Free Savage Silence: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 4) by Ellis Leigh

enough. She didn’t know if there was a word to describe such a person. He wasn’t at all what she’d expected. Well, not around her, at least. He’d been brutal with Alpha Chilton but completely calm and reassuring with her. He seemed so large, so menacing, yet he’d been nothing but a gentleman. And the quiet way he simply moved about his life, staying close to her but never pushing her outside of her safe zone, was all the more intriguing.
    Fear was a bitch with teeth, though. It held her back, stifling her need, creating a push-pull inside of her she didn’t know how to conquer. Fear of touch, fear of being overpowered again, fear of losing control, fear of what was coming for both of them. Ariel had been living in a virtual bubble of assumed safety since she’d joined the Kwauhl pack, hiding away in the woods and avoiding anything scarier than the occasional raccoon in the trees outside her cabin. Now, she was on the run, chased by the Glaxious pack, and mated to a man who looked as if he could destroy half the world without even trying.
    Bubble officially burst.
    “Can you shoot?” Thaus asked, bringing Ariel to a stumbling stop in the middle of the room.
    “What?”
    Thaus, knife in hand from where he was prepping something to cook in the open kitchen, cocked his head. Those light eyes locked on hers, and she was gone. The heat that look sent flying through her veins was delicious and terrifying all at once. There was no avoiding it.
    “I asked if you can shoot.”
    “You mean guns?”
    An almost-smile appeared. “Yeah.”
    “Sort of. I’m no Annie Oakley, but I know how to aim and pull the trigger.”
    Thaus nodded, dropping his gaze back to the cutting board. “Good. There are weapons at your disposal here. I’ll make sure you have everything you need for when they come.”
    Mating imperative or not, the reality of their situation was not something to be ignored. “You really think Glaxious will hunt us down?”
    “Yes, but we have a little time. My guess is they’ll run after your pack for a bit before doubling back to track us.”
    “That won’t take long.”
    “No, but it’ll be enough for my brothers to get here.” He nodded toward the counter stools. “Would you like to sit with me while I make lunch?”
    The decision was harder than it should have been, mostly because the closer she came to the man, the more she felt the pull to join with him as mates do. But Ariel wanted to talk to him, wanted to be near that beastly man, so she agreed. She moved to the seat, noticing how he made sure to keep the counter between them. To give her space, she assumed. Something few people would have done.
    “You’re curious,” Thaus said out of the blue. His simple statement took her by surprise.
    “I am. How do you know that?”
    “A sense, I guess.” His shoulder lifted in some sort of lazy shrug as he turned to the stove to tend one of the pans. “I sometimes feel things, energies of sorts.”
    Ariel hadn’t expected that confession. “Like emotions?”
    Thaus cocked his head, still not looking at her. “Like…predictions. I know where my pack is, not because I have a tie to them the way my Alpha has a tie to us, but because I sense their actions.”
    “That has to be difficult. Carrying the weight of that responsibility.”
    “I never thought about it like that, but it can definitely be a pain in the ass.” Thaus reached for a pan hanging from a rack in the air and hissed, flinching in what was obviously pain.
    Ariel was up and moving before she could consider what it might mean when she reached him. “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing.” His growly, grumpy response almost made her laugh. Typical guy, it seemed.
    But she’d been healing patients for too long to let an arrogant, macho man stand in her way. “I’m a doctor. Maybe I can help.”
    But he just shook his head and took a step away from her. Trying to escape. The stubborn jackass. “It’s nothing, really.”
    Ariel bit her