Saved by Wolves (Shifters Meet Their Mate Book 1) by Elena Hunter Page A
Authors: Elena Hunter
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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
“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