Savage Sanctuary: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 2) (15 page)

I
t took
about three minutes of being under near-constant fire for Levi to realize the bastards weren’t aiming to kill.

“What the fuck is this?” Levi ducked behind a rocking chair as another bullet shattered the handrail near him. The noise made Mammon jerk, but he wasn’t conscious enough to hold himself up. He began to slide along the railing as gravity took over. Levi reached out and pulled Mammon back to a sitting position. The guy was practically passed out, something Levi had never seen before.

Phego growled and tucked himself behind the corner of the porch, looking for cover as gunfire sounded every few seconds. “I don’t know. They’re not coming any closer, but they’ve got us pinned. You and I could probably make it back inside without being hit, but not Mammon. He’s getting worse.”

Levi didn’t need to agree. They both knew something was seriously off when a shifter with nothing more than a flesh wound couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, and couldn’t stay conscious. Something was wrong with their friend…with this entire situation.

The men were shooting from behind their car. That was understandable…use a large, bullet-stopping object as cover. It made sense. But they were shooting high and wide, firing every few seconds without rhyme or reason. Either they weren’t worried about running out of ammunition, or a direct hit wasn’t the overall plan. But then, what would be? A military unit would attack, tighten the net, and eliminate. This was more…attack for attacking’s sake.

Phego must have been on the same thought trail.

“Why are they shooting so randomly? It’s like these bastards have an endless supply of ammunition or something.” Phego jerked as part of the support post exploded. “And whatever they’ve got on the fucking bullets, it’s making Mammon here pretty much useless. Good thing your Amy didn’t get hit with one when they shot through the door.”

Levi’s blood ran cold, and his wolf surged forward. Amy. She’d been bleeding from her arm when he left her inside the house. He didn’t know for sure if it was from the glass, the wood of door itself, or the bullets that busted through it all, though. She could be in trouble. She could be half unconscious on the floor, just like Mammon. A thought that made his wolf rage. He reached deep for his mating bond to her, that feeling of
her
in the world around him. Having a mate was still so new, the bond so fragile, but he hunted. He reached.

But he couldn’t find it. Couldn’t find his sense of her. Anywhere.

“Motherfucker.” Levi spun for the door, but the bastards hiding behind their car fired at the wall in front of him, pinning him in place once more. “We need to get to her, to get to the guns. We can take these fuckers out.”

Phego growled and tilted his head to look over the handrail. “I know, but the guns are inside, kid.”

It was the kid that pushed him right over the edge. Instead of lashing out, though, Levi brought all his anger and frustration inward. A wave of focused attention washed over Levi, slowing down everything around him. He viewed the world as if through a camera lens, marking distance and light, seeking spots of shadow and framing his plan in his head. Opening the aperture, blurring the background until only the most vital pieces of the picture were clear.

“We’re going to have to rush them.” Every bit of military training Levi had gone through over the centuries fired in his head as the world regained its normal speed. His mate needed him, his brothers needed him, his back was literally to the wall…and he could not fail. If he and Phego were going to get out from under the firepower of these humans, they’d need to remove the threat. That meant taking down the men with the guns.

But Phego didn’t jump in with an
affirmative
or
hell yeah
or even a subtle
Ooh Rah
. He just stared as if his pack brother had grown a second head. Something Levi didn’t care to think too much about.

“I know it sounds crazy, but we’re pinned. Someone is going to have to draw their fire so we can reach our own supplies.”

Mammon, seeming at least partially awake all of a sudden, pushed himself off the floor. As the shifter crawled to his knees, wobbly and weak even on all fours, Levi and Phego could only stare. And then the bastard actually spoke.

“Let me.”

If there was one thing Levi hadn’t expected, it was that. “You can barely walk.”

But Mammon was nothing if not stubborn. “She’s your mate, son. You’d die for her, we all know that, but dying’s not the best thing to keep her safe right now. They’ve already shot me once. If this shit clouding my brain is deadly, I’m done for anyway.” He leaned closer, his breathing hard as he whispered at Levi. “You take care of that girl. She’s way too good for you, kid. You mated up—now earn it.”

Mammon offered his arm while looking Levi right in the eye. Understanding and prepared for…whatever was about to happen. Levi accepted the offer, accepted the fact that his brother was prepared to die on behalf of his mate. He didn’t balk or beg. He gave the man the respect he deserved for an act so selfless.

Levi gripped Mammon’s forearm and nodded once. “I’ve got your back.”

Mammon chuckled. “It’s not my back I’m worried about, but I appreciate the effort.”

Before he could stand, the roar of a massive piece of machinery blasted through the air. The sound grew louder, more aggressive, as it moved closer. Only one machine made noise like that, and only one Dire Wolf was badass enough to ride the beast.

Levi’s relieved sigh was unavoidable. “Here comes the cavalry.”

Thaus turned his monster of a Harley onto the gravel drive seemingly without slowing down, one hand holding a handgun nearly the size of his forearm. Holding and aiming.

Levi crept forward to watch the show, waiting for his chance to reach the door. He didn’t need much time. Just a brief moment of inattentiveness from the humans. A handful of seconds.

The three humans realized way too late that something was coming up behind them. Two spun and aimed at the threat, but their shots went wide. Not that a direct hit would have helped. Thaus fired as he drove, leveling his weapon and taking aim with a sniper’s focus. He didn’t even pause or drop his arm when he slid to a stop and hopped off his bike, firing four times before his feet were on the ground.

The moment the first human spun and fell from the bullet he took, Levi was up and running for the door. He needed to arm his brothers and get to Amy before the other two humans caused any more damage.

His shotgun rested against the wall by the door, exactly where he’d left it. He grabbed the gun on his way past, turning to walk backward into the house while firing. Even through the doorway, his view of the car and the battle outside was perfect—the whole scene almost outlined by the doorframe. He watched as Thaus popped the second human, silently cheering for his brother. But the third—motherfucking Gavin—had moved, had chosen to attack what he probably saw as the easier target. The peeping bastard was running for the porch, aiming straight for Levi’s brothers, not noticing the man in the doorway with the shotgun at his shoulder. The one with murder in his eyes. Levi didn’t hesitate or second-guess a single damned thing. He sighted down the barrel, took a breath, and popped off a single shot. Gavin jerked and fell backward in a cloud of blood, his gun slipping from his hand and dropping to the ground below him with a satisfying thud.

Done. Almost.

Levi lowered the gun and spun, racing toward the landing where he’d left Amy mere minutes before. Praying to the fates above with every step. He hit the edge of the wall and turned to find… Nothing. The landing was empty, the only remnant of his mate a pool of blood on the hardwood. Too much blood. The scent crowded out everything else, leaving him unable to track her. And the bond to her, that thread connecting them through their mating bites, was silent and still. Disconnected. Something that threw him into an even deeper wash of panic and rage.

Motherfucking fail.

His heart pounded as he ran through the main floor of the house. Searching every room. Looking inside every closet. When he couldn’t find her, he yanked his wolf forward, hoping he at least would be able to track her with more success. He surrendered his human side to the wolf so quickly, he partially shifted instead of going full wolf. His nose lengthening into a half muzzle, his fingers curling into claws. Thick, dark fur sprouted along his arms, shadowing his skin, but he didn’t hold it back. Didn’t even try to resist. The wolf needed his mate, and he needed his wolf to find her. This would be a shared mission.

Wolf in almost complete control, he snarled and sniffed. Breaking down the mottled odors of the room, seeking to find a way past the smell of gunpowder and blood. He nearly lurched to four feet from two when something sweet registered. There…her scent. Soft and subtle, but present. He tracked it into the kitchen and toward the back door. The
open
back door.

The cold wind blowing inside cleared away the powerful scents that had been covering Amy’s. She’d been through here recently, that was for sure. But there was another scent with hers. One of a male shifter. A scent that ignited a memory but didn’t allow it to burn long enough to grab hold of. That didn’t matter, though. Whoever was with her was a dead man. Levi was getting his mate back. End of discussion.

Phego caught up to Levi just as he stepped out on the back porch. “Mammon’s bad, but I think he’s actually burning off whatever it is in his blood. He just needs some time to recuperate.”

“We don’t
have
time.”

Phego stepped in front of him, earning a hard glare. “What do you mean? Where’s your mate?”

Levi didn’t answer right away, didn’t even give his brother the respect of looking him in the eye. He couldn’t feel his mate through their bond, but he had other ways of finding her. He could smell his mate on the wind, could see the footprints of whoever had her in the snow. One set…in, then out. Someone didn’t just take her; they carried her off against her will.

Levi indicated the footprints with his chin. “He’s got her.”

Thaus rushed out onto the porch, his gun up and ready as he swept the perimeter. “The Omega? Who took her?”

Levi shrugged and set his shotgun against the wall. Casual, probably appearing almost calm even though that was the last thing he felt. Inside, his wolf clawed to be released, ready to rush after the fucker who dared put a hand on his Amy. But Levi took his time, knowing this was it. He was about to go to war with another shifter, one he still couldn’t identify, one he knew had tricks up his sleeve… Like being able to get a group of humans to be a living, breathing distraction. Smart, but not smart enough.

“Don’t know who. Don’t care, either. Someone took my mate.” Levi glared at his two Dire brothers, pulling his wolf forward, knowing they’d see the swirling silver in his eyes before his shift came over him. “Whoever he is, whoever dared to touch her? He’s about to die.”

Levi shifted right there on the porch, his giant wolf form racing for the woods the second his paws touched down. Nothing but instinct and rage left within him. Levi expected support from his brothers, especially from Phego, but it was Thaus who followed him through the snow. The last threads of Levi’s human mind were grateful for that fact. Phego could handle helping Mammon heal. Thaus was a beast of a man and a berserker of a wolf, far more aggressive than just about anyone Levi knew.

Whoever had dared to touch one of their own was in for a world of hurt he’d probably never seen coming.

A
sharp jab
to her rib cage pulled Amy from the blackness of sleep. She swam for the light, for thought and reason, but her brain remained muddled and groggy. Even through the fog, though, she sensed something wasn’t right. The bedroom was too cold, the warmth of her mate wrapped around her missing. And there was a heaviness to her head that was definitely not supposed to be there. Was she…upside down?

Wrong, wrong, definitely something wrong.

But sleep wrapped its icy fingers around her mind again, leading her back into the shadows, and she surrendered to its call.

Seconds later, perhaps hours for all she knew, Amy woke with a start. Still groggy, her thoughts far too slow, still hellishly cold. But this time, she fought the pull of sleep. Fought hard. She took a handful of deeper breaths, the icy air that could only come from being outdoors burning her nose and lungs, in an attempt to try to clear her mind. To stay awake. To figure out what was so wrong about her situation.

And it was definitely very, very wrong.

Upside down, outside, rocking with what felt like the motion of movement from below…all so wrong. The smell of male wolf shifter wafted around her. She inhaled deeper, searching for something to cling to. To recognize. But the scent was not of her mate, a fact that cleared the majority of the fog in her head almost immediately. Pictures, like flashes of memories, filtered through the last of the haze in rapid-fire time. Cabin…breakfast…gunfire…blood…
Zeke
.

Her heart jumped, but she didn’t attempt to escape. Didn’t even move. The bastard had her tossed over his shoulder like some sort of shifter sack of potatoes, her head dangling halfway down his back as he ran through a patch of woods. He even had his hand on her back as if he was holding her in place. A fact that made her skin crawl.

The instinctive desire to fight until he released her was a big one, but so was the need to know where she was and what was happening first. Plus, it would be nice to have a clear head before she made a mad dash for safety or started swinging. Whatever they’d given her to knock her out had begun to wear off, but it wasn’t all gone yet. Her body still felt achy, and her brain wasn’t firing as fast as she’d like. But she was alive and awake. True, she was thrown over some man’s shoulder as he carted her off to destinations unknown, but she wasn’t dead yet. For that, she could be thankful.

As her senses kicked up and her brain cleared even more, she let her thoughts hone in on one thing. Her mate. Her wolf, still near silent in a way that was unnatural, though at least present once more, perked up a bit when she reached for her mating bond. Levi was there, her connection to him still strong and unbroken. Faint, though. Muddied under the drugs or distance. He wasn’t close, it seemed, but he also wasn’t moving farther away even though Zeke still ran through the woods. That told her he was following them. Probably tracking her, a thought that calmed much of the unease around her. Levi would come for her; he’d help her get away from Zeke.

Amy was pretty sure she could win in a
fair
fight against the shifter, but Zeke had proven he didn’t fight fair. The drugs blurring her reality wouldn’t help her, either. If she could just figure out a way to stall Zeke, to give Levi a chance to catch up so she had backup, she could take her chance. And she would. No sister of twelve older brothers grew up without knowing how to fight, even if it was just from watching those older boys in their own childish battles.

Amy waited, clinging to that mating thread with all her heart, growing more excited the stronger it became. Levi was closing in. Anytime now, she could begin her escape. As soon as she found a chance.

And then it happened. Fate played into Amy’s hand with a steep hill thrown in her way. Or rather, Zeke’s way. He stumbled when he hit the incline, his steps slowing and losing their rhythm. Her target was off-balance, headed uphill, and her mate was closing in on them. Time to take what she’d learned by being part of the Bell family and put it to good use.

Amy struck hard and fast from multiple spots. Biting his arm, punching him in the kidneys, and yanking her knees up and into his chest at the same time, not giving Zeke a chance to strike back. The bastard grunted and dropped to his knees, just as she’d expected. She threw her body weight to one side, dropping off his shoulder. A good escape, though not a pretty one. She hit the ground too hard, rolling through the snow in an inelegant sort of flip. May not have gone exactly as planned, but at least Zeke wasn’t carrying her anymore. That meant it was time to kick some ass.

But crawling to her knees took longer than it should have, and gaining her feet left her light-headed and woozy. Okay, fine—change of plans. As much as it pissed her off, she turned her back on her captor and stumbled her way down the hill. Levi was definitely closing in and her reaction time wasn’t quite back to normal, which meant her smartest move was to avoid engaging Zeke in a fight. She didn’t need to escape, really. Okay, fine, she did. But only because of the drugs. Without those, she’d be mopping the forest floor with the bastard. If she could take Abel down—and she had a time or two—she could knock some sense into Zeke. Just…not right then.

Run to Levi, just run to Levi.

“Damn it, Armaita.”

Her feet slipped on the hard ground and her head swam with every step, but she continued to put one foot in front of the other. Following the thread she could only sense toward where she knew Levi would be.

She wasn’t a fast runner on her best days, and this was not a best day, apparently. She barely made it to the base of the hill before Zeke slammed into her back. She fell forward and slid in the snow, her face on fire from the ice cutting into her cheek. His weight on top of her, his arms encircling her, Zeke had Amy pinned in a matter of seconds. But that didn’t stop her from fighting.

Kicking, biting, yelling, punching—having twelve brothers to wrestle with as a child had taught her well. She could break out of a choke hold faster than most shifters, could flip men three times her size if need be, but Zeke was determined to keep her down. Between his sheer will and the hazy mindset that slowed her reflexes, she was losing her fight and fast.

But she wasn’t done yet.

Zeke rolled her onto her back, trying to pin her with his weight. Amy kicked harder, bucking her hips to throw him off. Refusing to lie down and take
anything
from him.

“Damn it, Armaita. I’m trying to help you.”

She growled and kicked again, hitting him squarely between the legs with her knee. He groaned and curled, giving her the perfect opportunity to toss him off.
Score one for the shewolf.

“You don’t have permission to call me that, and I don’t want your kind of help.” She struggled to her feet, shaking. It was so cold, and her clothes were wet from rolling around in the snow. She didn’t know how long she could make it in her human form, but she wasn’t sure she could shift with her mind so fuzzy. Her wolf was still oddly silent—a fact that kept her firmly entrenched in her human side—so she focused on Levi and ran toward where she knew him to be.

She’d taken a mere seven steps when a large wolf she knew had to be Levi raced through the tree line ahead of her. Breathing a sigh of relief, she tried to run faster. Tried to close that distance. Tried to push herself through the snow toward the safety of her mate. Eight steps, nine. Moving faster. Gaining ground.

But it was on her eleventh step that a gun went off.