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

determined to have her? He and Monroe were naked, and sweat slicked their bodies, so they’d been traveling in their Cat forms. Taking Kirra hadn’t been an impulse. They’d crossed into Wolf territory fully intending to kidnap her. More than ever, he regretted not pressing her for answers.
    “If she’s not worth it, why are you breaking the treaty over her? You’re on our land, Lash, and she’s under our protection. You have to know that’s not going to end well.”
    Smirking, Lash tightened his arm around Kirra’s neck and yanked her up until she stood on her tiptoes, eyes wide. His fingers formed wicked claws, and one of them pressed against her throat, right above her jugular. “I think it’s going very well. My alpha wants the human, so he’s going to get her. He didn’t specify dead or alive, however.”
    Monroe scratched at the dirty-blond stubble on his shin. “But Lash, he said that if we came back without her, he’d—”
    “Shut up,” Lash snarled.
    They’d reached the top of the hill. Marcus inched closer, ready to spring into action the second Jackson made his move. Just another few seconds...
    Kirra suddenly kicked back, driving her boot heel into Lash’s shin while wrapping her hands around the fingers at her throat and pitching herself backwards, smashing her head into his face.

Chapter Twelve
    T he pressure at her throat let up, and Kirra bit down, clenching her teeth in the fleshy part between her attacker’s thumb and forefinger.
    He hissed and wrenched his hand away, shoving her to her knees with his other hand and wrapping his fingers through her hair. Everything was a blur through the tears in her eyes, but she thought she saw Marcus. Where had he come from? How had everything spiraled out of control so quickly? Getting up the nerve to leave Wolf’s Run and travel through Shifter Territory on her own had been hard—made harder by the fact that she’d felt a sense of loss at leaving Marcus and Jackson—but it had been the right decision. And it started off well. According to the map, she’d been making good time.
    And then two Cats—a huge black panther and a cheetah—had landed in her path. She’d reached for energy to defend herself with, but there was nothing to tap into. When she’d tried to run, they’d shifted, and the ugly blond one had clubbed her with a branch.
    That was the last thing she remembered before waking up to Marcus’s voice. He’d sounded angry. When she felt the hand around her throat, she’d felt angry, too. She had enough problems to deal with without the Cats adding to them.
    “What are they paying you?” she gasped. “What could they possibly promise that would get you to betray your own people?”
    In her peripheral vision, she saw the blond man begin to shift into his cheetah form. His head and arms changed, but his legs were still fully human when a reddish-brown Wolf—Marcus?—rammed into him. They tumbled down the hill in a snarling mass, away from where she knelt.
    “What are you talking about?” The man holding her tightened his grip on her hair and pulled until she arched her back to relieve the pressure on her scalp. “We haven’t betrayed anyone.” She couldn’t see his face, but genuine confusion colored the anger in his voice. Could he not know? If he didn’t, there was a chance she could talk him into letting her go.
    “The deal with the military, with Blackstone—”
    A howl of pure rage rang out, and her neck jerked forward, then back as it was released. Kirra crawled away on her hands and knees, then turned around.
    A second Wolf, larger and darker than the first, had her attacker pinned to the ground, teeth mere inches from his throat. Jackson. He’d come too. Happiness and warmth that were totally inappropriate considering the situation washed through her. They’d come after her.
    The man hissed up at Jackson, his body contorting as it fought to take on its panther form. Jackson opened his mouth wide—
    “No,”