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

you woke me up.” She planted her hands on her hips and glared, seeming more pissed off about having her sleep disturbed than anything else.
    Marcus glanced at her house, wondering if they’d woken Kirra as well. Heat rose to his face when he thought about how they’d explain away acting like dueling bucks fighting for the same doe.
    Gran was still talking, and he tuned back in. “... It doesn’t matter, anyway. You’re too late,” she said.
    Too late? What did that mean? He shoved Jackson off him and surged to his feet. “What are you talking about, Gran?”
    “You’re here for the girl, aren’t you? Oh, don’t try to give me that innocent look. I saw the way you both watched her at dinner. You looked like two starved Wolves ready to pounce on an unsuspecting rabbit. Well, the rabbit hopped off hours ago.” She crossed to her porch steps and sat, ankles neatly crossed. “It’s better that way, anyway.”
    Jackson stormed past Gran and barged into the house, reappearing in the doorway seconds later, his face—fully human again—dark as a thundercloud. “She’s gone,” he said. “Where did she go? Why did you let her go?” He advanced on Gran, and Marcus moved to put his body between them, then stopped. What was he thinking? No matter how furious he was or how much he wanted to kill Marcus, Jackson would never harm his gran—he’d never seen the man so much as lift a finger to a woman or child.
    Gran didn’t even blink at the huge enforcer scowling down at her. “I didn’t ‘let’ her do anything,” she said. “I was asleep. Anyway, she’s a grown woman. If she wanted to leave, who was I to stop her?”
    “But where did she go? It’s dangerous out there. The Cats and the soldiers both want her.” Jackson’s fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white.
    Leaning back, Gran cupped her chin in her hand. “Really? I didn’t know that part. What did she do to tick them off?”
    “That’s what I was coming over to find out,” Marcus said, rubbing his chest. Unless he shifted to accelerate healing, it was going to be black and blue for days. Jackson’s punches carried the force of a sledgehammer. His only consolation was that no one would see his bruises. Not like the one already forming on Jackson’s jaw. The rawness of his throat contradicted that thought, and he pictured a ring of finger-shaped bruises encircling his neck. Well, at least Jackson would have matching bruises. He settled on the steps beside his gran and faced her, ignoring Jackson’s looming presence at his back. “This is serious, Gran. Why did she leave? She said she really needed to speak to the alpha—”
    “She went to Blue’s Hollow,” Jackson interrupted.
    “But how would she...” The faint guilt on his gran’s face gave him the answer. “You told her how to get there. Why?”
    “I didn’t tell her anything, so you can stop accusing me of conspiring with her. She must have seen my maps last night—the one with Blue’s Hollow on it was missing when I got up. She’s obviously determined to go, Marcus, and she understands that you have other responsibilities. It’s not that far—she’ll be fine.”
    The last time she’d been on her own, she’d been shot and almost drowned. He didn’t consider that “fine.” “I’m going after her,” he announced. No matter how much of a head start she had, he’d be able to easily catch up. “Dravin can take my shift,” he told Jackson.
    “No, he can take mine,” Jackson countered. “I’ll go after her.”
    As if he’d let Jackson anywhere near her after what had happened. He’d always thought of his partner as hard and unyielding, but he’d never thought of him as underhanded. “She’s under my protection,” he said, thumping his chest and ignoring his gran’s sharp intake of breath.
    “She’s under ‘our’ protection, you mean,” Jackson said. He squinted at the horizon. “We’re wasting time. I’m going to pack what we need. You get