Savage Silence: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 4) (5 page)

A
riel felt trapped
between two hells inside her own mind. Her mate, Thaus, stood strong and ready to protect her, ready to claim her as his. He’d vocalized their bond, made it something real and weighted. And she…well, she sort of wanted to accept that. Sure, he was big and scary and she hadn’t been intimate in any way with another person since she’d escaped her kidnappers, but the mating bond between them had suddenly become a physical, burning thing. Something deep and right and wrapped around her so damn tight, she didn’t know if she could breathe through it. If she could even find her voice to tell him, yes, she was his, that she felt it, too. That she wanted it.

But that damaged, broken part of her resisted all her efforts to scrape out a place for herself, and that cage of hurt and fear left her mute.

“Shit,” Lathan hissed, looking at her with eyes filled with concern. Her answering growl didn’t seem to ease his discomfort. Too bad for him. She was pissed—at him, at herself, at the situation. And she was going to make sure they all knew it.

“Yeah.” Thaus seemed surprised to hear her soft rumble, but she simply shrugged. He shook his head with a small smile before pulling a phone from his pocket. “We need to go, Ariel.”

But her Alpha knew her, knew her fears and limitations. And he obviously felt a need to protect her, even from her own mate. “What are your plans? You can’t just drag the Omega off the mountain.”

“I’m not dragging
Ariel
anywhere.” Thaus’ fingers flew over the screen even as his eyes met hers, the stress he placed on her given name not lost on her. “I’m asking her to go north with me. I have a safe house there in the perfect spot to defend, way more advantageous than the valley we’re in now. I’ll call my team, and we’ll eliminate the threat.”

Lathan didn’t look convinced. “The mountains get more treacherous north of here.”

“Exactly.” Thaus repocketed his phone, still watching Ariel. Still speaking to the Alpha as if he somehow mattered. “It’ll take my team a day or two to get here. If we’re lucky, the Glaxious will think Ariel went with your pack on the road. That mistake should give us time to hole up and get backup in place. But it needs to be somewhere fortified and protected. Which means north. I know those woods and that mountainside better than even Chilton ever could. I’ll keep her safe.”

His words were to Lathan, but the meaning was for her, the direct honesty a subtle reminder of the mating bond wrapping them tighter together. As was the look of sincerity in his eyes.

“And when your team gets there?” Lathan asked, eyeing Thaus in a way that made Ariel bristle. He knew her secrets, knew more about her past than the rest of his pack. And he knew how hard it would be for her to handle a houseful of strangers. Especially if they were the size of her mate.

Thaus, on the other hand, had no clue why Lathan questioned him. “My team and I will take out Chilton, break up the Glaxious pack, deal with whoever is lurking in the woods around their land, and remove the threat to Ariel.”

“And you think it’s going to be as simple as that,” Lathan said with a disbelieving huff, earning him another low growl from her. Ariel’s wolf apparently had no trouble finding her voice, either.

Thaus must have heard the rumble, though it was hard to tell. Just a small lift to one side of his mouth gave him away. Bigger than the tic she’d fallen for already, this was more like a smile trying to escape. Ariel would have liked to see such a man smile.

“None of this is simple,” Thaus said, back to being Mr. Serious. “But it’s necessary for Ariel’s protection, and something my team is better equipped to handle.”

“And a new mate during all of this? Can you handle that as well?”

Ariel darted a look to Lathan then back to Thaus, seeking some sort of reaction from her new mate. Something more than a tic or a smile.

What she got was a chilling look shot at her once-Alpha and a strong statement she had no trouble believing.

“I can handle whatever I must to keep her safe. That’s my primary goal in all of this—save Ariel.”

Lathan watched Thaus, sizing him up, before turning to her once more. “Ariel? You don’t have to leave us if you don’t want to. I know I talked to you about running, but we can bring you with us instead of just pretending to. The pack will do their best to protect you.”

Every eye turned her way, every wolf waiting for an answer. But it was Thaus who held her attention. The man she couldn’t look away from. The man she felt certain she’d be safe with. It was Thaus, in all his hulky, scary glory, who pushed her to finally find her voice.

“I’m going with him.”

Thaus nodded once, in motion as soon as she voiced her opinion. “We should leave, then.”

Ariel gave Lathan a sort-of smile. The most she could muster at that moment considering all she’d been through and all she knew was coming for her. “Make sure the pack is safe. We’ll be fine.”

“Of course, you will. And we’ll be here once they get rid of Chilton.” Lathan held out his hand, looking for some sort of trust but giving her the opportunity to refuse him. “Be careful.”

“You, too,” she said. Ariel ran a single fingertip along the length of his hand—which was about all she could handle at the moment—before heading toward Thaus. Toward her mate.

Toward a future she had no idea how to deal with.

Thaus led her outside without another word, not touching, but directing her with his body language and closeness. Ariel had regained a bit of confidence while in the familiar meeting room, but out there, alone on the mountain with a man she was oddly aroused by and terrified of all at once, she had trouble focusing. She practically trembled as he directed her into the woods.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his voice soft and almost soothing.

Ariel took a deep breath, digging deep for the shifter who’d fought her way out of a prison. Who’d almost ripped her own hands off to escape the bonds a group of men had tried to hold her with. The beast within who had kept her alive when she’d truly thought there was no hope for survival. That was the person she needed to be, even if it was only to voice her biggest fear.

“I’m afraid of you.”

Something about Thaus gentled, whether it was the energy around him or simply the way he held himself. Ariel saying those four words suddenly made the man appear smaller and less threatening.

“I know.” The calm, soothing sound of his voice gave Ariel another boost of confidence.

“I’m not comfortable around…people. And I’m not going to be jumping into bed with you just because we’re mated.”

“I never assumed.”

“I don’t like when things are forced on me.”

Thaus cocked his head, his brow pulling down. “You think I would take something you weren’t ready to give?”

There was a pain in his voice, a disbelief that ate at her. Had she…insulted him? “I don’t know.”

Thaus stepped in front of her, still not touching. Crowding her, though. Putting himself in her space and making her look up at him. “Yes, you do. Dig deep, mate. You should be able to feel my sincerity through the bond. It’s new and just building strength, but it’s there. Feel it.”

Ariel stared into the ice-blue eyes imploring her to search for something she’d never known existed, trying hard to sense what she needed. To find some sort of safe ground inside of herself. Instead, all she found were fear and doubt.

“I don’t feel it.”

“Then I’ll make you this vow,” Thaus said, taking a step back and giving her room to breathe. “I won’t attempt a single touch until you trust me.”

“That might never happen.”

“Then we’ll be old and gray together without ever knowing the feel of the other’s skin.”

Ariel shivered at the growl in his voice, the underlying sensuality of it, struggling to resist the draw to touch him. Feel him. Taste him.

“I don’t like this desire in me,” she whispered. “I don’t like being out of control.”

“That’s what I want you to understand, sweet mate. You are totally and wholly in control when it comes to us. Except for where we need to go.” Thaus turned and pointed, drawing Ariel’s attention. “There’s a safe house north of here. It’s a good twelve-hour run as wolves, but it’s the most defendable place I can think of. Do you think you can handle the trek?”

“I’m stronger than I look.”

His eyes slid to the scars on her wrists. The ones she’d given herself in her efforts to escape the chains. The ones that had taken weeks to heal and still ached when the weather turned cold and damp.

“You look mighty strong to me.” Thaus stripped off his shirt and tucked it into a small pouch with an odd sort of strap looped over it. His pants went next, an action Ariel couldn’t help but watch.

“We need to shift.” He handed her the pouch. “There’s a minimal amount of clothing at the safe house, so you might want to undress and put your stuff in here. I’ll carry it.”

She bit her lip, shifting from one foot to another, suddenly far more shy than she’d ever thought possible. Naked…in front of her new mate…while he was naked? That was a recipe for disaster.

“Will you—”

Without waiting for her question, Thaus shifted to his wolf and moved off between some trees. She barely saw him, only caught a glimpse, really, but it was enough to send a shiver of shock through her. Big, dark, with a large skull and a predator’s jaw, the beast was something out of the storybooks. A legend, really.

But it was the spots along his spine and hips that screamed his truth.

Ermine spots.

The calling card of a breed of wolves long thought extinct but that she’d studied extensively during her school days.

As impossible as it seemed, she was mated to a Dire Wolf.

T
haus had been right
about the endurance aspect of his mate’s form. Ariel was a good runner, strong and sure, with a speed that almost matched his own. Without pushing herself too hard, the shewolf kept up with him as they raced through the woods, Thaus leading by barely more than a body length or so at any given time.

The long run gave the Dire plenty of time to surreptitiously investigate his new mate. She matched the look of the Mexican wolves from farther south with her deep, dark red fur. Much like honorary Dire member Angelita, the ward Bez and his mate Sariel looked over. Two women brought into the Dire world, both Mexican reds, both Omegas, both with angel names… If Thaus believed in coincidences, that’d be one hell of a doozy. But Charmeine and Armaita weren’t red, so maybe he was just reaching for threads where there were none.

The phone inside the wolf pouch Thaus carried kept vibrating as the two ran. He knew who was calling—his Dire brothers, setting up the mission to come to his aide against the Glaxious pack. He knew it, and he sort of resented them. It didn’t matter that Ariel would be safer with them close by; he secretly wanted them to stay away. He needed time with his mate, needed to get to know her, needed to understand the walls she’d built around herself and begin the arduous task of breaking them down.

He needed time with her, but time was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Not with Alpha Chilton probably close behind him. The Glaxious pack would have to track by scent, which would slow them down considerably, especially as Thaus had led Ariel through as many streams and rivers as he could in an attempt to hide their trail. But eventually, the pack would come. Thaus wasn’t stupid enough to think there was any way around that, which meant he needed his brothers with him. No Dire fought alone if they didn’t want to, and the last thing he wanted was to go lone wolf when the stakes were as high as they were. He wouldn’t risk Ariel.

When they finally reached the cabin after the long journey, Thaus shifted first. The pain in his shoulder burned throughout his body, and his shift felt less than perfect, but he couldn’t concentrate on any of that. The safe house suddenly seemed ominous, and though he’d only just been there a couple of days before, had restocked it himself, and knew how defendable the building was, he worried he was making the wrong choice in where to plant his flag and defend.

“Ariel.” He knelt in front of the small wolf, placing the pouch in his lap for a bit of modesty. Thaus had a feeling someone as walled off as his mate would not appreciate his cock waving in her face. The little wolf sat on her haunches and waited, eyeing him hard but staying far enough away so that Thaus couldn’t have reached her. Not that he would have tried.

“This is my cabin, and I know how easy it is to defend and what weapons are inside.” Thaus closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, a feeling akin to fear building within him as he thought about the coming fight. About his brothers not making it in time. “I’ve got backup coming and I’m ready for this fight, but if anything happens, if the Glaxious pack comes and you ever feel as if this place and my plan aren’t enough, run north.”

Her tiny whimper tore at his heart and caused his protective instincts to surge. Fuck, he wanted to wrap his arms around her and let her feel his strength. Let her sink into it so she could understand how willing he was to fight for her. How dedicated he was to making sure she would get out of this situation.

“My pack leader is in Alaska. If anything happens to me, he’ll know. And because we’re—” a pause, almost unintentional but still there “—mated, because of our bond, he’ll find you. He feels us all.”

Ariel tilted her head, looking almost like a caricature of a wolf asking a question. One Thaus understood.

“You never have to fear me or my brothers. You will always be pack to us, whether you accept me as your mate or not. And you will always be safe with them.” He took a deep breath, ready to lay out his secrets. The ones he’d been keeping for hundreds upon hundreds of years. “Ariel, did you notice the spots on my wolf’s haunches? The size of his head?”

She chuffed, a small sound, but one Thaus took as agreement.

“My brothers all look similar. We’re Dire Wolves, the last remaining seven in the world. We believe all Omegas are descended from our breed and are the female equivalent of our male Dire. If you see a wolf with spots and the same heavy bone structure as me, you can run to them. You can trust them. Those things mean they’re a Dire, they’re one of my brothers, and they’ll do anything it takes to keep you safe.”

She didn’t react, though Thaus didn’t expect her to. Scars like hers didn’t fade quickly, but at least she knew. She had an idea of the Dire dedication to her. Hopefully, she’d never need to run for safety, but if she did, she knew what to look for.

Wanting to get his mate inside, he reached into the pouch and pulled out her dress. “I need to sweep the house. You can shift and put this back on. Just don’t head into the woods.” He paused, swallowing hard at the thought that crossed through his mind. The one that made him physically ache. “And please, don’t run off. I’d have to chase you because of the attack coming, and…I think that would scare you. Let’s get through the coming fight, then we can make decisions.”

Thaus handed her the dress, which she took gently between her teeth. Her eyes never left his, and she refused to yield even an inch, it seemed. Strong, stubborn woman for sure. He could only hope she wasn’t too stubborn to at least give him a chance to prove himself. He was no young pup, no hornball kid with more balls than brains. True, the pull to mate his female was a strong one, but he could control himself. Completely.

Needing to get things moving, he stood and headed inside, the gnawing fear of leaving her alone even for a minute tearing him apart. One quick sweep, and then he could be back at her side. He slid his cargo pants on the second he walked through the door, sniffing as he did. No new scents. No sign of intruders. Still, he kept an ear out for his mate as he moved deeper through the house. Every room investigated, every space cleared.

“Ariel,” he called from the single bedroom at the back, knowing she’d hear him even through the walls. “It’s clear. You can come in.”

The wolf padded into the living room just as he came out from the hallway, her dress still in her mouth. The wolf, the dress…shit. Of course, she was too nervous to shift human alone outside. She’d obviously been prepared to escape if need be. Staying in her wolf form was the best way to do that.

“Sorry, I didn’t think,” he said as he ran a hand over his shorn head. “You can shift wherever you’re comfortable. There’s nothing to fear in here.”

Except me,
he thought. Because she did fear him, that much was obvious. A fact that caused him more pain than his bum shoulder.

Thaus moved to the windows of the living area—two of only four small ones in the entire house—making sure each was thrown open so the scents of the forest could carry in on the breeze. The battle would come to them, and scent was the easiest way for Thaus to know when it had arrived.

He turned around to head toward the rear of the house once more…

And almost died.

Ariel had shifted back to her human form.

And she had not yet gotten dressed.

His mate—his beautiful, luscious mate—stood in the middle of the living room, naked with her back to him, struggling to pull her dress over her head. Thaus tried to look away, but the mating pull was too strong. The need to devour her in any way he could too hard to resist. So he looked.

His eyes focused on all her soft bits first—her thighs, the swell of her hips, the curve of her stomach when she turned just slightly, the side of her breast he could just barely see under her arm. She was stunning and sensual in a way that nearly knocked him over. But that appreciation quickly turned to rage.

Scars.

Everywhere.

Claw marks, puncture wounds, long, straight lines that looked as if they were cut into her flesh with some sort of knife. They covered her body, creating what looked like a light-colored pattern across almost every inch of her skin.

Everywhere.

“What happened to you?”

His words were automatic. Unstoppable. And as soon as he said them, he wished he could pull them back. Ariel finally tugged the dress down, covering herself. Hiding those scars from his view. She almost seemed to shrink in on herself as if embarrassed.

“Like Glaxious, a group of shifters decided they wanted an Omega.” She shrugged, her eyes staying locked on the floor instead of meeting his. “Or twelve.”

Thaus’ stomach dropped. The Omegas. The battle at Merriweather Fields, home of the NALB president, a mere three years before. He remembered it well. A pack with an Alpha set on harnessing the power of the Omega shewolf had kidnapped many of them from across the country and tried to forcibly breed them. He’d seen some of them at the final battle—the showdown when that Alpha tried to overthrow the president of the NALB. Tried to oust the Dires’ current boss. The bastard had been defeated and the Omegas brought back home, but Thaus didn’t remember Ariel from that group. He’d checked in every one, had carried most of them down to the hospital wing in the mansion after the fight was over. He would have remembered Ariel. He never would have left this mate once he found her.

“You weren’t at the battle,” he whispered, his voice rough and raw, his emotions much the same.

Ariel finally met his gaze, looking confused. “What battle?”

“Three years ago when the Alpha kidnapping the Omegas came to challenge President Blasius Zenne, you weren’t there.”

“No. I didn’t even know there was a battle. I ran as soon as I figured out how to free myself.” She held up her arms, putting her wrists together so the scars lined up just right. So he could see the circle from what had to be some sort of restraint, the flesh around it rough and jagged from teeth marks and the tears. Thaus was going to be sick.

Ariel, meanwhile, had lost a bit of the life about her. She spoke in a monotone with no expression on her pretty face. “Nearly had to chew my own hands off, but I got out of the chains. The other girls there…they weren’t so lucky.”

Thaus’ head spun. So close. He’d been
so close
to finding her years ago. If they’d figured out what was going on sooner, if the Dires had been called in a little earlier, he might have been able to find her. He might have saved her from that hell.

But he was also so very proud. His mate had fought for herself, had escaped the enemy all on her own. Had… Why did she look so guilty?

“What is it?” he asked, taking a single step closer. Unable to hold himself back.

“The others. I’ve never forgiven myself.” She turned her back to him, her arms coming up to hold herself. Something he wished he could do for her. “I tried to get them to come with me, but they wouldn’t. Not a single one was willing to even try. I left them behind.”

The pain in her voice, the anguish. He hated it. “We saved them.”

Ariel spun, her long, dark hair flying out around her. “What?”

Thaus took another step, wishing with everything he had that he could wrap his arms around her, could comfort her. Knowing touching her was the last thing she wanted and hating every fucking wolf who’d ever touched her without care for that fact. “The battle at Merriweather, the challenge of President Blasius Zenne. The Alpha brought most of his Omegas he’d been—”

Thaus choked to a stop, unable to think about what the Alpha had been doing but knowing he had to.

“Fuck,” he hissed, using every bit of his control to force his wolf back. The beast was filled with a fury the two had never experienced. Not even after being left for dead a time or two. Those bastards had touched his mate, hurt her, they’d—

“Breeding.” He bit the word out, fighting to hold back the sick he could feel climbing up his esophagus. “They’d been forcibly breeding the Omegas. We saved most of the shewolves once the Alpha fell.”

Ariel didn’t miss a thing, it seemed. “Most?”

“There were…others. Before the fight.” Thaus closed his eyes, remembering the cabin in North Dakota. The one with the six Omegas in it. The one they’d been sent to because of a pack in the Appalachian Mountains and a shewolf named Kalie. They’d almost lost some men that day, particularly the doc of the Feral Breed crew with them, but they’d done it. They’d knocked back the enemy and gained access to the cabin. He’d been the first one inside, and he’d never forget what he saw. Never forget what those bastards had dared to do to the Omegas they’d housed there.

Beds.

Chains.

Broken claws.

Dead eyes staring back at him.

No, that wasn’t something a man ever forgot.

“But…you got them out? You saved them.”

Thaus nodded, still feeling sick to his stomach. “Every one that could be saved.”

Whether they wanted to be or not.

Ariel slowly dropped to the floor, her eyes unfocused. “I always hoped… I couldn’t get them to go with me. I called the NALB as soon as I found a phone, but I didn’t know exactly where I’d been, and I couldn’t stick around to wait for them. I told them what I could, and then I ran as soon as I hung up the phone. And I just kept running.”

“How long were you there?”

The way she hid her eyes from him, the flash of pain on her face as she turned away; that was all he needed to know. She’d been there long enough to have been raped. His wolf crashed against his mind at that knowledge, but he forced the animal back. This was not the time for fighting and growling. Not the time to show his strength and his fury. His mate was afraid and rightly so. They’d taken everything from her—her trust, her freedom, and her faith in the world around her. It wasn’t his job to set the world ablaze to prove he would have protected her. It was his job to hold her together when she couldn’t hold herself anymore.

And right then, he would have done anything to be able to do just that.

Instead, he said the only words he could think of. “I’m so sorry we didn’t get to you in time.”

Ariel shivered, a choked sob escaping from her pretty mouth. Thaus couldn’t stand seeing her in so much pain. He reached for her, his movements slow and deliberate. Making sure she saw his hand coming closer. Giving her every opportunity to retreat if she wanted to. She watched him with wary eyes, looking at him as if he was some sort of predator. As if he’d hurt her like others had. As if he was a threat.