"That's just how it is around here," was the best he could come up with.
"Well, now it needs to be different," Olivia said briskly. "That roadhouse was bursting with alphas tonight, Gray. Some of the things they were saying were, um, misguided, but their hearts are in the right place. They want to help—so let them."
Gray glanced at his beautiful omega. She made it sound so easy.
More importantly, she made him believe it was possible.
They kept talking all the way home and were still at it when Gray pulled onto the dirt road leading up to his house, discussing various strategies to attack the problems facing the settlement. But when they reached the end of the drive, and the truck's headlights landed squarely on the cabin, they both fell into shocked silence.
Lying in a dark, seeping pool on the slate patio was the bloody, rotting carcass of the deer Gray had buried four nights before.
Chapter Sixteen
What the hell was that thing?
Olivia recoiled, even though she was in the safety of the cab of Gray's truck. Whatever it was, it looked like a scene in a horror movie, what looked like bone and entrails lying in a pool of dark slime.
Then the smell hit her.
"Oh my God," she gasped, clutching her stomach in an effort not to hurl.
"Yeah," Gray concurred grimly, wrinkling his own nose. "A few days in the ground didn't do much to improve that deer."
A deer… of course. Now she noticed the dappled fur, the black hooves. But why—
A few days in the ground. Everything clicked into place in a horrifying instant. This wasn't just any deer—this was the one Gray had buried with Olivia's tracker, the one that was supposed to convince the betas she was dead.
The fact that someone had gone to the trouble of dumping it here proved that the ruse hadn't worked. This wasn't just a warning—this was a rebuke, the betas' calling card to convey that they were in control. The government wanted her and Gray to know they'd been on their property.
Gray didn't seem fazed by the horrid smell, but Olivia could sense the change in his energy even from the passenger's seat. His muscles had gone rigid as he started intently scanning the area around them. His hand was tense on the handle of the door. Everything about him signaled coiled readiness.
An image came into Olivia's memory: she hadn't seen her alpha on such high alert since the night he'd come to her holding a knife, intent on digging the chip out of her arm…the same chip he'd buried in the deer carcass.
This was Gray in the face of danger. This was her alpha in protective mode, ready to do whatever needed to be done to keep them both safe.
Oh shit.
The intruders might still be out there hiding. With all the new tech they'd taunted her with, all the devices they'd refused to explain, they could be anywhere in the darkness—watching, waiting to see what she and Gray would do next.
"Back up," she whispered, desperately hoping that the government agents hadn't found a way to bug the truck. "Let's get the hell out of here."
"No fucking way." Gray killed the engine and yanked the keys out of the ignition. "Alphas don't run from anything or anyone."
Well, that was a great motto…if you were an alpha. Before Olivia could respond, he'd opened his door, making as little sound as possible. "Stay in the truck."
"Gray, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go out there," she whispered frantically, braced for an argument.
But she didn't get one. There was no hint of reproach in his gaze, only understanding—and fierce determination.
"Don't be afraid, hellcat." The gentle smile that was meant to reassure her only made him look more handsome than he had a right to be in a life-or-death situation. "If there's anyone on my land, even if they're covered in scent blockers, I'll find them."
That was exactly what she was afraid of.
For such a smart alpha, Gray could be a real idiot sometimes. Didn't he know that he wasn't hunting some tenderfoot photographer this time? That his prey was armed with a hell of a lot more than cameras and tripods?
These men were elite soldiers, for God's sake, in possession of so many high-powered weapons that they could probably destroy the entire roadhouse in a single volley.
But apparently, the idea of roaming human arsenals on his land didn't concern Gray enough to modify his plan. "You're worried about me, aren't you?"
What a stupid question—the man was about to run off into the darkness to single-handedly confront a stone-cold killing machine. "Of course, I'm worried! You're my—"
Olivia caught herself just before she said the word. But she'd said enough.
Gray grinned, his eyes crinkling in delight. "I'm your what?"
Damn it.
Olivia bit her lip. Why couldn't she think before speaking? She didn't even know why she was still fighting so hard against the truth of who she had become, who she'd always been at her core.
Seeing Gray taking charge at the bar tonight, working selflessly on behalf of all those alphas—even the ones who didn't appreciate his sacrifice—had softened Olivia's heart in ways nothing else could.
He wasn't only protecting her because she was his personal fuck toy, his property. Gray was that way with everyone. He cared deeply about his brothers and community.
Olivia might disagree with his methods at times, but there was no doubt in her mind that his heart had always been in the right place.
"You're my alpha," she admitted shyly.
"Damn straight, I am," he said, drawing himself up to his full height. "And that's why I'll be back to finish what you started days ago."
Then he closed the door and disappeared into the night, leaving Olivia alone with a barrel of worries and a few frayed strands of hope.
The betas were on his land.
It didn't matter that Gray was unable to smell them. There was plenty of evidence of their presence—footprints, trampled brush, and broken tree limbs.
All of it fresh.
To betas like them, all these clues would add up to a problem with no solution. A truckload of technology wouldn't be able to put together the story from all these little clues. It took an alpha hunter who had lived the majority of his life deep in nature.
The scant, faint footprints leading up to the porch were tightly grouped and deep where they'd stepped in the soft earth. The betas had been calm when they'd made them, weighed down by the burden of the heavy deer, moving as slowly and cautiously as they knew how.
The footsteps leading away from the door told another story. The deeper imprints, the stride length, the increased carelessness indicated that they'd been running in several directions...as if they'd been interrupted unexpectedly and didn't have the discipline or training to react properly.
Maybe by a truck coming up the drive. A truck that usually didn't arrive home until much later after a night at the bar.
Which suggested that not only were the betas still on his land—they were close.
Compared with alphas, betas were terrible runners. The fastest among them had trouble covering a mile in five minutes, even on flat ground. With rough terrain, elevation changes, and obstacles, they couldn't have made it half that far.
There was also the matter of their clumsiness. A fleeing beta made more noise than any woodland creature, even a startled grizzly. If the bastards were still running, Gray would've heard them.
So where the hell were they?
Close. Close and watching.
Gray might not be able to detect their scent, but he sensed a strained energy in the air. This knowledge didn't come from any one of his senses, but from the combination of all of them, combined with his instincts.
A silent buzz. A barely detectable vibration. The hairs along his arm standing on end.
"I know you're there," he bellowed into the dark woods.
There was no answer, no rustle of leaves or footfalls on the forest floor.
In time, they'd make a mistake. Betas always did. But Gray didn't feel like waiting.
"Lay down your weapons and show yourself now, and I'll let you walk out of here."
It was a generous offer, and the betas would be fools not to take him up on it. They didn't have to worry that he was bluffing, as everyone—even these idiots—knew that alphas didn't lie.
"You have ten seconds," Gray called out calmly. "After that, the deal is off."
In good faith, Gray kept count in his mind, even though he was almost certain the hidden, armed men weren't likely to surrender. It had to take a special kind of soldier to be chosen for duty deep in the Boundarylands—the kind who was ready to die before revealing his superiors' secrets.
Gray counted all the way to eight before he was proven right.
He heard leather move against metal to his left—a gloved finger on a trigger. Gray was flat on the forest floor before the bullet whizzed overhead where his chest had been.
The bullet evoked no emotion other than satisfaction. This was the mistake Gray had been hoping to provoke. In taking the shot, the soldier had revealed his location.
The other betas followed suit, firing off shots that missed Gray but revealed exactly where they were hiding.
When he judged the first round to be over, he exploded up from the ground, instantly bringing more shots. Gray could hear Olivia shrieking in the truck behind him, then scrambling to take cover on the floor of the cab. Gray changed course and ran into the open, drawing the gunmen's fire away from the vehicle.
Bullets came ever closer to striking him as he sprinted in a wild zigzag pattern toward the source. He could hear them thunking into tree trunks and splintering branches. One even grazed his arm, causing Gray to curse in irritation as he slid the last few feet into the first gunman's hiding spot.
"You should have taken the deal," he growled, tearing the scoped rifle from the man's hands. With one hard yank, Gray twisted the barrel, rendering the weapon useless. The soldier was reaching for another weapon when Gray grabbed his neck and gave it the same twist.
The body fell limp and lifeless at the base of the tree he'd been hiding behind.
The three other soldiers were just as easy to find…and just as easy to end.
Gray was barely out of breath as he dropped the last dead body, but he was plenty annoyed. He'd been planning to spend the night making love to Olivia and forever sealing his claim on her by reciprocating her bite, but now he'd have to spend the next few hours digging graves instead.
At least this round was over. That strange energy, the unsettling sense of being watched, was gone.
Static crackled from the dead soldier's belt. "Murphy, do you copy? We're no longer receiving your transmission. Report."
Gray bent down to rip the radio off the belt and depressed the button. "Talk all you want, but Murphy can't hear you anymore," he growled.
"Who is this?" the voice asked after a shocked second. "Identify yourself."
"Who the fuck do you think it is? Put on the agent in charge."
Another pause, this one longer. "This is the agent in charge. "
The hell it was. That was the voice of a man who took orders, not one who gave them. And sure as hell not the voice of someone capable of sending an omega into the Boundarylands unprotected, or three men on a suicide mission.
Gray had no patience for liars. "Agent in charge. Now."
The silence that followed made Gray wonder if they'd simply cut him off. But then came the voice he was waiting for—cold, calculated, and with no hint of remorse.
"I'm here, Mr. Connor."
The sound was enough to make Gray's blood boil. "Who are you?"
"I could give you a name," he replied, sounding almost amused. "But we both know it would be an alias."
"I've killed your men."
"I understand."
"And if you send more, I'll kill them too."
"I believe you."
The cryptic reply didn't sit well with Gray, but he wasn't about to play games with this eerie bastard. "We've figured out your plan."
This time the response wasn't so quick to come. "Is that right?" the voice eventually asked.
"We know you have the technology to test for an omega's nature. We also know that you're behind the fuel and supply shortages. You're trying to stir up shit in the Boundarylands."
"Tsk—language," the voice said, recovering its steely indifference. "You make me sound like a very busy man."
Gray'd had enough. "I'll give you one warning. If you want to stay busy and breathing, you'd better stay the fuck out of the Boundarylands. If we ever come face to face, I will kill you."
"Thank you for the warning, Mr. Connor," the voice said as if the conversation bored him. "I'll let you get back to Olivia now."
And with that, another loud crackle of static erupted from the speaker.
Gray let the radio fall from his hand before crushing it with his heel until it was buried in a dozen pieces in the carpet of pine needles.
The prick had been right about one thing—Gray definitely needed to get back to his omega. And after tonight, he'd never leave her side again.
Chapter Seventeen
"Oh my God, I can't thank you enough!" Olivia resisted the urge to throw her arms around the grinning alpha standing in the doorway. The way Gray cleared his throat and scowled at her words suggested it wouldn't be the best idea. Besides, alphas didn't seem to have mastered the art of the bro hug—or any hug at all, save for those who had mates.
At least, Olivia hoped the mates of the other omegas in the territory treated them as well as Gray treated her. Though that was setting an awfully high bar.
"I really appreciate you bringing me all these boxes," she amended, giving Knox a smile. No need to go upsetting her alpha over a simple favor.
"It's just clothes," Gray grumbled, as if he couldn't imagine how she could be so excited about a pile of cardboard boxes.
"It's everything I own," she corrected him. "Not just my clothes, but my books and cameras and journals and equipment. Besides, you're not the one who's had to wear nothing but hand-me-down Christmas sweaters for two straight weeks."
Unable to wait a second longer, Olivia ripped open the closest box and found it filled with shirts, pants, and bras. She pulled out a favorite pair of jeans and squealed with excitement, running her fingertips over the soft, well-worn denim that fit her like a second skin.
"Knox, you really can't imagine how grateful I am to have my things," she said, cradling the jeans like they were the single most precious thing in the world.
"You already said thank you once." Gray made a show of draping his arm around her shoulder while glaring at the other alpha. "Trust me, that's more than enough for someone like him."
Olivia rolled her eyes at her mate. "Don't be rude. Knox was kind enough to pick up all these boxes from the roadhouse and bring them to your front door out of the kindness of his heart."
No, she corrected herself. Not Gray's front door…theirs.
Olivia had settled into her new life with surprising speed. It had only been a couple of weeks since the night that Gray had taken out the agents who invaded his land, and she was already having a hard time remembering the part of her life that came before.
Maybe the claiming bite he'd given her that night had worked some kind of alpha magic. Though her shoulder had been sore for a couple of days and she still bore the scabbed outline, it had also brought with it a deep sense of peace, a serenity that Olivia had never known she was missing.
But her new nature hadn't taken over her identity as she had feared. She was still the same Olivia she had been before, still enjoyed nothing more than spending hours in the wilderness capturing photos of the creatures who lived here.
(Well, other than the hours she spent with her alpha, she corrected herself with a blush.)
In fact, Olivia had lost none of her desire to share her photographs with the world, to teach others to see the beauty in the wilderness, and not be afraid of it.
Now, she never had to leave the field.
She could follow her passion all day, every day, and not have to sacrifice love and family to have the life she wanted.
"Trust me, Knox never does anything out kindness alone," Gray warned, his eyes narrowing as he gave his alpha brother a suspicious stare.
"Don't listen to him," Knox laughed. "He's just jealous of the way you smile at me. He's afraid I'm going to steal you away."
"Bullshit," Gray said, but his grin gave him away. "I've got more faith in Olivia's loyalty than I do that the sun will come up every morning."
"It's true." Olivia blushed. Gray was right. She would never leave him, not for anything or anyone in this world.
"I don't get it," Knox said teasingly. "You two seem to argue more than you talk."
Gray pulled Olivia even closer. "That's because she's my little hellcat. You should be glad Olivia didn't end up being sent to your land, Knox. It takes a real alpha to handle an omega who thinks for herself. She'd send you running with your tail between your legs."
"You don't know what you're saying, old man. Any omega who got left on my land would be thanking her lucky stars and unable to walk for a month." As Gray shook his head and chuckled, Knox's devilish grin turned thoughtful. "I don't think I'll ever understand love," he added, almost to himself.
"Be careful," Gray said. "I said a similar thing once. You can see how that turned out."
Knox gave him a thumbs-up and surveyed the pile that took up half the room.
"I think you're going to have to build an addition for all this stuff," he told Gray. "By the way, sorry it took me so long to get here. That pup Ryder said he would give me a hand, but he never showed up to the bar."
Gray frowned, his arm tensing around Olivia's shoulder. "That's not like him. I've never known Ryder not to keep his word."
"Yeah, well, something probably came up." Knox didn't seem to share Gray's concern. "It happens."
"I don't know…maybe we ought to check on him."
Knox dug his keys out of his pocket. "I can swing by the kid's place on my way home if you want."
Gray: The Boundarylands Omegaverse: M/F Alpha Omega Romance Page 11
