Savage Sanctuary: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 2) (16 page)

A
my
.

Levi almost breathed a sigh of relief when he zigged around a copse of trees. She was there—alive and on her own two feet, though she looked a little unstable. She’d somehow gotten away from the skinny shifter who was scrambling on the ice behind her. And then her captor made it to his feet, and Levi’s vision went red.

The shifter.

The nomad.

The guy from the bar that night outside of Hope Ridge.

Now, the diner in town? Pure heaven.

The diner’s got great food and good company. It can’t be beat.

Zeke’s words repeated in his head, colored by the knowledge that the shifter had been grooming his mate for some kind of mind-wash-fueled kidnapping. The timing couldn’t have been a coincidence, though. Zeke, Gavin, and the two other humans he didn’t know had all arrived together. There was reason behind that plan.

Strategy.

Jesus, what had Zeke set up, and how had he gotten
humans
to follow him?

Levi growled deeper and picked up the pace, needing to be by Amy’s side. The woman had twelve brothers—there was no way she didn’t know how to fight—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t offer his own brand of help to her. And by help, he meant ripping the threat to pieces and stomping all over the remains. Because that was his plan.

Running hell-for-leather, Thaus raced ahead of him, angling for Zeke as Levi headed straight for Amy. Levi’s sole focus was on his mate, though, which was probably why he didn’t see the danger coming. Didn’t see Zeke rise to his feet and pull something shiny from his waistband. Didn’t know there was a gun pointing at his mate until it was too late.

Thaus lunged for Zeke just as the gun went off, but Levi couldn’t tear his eyes away from Amy. Her eyes went wide at the sound, and her body jerked then fell forward almost in slow motion. Levi ran the last few steps then shifted without thought, sliding in the snow on his bare knees to catch her before she hit the ground. Her eyes met his for the briefest of moments before she closed them. Pale, skin cold to the touch, she rested in his arms, a fallen angel against a sea of blood-splattered snow.

“Amy.” Levi’s voice was a prayer to every god ever worshiped, a whispered declaration of need sent out to the universe. The world stood still under the weight of his desperation, and the silence reigned. He curled his naked body around hers and clutched her to him, protecting her, not yet ready to even see if she was still breathing.

But Amy wasn’t that patient.

“Levi, let me go.” Amy pushed on his shoulders, coughing and kicking to break free. “You’ll be okay. It’s a weird thing, but it’ll wear off. Just calm down.”

Levi almost snarled at her for backing away from him, grasping her wrist in a last-ditch effort to keep her close. “What?”

“It’ll wear off. There’s something with the bullets that makes things fuzzy, but it’ll wear off.”

Bullets. His mate had been
shot.

“Okay. Just hold still.” Levi jumped and lunged for her, running his hands over her body to find where she’d been hit. Oddly enough, she seemed to be doing the same thing.

“Quit getting in my way,” she hissed, pushing his hands away.

“I’m trying to find where you’ve been shot.”

Her eyes went wide, and her hands stilled. “I wasn’t hit this time, you were.”

The crunch of a footstep on the hard snow had them both spinning. Zeke stood with a handgun pointing their way. But that wasn’t the only thing drawing Levi’s attention. Thaus lay in the snow a few feet away, silent and still, blood staining the white surface below him red.

Fuck, Zeke must have hit Thaus when the Dire leaped in front of him. But then how—

“She’s mine.” Zeke stood with one badly damaged arm tucked to his chest, claw marks having sliced all the way to the bone, the gun shaking in his other hand. “I worked for her, set up those human demon hunters to go after her pack so I could get to her, even put up with that lying fucking teacher creeping on her when she was
mine
. You can’t have her; I won’t let you take Armaita from me.”

Levi gently pushed Amy behind him and rose to his feet, keeping his eyes on Zeke. Watching the hand that held the gun without blinking. “Her name’s Amy, and she’s
my
mate.”

Zeke’s face turned red, and a low growl rumbled from his chest. “I saw her first.”

“Yeah, that’s not how this works.” Levi kept a hand on Amy’s wrist as he edged closer to Zeke. He wanted her to run, to head back to the cabin where Phego could protect her, but he knew she wouldn’t. He also knew, if she tried, Zeke would take a shot at her. That wasn’t going to happen. He didn’t know if the drugs had a cumulative effect or if Zeke was a good enough shot to hit her in the head.

Levi wasn’t up to taking chances.

Zeke looked over Levi’s shoulder at Amy, a sort of zealous light in his eyes. The look of a man obsessed. “She’s mine. I want her.”

“Again, that’s not how this works. At all.” Levi inched closer still, his heart racing, his adrenaline skyrocketing. “She doesn’t want you, anyway.”

“But she’s mine.” Zeke dropped his shoulder. Whether the move was in response to sadness or defeat or anger or shock, Levi didn’t give a fuck. That drop was his shot. It was just an inch or so, barely enough to notice, but it was the right amount for the barrel of the gun to be aimed more at the ground than him or Amy.

Perfect timing… Levi was sick of the bullshit. “No, Zeke. She’s fucking
mine
.”

Levi went full wolf in the middle of his word, kicking off the ground and racing forward before the shift had actually completed. It was a brazen move, he knew, but the only chance he’d get. He needed to disarm Zeke, and he needed to get it done immediately.

Luckily, speed and surprise were on his side. Zeke barely had time to growl before Levi hit him. The force of Levi’s head connecting squarely with the smaller man’s chest knocked Zeke right off his feet. Levi didn’t let up, though. He clamped down on the shifter’s wrist, tearing through flesh and breaking bones, making sure the gun fell before he continued his attack. Zeke’s pained screams broke the silence of the winter forest, but Levi didn’t care. He snarled louder, bit harder, and slashed at his enemy with a single-minded purpose.

Protect Amy.

This ended—Zeke’s life ended—right there in the woods. Levi would make sure of it.

A
my knelt in the snow
, her head hanging and her tears freezing to her cheeks. The sounds of the fight between Levi and Zeke were something out of her nightmares, but she didn’t run. She couldn’t. The wolf who’d raced with Levi to help her was in trouble. It had to be one of Levi’s pack, maybe even one of the ones she’d met. The ones she’d fed.

One of his brothers.

If it were one of
her
brothers bleeding out on the snow, she’d want someone to help him. She’d beg for it. So instead of running away to safety, she scooted closer to the fallen wolf. Closer to the fight.

Blood stained the ground in a macabre sort of polka-dot pattern. The white snow had turned a nauseating shade of pink from the scuffle of paws, though there were still large spots of red all around. Those spots grew in size and number as Levi treated his prey like a chew toy. Zeke’s dark wolf was bleeding horribly, which was a good sign for her mate.

And Levi…

He was huge in his wolf form. Huge and spotted in a way she’d never seen. As was his fallen brother. Both heavily muscled, built for fighting and obviously skilled at battle with a rough air about them that spoke of violence. Levi and this man were protectors, for sure. Soldiers, even. But the one had fallen.

Amy crawled right up to the wolf’s side, pushing past the fear he instilled. He’d been shot in the shoulder; a wound she knew would be hard to reset simply because of all the moving pieces that controlled motion. Shifters healed well and quickly, but that didn’t mean they’d always heal exactly as they should. She could still hear the screaming from her brother Caleb when he had to have his leg broken a third time because of a knee injury. That night had ended with all thirteen men in her family growing damp in the eye, though they’d never admit it. Still, if Caleb could handle that level of pain and come back from it—he barely even limped anymore—this hulking beast could deal. She just needed to help him.

The wolf on the ground growled as she inched closer. The sound was muffled and weak, not at all what she expected from an animal his size. A sure sign that he was dazed and in pain. Still, the rumble built on an instinctual fear that was hard to fight back.

“I won’t hurt you.” She crept closer, keeping an eye on his front legs. The weapons at the ends were a ridiculous bastardization of wolf claws—long and thick, obviously sharp, and ready to slice someone open with a single swipe. He looked too weak to attack—or so she hoped—but he continued to growl louder and harsher as she approached. The noise went from slightly scary to downright annoying, though, as it piled on top of the sounds of her mate fighting behind her. Plus, it wasn’t helping him in any way. Why was he growling at her when he should have been resting so he could heal faster? Stubborn fool of a man, this one. Amy had dealt with a few of those in her lifetime. Like twelve or so.

Which meant she knew exactly how to treat him, larger size and scariness be damned.

“You can either keep growling and lose the energy you need to heal, or you can be smart and stop. Doesn’t matter to me. I’m taking care of you either way.”

The wolf went quiet, but his eyes—those unusual, molten-silver eyes—stayed wary and watchful. She had a feeling this wasn’t Phego or Mammon, though she couldn’t put her finger on how she knew that. Perhaps it was in the way the beast refused to trust her. Or maybe it was the blank stare. Levi’s brothers had been lively and personable, scary in a way but kind to her. This one…he was none of those things. He was pure aggression, and even fallen as he was, that will to fight was something she sensed on the air. Like a warning or a threat. He’d given her an inch, but that was it. She wasn’t going to be allowed a sliver more.

And yet, she had to
take
more from him if she was going to help him survive.

Without hesitation, she yanked off her wet T-shirt and rolled it into a ball. The garment wasn’t the best option, but it was the only thing she had. She placed the sodden fabric against where the wolf was bleeding the most. And then she pushed hard to slow the deluge.

His whimper of pain rolled straight into a snarl that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

“Sorry, but I have to stop the bleeding.” She shrugged, trying not to think of how cold the wind was as it blew across her damp skin, thankful his eyes hadn’t left her face. At least he wasn’t staring at her bra-clad chest. That would be awkward, which wasn’t really what she needed to be worried about when a wolf who could probably slice her in half with one kick was right in front of her. “The shirt’s probably cold, but it’s the only thing I have right now. As soon as Levi’s finished with Zeke, we’ll get you back to the cabin and find real supplies.”

As soon as Levi was finished
. Meaning, as soon as Levi killed the other shifter. Amy swallowed back the sick feeling in her stomach. She’d never thought of herself as violent, never imagined a time when she would treat the death of another shifter so casually. But Zeke had crossed too many lines. He’d lied, schemed, stalked, and attacked her.

Amy’s family, her entire pack, really, were blunt and direct. You knew from the get-go what you were going to get with them. Zeke wasn’t like that. He’d tricked her, and that trickery could have cost her the mate she’d only just found. It also could have put her entire pack in danger, what with him working with humans. The shifter deserved whatever justice Levi dished out.

A sharp whimper pulled her from her thoughts. She flinched and jerked away from her patient, whispering a soft, “Sorry.”

But the wolf below her didn’t move, didn’t even bother to look at her. He stared past her hip, watching something behind her.

Levi.

The forest had gone almost silent, the sounds of fighting over, not even the impression of a death knell whispering through the trees. Something she hadn’t noticed until that moment.

Amy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, digging for her connection to her mate. He was there, his essence deep inside of her. His aggression strong in the vibrations. He was there, and he was pissed. But he was also feeling a little…triumphant.

She spun with her heart in her throat, verifying what she already knew from her bond, and then she sighed.

The whimper hadn’t come from Levi but from Zeke. The smaller shifter was completely overpowered, his body fallen and pinned under that of her mate. Levi had his teeth in Zeke’s throat, his fur bristling along his spine, his claws embedded in the other wolf’s ribs. Zeke would be done soon. The long, gaping wounds along his torso and the pool of red underneath his head and shoulders proved that. A shifter couldn’t survive that amount of blood loss.

Levi, in all his muscled, mottled glory, wasn’t even fighting anymore. He waited instead, patiently listening for the last beat of a heart. A soldier intent on finishing his mission.

The wolf under her hands tried to move, so she spun back around and pressed harder against the shirt. Too relieved to keep the smile out of her voice. “Hold still. The bullets had something on them that slowed your healing. You’ll bleed more if you move around.”

His eyes met hers—bright like liquefied metal. Silver eyes, dark spots on their flanks, large and muscled and scary even to their own kin. These men weren’t normal pack wolves. There was something special about them, something different.

“What are you?”

The creak of footfalls on snow pulled her attention back to the fight. Or what was the fight. Zeke lay still in the snow, not moving, a circle of blood beneath him that told Amy all she needed to know. Levi had succeeded. Her mate in his wolf form stood to the side of the fallen man, sniffing, looking him over as if to verify the threat was eliminated. To make sure she was again safe.

Amy turned back to his fallen brother, knowing her mate wouldn’t stop until he was positive the danger had passed. She sat with the wolf instead, pressing on his wounds and watching his chest rise and fall with every breath.

Eventually, Levi’s warm arms wrapped around her, acting as a balm to her anxious soul. She leaned into his embrace, wanting to feel more of him against her. Relaxing even as the wolf below watched her with those dangerous eyes.

“Is he okay?”

Amy smiled down at the wolf. “He’ll be fine once the drugs wear off. The shoulder wound is messy but not life-threatening. A few more minutes of rest, and then we can see about getting him up, I think.”

“Okay. A few minutes is good, because while we need to get back and check on the others, you wanted to know what he is. What…we both are.” Levi kissed her neck and pulled her tight. “Dire Wolves. The biggest, the wildest, and the oldest of the wolf shifters. A slightly different breed long thought extinct by your kind.” He took what felt like a deep breath, a slight growl rumbling through him, vibrating against her back. “My brothers and I, we’re the last of them. Seven men of the Dire line left in the world, though we can’t tell anyone that fact. Our safety relies on keeping our secret.”

The wolf stared up at her, as if weighing her response. Amy kept her hands pressing her shirt against his wound, kept her eyes on his.

“I’ve never heard of a Dire Wolf before.”

“We try not to be overtly…visible.”

Amy looked over her shoulder at her handsome mate, intrigued by his story but still just so damn grateful he was alive. “How have you stayed hidden for so long?”

“We don’t really hide. Most packs have forgotten the legends, or they assume the extinction tales are correct so they never expect to see a Dire Wolf. They don’t think anything about our appearance when we shift in front of them. We also have platoons of men under us—regular shifters—who can step into a mission should our true identities need to stay under wraps.”

“Huh.” Dire Wolves. She was mated to one. She had the blood of another all over her. How strange her world had become. And yet, there were things to do. Realities to deal with. The first being the wolf before her and his injuries. Amy pulled the shirt away from his shoulder wound to check it, satisfied when the blood no longer flowed freely. “We can try to get him up now, I think.

Levi must have expected a more dramatic reaction from her. “Hang on a second… Just ‘huh’?”

The wolf cocked an eyebrow, almost challenging her in some way. Waiting for an answer. Amy bit her lip, accepting her feelings for what they were. No, not just “huh,” but she was cold, she was wet, and she had the blood of someone important to her mate all over her. Out of all the things she could have freaked out about, the fact her mate was some sort of almost mystical subset of shifter wasn’t anywhere close to the top of the list.

Giving the wolf an eyebrow raise worthy of one of her brothers’ dumb moves, Amy replied, “I would have liked for you to tell me this sooner, but it’s not like your being a Dire Wolf is going to change fate.”

Her words sounded even more true spoken out loud than they had in her head. They sounded right. She leaned into Levi’s shoulder and tilted her head for a kiss. “You’re still my mate; you’re just way cooler is all.”

Levi chuckled but granted her request, kissing her softly before pulling back with a sigh. “Our belief is that Omegas are the last females of the Dire line as well. We get size and strength—you Omegas get the power to hold a pack together.”

“Lucky me.”

“The luck’s all mine with this one.” He kissed her again, longer this time, making her almost forget how cold she was. Almost. Eventually, though, he pulled away, squeezing her tighter in his arms. “How’s my brother here?”

“I’m not entirely sure…he’s awfully quiet.” Amy shivered, clenching her jaw to keep her teeth from rattling. “He’s going to have a rough go until that shoulder heals, though. We may need to build some sort of sled to get him back.”

“Doubtful.” Levi inched forward, practically leaning around her. “Thaus, this is my mate, Armaita, though she prefers Amy. Amy, meet Thaus. He’s one of my Dire brothers, and the second-baddest motherfucker I’ve ever met. Give him a minute, and he’ll probably be able to pull
us
back to the cabin.”

“Second-baddest? That sounds ominous.” Amy shivered, the cold truly seeping into her bones. “And a minute’s about all I’ve got left out here.”

Levi ran his hands over her arms. “Jesus, you’re so cold. Why don’t you shift, doll?”

“But, your brother—”

“Don’t worry about anything with Thaus. Just go wolf and be warm.”

The thought of her wolf form, of the heavy fur that would cover her weaker human self, tempted her. But still… “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” He leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “I want to see your wolf form. I bet you have a great tail.”

Amy couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re such a perv.”

“Just for you.” He bit her shoulder, inciting a growl that surprised even her. The wolf on the ground huffed what sounded like a snort, snagging Amy’s attention once more.

Levi sighed. “You hush, old man.”

“All right, you two. I’m shifting before I start losing body parts to this cold.”

Levi leaned back on his palms to watch her, completely naked. Comfortable in his skin. He was so damned handsome, so stunning in his masculinity. Amy wanted to straddle him and give him one more deep kiss, to rub her body against his and check every single inch of him to be sure he was okay after the fight. But the wind whipped across the clearing, stinging her eyes and making her skin burn. There would be time alone with her naked mate later. For now, she needed not to die of hypothermia.

Amy stepped away and shifted, letting her wet clothes fall to the ground. With her four paws on the snow, she shook from the tip of her nose to the end of her tail. It felt good to be in her wolf form; it felt right. And it was so much warmer.

“I was right.” Levi grinned, giving her a wink. “You’ve got a great tail.”

Amy snorted a laugh and pranced across the snow. Might as well give the man a bit of a show, after all. She rubbed against Levi’s back as he laughed at her antics, nuzzling into his neck, hoping to share some warmth.

Thaus huffed again before pushing up to a sitting position. He wasn’t exactly what she’d call stable, but he was able to stay upright. A definite improvement. Levi had his arm extended, ready to catch his friend if need be. Amy rushed to Thaus’ other side, using her body to hold his up. Pressing herself against him without thought to his innate stay-the-fuck-away-ness.