Savage Surrender: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 1) (10 page)

Bez sat up with a sigh, his heart breaking at the look of disappointment in her eyes. “You have to go.”

Sariel gasped, clinging to the sheet and pulling it up against her chest, looking slightly heartbroken. Shit, again with the messing up. Bez’s heart stuttered at the pained expression on her face, and he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her closer.

“No, Freckles.” Bez shook his head. “You have to go up to the safe room. They’re here.”

It took a moment for the words to register, but when they did, she practically exploded off the bed. Her feet barely making a sound, she hurried to Angelita’s room without a look back, waking the wolf with soft whispers. Bez yanked on his shorts and followed her into the hall, listening hard to the noises the pack outside was making.

Once the red wolf awoke, Sariel looked back his way, her eyes wide and filled with a fear that made his soul ache. “Are you sure it’s not your team?”

Bez watched her, trying to keep his words smooth and steady so as not to scare either of the two Omegas under his protection. “No, not yet. Soon, but it’s time to get you both into the safe room.”

Sariel nodded, something Bez took to mean she understood. Which was good because, by the way the sounds outside were growing closer, they only had a handful of minutes until the first wolf would be at their door.

Bez hurried Sariel and Angelita into the hallway, sliding open the attic access panel and pulling the ladder down with ease.

“Up we go.” Bez grabbed Angelita and brought her to his chest before giving Sariel a look he hoped said more than his words could in that moment. Words like
I’m sorry, I want to get to know you, you’re my mate, and I need you safe.
All things he didn’t have time for, so he said what he could with his eyes as he whispered, “After you.”

Bez followed his mate up the ladder, staying close to her. Close enough for his arms to rub against her ass with every move as he hurried her up the steps while carrying Angelita. Her very naked ass, he noticed repeatedly. He needed to find her something to wear, but there wasn’t enough time. Not with the enemy so close.

Once Bez’s feet hit the attic floor, he led the girls to the safe room door. After he entered the code and released the latch, he swung open the heavy door and set Angelita down just over the threshold.

“It’s steel; they can’t get through,” he whispered, purposely keeping his voice low as the wolves outside came closer. Sariel stared up at him, all breathless and flushed. Kissable. Fuckable. But not then. “Get in and lock the door. I’ll be back when this is over.”

“What about you?” Sariel asked, fear showing in her gaze. She grabbed his wrist, her fingers soft and hot against his skin. That touch set him on fire, making him growl his want for her. Bez couldn’t hold back. He picked her up and crashed his lips to hers, kissing her with all the need and desire he had for her. She met his kiss with the same fervor, not backing down, owning him as much as he was trying to own her.

His hands gripped her ass, pulling her tight, squeezing her closer. Keeping his body against his for one glorious moment. But the enemy was too close, and Bez needed to get his mind back in the fight. After one final lip bite that made Sariel sigh, he pulled back, knowing his time was up as the first footfall fell on the grass of the lawn.

“Gotta go.”

Sariel stepped into the safe room, her chin up and her eyes dry. His brave little mate putting on a show for him and Angelita. “Be careful.”

“Stay put.” Bez pushed the door closed, resting his hands against the cool steel for a moment longer than necessary before whispering, “Be safe.”

As soon as Bez heard the click of the lock engaging, he stalked across the attic and slid down the ladder. With a single push, he slid the access panel back into place, making the entrance almost invisible. He would have liked to have hidden their scent trail as well, but it was too late. The wolves were on the property, though there was still no scent or sound of the werewolf. That worried him more than if the beast had been on the porch or breaking through the windows. Its absence told him the jackasses had a plan and a strategy. Too bad Bez did as well, one that would decimate theirs. Lights off, house silent, Bez smiled and gave himself over to his inner wolf.

It was time to fight for the Omegas…time to kill for his mate’s safety.

“
B
e careful
,” Sariel said, her heart in her throat. Fear wrapped around her like a vise, strangling her voice. She gave herself one more moment to look over her mate—her strong, capable, warrior mate—before she pulled the heavy door closed. The lock dropped into place with a clank, the sound ominous in the hollow space. She leaned her forehead against the steel panel and closed her eyes.

“Be safe,” Bez said from behind the door, and then nothing. Silence.

A whine from behind her made Sariel open her eyes, fighting back the burn of unshed tears. Forcing the worry from her heart, she turned toward the little wolf.

“C’mon, Angelita. Let’s—” Sariel looked around the sparsely appointed room, belatedly noticing there was nothing for the two of them to do but sit on the floor and wait. A level of hell where minutes passed like hours with no distractions. “Well…shit.”

Angelita whined and bumped into her legs, offering comfort in her own way. Sariel sighed and dropped her hand to Angelita’s neck to tug on the fur.

“He’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay.”

The words tasted false on her lips. Would Bez be able to win a battle with the men who’d taken them? One-on-one, she believed Bez could do anything. Even two-on-one. But no man or wolf could take down a pack on their own, and if the men acted like a pack, Bez was in trouble. If the pack brought a werewolf, Bez was dead.

The silence reigned for several minutes, tension high, human and wolf breathing fast and hard as they waited for any sensory input that would tell them the fight had begun. Several minutes as Sariel’s stomach churned and her heart raced, worry over her mate’s safety taking over her thoughts.

The fight itself didn’t start with a growl or a bang, not with anything loud or crashing. No, this fight started with a catcall from outside playing live over some kind of speaker system.

“Here, pretty girl. Come out and play with us.” The words exploded into the room, shattering the silence. The voice came from a guard both women feared. His eyes were too wandering, his smile too lascivious. Sariel had hated him from the moment he’d looked her up and down when she’d been dropped at their houseboat camp. She hated him even more knowing his presence put Angelita and her mate in danger.

“Come on, girl,” another wolf said from the opposite side of the house. “Your pack didn’t hide when we came for them. They may not have been any good at fighting, but at least they died with some kind of honor instead of hiding away. Well, except your parents, of course.”

Sariel grabbed Angelita as the shewolf growled, wrapping her arms around her fur-covered ribs and pulling her into a full-body hug. “They’re trying to bait you so you react emotionally and make a mistake. Don’t let them win.”

Angelita growled and snapped, wiggling to break free. Sariel gripped her harder, wrapping her legs around Angelita’s hips to hold her still.

“They all deserve to die for what they did to your pack. But you have to let Bez handle it, okay? He’ll make sure they get what’s coming to them.”

Finally, Angelita huffed and held still, no longer fighting. Sariel ran her hands over the girl’s fur, trying to keep her calm as more taunts came from outside. The men from the camp had arrived, surrounding the house, which meant Bez had to fight off three at once. Sariel wasn’t sure even her strong, soldier mate was good enough for those odds. Especially if the werewolf showed up.

“What was it they called you, little girl?” a man called. Sariel stiffened as Angelita’s head spun, staring hard at the door leading out of the room.

Sariel leaned down and hissed, “Don’t—”

“Angelita, right? The pack’s little angel come to save them all.”

Angelita leaped from Sariel’s hold and stormed to the door, her growl deep and threatening. Sariel landed against the metal wall, her head hitting hard. Stars exploded before her eyes. She rolled, shaking off the sick feeling in her stomach and gripping the back of her head. Shit, that smarted.

She crawled to her knees as the little wolf scratched at the door. “Angelita, no! Don’t let them win.”

“Guess you couldn’t save them, after all,” the man yelled with a sarcastic chuckle. “Especially not your own brother.”

Angelita slammed into the steel door, jumping up on her hind legs and clawing at the handle until the lock disengaged. The little wolf pushed open the door and raced out into the attic like her tail was on fire. Sariel hurried to her feet, weaving as her head spun but still putting one foot in front of the other. Quickly.

Before the younger wolf could do much more than jump at the window in the dormer, Sariel caught up with her. She wrapped her arms around the wolf from behind and brought her face to her ear.

“They want you to come out there upset. We make mistakes when we’re hurting, and they’ll take advantage of those. Don’t let them win with words, hon. Wait…watch. Let Bez do his thing.”

Angelita fought to be free, clawing Sariel’s arms and legs as she whipped her head back and forth to bite. Sariel held on, having battled young wolf shifters for far too many years not to know how to keep from being bitten.

“Soon, Angelita. Soon. Let’s get back inside the safe room, though. Okay? Otherwise, Bez’s going to be distracted by us, and that’s the last thing he needs. He has to fight them. He has to win against them.”

Angelita stilled, her growl turning to a whine. Until the catcalling started again.

“C’mon, Angelita. Come out here and let me see if your blood tastes as sweet as your mother’s.”

Oh, hell. There really was no coming back from that, and Sariel knew it. Knew it, and prepared for the firestorm.

Angelita twisted, biting down on Sariel’s bare arm. The pain radiated to her fingers, forcing Sariel to release the wolf. Angelita headed straight for the small window overlooking the side of the cabin, looking ready to break right through the glass to get outside. Sariel grabbed her again, the two struggling, one holding on for dear life, and one dying to be released. Sariel stood as she got a solid hold on the wolf, Angelita a snapping, snarling mess in her arms. The man outside must have seen them through the dirty glass because he turned their way and grinned.

“There you are, young one. C’mon out and play with me. I promise not to make your punishment take as long as it did when I skinned your dad. You can come too, dud. We’ve got a hungry beast waiting for you.”

Angelita snarled at the laughing man, but not for long. A high-pitched whistle interrupted her. Screaming through the night, the sound made both women stop and stare. A silver flash, a splash of red, and the man’s head fell to the ground a second before his body collapsed.

Sariel dropped Angelita and collapsed against the window frame, fingers pressed to the cool glass.

“Bez.”

B
ez slipped through the shadows
, staying deep inside the house to avoid the windows. A loudmouth shouted from outside, but Bez knew that idiot was just a ruse. A distraction meant to attract Angelita’s attention with bullshit about her pack to make her react emotionally. They’d probably planned to separate the girl from him and Sariel and whisk her away. But Bez had her locked up, and he wouldn’t let her go outside if she left the safe room. Plus he’d never been one to fall for attempts at distraction. If one man outside was yelling and causing a ruckus, somewhere in the silence the real threat was coming for Angelita and his mate.

His
mate.

He could still smell Sariel on him and taste her on his lips, could still feel her warm body against his. Thoughts of her distracted him but only in the best way. The woman was a firecracker, gorgeous and stunning while simultaneously dangerous if in the wrong hands. Bez hoped his were the right hands, because once he got rid of the wolves prowling around the house outside and dealt with the werewolf he knew would be coming along, he was going to light her up and see what happened. That was his motivation. Not orders, not Blaze’s approval, or Dire Wolf pride. He wanted his mate in his den and in his bed. Wanted her screaming his name as he teased her endlessly. The fuckers outside were just an obstacle in his way.

Shaking off the thoughts of his mate, Bez edged his way into the kitchen and toward the window. He flattened his body to the wall as he peered outside, keeping his wolf at the forefront of his mind, letting his animal senses take over. He smelled the interloper before his eyes found him, caught the shadow of the dark wolf standing at the edge of the lawn. His ears picked up the heavy breathing of the animal, the raspiness that came from running too hard too far for an out of shape shifter. Weak…the animal was weak and tired, an easy kill.

Bez felt his canines descend, the hard enamel pushing through his gums as his ears lengthened and lifted. He needed to stay in his human form to fight, but his wolf could not be caged. The two had worked together for centuries this way, fighting their best when they shared the body. Half human, half animal…all lethal.

The wolf outside rocked on his paws, ready and waiting for whatever signals his leader had taught him. Obviously following orders, he stared up at the house, almost salivating for his shot at Angelita and Sariel. Bez nearly growled, his lips curling back over his teeth in a show of dominance even though the weaker wolf couldn’t see him. The fucker wouldn’t get a chance to complete his mission.

Slow and silent, Bez climbed onto the counter and curved his body around the edge of the window. He kept his breathing steady as he inched the window up, giving himself a mere few inches of space to work. Not that he needed more than that. There was a reason he’d chosen the weapons he had.

Grabbing a chakram from his pocket, Bez angled his body back as he slid in front of the window. The metal ring glinted in the moonlight, edges sharper than a razor. Light and deadly in the right hands, and his were definitely the right hands. The wolf outside never even looked toward Bez’s window, too intent on his quarry. His focus working in Bez’s favor.

Bez took a deep breath and jackknifed up, fully in front of the window. The wolf’s eyes darted to the glass, but it was too late for him. With a swing of his arm, Bez sent the chakram flying through the small gap between the sash and the frame, metal disk hitting the target in the throat a split second later. The wolf never made a sound, barely had time enough to realize Bez was even in the window. He simply fell to his side and bled all over the grass.

Two down at the houseboats, one down on the grass, two to go. And one less threat to his mate.

The soldier in Bez mentally kicked himself for that thought even as he crawled off the countertop and moved into the hall. His job, his mission, was to get the Omega out, to keep her safe, and to question the men who took her. Nothing in Blaze’s orders mentioned Sariel as none of the intel had said she was in the camp, but she would’ve been seen as collateral damage in the effort to save the primary target. Sariel’s death would have been accepted as necessary had he left her behind, but he couldn’t have left her. Blaze and Dante would probably dismiss that factor. But to change the overall goal of the mission, to go from capture to kill, could be seen as something akin to mutiny.

And Bez didn’t give a fuck.

At that moment, when the wolves were literally at the door and it was time to protect the Omega, his thoughts were on Sariel. On his mate. On his need to protect
her
, keep
her
safe, get
her
to his den and use his body and his skills to make sure no one came near. He’d never felt the strain of a mission more, the fear of failing so strongly. The werewolf would show up, angry and hungry and ready for blood. Female shifter blood. His mate’s blood. A thought that made his own run cold.

It was time to fight.

The shifter on the other side of the house yelled something about the taste of Angelita’s mother’s blood, changing Bez’s direction and plan. He’d been too far inside of his head considering the threat they were all under. The loud shifter may have been weak, his plan simple, but he could easily get the girls killed with his big mouth. Words had a way of crawling under skin and breaking down logic faster than anything else did. Angelita was too young not to care, and that put her in danger of falling for the bullshit.

Slipping across the tile floor, Bez crept to the back door. He let his senses flare, let them stretch and reach to cover the property. Still no sign of the werewolf, but he could sense two other wolves. Bez snuck out the back door and around the side of the house, clinging to the shadows of the overhang, hurrying toward the shifter with the big mouth. The one who thought a war was fought with words and yelling. Bez knew wars were fought many different ways, but he liked to battle silently, in the shadows and on the fringes. And he loved to surprise his enemy.

Pulling another chakram from his pocket, Bez blew out a breath and focused on the man by the front porch. His eyes morphed to their wolflike slant, his pupils opening to let in more light. The night pulled back, the shadows replaced with brightness. Bez’s wolf peered across the lawn, sizing up the threat, marking with deadly precision every soft spot of the other animal. Bez let his wolf inspect the target before he took a deep breath and shifted his human consciousness back to the forefront.

“There you are, young one,” the man yelled. Bez’s focus disappeared, slipping away into the night air. The girls had left the safe room. The danger of this fight had just ratcheted up ten notches in the blink of an eye. His wolf slammed forward, throwing his senses out harder, searching for every heartbeat, every sound as he prepared to fight in the only way he knew how. Violent and dirty.

“C’mon out and play with me. I promise not to make your punishment take as long as it did when I skinned your dad. You can come too, dud. We’ve got a hungry beast waiting for you.”

Bez’s fear for his mate turned to dread as the wind shifted. The stench of death and rot wafted from the lake itself, nearly buried under the calmer, cooler scent of the water. Not at all where Bez would have expected an enemy to come from. And that’s when his stomach sank. Bez had misjudged the plan. The enemy shifters weren’t spread out around the house to collect the women after they reacted to the loudmouth. They were directing the werewolf to its prey, into the house. To get around Bez’s wolf senses, the werewolf had swum to the property and was now mere yards away. Practically knocking on the damned door. And his mate was no longer secured in the safe room.

Unable to delay for a moment longer, Bez shifted his weight and pulled his arm back. The chakram slipped out of his fingers as his arm rushed forward, spinning so fast it whistled through the air. Not quite the silent way he liked to operate, but Bez had to admit the single second of confusion on the man’s face before the flying disc took off his head was satisfying in ways nothing else could be.

The moment the chakram sliced through flesh, Bez took off at a full run toward the front door.

Four down. One to go, if Harkens had been right about only five guards. Plus a werewolf hunting what had quickly become the most important thing in Bez’s world.