Free Savage Sanctuary: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 2) by Ellis Leigh Page A

halfway around the back of the house when the deep quiet of the winter’s night was broken by a scream. A woman’s scream…coming from inside. Levi was running before that scream ended, hightailing it across the snow to the back porch. He hit the door at full speed, slamming his body into the wood. The obstruction cracked and flew open…straight into the wall behind it with a crash that nearly shook the little structure.
    Levi had a brief moment of observation—of Abel standing in the kitchen with a cloak covering him—before the woman screamed again and jumped back, focusing on Levi for one heart-stopping moment as he skidded to a stop. That was all it took.
    Everything in Levi’s world tilted as the realization forced him to stand as still as a statue. His axis adjusted to accommodate the woman into his frame, to pull himself into her picture. A feeling he’d never had before wrapped around him, one of concern and care, one of belonging. One of fate. Without knowing her, he felt the pull. She was so much more than just another woman. So much more than a shewolf, an Omega, or the daughter of the local pack Alpha. This tall, curvy female with light eyes and smoky blond hair staring back at him was everything. She was his fated mate. His one and only…
    And she was in danger, which meant a slow, deliberate courtship was completely out of the question. He was about to kidnap her with her pack’s permission, which probably wasn’t the best way to kick off a long-lasting relationship with an independent woman like her.
    Shit.

8
    A my screamed when she saw the man in her kitchen, nearly shifting wolf to protect herself. But the light hit him at just the right time, illuminating him just as she felt the telltale prick of fur sprouting from her skin. Just as she realized who the intruder was.
    “Christ on a cracker, Abel. You almost gave me a heart attack. What the hell are you doing here?”
    Her brother growled in a tone that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Silent, practically looming over her, he stepped closer. Boxing her in. Looking angry as hell but saying nothing.
    “Abel?” Amy took one small step in his direction just as the back door exploded off its hinges. She screamed again, falling backward into the cabinets. As she slid to the floor, her eyes met those of the wolf standing in her ruined kitchen. A huge wolf with claws and teeth that made her want to run away. But something deep and dark swirled in the depths of those eyes, something tinged with a color close to silver. An unusual combination she’d never seen before. An intense connection she’d never felt building in a heartbeat.
    Mate.
    She landed on her ass, completely lost within her own head. Her mate was there. At her house. Standing in her kitchen as if he couldn’t move a damn muscle. Staring at her after having broken through the door.
    After having broken down her door.
    “Shit.” A stranger in her house, when she normally would have been alone, was nothing to sit back and take lightly. Luckily, Amy was quick to react, even after the whole mate thing boggled her brain.
    She jumped to her feet and grabbed the first substantial object she could find—a heavy, cast iron skillet she used for cornbread, which happened to be sitting on the stovetop. Without pausing for an explanation, she made one leap in the wolf’s direction. He shifted just as she touched down, leaving her with the impression of dark curls, dark eyes, and holy hell muscles. But she was too focused on defense to really get a good look at him. He’d invaded her space, broke in without asking entry, and could have planned any number of horrible things for her. The bastard. She’d show him what happened when you messed with a shewolf.
    Even with Abel yelling her name, she didn’t deviate from her target. She tightened her grip on the skillet, swung her arm wide…
    And crashed the heavy pan into the side of the man’s head.
    “What the hell are you