Savage Sanctuary: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 2) (6 page)

I
t took
Levi a good four seconds to be able to speak after Abel dropped his truth bomb.

“Your Omega doesn’t live on pack property?” What the hell was wrong with this pack?

“I know.” Abel tugged on his hair, his claws appearing and disappearing with each breath. He was obviously having a hard time containing his wolf. His growl had become a long, subtle sound—almost a yearning. This was a man too close to losing control, but Levi wasn’t about to coddle him.

Levi’s anger, his years of fighting to protect Omegas, his memories of missions gone wrong, all came to a head and zeroed in on one already upset shifter. “You
know
? That’s the best you can do?
You know
? You don’t know shit. You have no idea how dangerous that is even in the best of times. The things shifters will do to get and keep an Omega—”

“I know,” Abel roared. “You think we didn’t consider that? Fuck, man—you’ve never met my sister. Armaita is as stubborn as the day is long and just as independent. She wanted a life outside of our pack, separate from her Alpha father and twelve older brothers, and there was no dissuading her.” He sat in the snow, staring hard at the little house below. “She came to my dad with an idea to leave the pack and start her own business, so we agreed on this plan. He let her move out here to town, close enough to keep an eye on. And we have—kept an eye on her. One of us is always close by when she’s working, and we loop through from the other end on our patrols at night. We watch her, man.” He sighed, still sounding like a wounded wolf in a human body. “She is the light of our pack, the glue that holds us all together even when she’s not there, but she wanted more than just hiding up in the mountains. She would have left for good if we wouldn’t have given her what little freedom we could.”

Levi bit back a snarl, still too worked up to find a way to truly control himself. Sariel, Kalie, Angelita…the names slammed into his head like the resonating blast of a gong. All Omegas. All kidnapped and forced to live realities no one would wish on their worst enemy. Thankfully, all recovered from their captors. Though the Omegas they lost were the ones that hurt the most to think about. He did not want to add Armaita Bell to that list.

He wouldn’t let this Omega become a forgotten one.

“We need to get her out of there. Right now.”

Abel hopped to his feet, looking ready to attack the unknown threat. “What’s the plan?”

“I call my team to come in and hunt the humans down.”

“And my sister?”

As much as Levi hated to say the words, he had to. There was only one way to be sure she’d be safe. “I take her with me, and we hide.”

Abel’s eyes went wide, and his voice was filled with doubt and judgment as he spat, “You
hide
?”

“Yes,
we hide
.” Levi stalked forward, crowding the shifter against a tree. “I said it before—protecting the Omega is my number one priority. And right now, protecting her means getting her the hell away from whoever happens to be monitoring all of you. If they’re trained, they’ll use her isolation to cull her from the pack. If they’re not trained, her living alone is the perfect opportunity to do a snatch and grab. Either way, she can’t stay out here alone, and until we know who’s watching the pack and why, she’s not safe with you, either. Omegas are powerful and coveted—I need to get her the fuck out of the path of whatever’s brewing here.”

Abel shook his head, but his expression turned to one of worry as he looked out over his sister’s house. “She won’t go willingly.”

And wasn’t that a rub? Kidnapped for good or kidnapped for evil, either way, she was about to have her independence ripped away from her. Preferably by Levi. Immediately.

“Too fucking bad. No independent shewolf is going to keep me from doing my job, especially not when that job is keeping her alive.”

A woman in a long, thick coat turned the far corner and headed toward the house in question, making both of them stop and stare. Levi couldn’t keep his eyes off her, couldn’t look away even for a second. Something about her slammed into his wolf and nearly knocked him to his knees. She had to be the sister, the Omega. That magic within her was working some serious mojo on him, had him all hyped up and ready to race down there. Be the knight on the white horse or whatever.

Abel confirmed Levi’s assumption. “That’s her.”

“Let’s go.” Levi shook off the snow that had collected on his hair and shoulders, shivering as the wet liquid hit his warm skin. “I’m freezing my balls off out here.”

But Abel didn’t move, just watched his sister as she walked farther along the street below. “She’s going to hate us both for this.”

“Let her.” Levi brushed off the internal whine of his wolf at that thought. “I’d rather your sister be alive and hating us than dead and not. Or worse.”

Abel glanced at him, confusion heavy across his brow. “Worse than death?”

That question ate at Levi, made him remember things he’d rather forget. Things he’d seen. Things he’d been too late to stop. “There are many fates worse than death, especially for a young female.”

Abel blinked twice before realization seemed to fall over him like a blanket. His eyes went dark, dangerous, and the snarl that left his lips was positively vicious. “Hide her.”

“That’s the plan.” One that needed to happen…immediately. “You meet her inside and get this shit rolling. I want to check the perimeter of the place. See how close our peeping toms have come.”

“On it.”

The two men shifted without another word, Abel heading straight for the back porch of her house as directed. Levi ran across the yard to the side of the house, following the subtle scent trail. The newly fallen, heavy snow was an excellent camouflage, and his damaged nose certainly didn’t help that situation. But he was determined. He tracked hard, using every bit of his skill and senses. Following the scent all the way around one side of her house, right up to the window at the far back corner.

There were no other houses on this side of hers, no neighbors to see someone peeking inside. A definite possibility considering how concentrated the scent was underneath the window. Levi’s gut knotted at the possibility of what room that spot looked into. He hoped it wasn’t what he thought…but his wolf was already growling in his head. Teeth out, claws ready, the beast confirmed what Levi knew even before he looked inside. Still, he hopped onto his back paws and peeked through the glass.

Bedroom—of course—because no way could this situation
not
get any creepier than it already was.

The scent was on the window ledge, on the glass, even on the siding of the little house as if the creeper had rubbed up against it. Scenting the place. The proof that the person tracking the girl had obviously stood outside her bedroom window and watched her do any number of personal things made Levi want to set fire to the world. He wanted to rip out the throat of the unknown peeper, wanted to break through the window and stand guard over the woman he had yet to meet. His protective instincts were screaming so loud inside his head, he practically did just that. But the thought of scaring her, of breaking in to her house like an animal and making her fear him, helped him keep control. If only for a moment.

Clinging desperately to the thread of human sense that told him he had to be cautious in how he approached this woman, he ignored his wolf’s need to kill and hopped down. It was time to get her the fuck out of town.

He’d made it halfway around the back of the house when the deep quiet of the winter’s night was broken by a scream. A woman’s scream…coming from inside. Levi was running before that scream ended, hightailing it across the snow to the back porch. He hit the door at full speed, slamming his body into the wood. The obstruction cracked and flew open…straight into the wall behind it with a crash that nearly shook the little structure.

Levi had a brief moment of observation—of Abel standing in the kitchen with a cloak covering him—before the woman screamed again and jumped back, focusing on Levi for one heart-stopping moment as he skidded to a stop. That was all it took.

Everything in Levi’s world tilted as the realization forced him to stand as still as a statue. His axis adjusted to accommodate the woman into his frame, to pull himself into her picture. A feeling he’d never had before wrapped around him, one of concern and care, one of belonging. One of fate. Without knowing her, he felt the pull. She was so much more than just another woman. So much more than a shewolf, an Omega, or the daughter of the local pack Alpha. This tall, curvy female with light eyes and smoky blond hair staring back at him was everything. She was his fated mate. His one and only…

And she was in danger, which meant a slow, deliberate courtship was completely out of the question. He was about to kidnap her with her pack’s permission, which probably wasn’t the best way to kick off a long-lasting relationship with an independent woman like her.

Shit.

A
my screamed
when she saw the man in her kitchen, nearly shifting wolf to protect herself. But the light hit him at just the right time, illuminating him just as she felt the telltale prick of fur sprouting from her skin. Just as she realized who the intruder was.

“Christ on a cracker, Abel. You almost gave me a heart attack. What the hell are you doing here?”

Her brother growled in a tone that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Silent, practically looming over her, he stepped closer. Boxing her in. Looking angry as hell but saying nothing.

“Abel?” Amy took one small step in his direction just as the back door exploded off its hinges. She screamed again, falling backward into the cabinets. As she slid to the floor, her eyes met those of the wolf standing in her ruined kitchen. A huge wolf with claws and teeth that made her want to run away. But something deep and dark swirled in the depths of those eyes, something tinged with a color close to silver. An unusual combination she’d never seen before. An intense connection she’d never felt building in a heartbeat.

Mate.

She landed on her ass, completely lost within her own head. Her mate was there. At her house. Standing in her kitchen as if he couldn’t move a damn muscle. Staring at her after having broken through the door.

After having broken
down
her door.

“Shit.” A stranger in her house, when she normally would have been alone, was nothing to sit back and take lightly. Luckily, Amy was quick to react, even after the whole mate thing boggled her brain.

She jumped to her feet and grabbed the first substantial object she could find—a heavy, cast iron skillet she used for cornbread, which happened to be sitting on the stovetop. Without pausing for an explanation, she made one leap in the wolf’s direction. He shifted just as she touched down, leaving her with the impression of dark curls, dark eyes, and holy hell muscles. But she was too focused on defense to really get a good look at him. He’d invaded her space, broke in without asking entry, and could have planned any number of horrible things for her. The bastard. She’d show him what happened when you messed with a shewolf.

Even with Abel yelling her name, she didn’t deviate from her target. She tightened her grip on the skillet, swung her arm wide…

And crashed the heavy pan into the side of the man’s head.

“What the hell are you doing?” Abel rushed past her, kneeling by the naked man on the floor. The naked man with the very nice ass…not that she was looking. Much.

“He broke in.”

The man groaned, one hand holding his head as the other kept him on his knees. How he wasn’t unconscious after the hit Amy delivered, she didn’t know. That hit probably would have killed a human.

Abel looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. And maybe she had, because she could not take her eyes off the guy’s ample rear end. Even with her brother right there in the room. Did stranger-man have a magnet in that thing?

“He’s from the NALB.” Abel sighed and cursed under his breath. “He’s here to help us.”

Well…what? “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” Abel patted the guy on the shoulder a couple of times. “Levi, you okay, man?”

Naked guy—Levi, apparently—only flinched and growled at first, but he eventually lifted himself off the floor and sat back on his heels. His eyes darted to meet Amy’s right away, and that feeling of connection rushed back in. For one tiny moment, the two stared at one another. Falling deeper into the mating haze. Bonding.

But then those dark eyes refocused on something behind her, swirling to silver in a single breath, and his wolf made itself known. The growl he let loose shook the cabinets and made Amy scuttle back to get out of his way.

“What the fuck?” Levi groaned and grabbed his head. Abel raised his eyebrows as if to say,
See? This is all your fault
. And it was…it really was. She was never going to live this down.

“Sorry, man.” Abel sat back and sighed. “My sister thinks she’s a badass.”

“Shut up,” Amy hissed. As if she didn’t already feel like crap for knocking her mate unconscious. Oh my God, her
mate
.

Abel snorted, yanking her from delusions of love at first sight and happily ever after to the reality of an older brother who’d never grown up. “Make me.”

“Oh, that’s mature.”

“For fuck’s sake. I have too big of a headache for this shit.” Levi shoved off the floor, a little shaky but at least able to stand on his own two feet. He glared down at her, the look almost harsh. “Are you the Omega?”

Before Amy could answer, Abel jumped in. “This is my sister, Armaita.”

Bastard
. “I go by Amy.”

“But her name’s Armaita.”

“Abel, quit.”

“Make me.”

Her sigh was big enough to be heard by the neighbors. “Really? Are we doing this—”

“Enough.” Levi grabbed a cloak from the basket on the back porch and tossed it around his shoulders. Covering all those beautiful muscles. Pity, really. “Amy, Armaita, whoever…pack your shit. We have to go.”

She was still contemplating all those dips and planes hidden by fabric when his words sank in.

“Excuse me?”

Abel stepped in. “The pack is being watched, as are you, so you’re going with him to get out of the way for a few days.”

“Like hell I am.”

But Levi didn’t seem to want or care about her opinion. “Whether you’re willing or not, you’re leaving town with me now. You decide if it’s voluntary or if you’d rather be thrown over my shoulder.”

That image had possibility, but not in the way he was planning. “I’m not some child who can be—”

“Someone’s been spying on you,” Abel interrupted. “They’ve been here. At your house.”

Amy spun, her eyes going wide. That fact changed…everything. “What? Who?”

“We don’t know who. The scent is male and human.” Levi stepped in front of her, the cloak barely covering all the best bits of him. A total tease, and one that did nothing but make her angry. But he held out a hand as if to introduce himself, his eyes swirling back to the dark color. His expression softening just a bit.

An emotional wizard, that’s what he was. She sighed and took Levi’s proffered hand, but he didn’t shake hers as she’d expected. No, the asshole had to yank her up and over his shoulder, tossing her around like a sack of potatoes.

“Put me down,” she yelled, pounding on his back. He ignored her, though. Striding toward the front of the house as if her opinions didn’t matter. Though she guessed, in this situation, they probably didn’t. He had to be the soldier guy from the NALB. He was probably used to sweeping women off their feet—literally—and doing as he pleased. But not with her…not in her house. She’d rather die first.

She growled and let her canines descend, ready to take a piece out of his hide, but then he stopped. And he sniffed. And he snarled.

Now, what?

Growling, he set her down on her feet and gripped her shoulder. “We don’t know who’s been here, but you do.”

Amy tucked her hair behind her ears and crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you going on about?”

He inched closer, invading her space, nuzzling into her neck. Sniffing her. Scenting. And by God, was it hot. She stood completely still, too afraid to move. Too afraid not to. Her legs shook, her heart raced, and every inch of her cried out to this one man. This sexy, strong, virulent man. This man who wanted to steal her away without asking if she approved. The fates really had a wicked sense of humor.

“You smell like him,” Levi whispered, his lips fluttering across her skin.

Amy jerked back, meeting his eyes. Watching them swirl from dark to silver and back as he growled. Falling into their almost hypnotic pattern. “What?”

“You smell like him.” He leaned in again, this time stopping millimeters from her lips. “This peeping tom fucker was close enough to touch you today.”