Savage Sanctuary: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

off-balance, which made him drop his arm. The one holding the gun. Again.
    This guy had no clue how to actually fight.
    Without waiting for the dude to make the first move, Levi slashed his arm with a gruesome downward pull. One cut, and the blood started flowing. Two, and the gun dropped to the concrete. That left Levi’s target open for some hand-to-hand ass kicking, though the guy didn’t go down easy. He swung hard with his right, only missing because Levi was faster. A good thing, too. Those fists were big for a human.
    Levi thrust and dodged, twisting to avoid the punches the guy threw. Big dude followed, off-balance but attempting to hold his own. Both men scrambling over broken footing and seeking the upper hand. Levi doing a better job of it all.
    The fight wouldn’t have lasted as long as it did if Levi wouldn’t have had to keep the gun in his peripheral vision. He had no idea where Ashley had gone, and the last thing he needed was some pissed off pro shooting him in the back. He’d heal—of course—but that would be a bit hard to explain. So he kept slashing, kept cutting, kept landing shallow stabs to the other guy’s chest and arms. He wouldn’t kill the guy—not yet, at least—but he was definitely going to teach him a lesson.
    It was on a particularly deep thrust—right into his enemy’s bicep—that Levi heard the sound of another person coming up behind him.
    “I thought I told you to watch yourself.”
    The man from the counter grabbed big, dumb, and ugly and twisted his arm behind his back. Levi took the opportunity to slam the man in the nose with the butt end of his knife, sending him to his knees. A second hit, and the man sagged toward the concrete. Unconscious at last.
    “Jackpot,” Levi said, growling hard under the word. His shifter friend tossed the guy into the space between two cars, then dropped down to grab the gun. Levi had a moment of pause, a single second where he gripped his knife a little tighter and prepared himself for a second fight, but the guy didn’t aim it. In fact, he unloaded the bullets and pocketed them before tucking the gun in his waistband. Smart man.
    “Well, that was fun,” the guy said, not even breathing hard. “Where’d you learn to fight with a knife like that?”
    Levi wiped his SOG on his pants and slid it back into the holster before giving him the simplest and most truthful answer. “War.”
    That definitely got the guy’s attention. “Pack or military?”
    “Military. What about you?”
    “Pack wars.” The guy shrugged, as if that wasn’t a big deal. Levi had seen a lot of pack wars over the years, had even been sent in to stop a few. They were brutal, deadly, and downright horrific. If this guy had survived a pack war, he was a fellow brother-in-arms. Period.
    Levi held out his arm. “Name’s Levi. And I’m glad as fuck that I ran into you tonight.”
    The guy glanced at his offered arm, then nodded once. He grabbed hold near the elbow, and Levi did the same back, the two holding on for a moment of mutual respect and traditional shifter greeting.
    “I’m Zeke. It’s nice to meet you, Levi.”
    The two held arms for a solid few seconds, and then the moment was over. Levi surveyed the parking lot for any sign of their fight that could lead someone back to him. Ashley was gone, not surprisingly, and the big dude was still facedown on the concrete. Otherwise, there was no sign of a struggle. His work here was done.
    “So, the diner, eh?” Levi headed for his truck, Zeke following along beside him.
    “Yeah. Definitely,” Zeke said with a nod. “Hope Springs has got great food and good company. It can’t be beat.”
    “Hope springs eternal in Hope Ridge, apparently. Might have to try it tomorrow.” Levi stopped at his truck, ready to go but growing more curious about this particular nomad. “So, you hoping to join the local pack or something?”
    Zeke’s low growl said just as much as his words. “I’m not a pack