Read Savage Surrender: A Dire Wolves Mission (The Devil's Dires Book 1) for Free Online

there. And no way is some reptile getting in the way of me and freedom.”
    “So what do we do?”
    “We listen…and we watch. Knowledge is our most powerful weapon, little one. We keep our eyes on these men and figure out what’s what. Like that the dark one can’t smell his own scat, or the tall blond seems to have a little hearing trouble. Stuff like that can be used to our advantage, right?”
    Sariel smiled as Angelita nodded. “A little bit longer, and we’ll have our chance. It’s just a matter of time. Those boys out there think they have a couple of delicate petals on their hands. They’ve never truly seen what happens when one of us shows our claws.”
    Angelita was quiet for a moment, her lips pursed. “What if they come for us before then, or they split us up?”
    Sariel’s stomach dropped, but she held her tongue. She’d heard a conversation about just that thing the other day. They needed Angelita somewhere up north, and Sariel wasn’t needed at all anymore. She’d never thought her being sterile would be a good thing, but having been kidnapped by a group who only wanted her so they could breed her had changed her mind in a hurry. Every day, she thanked the stars for that little biological defect. But Angelita wasn’t as lucky. The men had left her alone so far, other than to tease and torment the child, but she knew that would end once they got her to wherever they were planning to take her. Angelita was in serious danger, and Sariel could only hope they’d be able to escape together before it all came to a head.
    Doing her best to keep her face calm and clear of the worry eating her up from the inside, Sariel tucked the dirty sheet around Angelita’s shoulders. “Don’t go borrowing trouble, now. We have three things to do—watch, wait, and plan. If we do that, we get out. Period.”
    Angelita nodded, snuggling into Sariel’s side. The two lay quiet and still, listening to the chorus of insects buzzing away. Frogs croaked and splashed, birds screamed, and alligators roared in the distance. Noises Sariel had somehow gotten used to. And by the gods, wasn’t it a sick, sad fact that she’d been there long enough to get used to all that?
    “What do you want to do when you get out of here?” Angelita asked, breaking the heavy non-silence.
    “Besides shower for a whole day?” Sariel winked and smiled, the two of them both uncomfortable with their lack of bathing options. “I want food…real food. And I’d like to find myself a handsome shifter to hold on to for a few hours.”
    The girl giggled, reminding Sariel of how young she really was. Not just in years, but how inexperienced and immature she could be. The princess of her pack, Angelita was the epitome of a sheltered young woman. Too old to be a child, not yet ready to be a woman. Trapped in the in-between where emotions ran strong and every disappointment seemed to bring on the end of the world. Sariel hoped she could help her get out of this place, to give her the chance to grow up a bit more somewhere safe and secure. Somewhere they’d honor her and protect that innocence as they introduced her slowly to what it meant to be a woman.
    But even knowing how careful she needed to be, Sariel wasn’t going to lie to the girl. Not about her hopes for when they escaped. If it made Angelita blush, so be it. She’d understand the draw of big, strong arms wrapping around her one day.
    “And when I’m clean,” Sariel said, grinning at Angelita’s blush and looking up at the ceiling. “When my belly’s full and I’ve kicked that nice shifter back to where he came from, I want to go north.”
    Angelita snuggled closer, tangling their legs together for the comfort of touch. “Why north?”
    But, oh, there was danger in that answer. Sariel shrugged, trying to hide the wet burning in her eyes and the way her hands shook. “I’ve never seen snow, and I think I might like to.”
    Angelita grew quiet, her face serious as she stared at