Given what was happening right now, it seemed safe to say that alphas were no different. Maybe the government suit had been right to call alphas nothing more than animals. Judging by the menacing growl filling the air around her, making her squeeze her eyes shut in terror, this alpha was as aggressive and fearsome as any creature she'd ever faced.

The only thing left to do now was pray.

Olivia focused on her galloping heart and the knowledge that the massive beast was only inches away, his bulk blocking the sun entirely. Horrifying moments ticked past one after the next until…until…

Until nothing.

The cool autumn air around Olivia became eerily still. The birdsong that had stopped when the alpha destroyed the blind did not resume. Even the rustling of the trees was muted. The only sound was a low, threatening rumble coming from the alpha. The vibrations were so strong that they managed to travel through the ground and up into her body, overtaking her fragile stillness.

Second after torturous second stretched on, Olivia's terror preventing her from marking the passage of time. They might have stayed like that for a minute, or an hour…until the moment came when she couldn't bear the tension any longer.

In violation of every bit of training that Olivia had ever undertaken, she opened her eyes. She glanced up quickly, not daring to let her gaze travel all the way up to the alpha's face.

Nevertheless…holy shit.

Her eyes were filled with the sight of more than enough of the alpha to know that she was