Savage Silence: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 4) (4 page)

T
hings just got
a hell of a lot more complicated.

Ariel stood locked in place, unable to move. Unable to breathe. Her mate. For so many years, she’d traveled alone, running from place to place to stay alive. And she was good at it. She’d made it through scrapes most women, let alone men, would have succumbed to. But then the kidnapping…and the torture…and the escape that still ate at a piece of her. She was stronger in a lot of ways from that experience but weaker, too. Her mate had arrived, and the very thought of him touching her, reaching for her in any way, made her want to scream.

She was too broken for a mate.

“It’s about time,” Chilton said, his eyes hard and dangerous as he looked her over. “Let’s begin so we can get our girl back to my packlands.”

The low growl that reverberated through the room definitely wasn’t hers, though Ariel had a feeling it was
his
. Her mate. The huge, muscular, downright terrifying man across the room from her. Why would the fates give her someone so rough? So scary? So…mean-looking? Did they not understand her? Had they not seen all that had happened in the past few years? Had they forsaken her for some slight and left her with only the one choice—this hulking menace of a man?

“My shewolf rejects your claim,” Lathan stated, his voice clear and direct.

“I have a contract with your pack, and as a member of your pack, she is subject to its legality.”

“She is also a woman with autonomy. She rejects your claim, and therefore, your contract is null and void.”

“Ludicrous.” Chilton pointed to the other man, Ariel’s mate. “You’re here to enforce the contract. Say something.”

The man didn’t flinch, didn’t even glance over the small crowd to look her way. “I’m here to moderate and act as an NALB liaison.”

Damn.
His voice was rough just like him. Sandpaper against her skin, but in a good way. The kind of pleasure-pain way that sent shock waves down her spine. Gruff and warm and…intriguing.

Chilton, meanwhile, had gone red in the face. “And the NALB honors contracts signed between packs.”

“But the NALB has long believed no wolf should be held in any form of a mating relationship without their consent,” her mate said, that roughened voice making her tremble.

“Preposterous!”

Ariel tried to concentrate on the discussion that followed—on Chilton and Lathan and talks of boundaries and treaties—but the man the fates had brought into her life wholly distracted her. Being so big, strong, and healthy, he obviously wasn’t from the Glaxious pack, which was good. That had been her first thought when she’d seen him. All the possible ways to escape, to get out of that hellish scenario, had filtered through her mind within those first few seconds. Thank the stars she wouldn’t need to act on any of them.

That didn’t mean she was out of the danger zone, though. Chilton didn’t seem like the type to have much respect for a mating bond. Of course, she had no idea if the man the fates had chosen respected it, either. From the sounds of it, the man worked for the NALB, but he certainly didn’t look like some sort of corporate drone—following directions and reading over contracts with a fine-toothed comb. Not with the size of his arms, the width of his chest, or the calm confidence he exuded. The surety of a man who knew how to use his body as a weapon when needed. Not possible.

His eyes—so light, they almost glowed—caught hers for a single look, a moment of connection, and she nearly sighed. He scared the hell out of her, but the draw to be closer was there, too. The need to be near him. He had to feel the same because he wasn’t standing still. No, the man was slowly, almost imperceptibly, inching closer. Unconsciously giving in to the attraction.

Ariel shuffled her feet, biting her lip even as she took one solid step in his direction. It was a small step, a few added inches, but it soothed something inside of her. A tic at the corner of her mate’s lips was the only sign he gave that he noticed her movement. That he liked it. She fell hard for that tic.

“But we had a contract.” Chilton’s screeching voice snagged her attention. A true feat, considering.

“No,” Lathan said. “You and a former Alpha had a contract. I don’t sell off my packmates as if they were cattle.”

“This contract stands as valid. You owe me a mateable shewolf, and I choose her.” Chilton pointed at Ariel, throwing his arm up in a way that caused a flashback to a different cabin, a different forest, a different time. A much worse one.

Ariel flinched, unable to stop it even though she hated herself for showing such weakness. Chilton’s words were so hard, his intentions so wrong, she had trouble keeping calm with him near her. Meanwhile, her mate positively glowered at Chilton, looking ready to show his teeth and bring out his claws. Her wolf slunk into the shadows of her mind, hiding from the fight she could feel coming. This situation had been volatile before she’d formed a connection to this imposing man—it had turned positively explosive since.

As her Alpha argued, Ariel considered her options. No matter what the decision, no matter who won the contract fight, she wasn’t going to the Glaxious pack. She loved the little pack she’d found, but Lathan had made it clear she wasn’t quite as bonded to them as she’d thought. So it was time to run again. She was good at running. She’d run from the bastards who’d kidnapped her all those years ago. Had run the moment they’d turned their backs and assumed she was too broken to have any self-preservation left. She’d run long and hard to escape the hell they’d tried to throw her into. But running didn’t solve everything. She still had nightmares of that place—the darkness, the cruelty of her captors, the tortures they inflicted.

The other Omegas.

She’d run the moment she’d had a chance and never looked back, but the thought of those other girls trapped in that hell ate at her. She’d wanted to take them with her, to save them, too. But when the opportunity struck, no one else had been willing to try. They were too worn-down, too battered to take such a risk. She’d run alone, found her own safety net in the Kwauhl pack for a time. And she would run again if Chilton tried to trap her. She refused to be stuck in another situation where she couldn’t make her own decisions.

That meant with her new mate, as well.

While Chilton and Lathan argued politics and NALB guidelines, her mate stood solid and sure. Watching the fight before him. Ariel was certain he was watching her as well. She could feel it deep in her bones, sense his attention even though his eyes were focused elsewhere. The man was acutely attuned to her, and her wolf couldn’t decide if she should preen or cower at that.

“You will come with me,” Chilton said, stealing Ariel’s attention back from her mate. She nearly gasped at the look on his face, at the hatred in his eyes. He was angry. Furious, even. And an angry wolf shifter was a danger to be around. But a weak shifter was easy prey, and she could not show weakness.

“I’m not yours.” Ariel locked her knees, prepared to fight if need be. Her mate was close, less than six feet away and slowly moving closer, but he said nothing. A move that left her wondering at what point he
would
step in…if ever.

While she was focused on her mate, Chilton moved as if preparing to grab her. Ariel recoiled on instinct, and her stomach dropped as she saw the victory in his eyes. A deep growl whispered through the room, the sound of a wolf warning another, though she couldn’t tell where or whom it came from. It didn’t matter anymore—Chilton was stalking her like prey, and she refused to let him touch her.

“Back off, Chilton,” Lathan said, his growl joining the other. Not that the Glaxious Alpha paid him any mind.

“I already took care of the man you had outside,” Ariel said, feigning bravado even though her insides were positively trembling with fright. “Do I need to break every member of your little pack?”

Without warning, Chilton jumped in front of her, so close she could feel the press of his chest against hers. So near, her mind scrambled into panic mode. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t hear or see anything but him. Could barely think straight enough to keep from screaming.

Trapped, trapped, trapped.

“You’ll be mine, Omega,” Chilton whispered as the room exploded into a cacophony of angry animal sounds. “I’ll have that ripe cunt of yours whether you like it or not.”

Her whispered “no” did nothing to stop him. Shaking, sweating, frozen in place, Ariel wished hard for some sort of calm. Some sort of peace so she could wrap her head around a plan of what to do. A way to escape. So she could function. The world slowed, time stopping as Chilton reached for her again. As he raised his hand as if to run a finger down her cheek. Seconds turned to minutes and then to hours, her helplessness growing the entire time. She couldn’t escape him, couldn’t convince her body to back up no matter how loudly her brain screamed it. She was completely at his mercy.

Until she wasn’t.

One second, the bastard Alpha was reaching for her, smirking as if he’d won the dispute. The next, her mate was there, blocking her from her attacker, grasping Chilton’s wrist as if to push his arm away. His movements were fast, sharp, and completely aggressive. An animal in attack mode.

And Chilton was his target.

But he didn’t push. Didn’t try to redirect the arm or shove Chilton away. Nope. He did what any menace of a man would do.

He grasped that wrist hard, and he snapped it.

F
uck and no
.

Thaus had never been so enraged, never so ready to knock heads as he was watching that so-called Alpha reach for his mate. She stood frozen in place, seemingly terrified, those seconds probably never-ending to her. Thaus knew the look of a panic attack, and she was definitely lost in one. She needed him. And he would not fail her.

He stalked closer as quickly as he dared, calculating angles and speed, working his way along the perfect trajectory to move directly between the two. To block Chilton from penning in his mate who obviously didn’t want to be touched. Thaus had been watching Ariel as the Alphas argued, inspecting her. She was lithe and muscular with the sort of shape that came from endurance more than strength. Perhaps a bit thin, which was probably why Chilton had underestimated her. That smaller body didn’t make her appear weak. Not to him. Thaus looked past the height and shape, sought something deeper to her. And he found it in the overlapping scars on her arms, the obvious damage left by some sort of restraining device around her wrists. She wasn’t small and helpless like Chilton probably assumed. The woman was a fighter, a survivor, but something had pushed her past her limits and left her open for Chilton to take advantage.

Not fucking happening.

As Chilton raised his hand to touch Ariel, as if to do more than scare and speak, Thaus’ restraint shattered. He roared and jumped forward, landing directly between the two. He bumped into Ariel as he did so, but he had no choice. That bastard wasn’t laying a single finger on her.

Thaus grabbed Chilton’s wrist. A simple act, one he couldn’t help but push further when he saw the gleam in the man’s eyes and smelled the arousal on the air. Chilton was getting off on scaring Ariel, and that sent Thaus into a full rage. He squeezed harder, letting his strength take the place of the words he wanted to say…

Snapping the bones with an ease that even he noticed.

Breaking the man’s wrist hadn’t been in his immediate plans, but he didn’t feel guilty about it. Not one damn bit.

“The woman said no.” Thaus growled his words, taking far too much pleasure in the pained expression on the other man’s face. Lesson taught…maybe.

“She’s to belong to the Glaxious pack.” Chilton whimpered, trying to growl through it as he cradled his now broken joint. Still fronting as if he were something bigger and badder than he really was. “I claim her as my own mate.”

The sound that came from Thaus was one of pure hell-born fury, though he held himself in check. Ariel was scared enough, her energy all over the place from where she stood behind him. He couldn’t push her emotions any further without risk.

So he crossed his arms, and he calmed his voice into something deep and dark but without the growl. And he glared at the bastard Alpha before him. “Not happening.”

“You have no right.”

“I have the backing of the President of the NALB.”

Chilton’s eyes went wide, the look in them one of almost fanatic giddiness. Well, shit. That couldn’t be good.

“Then I and the Glaxious pack secede from the NALB, effective immediately. I will slaughter this entire fucking pack if I need to. The Omega will be mine.”

Bullshit. But if Chilton wanted to play his hand that way, who was Thaus to disagree? “If you’re no longer an NALB member, then I no longer need to be on my best behavior.”

Without warning, Thaus snarled and struck, throwing a punch that landed right on the man’s sternum. Chilton’s chest nearly caved at the force of the blow, and his body flew across the room before slamming into the opposite wall. But Thaus wasn’t finished yet. Not by a long shot. He stalked the fallen shifter, kicking errant limbs aside so he could crouch close enough for the injured Alpha to hear him. Looming over Chilton, really.

“She says no. She also has a name that isn’t The Omega. You don’t get to force her to do anything. Ever.”

Chilton coughed a pained laugh. “I
will
have her.”

Thaus wanted to kill the arrogant fucker for daring to threaten his mate, but the room had gone oddly silent. He took the chance on glancing behind him and immediately knew he’d gone too far for this audience. The Kwauhl pack stood staring at him as if he were the monster. Especially Ariel. His mate looked pale as she trembled with her Alpha at her shoulder. Thaus recognized the fear in her eyes, the apprehension that someone else was going to overpower her. He saw her anguish, and he hated it.

“What do you want?” Thaus asked, staring right at her, not letting her escape his attention for a second. “You have the control here, Ariel. You pick your future, and I’ll make sure you get it.”

Ariel stared at him, those deep, dark eyes locked right on his. The shock on her face, the idea that she was obviously taken aback by his words, grated on him even more. She didn’t understand him yet, didn’t know how much he’d do to make sure she was happy. She thought he’d make the demands for her, as if she’d never be heard with him around. He could see it, feel it, and that doubt crushed a little piece inside of him.

But his mate was just as strong as he thought, and that meant she took risks. The woman glanced at Chilton then back to Thaus, doubt gone, fear tucked back in place behind the warrior mask she wore. Ariel licked her lips as if preparing for a speech, and apparently, she was.

“I secede from the Kwauhl pack. I’m no longer a member, and therefore, not subject to any contracts in regards to the Glaxious pack.”

Thaus nodded once, proud of her for taking advantage of that loophole. It wouldn’t stop Chilton, but it made his access to her shrink to almost nothing.

The Alpha beside Ariel looked heartbroken, something that added fuel to the fire of Thaus’ jealousy, but Lathan still didn’t reach for her. Didn’t try to touch her. He knew Ariel, definitely better than Thaus did. He knew her and hadn’t been able to break through her walls. Thaus vowed to try, to follow her and keep her safe until she’d let him in. To protect her and do his best to understand her. He’d do better than some random Alpha, that was for sure.

Chilton’s ragged cough and the scrabble of him getting to his feet stole Thaus’ attention once more. The little man stood…sort of. More like hunched, unable to stand straight.

“I should kill you with my bare hands,” Chilton said, his voice raspy and weak.

Thaus, meanwhile, felt just fine and dandy. “Try.”

Chilton spat on the floor and snarled but headed toward the exit. Good thing, too, because Thaus would have been just fine killing the bastard had he tried to go near Ariel again.

“I’ll be back, and I’ll have my full pack with me. Don’t bother running, girl. We know these mountains better than anyone and will track you down.”

Thaus gritted his teeth, refusing to take the bait and chase the arrogant fucker. Because that’s what Chilton wanted. He wanted Thaus so worried about
him
that he forgot about the men he’d brought. The ones who circled the building they were in, anxious and ready to take what wasn’t theirs. What never would be. So Thaus kept his cool and waited the fuckers out, but once the Glaxious pack contingent had driven away, all bets were off.

“Close the camp,” he ordered Alpha Lathan. “The humans need to leave the valley.”

“Our last camper of the week left a few hours ago. We evacuated as soon as Alpha Chilton called this meeting.”

“Good move. Now get your pack out of here.”

Lathan looked positively insulted. “We can handle Glaxious.”

“No, you can’t.” Thaus closed his eyes and let his senses spread, searching out energy and shadows. Using his connection to his Dires to help build a plan in his mind. His team was too far away to help, but he’d call them in as soon as he could. He’d need backup.

Lathan seemed annoyed as he tried again. “Cleaner Sathaus—”

“It’s Thaus, and I’m not just a Cleaner. I deal with bastards like Chilton all the time. He’s embarrassed and slighted, and he won’t settle for anything less than annihilation.”

“Our pack is larger.”

“Wrong, his is. He has shifters in the woods, tucked away and waiting for something. I couldn’t get a good enough sense to know how many, but it’s more than eight. My guess is, a lot more. Get your pack out of here because they’ll all be coming for you, and I can’t be your savior.” Thaus met Ariel’s worried gaze, making sure he infused his words with as much strength and honesty as he could. “She is my priority.”

His mate didn’t flinch, didn’t look away either. The tension between them grew, the private bond forming in that very public space. Thaus had to stop it, had to turn away. Had to break the pull before he did something she wouldn’t welcome.

“Go east,” he told Lathan. “All of you—don’t run, either. Drive. Head for Chicago and Merriweather Fields. When you get there, tell them Thaus sent you for protection. I’ll be in touch when Glaxious is taken out.”

The Alpha still didn’t get it, though. “We can fight.”

Thaus growled and stepped right into Lathan’s space, his voice harsh. “His pack is larger by at least double—and five times as ruthless as yours. They’ll fight hard and dirty in ways you’d never even imagine. They are feral, their wolves wild from the lack of true leadership, too sick of being under a weak Alpha’s thumb. The second Chilton lets them get their wolf on to come after you, they’ll be out for more than just blood. You won’t win, and I don’t trust Chilton not to slaughter all of you just to get back at Ariel.”

Lathan took a good look around the room, eyeing each shifter. Everyone…except Ariel. “Can the NALB help us? This pack is important to the area.”

Thaus tucked his irritation away. His Dire brothers would welcome Ariel into their pack, more than this guy ever could. “They will. But they’re not close enough to reach you in time. Go to them. I’ll call ahead and have the president send the Feral Breed out to escort you as much of the way as they can.”

“And you think you can take on Glaxious?” Ariel asked. She doubted him, doubted his strength and strategy. A fact that didn’t sit well with him.

But he’d prove himself to her. “I know I can, if we can get to a safe house before them.”

“We don’t want to leave forever,” one of the other pack members said, eyeing Thaus and Lathan both.

“You won’t have to,” Thaus replied, taking the lead away from the Alpha. “The Glaxious have broken one of the very covenants of Blasius Zenne’s presidency and a cornerstone of NALB regulations. Chilton won’t be allowed to live.”

The Alpha’s brow furrowed. “What covenant did they break?”

“He’s threatened an Omega.” Thaus paused for a moment, giving himself time to take a breath. To meet his mate’s eyes. To prepare for the words he needed to say. “He and his pack have assaulted a mated Omega.”

“But Ariel’s not mate…” Lathan trailed off, looking from Ariel to Thaus and back. Figuring out the connection without assistance. The room went silent, the rest of his pack watching and waiting. Anticipating. And looking to their leader to tell them what the situation was.

“Shit,” Lathan hissed.

Yeah, that about summed it up.