Savage Sanctuary: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 2) (11 page)

Later…definitely later.

He yanked on a pair of jeans and stalked through the house, checking every window and door. Sniffing as he passed through the rooms. The whole place smelled like him and Amy and sex, which pleased his territorial inner wolf. But it made the man uncomfortable. The scent was so strong, so permeated through the space, he could barely smell anything beyond it. Someone could be hiding on the porch, and he wasn’t sure he’d know. A dangerous thought. His mate and danger did not need to be so close together.

When he finally made it back to the living room, he grabbed his phone from the table where he’d left it. Thirty alerts. All texts and, later, missed calls from his brothers. Every one a reminder of how he should have gotten out of bed hours ago.

Motherfucker.

Amy walked out of the bedroom as he was scrolling through the alerts. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head, his brow pulling down as words and names rolled past his eyes. “They know who’s been watching you.”

“Who?” She grabbed his arm, seeking security, looking up at him with an expression of trust and fear. That look gutted him. Shit, he needed to get his head together, needed to do his damn job so nothing happened to her. He needed to stop thinking with his dick.

Mammon would be proud of that decision…sort of.

“Some guy named Randall Johnson. Sound familiar?” When she shook her head, he typed out a quick message asking for pictures. “Get dressed. Shoes and all.”

“Why?” But even as she asked, she moved. Grabbing her coat and sliding her feet into the winter boots she’d been wearing when they left her house the night before.

“If my guys haven’t tracked him down yet, we need to get back on the road.”

“But I thought we were safe here.”

Her words hit him like a fist to the chest. “You’re not safe until this guy is captured. If he’s left town, he could sneak up on us. I don’t want a confrontation here. This place isn’t set up for a battle.” He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Leaning in to nuzzle her ear as he whispered, “You’re my mate. You deserve the best in terms of safety. This place isn’t the best. If he’s still loose, we’ll need more fortification.”

She sighed and nodded, clinging to Levi’s shoulders. “He’s only human.”

Levi kissed the top of her head, having thought the same thing before he knew this “only human” was after the one woman the fates deemed perfect for him. “I won’t underestimate him just because of that.”

Levi’s phone sounded with two texts back to back. Thaus had shot him a
where the fuck have you been
message, but Mammon came through. His message contained a single image file of what looked like a mug shot.

He held it up for Amy to see. “Know him?”

Amy’s brow came down as she looked, then she reached for the phone. “That’s Gavin.”

The spike of jealousy was hard to kick back. “Who’s Gavin?”

Amy glanced at him then back at the phone. “Gavin Michelson. He’s the new kindergarten teacher in town. He comes to the diner every day.”

The snarl of his wolf broke the silence of the house. He snatched the phone back from her and sent a quick text back to the team.

Alias Gavin Michelson. Kindergarten teacher and patron of the diner.

“I served him coffee,” Amy whispered, her face pale. Levi kept an arm around her, kept her pressed against him. She was too sweet to understand how manipulative and sneaky people could be, too innocent to have seen the worst side of mankind. He hated that she was learning those lessons at all, but at least she had him to guide her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, still clutching his phone.

“I just…I feel betrayed. Literally, every single day, I’ve served that man coffee. And he was…watching me.”

“I know. But now we have intel. My brothers will track him down and take him into custody. We’ll all keep you safe.”

Still, even as the words left his lips, he knew they were just that…words.

“I’ll grab you a shirt,” Amy said, her voice too quiet, too soft. Distracted. She pulled out of his embrace and shuffled toward the bedroom with a slow step and a hanging head. Levi wanted to go after her, but he had a feeling she needed a moment to come to grips with the fact that someone she thought she knew was really a dangerous liar. That was never an easy fact to accept.

She was walking back to him, black T-shirt in hand, when his phone rang. His stomach bottomed out before he even swiped to answer. His team wouldn’t call without reason.

“Yeah?”

Mammon’s voice was deeper than normal. “Get out.”

His eyes darted to the door, expecting a threat to come barreling through. “Situation?”

“Don’t grab anything except the Omega. We know he followed you out of town, but we can’t pinpoint exactly where he is at this moment.”

Levi jumped into action without a word. He disconnected the call, grabbed Amy by the waist, and tossed her over his shoulder, running for the front door. A quick grab of his keys and he was outside, growling with every step as he raced toward the truck.

“Levi, what—”

He shushed her with a snarl, tossing her into the cab from the driver’s side door. “Slide over.”

She scooted as he hopped in, looking scared but responding to his demands. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

Levi gunned the engine, throwing the beast into gear and spinning the tires on the loose gravel as he shot forward. “He’s here.”

The first gunshot sounded as she clicked her seat belt into place, the thunk of the bullet hitting the liftgate way too close for comfort.

“Hang on.” He slammed his foot down on the gas pedal, heading for the road. No other car was in sight, no tail visible. He’d need to keep an eye out behind him, but it seemed as if the bastard was on foot. That gave Levi the advantage of speed. He just needed to haul ass so he could get far enough ahead of the guy.

Two dirt roads driven down way too fast, one nasty slide of a turn onto a small country highway, and about a thousand glances in the rearview mirror were enough to let the immediate panic he’d experienced begin to settle. But that opened him up for guilt to drown him in its sticky hold. This was his fault. He could have had her halfway to a better safe house already had he kept his dick to himself. Could have figured out hours earlier that the fucker was close had he just followed procedure.

“Stop it,” Amy said, interrupting his mental flagellation.

“Stop what?”

“Stop beating yourself up. This isn’t your fault.”

He shook his head. “I should have kept my phone near me.”

“And I should have known a man was watching me through my windows. I should have smelled him at the very least.”

“None of this is your fault.”

“It’s not yours either, so stop berating yourself. I’m glad you found me, I’m glad you’re my mate, and I’m really glad you fucked me halfway to death all night and this morning.”

Levi sighed. “Amy—”

“Do you regret the sex?”

He wanted to look at her, to bear witness to her expression, but he was doing over a hundred miles an hour and couldn’t take his eyes from the road for a single second. All he could do was answer her honestly.

“No.”

“The claiming bites?”

He growled, unable to hold it back. His wolf was a possessive motherfucker. “Not at all.”

“Then quit beating yourself up. The need to join with a new mate is hard to resist.” She chuckled and flattened herself against the door, bringing her feet onto the seat between them. “Hell, I’d give you road head right now if there wasn’t a guy with a gun behind us somewhere.”

He grinned, shaking his head at his smartass mate. “Road head, huh? Don’t think I’d turn that down, to be honest.”

“Good to know.” Her foot came to rest on his thigh. “Now drive faster. Guns freak me out.”

He hit an on-ramp for an expressway heading south and spun the wheel, squealing and drifting into the curve before the tires caught traction.

“As you wish.”

A
my had once thought exploring
the country by car would be fascinating. Road trips had an appeal that her sheltered, restricted self found intriguing. There was a freedom in that fantasy, something she never had but always craved when she was growing up on her mountain. The open road, the hopping from place to place, the possibilities for exploring…all of it had sounded so fun and carefree.

She had been so very wrong. Living on the road, in constant motion, sucked ass.

Amy shifted in her seat, trying to find a comfortable spot that wouldn’t put her looking right at the rising sun. But after two days in a truck, nothing was comfortable. Nothing at all. She smelled, she was tired, she was cranky, and her mate was too focused on outrunning the ghost chasing them to let them sit still for more than a few minutes. All that moving meant no sex, either. Which really shouldn’t have been her priority, but being in such close quarters with Levi—especially after just exchanging mating bites—wasn’t easy on her in any way, shape, or form. Including the sexual way.

“You need to sleep,” she mumbled as Levi yawned for about the millionth time since the sun had peeked over the horizon.

“I’m good.”

Damn stubborn man. “You’re not good; you’re exhausted.”

He paused, the silence filled only with the sound of the tires eating up pavement, and then he shook his head. “We can’t stop.”

Amy’s sigh couldn’t have been any bigger…it was physically impossible. “That’s what you keep saying.”

Levi growled a little, which didn’t help the situation. How dare he get angry with her? This was
his
plan. What was she supposed to do…sit quietly and pretend everything was fine? Everything was not
fine
. It was so far past fine, she couldn’t even imagine what fine was anymore.

But apparently, Levi didn’t understand that, because he opened his mouth. “I know this isn’t exactly a load of fun, but it’s necessary. This guy slipped past my brothers, which means he’s way more than just some average human. Plus, there were multiple scent trails in the mountains—until we know where he is and how many friends he’s got with him, we keep moving. It’s the only way I can figure to keep you completely safe while we’re still in this fucking mating haze. If you can think up a plan to manage guarding you, patrolling wherever we stop, and not having sex on every available surface, flat or not, then offer it up. Otherwise, we stick with mine and stay on the road until my brothers give us a safe house to head for. And I could do without the attitude right now.”

She closed her eyes, locking down the growl that was burning up her throat. Trying so hard to hold back her frustrations. Trying, and failing miserably.

“Attitude? This isn’t attitude. This is me stuck in a truck with my mate who refuses to stop for more than the most cursory of reasons. I haven’t used a non-gas station bathroom in days, haven’t eaten real food in just as long, and my hips actually hurt from sitting on this damn bench seat. I’m a shifter, Leviathan. You almost fucking me through the mattress didn’t make my hips hurt this bad. No part of me should hurt from anything so sedentary.” Amy sighed, running a hand through her filthy hair. “I need a shower, a bed, and about twelve orgasms. Not necessarily in that order. So if you think this is attitude, please, keep driving in these crazy circles all over the place with no end in sight. Another day or so, and I’ll show you exactly how much
attitude
you’re mated to.”

Levi sat rigid and silent, staring straight ahead. The air in the truck developed a weight, bearing down on her like a physical being. Even her wolf reacted to it, going still in her mind, big eyes watching for the first sign of threat. Amy worried he was going to crack and yell back at her, maybe tell her how selfish she was being. Because she was—she knew it—but that didn’t mean she was ready to hear it. She hoped he could bite back any negative response, but tempers were funny things. Hers had been sprung, and though she felt better, she also worried. What if her mate didn’t take well to her raising her voice? What if he got mad? What if—

His throaty chuckle interrupted her spiraling thoughts. She stared, unable to believe she was hearing what she thought she was, and growing more frustrated at his obvious dismissal of her feelings.

“Why are you laughing?”

He turned that grin on her, the one that made her insides quiver. The one she hadn’t seen in days. “Because you’re aiming so low, sweetheart.”

“What do you mean, aiming low?”

He reached across the seat, his big hand landing on her thigh and squeezing in a possessive move that made her heart thump. God, if only his fingers were half an inch higher. She slouched into his hold almost on instinct, searching out the feel of him against her. Wishing for it.

“Not yet, doll.” He slid his hand toward her knee with a shake of his head. “But yes, aiming low. Because if you think I’m going to stop at twelve orgasms for you once we eliminate the threat to you and your pack, you’re totally underestimating my attention span. And my skills.”

And there he was, her mate, back to being his teasing, sexy self. “Oh, really? You think you can handle that much, huh?”

He hummed and shook his head. “Your lack of faith is downright insulting.”

For the first time in three days, she laughed. Truly, deeply guffawed right there in the cabin of the truck. Not caring that her hair was nasty, her teeth needed brushing, and her stomach was empty. All that mattered was her, him, and the fact they were together. His hand rubbing her leg, hers resting on top of his. Joined. But the ring of his phone cut through the sound of their laughter, causing them both to go silent once more.

With little more than a sigh, Levi hit the button on the wheel to pick up the call. “What’s doing?”

“Meet-up planned and ready.” The deep voice filled the cab. No intro, no greeting, but Levi must have known who it was.

“It’s about time.” His voice had a growl to it that screamed frustration. Maybe she wasn’t the only one tired of being on the road.

“This is one slippery human. It’s taken us a bit to nail down the right place to set him up.”

“Fine.” Levi glanced her way before refocusing on the road. “Send me the coordinates.”

“On it. Based on your last ping, we should be arriving at the same time or shortly after you.”

“How shortly?”

“Half an hour, tops.”

Levi’s growl nearly shook the windshield. “And if this human gets there before you do?”

“Do what you need to do, kid. There’s no retrieval on this one and no rules for elimination. The destroy order came down yesterday. Dude shows up, kill him.”

“Understood.” Levi hit the button to disconnect with a huff. Amy waited, silent and still, for him to say something. To explain what was happening. It wasn’t until the phone pinged with the text that he even moved.

He set the navigation with one hand, keeping his eyes on the road. “Looks like another two hours, then we’ll be able to stop.”

Amy reached out and rubbed his leg the way he’d rubbed hers. “Thank the fates. You need to rest.”

“What I need is to keep you safe.”

“And if you don’t sleep, you can’t keep me safe.”

He sighed. Probably frustrated again. “Amy—”

“Levi,” she smarted back, exaggerating his name.

He growled and gave her a glare out of the corner of his eye that spoke of all the ways he’d probably like to punish her. She doubted abject arousal was his goal with that look, but it’d been a few days since she’d been touched by her mate. The deep, dark, demanding stare set her world on fire, not that she could do anything about it. Not for at least the two hours it took to get to this new place and enough time to wash off her funk.

Eventually, he sighed and seemed to slouch in his seat. “Fine. Once my brothers show up, I’ll sleep.”

Success. “That reminds me. We’ll need to stop at a grocery store before we get to this safe house.”

“What for?”

Amy nearly rolled her eyes. “Uh, food. You know, that stuff we eat to fuel our bodies.”

“I’ve fed you.” He sounded so defensive and petulant, she nearly laughed.

“Drive-through fast food isn’t food.”

Levi gaped at her for a moment before turning back to the road. “But it’s got
food
in the title.”

She growled, unable to help herself. The man was like a child. Arguing with her over something she knew way more about than he did. That growl shut him up good, though. She’d need to remember that.

“Fine,” he spat after a long period of waiting, probably wishing she’d back down. Which she wouldn’t…not about food. “We’ll get groceries. But I choose the place and set the time.
No
screwing around in there.”

“Fine. No screwing. Got it.” She curled her lips into a smug smile when he glanced her way. “At least not in the grocery store.”

A little over two hours later, they pulled up to a small parking lot in a small town just before the state line. What state, Amy wasn’t even sure of anymore. They’d been driving all over the south for days with no discernable pattern. A trick to keep the bad guys from following them, Levi had said. A way to keep them confused. She assumed it worked, because she’d been in the car with him and still had no idea where they were.

Levi parked along the front of the building, blocking a fire lane. Not that she cared. Amy nearly threw open the door to escape the truck the second he put the thing in park, but he grabbed her arm and tugged her all the way across the seat to his side.

“Ten minutes. We grab what we need, and we get the hell out of here. Got it?”

He was so serious, so utterly in control. The fierceness in his voice and his expression had her shaking in her seat. “Yes, boss.”

He growled and yanked her closer, kissing her deeply before letting her go. “I’m not your boss. I’m just trying to keep you with me. Alive.”

Guilt was a heavy thing, but not too heavy for her to forget her empty belly. “Alive. Got it. I’ll listen, I promise. Just let me get stuff to feed you. I’m trying to keep you with me and alive, too.”

He ran a finger down the side of her face before sighing and looking out the windows. Soldier glare firmly in place. “Okay. Let’s roll.”

Once inside, she grabbed everything she could think she might need for a couple of good, hearty meals. Fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, starches, spices, and grains—she filled her cart easily, practically running through the aisles. Her shopping went without incident, though she had no idea if she met the ten-minute deadline or not. Levi didn’t say anything, so she assumed she was under the wire on that one as they hurried toward the check stands.

He paid with cash, barely glancing at the cashier. Of course, she didn’t seem to want to look at him either. There was a dangerous air about him, something dark and deadly even a human could probably sense. That girl would probably tell her friends stories of the customer who scared her just by existing.

“Ready?” Levi asked when they were through, his back stiff and his eyes already roaming the parking lot.

Amy nodded, feeling exposed behind the huge windows that lined the front of the store. Whether it was Levi’s behavior or something else, she couldn’t ignore the way her instincts were flaring hot and bright. Something was out there, hunting them. Tracking them down like prey. She could feel it. Sense it in a way. And she didn’t like it.

Levi grabbed her hand and tugged her close, tucking her into the side of his body. He carried the bags and led them outside, walking faster than his normal pace. Amy did her best to keep up, but she stumbled a little over the rocky ground.

“Everything okay?” he asked, still not looking at her but at the horizon. Seeking out whatever danger was headed their way.

“I feel…vulnerable.”

Levi unlocked the truck when they were still twenty feet away. Only the driver’s side door. “Vulnerable how?”

Amy shrugged, suddenly wishing to be back in the truck and on the road again. “On display somehow.”

Levi’s voice was more growl than not as he rumbled, “Like you’re being watched.”

He directed her to his door, opening it wide for her. She hopped into the cab of the truck and scooted to the passenger side so he could follow her. “Yeah, I really do.”

He checked that she was buckled in before setting the bags on the floorboard behind his seat and starting the engine.

“Me too. We need to get the hell out of here.”