Saved by Wolves (Shifters Meet Their Mate Book 1) Read Free Page B

and boring. Even the Cats were following the rules, which was unusual, considering their psycho of an alpha. Marcus didn’t trust it.
    The alphas were working on a plan to keep humans from interfering with their lives and lands—the human government had no jurisdiction or rights in Shifter Territory, yet tried to impose itself on them at every turn—but the lack of action was wearing on everyone’s nerves. With no easy outlet for their natural aggression, people snapped at each other over imagined and real insults and fights broke out over nothing. Something had to break the tension soon. 
    The wind turned, and a faint, coppery smell tickled his nose. He tilted his head and leaned forward, trying to isolate it. Fresh blood. Coming from the direction of the river.
    He gave a sharp bark and followed the scent. Jackson, his partner of six months, materialized at his side in seconds. He hadn’t heard or seen him approach. It wasn’t fair that such a huge Wolf could be so silent.
    On the bank of the swollen river, Marcus scouted south while Jackson went north, narrowing down the source of the blood. The crisp after-a-rain air made it easier than normal to pick out individual scents. His nose took him to the remains of two dead birds, but nothing bleeding.
    Jackson’s deep, growling bark signaled he’d found something and it was serious. 
    ***
    “W e can’t just leave her there,” Marcus said. “She’ll die.” He’d shifted into human form, both to make it easier to communicate and because it was easier to manipulate objects when he had hands.
    Jackson walked over to a tree and lifted his hind leg to urinate, making his opinion clear.
    “I don’t care if it’s against the pact. I’m going.”
    Jackson sat and pawed at an ear. It was hard to argue with a man who wouldn’t shift from were form. Marcus climbed a rock outcropping that gave him a view north.
    At a sharp bend in the river, a woman sprawled facedown, motionless, half in and half out of the water. Tangled brown hair was plastered to her head, a black pack was a lump on her back, and her arms were outstretched, as if she’d used the last of her energy to throw herself out of the grip of the river. The light, crisp scent underlying the blood and sweat confirmed it was a woman. It had none of the muskiness of a man.
    A half-drowned female was unusual, but he normally wouldn’t think twice about helping her. As it was, she posed a huge problem on two fronts. She lay about twenty feet over the territory line, in Cat territory. He’d have to cross the border to help her, which might not have been a bad thing, if she were a Cat. She wasn’t.
    She was human.
    Although he’d told Jackson he was going, Marcus still paused, weighing the pros and cons. Pros: He wouldn’t have her death on his conscience. Cons: If he rescued her, the Cats would be ticked off that he’d entered their land and that he’d taken a human away from them. His alpha would be upset if he brought her to the pack, and Jackson probably wouldn’t speak to him for a week.
    Then again, the last part might be a pro, not a con.
    Her hand twitched, and she moaned, a low, pain-filled sound.
    He was halfway to her before he realized he’d made his decision.
    “Hello,” he called, pitching his voice over the rush of the river. “Are you okay?”
    She didn’t respond. Marcus knelt at her side, ignoring the rocks digging into his bare knees, and felt her neck for a pulse. It was there—faint but steady. Relief that he hadn’t delayed too long made him smile, and he gently turned her head to get a better look at her.
    A sharp nose and high cheekbones dominated her face, or at least he thought so until her eyes fluttered open. Large unfocused brown eyes shot through with flecks of gold widened a touch as they met his, then closed. Her crisp, sweet scent filled his nose, and it felt like a light hand ran over his body, leaving his nerves standing on end.
    A warning howl came from behind him.