A Ravenous Pack: Wolf's Hunger 5 Books

by A. K. Michaels

  He’d have to go hunting again tomorrow but he’d make damn sure to keep his guard up this time. After scoping out the land, he’d known he was on the far end of a Pack’s land so he didn’t expect to come across any rogue Wolves but those fuckers were definitely not Pack. They were renegades, definitely, and bad assholes through and through. He could scent it on them . . . pure evil ran through them. Chuffing as he lay down, he was pleased he’d left at least one mortally wounded. One less for him to worry about in the morning and he just hoped they didn’t have any friends nearby.

  Settling his head on his front paws he wondered if the Pack knew they were here and if not . . . should he warn them? No. Wasn’t his business. He was a typical cat. A loner. It was why he’d left his Pride years ago after run-ins with their King. Fox wasn’t one for taking orders and he cursed his mother, again, for naming him with the name that caused him so much trouble within his Pride. She’d told him, time and again, that when he’d been born he was “so dang cute,” that the name just suited him. Yeah, right. Whenever their King had said, “Fox,” it was in a drawl like a damn insult, and he’d reacted every single time. Especially after his mother died and she’d not been there to run interference on his temper. He’d been left with no option but to leave and ended up moving around so much he was never quite sure where the hell he was.

  If he needed money he’d do some work, building sometimes, or when he could get it he’d get some work in IT . . . he was a whiz with computers. A misspent youth according to his mom. Damn, he missed her. Funny how he never thought about his dad. Mostly he lived off the grid, a backpack with clothes and a few essentials, and hunting for food. The simple life suited him and being alone meant he didn’t get into trouble with other Shifters. Humans rarely gave him problems, not when he was well over six feet tall and built like a line-backer with muscles to match and a scowl that could scare most away. If that didn’t work, a rumble from his beast usually did it.

  One escaped him as he remembered a large dude last winter when he’d left the mountain for a few weeks and the guy had fancied his chances trying to impress his girl. Granted the guy was big, not quite as big as Fox, but he was fit and obviously worked out . . . in a gym. Not in the wild, not in a fight with another Lion, or a bear in the wild, hell no. The guy probably “sparred” with his fitness coach to get the well-defined body he had and had a drink or two too many. He’d tried not to embarrass the guy, tried to talk him down, when the guy had harassed a couple, but when the stupid ass had tried to land a punch and missed, instead crashing into the shocked and more than a little scared couple, well, Fox had grabbed him by the back of his neck, rushed him outside and dumped him headfirst into a snowbank.

  The sight of his ass in the air, legs waggling around and his girlfriend screeching like an alley cat still brought a smile to Fox’s lips. Not to mention the beer the couple bought him as a thank you afterward . . . rather the multiple beers and the job that came with it when they found out he knew his way around computers. That little number kept him going for weeks. Until his paws got itchy again and the call of the wild pulled him once again away from civilization.

  His fire was barely embers so he nudged a log over, settling it in the center before moving another next to it, making sure both caught light before using his senses to ensure there was nobody, or nothing, nearby. Once he was sure he was safe, he closed his eyes and relaxed, allowing sleep to take him under and his healing to finish.

  Tomorrow was another day, one where he’d be fighting fit and ready to hunt, and maybe this time he’d get to eat his prey. He hoped so, he was starving and he was feeling decidedly out of sorts, both man and beast. Something wasn’t right with him and he wasn’t sure what the hell was up, but hoping that a good feed would set him right. Yes, that’s all he needed, a good night’s rest, a good feed, and he’d be right as rain and then he’d be on his way. Out of this land that had damn rogues roaming free. He didn’t need those fuckers on his tail.

  They were too much trouble and were never on their own. He’d be glad to see the back of this place. Tomorrow he’d eat and be gone.

  His beast snarled, the sound loud, reverberating around the cave. “What the hell’s up with you?” he asked of the beast he was always in harmony with.

  “Not going. Stay,” his beast replied firmly.

  Oh hell. What the fuck was wrong with him?

  “We’ll see.” Fox appeased him yawning as he fell over into darkness.

  As they pulled into the camp, Sheba could feel the unease of several members running through her. Hell. It was one of the perks of being Alpha she could do without.

  She hated it at times, the feelings of others were overwhelming and she’d found it hard to come to terms with, but she’d slowly found ways to deal with it. Right now, she saw her bestie, Arabella, waiting on her right next to the Alpha cabin, pacing back and forth and nibbling on a nail . . . a sure sign she was upset. As soon as the truck stopped, Ari ran up, pulling the door open.

  “Sheba, thank goodness you’re back!” Ari reached in, tugging her arm. “Come on! Dion’s back and he’s got news of rogues up near the waterfall.”

  “Fuck!” Sheba cursed as Ari continued to pull her along. She dug her heels in, snatching her arm free. “I’m capable of walking on my own, Ari.”

  “Oh, sorry, Alpha.” Ari lowered her eyes.

  Sheba sighed, patting her friend’s shoulder. It had been hard for her exuberant Arabella to sometimes rein in her behavior in public. “That’s all right, sweetie, just don’t pull me along like that, I kinda don’t need it and it doesn’t look good.”

  “I know, I’m sorry.” Ari peeked up, her eyes twinkling. “I forget sometimes, ya know?”

  “Yeah, me too.” Sheba smirked. “Now, why don’t you show me where all the action is?”

  “Sure!” Ari skipped away, her short hair bouncing around her face that was flushed. “They’re over near Tilly’s place ‘cause a couple of the guys were roughed up a bit and weren’t fully healed by the time they got back. She’s fixing them up now.”

  Ray overtook them, his thick thighs bunching the denim that encased them and straining the material as he snapped, “Who’s hurt and how bad?”

  Ari jumped at his curt tone. “Not bad, Raylon, honestly, they were mostly healed when they got back, but you know Tilly, she’s going over them with a fine-toothed comb and adding some of her lotions and potions to some scrapes and bruises. Although . . .”

  Ray paused, his head spinning around and barking, “Although what?”

  “Well, Kai was banged up pretty bad.” Ari’s eyes dropped, unable to meet Ray’s angry scrutiny. “Dion had to help him back but he’s almost healed now but Tilly said she’s keeping him at her place for the night to make sure he’s okay.”

  “Fucking bastards!” Ray sped away. “I’ll rip their hearts out when I find them.”

  “Oh oh, he sounds mad,” Ari stage whispered, hand over her mouth for effect.

  Sheba shook her head, teeth grinding angrily. “He’s not the only one. I’m about ready to rip some hearts out myself. Who the fuck do they think they are coming onto my land? They don’t know what kinda hurt is coming their way, but I’ll tell you this, Arabella, they’ll soon find out that this damn Alpha is no pushover.”

  Ari had to speed up to keep pace with Sheba as she started to jog after Ray, who was on his way toward the Healer’s cabin. There they found a crowd of people gathered outside. Dion was pacing back and forth, his blond hair a mess as he ran his hands through it over and over. When he saw them, he stopped, anger tightening his normally placid features.

  “Damn rogues! We found signs of them up by the waterfall but that’s not all, Alpha.”

  Ray stepped forward, holding a hand up. “Hold it there, Dion. I think we should continue this conversation in private. Don’t you?”

  Dion’s face flushed as he nodded curtly. “Yes, I do. I’ve not spoken of anything other than we had a run in with some renegades because,
well, that was damn obvious when we returned. Kai needed some help from Tilly with some injuries that weren’t completely healed.”

  “Let’s go to my place and talk.” Sheba about turned, leading Ray and Dion away before noticing Ari trailing behind. “Sorry, Ari, this is business.”

  Her friend stopped, looking more than a little put out before shrugging. “Sure, I get it, I’m not . . .”

  Sheba shook her head, her tone sharper than she’d intended. “Don’t, Ari. This isn’t the time for that shit.”

  Ari’s eyes widened before she twirled away, stomping her feet as she went. Damn. But Sheba didn’t have the luxury of apologizing right now, she had bigger fish to fry, and fry she would. She had plans to scorch the hell out of any and all rogues she could get her claws into, but first she needed Dion’s report. “Fuck,” she cursed instead, shaking her head and carrying on.

  “She’ll be fine,” Ray told her as they went inside, closing the door.

  Her mom appearing with a tray filled with snacks and drinks. Sheba frowned. “Mom, how the hell do you always know the exact moment we’ll arrive? You’re right there, every single time.”

  “Years of practice.” Her mother just smiled, placing the tray on the coffee table and retreating back to the kitchen.

  Ray took up position at the stone fireplace, leaning back on the mantle, his arms crossed and face grim as Dion sank into one of the armchairs to the side. Sheba poured him a coffee, handing it to him together with a plate filled with sandwiches. “Here, you look like you need this.”

  “Thanks,” he replied, drinking the coffee quickly before gobbling down half of the plate just as fast.

  She sat on the edge of the sofa, waiting impatiently but she’d seen how worn out he looked so allowed him to eat before saying anything, but as soon as he paused she jumped right in. “What happened?”

  Dion sat back, his eyes filling with anger again. “We’d split up. Kai was with me and a couple of the other guys when we caught their scent. We trailed it right up to the waterfall and caught them still feeding on a kill. At first there was only four of them, one of which was wounded, so he wasn’t even in the damn fight, but then more arrived, and before we knew it we were in trouble, Alpha.”

  Dion sighed, shaking his head as he looked up to Ray then back at her. She urged him on, not quite sure what was going on. “What?”

  “There’s more than we thought but that’s not the only thing, Sheba.” He stopped again, his face showing disbelief. “Okay, here’s what happened. When we arrived, they were feeding, and one was injured . . . we took in the situation, and I swear it looked like a damn Lion had been there. And the one that was hurt, I’m telling you, he was taken down by that Lion. No freaking Wolf did that to him. But we didn’t have time to question them, or do anything much really, because their friends arrived, and we were fighting just to survive. We were lucky to get back, Sheba. Really damn lucky. Kai saved my life and ended up with his hind leg almost shattered in the process and I’m still not sure how we got out of there. All I cared about was getting Kai home in one piece and letting you know that we have one huge fucking problem.”

  A Lion? Sheba’s insides somersaulted, doing incredibly strange things at the mention of the beast and she wasn’t sure why. She looked to Ray whose jaw was clenched tight, the muscles in his neck straining as he turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow as if to ask, “Well, what are we gonna do?”

  “Lion aside we can come back to that later—it’s the rogues we need to deal with. I want guards all around the camp overnight and we go out at dawn to hunt the bastards down. I want every able-bodied Wolf to be involved. If they’re not coming with us in the hunt then they’re here protecting the women and kids. Nobody, and I mean nobody, sits this one out. When we go tomorrow, I want everyone safe, so that means we need Wolves here to protect those vulnerable. We have women who are pregnant, we’ve got more than our share of pups here, that means they are at risk. We can’t leave them without defense and we need to ensure their safety. Dion, that’s up to you to organize. I know you’re bushed, and I’m sorry, but you know better than anyone who should go with us and who should be left here. And by that, I don’t mean to take all the best Wolves with us . . . our children are our future, and the Pack’s future, and they need to be kept safe.”

  Ray pushed away from the fireplace, growling. “I agree, but just so you know, Enforcer, don’t even think about trying to keep me here.”

  Dion smirked up at Ray. “I wouldn’t dream of it but I bet I’m not going to be popular tomorrow.”

  “I don’t give a shit about that,” Sheba snarled. “If anyone gives you any grief, send them to me.”

  “Will do.” Dion rose, cracking his neck. “I better get to it, but I’m going to check on Kai first.”

  “Sure, and let me know if you need anything else.” Sheba patted his back. “I’m glad you all got home safe, Dion.”

  “Yeah, me too . . . about that Lion, Alpha, I don’t think he was out to cause us any trouble. Looked to me like he was feeding and they attacked him.”

  “We’ll deal with that after the rogues, Dion. One thing at a time,” Sheba replied as Dion left, her insides clenching ferociously as the sight of a magnificent beast appeared in her mind. Huge, regal, glorious . . . and beautiful!

  What the hell?

  Ray came over, looking down at her perplexed. “What’s up? You look . . . weird.”

  “Nothing,” she snapped.

  “We have a date with Tilly, remember?”

  “Don’t you think we have enough on our plates?”

  “No,” Ray drawled. “There is nothing more important to me, or the Pack, than you. Let’s go.”

  “Damn it.” She almost stamped her foot as she followed her Beta grudgingly. “Well, I guess we’ll see that this is all a storm in a teacup and there’s nothing wrong with me, big guy.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see,” Ray replied as he held the door open for her, a glint in his eye.

  Shoot, she knew that look. It was the one where she wouldn’t be able to side-track him, or dissuade him from taking her to the Healer. Better just to get it over and done with and pray to the Goddess that there truly was nothing actually wrong with her.

  She’d soon find out because her Beta wasn’t letting her off the hook from her earlier promise to visit with Tilly. Shit, she wished she hadn’t been quite so hasty in agreeing to see the Healer. Now that the time was fast approaching, her nerves were overcoming her about as fast as the damn hunger that was taking over . . . again.

  Ray held Tilly’s door open, ushering her inside and she hoped that Kai was still there. That would mean the Healer would not be able to see her. Not in confidence anyway. But no. The cabin was empty apart from Tilly clearing away some smelly concoction or other, her head turning to check them out as they entered.

  “Hello, Alpha, what brings you here?” she asked. “If you’re checking up on Kai then you’re too late, he’s all fixed up and away to get some food. He says he’s starving, but then again, that lad is always hungry.”

  Sheba side eyed Ray, whispering, “Tell me about it.”

  Ray ignored her, merely motioning her forward as he stood guard to ensure nobody entered or interrupted. It was at this point that Tilly seemed to sense the Beta’s mood and she stopped what she was doing, wiping her hands on her apron and giving them her full attention. “Are you okay?”

  Sheba shrugged a second before pain lanced through her insides, her skin feeling as if it were on fire, and her heart thudding wildly in her chest. “Hmm, okay might be stretching it a bit, but I think Ray’s overreacting by making me come here. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  Ray shook his head. “You’re far from fine, Sheba. Stop ignoring what’s going on and just tell the truth, and let’s get to the bottom of this before things get out of hand.”

  Tilly sat down at her large kitchen table, motioning for Sheba to join her. “Come sit with me, Alpha, and I’m sure we can sort this out.�
��

  “Yeah, sure we can.” Sheba sauntered over slowly, every muscle inside her screaming at her to turn and run for the trees, the forest . . . where the prey was that would help her, even if it was only a temporary fix. Her skin damp with sweat as she took a seat, her head thumping, her hands fisted in her lap as she fought to control her urge to hunt.

  Tilly reached over calmly touching her shoulder, her voice soft and reassuring. “Sheba, you are obviously upset and unwilling to share what’s wrong, but I assure you whatever you tell me is strictly between us. I would never speak of anything that you tell me and I’ll do everything in my power to help you. Please, lass, trust me.”

  “Sheba, please, you have to,” Ray urged her too.

  She couldn’t ignore the craving inside her, it was growing with each passing second and if she didn’t get help, and soon, she knew she’d lose her damn mind . . . and her Pack. That wasn’t something she could stand. It would break her. Heart, body and soul. Her eyes sought Tilly’s, seeing nothing but compassion in the Healer’s gaze. She inhaled deeply and nodded. “Okay, but this is going to sound a little nuts. Hell, it’ll make me sound like a candidate for One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.”

  “What?” Tilly cocked her head to the side, frowning as Ray chuckled at the mention of one of their favorite movies.

  “Never mind.” Sheba shrugged. “I’m not sure how to explain what’s going on, other than it’s like some kind of . . . craving inside me.”

  Tilly kept her face impassive, nodding again. “A craving. For what?”

  Sheba’s nose twitched, the scents of the Healer’s cabin overwhelming her senses and making her feel as if she was about to puke. She inhaled through clenched teeth as Tilly poured her some water, pushing the glass toward her and she gladly sipped on it before answering. “Prey. Lots and lots of prey. I can’t seem to fill myself up. I always feel hungry and it’s getting out of hand.”

  There. She’d said it and now she relaxed back against the chair and waited. Hoping that Tilly would clap her hands and jump up, grab one of her many tomes, flick through it and say something like “Voila! Here you go, this is what’s wrong, take this and you’ll be fine.” Yeah, right. As if that’s what was going to happen.