Saved by Wolves (Shifters Meet Their Mate Book 1) (6 page)

“Any other siblings? No? A mate?” 

“A mate? You mean, am I married?”

“Married, engaged, have a giant boyfriend who will come looking for you. Any of the above,” he clarified. He didn’t seem to have the same problem she did with being direct about what he wanted to know. And the fact that he wanted to know made her flush.

“No,” Jackson said from behind her.

She whirled around, ticked off by the confidence in his voice. “How do you know?” Did he think she was so repulsive no man would have her?

He growled, “Because no male would let his mate wander around alone, at the mercy of the military and the Cats. And if he did, you’d be better off without him.”

“No one let me come here. And even if I had a ‘mate,’ he wouldn’t dictate what I could do. We’d be partners. Equal partners.”

His snort conveyed what he thought of that, and Kirra faced forward again, determined to ignore him and his caveman beliefs. If that’s what female shifters had to put up with, it was no wonder the shifters’ numbers had been declining for the last few decades. She’d never get involved with someone who thought he had the right to deny or give her permission to do things.

“You didn’t answer the question,” Marcus persisted.

Part of her wanted to say she had a huge boyfriend—larger than Jackson—who was waiting for her, but that would probably sound like the pathetic lie it was. “No, I don’t have a mate.” She’d tried to have relationships in the past, but it was hard to get close to anyone without letting her secrets slip. Somehow, they always sensed she was holding back, hiding something, and the relationship crashed and burned. The only positive was that because she’d never been fully invested, her heart had always survived intact.

“Hmm.”

Marcus looked as if follow-up questions were on the tip of his tongue, so Kirra changed the topic. “Have you guys ever thought of creating an actual trail?” she huffed as she balanced on top of a mossy tree stump, searching for the safest way back to the ground.

He circled back from where he’d ranged ahead and held out his arms. She jumped, clearing the knotted roots at the base of the stump, and he eased her to the ground, hands resting on her waist, careful not to press against the wound on her left hip.

“This is a trail,” he said. “Humans can’t see it, but it’s as clear to us as if it had signs with arrows saying This Way. We smell it.” He tapped the side of her nose.

“Okay, but what about maintaining it? Someone could break a leg following this route.”

“Only a human,” Jackson said. “And the last thing we want to do is make it easier for humans to find where we live.” His tone drove home the fact that he thought taking her with them was a bad idea. Kirra bit back the retort that sprang to mind. She needed their help to get to the council, and if putting up with Jackson’s surly attitude was the price for that, she could pay it. 

Marcus slung an arm over her shoulders and shook his head warningly at Jackson before giving her upper arm a light squeeze. “What he means is that we need to be careful. There have been some... incidents in the past, and we’ve found that even on our own land, it’s best to keep a low profile.”

“What kind of incidents?”

“Oh, the kind that have gone on for years, ever since we ‘came out’ to humans. People will ‘accidentally’ cross into our land and harass us if they find us alone, and in a few cases, hunters have shot shifters in their animal forms.” His voice lowered, and his arm dropped from her shoulders. Kirra felt the absence acutely. “If we die in our animal form, we stay in it. There’s a black market for shifter pelts. It’s illegal, but it’s a booming business.”

“That’s disgusting,” Kirra gasped. Horrifying was more like it. She’d lived in a state of fear most of her life, varying from the low-grade, constant fear of exposure to the acute, adrenaline surging fear of capture and death, and she knew that when she died, scientists would fight over who got to dissect her organs, especially her brain. One thing she’d never worried about was being skinned and put on display. Bile rose in her throat, and she bent over, pressing her hands against her knees, fighting nausea.

In her peripheral vision, she saw Jackson stride past, not breaking step at all. Marcus waited patiently while she regained her composure. She exhaled and straightened, accepting his hand, and they continued. She didn’t complain when they had to work their way through a tangle of brambles.

“Are the hunters ever caught and arrested?” she asked in a quiet voice. Was that what had happened to Jackson’s family? Maybe he had a reason to despise humans.

“Sometimes, but it’s a hard thing to prove. Most claim they had no idea the victim was a shifter. Alphas all through North America are working with the human government to make the laws stricter, but the best we can do is police our own borders.”

“Is that the only problem?” she asked. “Or do shifters sometimes go missing for other reasons?”

He slanted a curious look at her, and she wondered if her question had been too specific. Not that it really mattered. She already knew the answer, even if he didn’t.

“Shifters, usually teens, sometimes decide they want to live in human lands. Most can’t hack staying in human form indefinitely, and miss the pack and running in the woods, so they’re back in a matter of weeks. A few never come back.”

“The ones that don’t come back—they all told people they were leaving?” What if she was wrong? If all his people were accounted for, the alpha wouldn’t believe a word she said.

Marcus hitched a shoulder and tilted his head to the side. “I’m not sure. Why?”

Time to change the subject again. “Other than being an enforcer, what do you do?”

“What do I do? Like a hobby?”

“Hobby, other job, whatever,” she said.

“Would you believe me if I said I compose poetry and ballads, just waiting for the right woman to recite them to?” He winked, and she burst out laughing. “No? Well, when I’m not on duty with that lug over there, I’m busy building my house.”

“You have a house?”

“Well, right now just the foundation, but I’ll have the walls up soon enough. What? Did you think we lived in caves or something?”

She’d honestly never thought about it. That didn’t seem the right thing to say, however, so she asked him to tell her about his house, letting her mind wander when he started comparing the merits of different building materials. A strange sensation that something was off had been tickling at the back of her mind, and the farther they traveled, the stronger the sensation got. It wasn’t a bad feeling like the way she’d felt when she’d sensed the soldiers closing in on the apartment. It was something else.

Out of habit, she reached out with her senses. The soft natural electrical energy of plants and animals pulsed all around her, but that was it.

“There’s no electricity here,” she interrupted Marcus’s monologue. “Not for miles.” It was weird and alien not to be able to reach out and siphon off as much energy as she needed at a moment’s notice. The energy from plants and living organisms was a mere trickle in comparison to the power lines she was used to. Essentially useless. She could still tap into the energy of building storms, but it wasn’t the same.

For years, she’d wished she hadn’t been cursed with her ability to manipulate energy. It had caused her nothing but grief and pain from day one. Yet, being cut off from it, even temporarily, she didn’t feel the peace and happiness she’d expected.

Marcus nodded. “That’s why I’m using a wood stove to heat my house. Nothing electrical or with batteries is allowed on shifter land. Makes a lot of shifters sick—migraines and upset stomachs.”

An ivory-colored Wolf broke out of the trees between Jackson and them. It circled around Kirra and sniffed, ears back, a low, questioning growl in its throat. She forced herself to stay still and breathe calmly. Marcus didn’t look concerned, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. 

“Yes, she’s human. It’s fine, Dravin. Do me a favor and check our back trail and make sure no one followed us.” Marcus grabbed the Wolf by the scruff of its neck and yanked him away when he moved to sniff her crotch. The white Wolf yipped, but took off down the trail. “Dravin was on guard duty,” he explained. “Look, you see that break in the trees ahead? Wolf’s Run—our home—is just past that.”

Wolf’s Run. The alpha would be there. She needed to convince him to help her. If she messed it up, Francesca would pay the price.

T
he alpha’s home was a medium-sized log house on the outskirts of a huge field surrounded by woods. An old-fashioned well with a bucket was in the center of the clearing, and maybe twenty other houses were scattered around, each at least fifty feet from the next in all directions.

“My house is over there,” Marcus said, pointing across the field to two large mounds covered in tarps. She guessed building materials were underneath. A long, low building shared that side of the field, with a smaller one beside it.

“The big building is the barracks, and the smaller one is our meeting hall,” Marcus said, seeing what she was looking at. “It’s also where celebrations and matings are held.”

Matings. Even the word made her warm. It seemed so much more primal than “wedding” or “marriage.” She watched Marcus and Jackson out of the corner of her eye, imagining what it would be like to be mated to a shifter. The thought stopped her cold. Were they already mated? Neither had mentioned a mate when they’d spoken of families, but maybe they had girlfriends. Hot, sexy, wild shifter girlfriends. Her chest burned at the thought of either of them in the arms of another woman, which was crazy. They’d saved her life, but she had no claim on them. And certainly not on both of them. Heck, she didn’t even like Jackson. He was overbearing and unreasonable and he didn’t like humans.

She directed her attention back to the alpha’s house. He was the one she needed to be thinking about. Before they could mount the steps to the wide porch that wrapped around three-quarters of the house, the screen door flew open and a young boy dressed in nothing but loose shorts that hung off his bony hips barreled out, head down, heading straight for them. He leaped off the porch and rammed into Marcus headfirst. The kid was all wiry muscle, maybe sixty pounds, and couldn’t have been more than eight, but Marcus went down with the move and wrestled with the boy in the grass.

“Donovan Arthur Markel, you stop that right now.” The order came from a slim woman standing in the doorway, hands propped on her hips. Despite the stern words, an indulgent smile flitted over her lips as she watched Marcus stagger to his feet, the kid a leech on his back.

“But Mom,” the kid cried, “I’m winning.” His bare arms locked tight around Marcus’s neck and his legs locked around his waist.

“I can see that. But I think Uncle Marcus might need to breathe soon, and you haven’t greeted Enforcer Lockhart yet.” Her attention switched to Kirra, and her smile disappeared, replaced by a judging, weighing look. She’d called Marcus “Uncle Marcus,” and it was easy to see the resemblance between them. Her hair was more auburn than mahogany, but they had the same penetrating green eyes, sharp cheekbones, and easy manner of moving that made Kirra feel like a klutz in comparison.

Donovan let go and slid down Marcus’s back, then ran full tilt at Jackson. “Hellllo, Enforcer Lockhart,” he yelled, throwing out his arms. “Catch me!”

Jackson hooked his hands under the kid’s armpits and hoisted him up so he perched on one of his broad shoulders. He proceeded to ignore the kid after that, but still. He was better with kids than she’d have imagined. Better than her, certainly. She’d never spent more than five minutes one-on-one with anyone under ten.

“That’s not quite what I meant,” his mother sighed. “What are you doing back so soon?” she asked Marcus. “I thought you were patrolling the east border for another three days.” Her gaze slid back over to Kirra, and one eyebrow arched.

Marcus gave her a one-armed hug. “Serena, this is Kirra. Kirra, this is my older sister, Serena. She’s married to the alpha, and she can be a bit bossy, but we like her anyway.” He dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the elbow Serena tried to jab into his side.

Kirra extended her hand. “What he didn’t tell you is he and Jackson saved my life. They pulled me out of the river and faced down some Cats for—”

“Oh, we don’t have to tell Serena all that,” Marcus broke in. “We have more important things to deal with. Where’s Jasper?”

“He’s the alpha to you,” Serena retorted. She’d ignored Kirra’s hand, letting it hang in midair for an embarrassingly long time. “And he’s not here. He left for Blue’s Hollow early this morning. What was she saying about Cats? You didn’t start something with them, did you? If you broke the treaty...”

“Of course not,” Marcus said. “They just mistakenly thought Kirra was on their land, but she was really on ours. It ended all peaceful-like.”

Jackson snorted, and Marcus made a shushing motion at him behind his back. Donovan laughed.

Kirra wasn’t in a laughing mood. She’d missed the alpha. “Where’s Blue’s Hollow?” she asked.

“It’s north-east, near the Raptors’ territory,” Jackson said. “Who went with him?” He addressed the last to Serena as he handed her a squirming Donovan.

“Ash and Daisy. Some of the others are already there.” Serena sent Donovan into the house with a light swat on his behind.

Jackson nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer.

“When will he be back?” Kirra pushed.

“Why do you want to know?” Serena countered, voice hard.

“I have some information for him.”

“Well, you can tell me and I’ll tell him when he gets back,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest.

“When will that be?”

Serena shrugged unhelpfully. Gone was the teasing sister, replaced with a woman suspicious of outsiders. Or maybe just of humans. Or maybe just of her.

“If he’s gone to Blue, he’ll be back within a week,” Marcus said. “The meetings never take longer than that.”

A week was too long. “I have to go there,” she said. “I need to talk to him now.”

Serena grabbed Marcus by the hand. “Excuse us,” she said with the most insincere smile Kirra had ever seen. “I need to talk to my brother for a minute.” They went to the side of the house, and although she couldn’t make out many words, Kirra guessed the gist of the conversation. Serena was pointing her way and they were arguing.