WithHerCraving

by Lorie O'Clare

  Katrin held her breath when two males, both Cariboo by the smell of them, walked right past the entrance of her small cave. She dared stretch her neck far enough to peer out the hanging brush that concealed its entrance.

  The man who smelled excited pointed in a direction slightly down an incline outside her cave.

  “Over there. I told you. Oh my fucking tail,” he wailed, his excitement suddenly mixing with anger and sadness. It was so strong the smell of his emotions flooded her small cave.

  “I’ll be damned,” a third man spoke, and slowed directly outside her cave.

  Katrin looked up at a tall good-looking male with straw-like hair that fell straight past his ears. It was blond but the beard covering his broad jaw was tinted with red. He rubbed it with long, scar-puckered fingers and stared ahead of him. She gave small thanks that the males were in their flesh and not their fur. If they’d come running here on all fours they would have sniffed her out long before now. As it was, she was surprised the male didn’t smell her already, as close as he was.

  “The asshole was right,” he muttered under his breath.

  The second male stood down the incline just out of her sight. “Come on. Keep your thoughts to yourself. Looks like we have a dead male to burn.”

  Just one dead male? Were they talking about the males she killed the night before?

  Katrin inched forward in her cold, damp hiding place and stuck her nose through the hanging brush. She strained to see as far as she dared and watched the males slow and stand alongside each other not too far from where she hid.

  Holy crap! She hadn’t gone any distance at all from where she’d killed the males. The three Cariboo began moving, bending over then mumbling amongst themselves about how to lift the tall tree that most definitely had been uprooted from the ground to remove the dead male trapped underneath.

  “See! Look over here. Just how I howled it would be, isn’t it?” The excitement had returned to his voice. “Brutus didn’t make it out but I hauled Bart back to our den. He might not live either. That female is the devil. She made it fall on all three of us. Look at the bite she took out of me. We need to hunt and kill that bitch. Retribution for my den and all that.”

  The excited male kept going on but Katrin focused on the two males standing closer to her. She heard the crunching from the first male as he kept rambling and stomping over the hard, cold ground. But it was the conversation of the other two that grabbed her attention.

  “We need to strip down and change to move this trunk off him,” one of the males said quietly.

  “I know Bennie isn’t all right in the head.” The third male had a deep, serious tone and sounded older than the straw-haired male with the beard. “But David, do you know what this looks like?”

  “I know what it smells like,” David returned. “Stefen, there’s no way one little female—who, by the way, you know as well as I do that Jolip litter was chasing down to rape—did this. I don’t care how bad I smell saying it but I’m glad one of them is dead. My two pups would run a lot safer on our mountain if that litter all burned in hell.”

  “And you aren’t the only one who feels that way.” Stefen paused for a moment and the two males continued standing side by side, their heads lowered as they stared at the dead male under the tree trunk. “But this tree was uprooted. It’s a healthy tree. It didn’t rot out and coincidentally fall on all three of them.”

  “Now I know you don’t believe some devil-bitch is haunting this mountain,” David retorted and chuckled dryly. There was no amusement in his scent.

  “Nope. I sure don’t. I think a Malta werewolf is on our mountain.”

  “Fucking tail! Stefen, I’ve run on this mountain all my life. My litter runs on this mountain. Don’t you think I would know if a Malta werewolf were here among our dens?”

  “Don’t howl to me about knowing this mountain,” Stefen growled. “My den has hunted and bred here for over a hundred years. This is my mountain,” he snarled. “But I’ve seen Malta werewolves before. They can do things you wouldn’t believe. You can’t sniff them out either. They smell just like the rest of us. It’s something in their DNA or something. Hell, I’m no scientist, just a Cariboo who hunts and lives like any other. But you explain how a perfectly healthy tree suddenly pulled itself up by its roots and landed exactly on this entire litter.”

  The crunching sound of Bennie rushed toward the two males. “So you believe me now, right? We’re all going to hunt down that devil-bitch and rip her hide apart, right?”

  “First we’re going to give your littermate a proper burial ceremony, Bennie,” David said, his voice too calm. But the smell of his anger was strong. “Then we’ll decide what to do next.”

  “Let’s change and get this tree trunk off him,” Stefen said. He started toward the tree.

  Katrin was wired to leap. The moment those three males changed they would smell her and she would be trapped in this small cave. That litter’s blood was dried on her fur. She wouldn’t live long enough to run for freedom. Now was her only chance.

  Her heart pounded with excruciating pain against her ribs as she waited for the other male to move away from the entrance. He’d no more than taken several strides toward the fallen tree when Katrin tore out of the cave and ran in the opposite direction of the males. She didn’t slow long enough to hear what they said as they noticed her haul tail away from them.

  In spite of every inch of her aching, Katrin ran at full speed. It was her only chance to outrun the males before they changed and chased down her scent. When she hit a rushing spring, she dove into it.

  “Fucking tail!” she howled, her throat still scratchy.

  The water was so cold and her body temperature was already low from everything she’d experienced the night before. It slowed her down but she pressed forward, raising her front legs high out of the water and leaping against the current. If she stayed in the spring long enough and put good distance from where she’d leaped in, her scent would be lost. As cold as she was, even in her fur, she would be too frozen to have a scent.

  By the time she climbed out, Katrin knew full-blown pain from a body of aching muscles. Whatever she’d pulled off the night before in yanking that tree out of the ground and making it fall on that litter, it still had her head as worn out as her body. She managed to climb a few rocks, but then sat.

  Sun spilled onto a flat plateau. Katrin doubted she was very well hidden. She had one hell of a view of the part of the mountain where she’d just run. A rock wall blocked where she had turned, then gained altitude before leaping up the rocks.

  After sniffing the air and not smelling the males, Katrin surveyed the mountain around her. It didn’t take long for her to decide she wasn’t sure how to get back to her den.

  Although was there any reason to return? Through everything she’d endured last night, Katrin had never smelled Jarvis. He hadn’t run after her. If he had, he would have found her.

  She’d run from him without her clothes. Not that changing into her flesh would help. It was easier to travel across the mountain in her fur, not to mention a lot faster. But knowing she was stuck on all fours brought her mood down even further.

  She wished Jarvis were here. Even if he was only in love with half of her, Katrin would howl and fight until he accepted all of her. They would find terms both of them were able to run with. Somehow they would make it work. Wasn’t that how two werewolves in love handled things? More than anything she wished he would find her, protect her and help her figure her way out of this mess. At least that way they would be together. Their mating might not be perfect. But the way her heart hurt, knowing she was without him, had to be proof there was enough in her to fight for him.

  Slowly Katrin stretched out on the smooth rock. Unlike her cave, here it was warm. The sun was working its way higher into the sky. She embraced the heat and fell asleep. Her dreams were about Jarvis, the two of them running across the mountain. They were in love, barking and nipping at each other. She
felt his tongue cleaning her after hours of wild, heated sex. As sated as she was, his long, warm tongue stroked her, running over her coat with meticulous detail.

  He dipped lower, nudging her legs apart with his nose. Katrin moved, vaguely conscious of the smooth rock underneath her as she stretched and moaned her approval.

  Jarvis responded with a low growl while he scraped her inner thigh with his teeth. She tightened, her muscles clenching in response to the abrasion. Katrin thought of rolling him over and giving him a taste of his own medicine.

  It was that long tongue, perfectly rough and soft at the same time that convinced her to remain stretched out comfortably just the way she was. He licked her fur. Then he was in between her legs, pressing and dragging moist heat toward her entrance.

  If being eaten out by a male in her human form brought exquisite pleasure, the same while in their fur was absolutely off the charts. He made his tongue stiff and impaled her with it. Then without notice, he made it soft and reached deep inside her to stroke her pussy walls. It was the most fantastic experience and one she hoped would never end.

  Katrin opened her mouth. For some reason, she knew better than to howl her pleasure. Although the reason why escaped her at the moment. She arched her back so her hind legs were in the air and allowed Jarvis to devour her.

  He obliged willingly. With his paws against her outer hind legs, he prevented her from rolling to one side or the other. He lay down on her tail, which aided in keeping her pinned. Katrin had no desire to go anywhere. Nothing had ever felt better.

  Never had she known a male with an ability to bring her to a climax so easily. The pressure built, taking her over the edge until she was beyond thought, beyond knowledge of anything other than what he was doing with that tongue.

  She exploded, curling her body into a ball as rapid waves of pleasure released throughout her body. She did howl then and opened her eyes.

  Katrin stared straight into dark, almond-shaped silver eyes that were laced with fury. Jarvis looked anything but happy to see her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Jarvis knew a mixture of anger and relief when he found Katrin sleeping so soundly that his scent didn’t wake her as he approached. He’d been furious over the good chase she’d given him through the night. He had held on to her scent, lost it, found it again, only to find himself damn near running in circles around the mountain hunting for her.

  He had no idea what she’d endured through the night. When he first smelled her scent, and knew it was strong enough that he’d really found her this time, he’d raced up the ledge to find her sleeping. When he’d picked up the other smells still thick in her coat, he’d started cleaning her.

  Katrin hadn’t woken up. Even when she’d stretched out on the plateau and let him bathe her, she’d remained asleep. He imagined she’d run through the night, fighting the demons inside her just as he had. It had been in the darkest recesses of the night that Jarvis had realized he would take Katrin back on any terms she wanted.

  Running across the mountain he’d known so well as a cub, Jarvis began understanding how it had to be between the two of them. Katrin wasn’t just another female. He might have found one, if he’d kept running and hunting until some placid female lifted her tail and beckoned him. She wouldn’t have been Katrin though.

  Maybe she was half Malta werewolf. There wasn’t a bad bone inside his adorable female. She had howled that there were more ways for her to help with their den. Didn’t males and females work side by side in all tasks taken on in a mating? If one of them excelled in doing something then that was the task they took on. Everything from building their den, furnishing it, providing kill for it, and yes, eventually raising cubs in it. That was how a den became rich with the smell of love and happiness. It was all those chores, labored over together with the two of them side by side that provided a full, successful mating. And that was what he wanted with Katrin.

  At first he’d regretted taking time to gather her clothes as well as his before chasing after his fiery-tempered little bitch. Her scent had faded with the speed in which she’d raced away from him. Jarvis had persisted though, willingly backtracking, slowing to sniff rock after rock until he’d picked up on her again and ran in the direction in which her smell had come.

  By dawn he’d almost decided to return to their den, hoping she would come back to him. It wasn’t in his nature to cave simply because something became tedious, or too hard to pull off.

  Katrin stood, backing away from him slowly, and growled low in her throat. She wouldn’t escape him a second time. Both of them knew it. He held his ground, letting her sniff out his conviction to keep her by his side.

  Her coat glistened in the morning sunshine. He’d bathed her a good twenty minutes before she’d woken. Katrin had moaned a few times in her sleep. He tasted the saltiness of her own bath. She’d tried cleaning herself. Apparently exhaustion had won over. Jarvis wouldn’t admit that if she’d still had the energy she’d embraced last night, he might never had tracked his adorable mate down. There was no way in hell he’d ever let her get that far away from him again.

  Jarvis shook his head, lowering it until the bag holding her clothes fell from around his neck. He nudged it toward her.

  Change, he ordered, then began letting the fire erupt deep inside him. It sparked up his spine, fueling his body with adrenaline to allow the change to take over his own body.

  Jarvis never took his eyes off Katrin. Even as his sight changed along with his other senses, and he no longer saw the intense glistening through every hair of her beautiful coat, he continued watching her. He breathed in deeply, feeling the shift of his bones, his spine changing to hold man instead of beast, and the popping of joints as they changed inside him. Her scent no longer smelled deeply of the earth, of the rock she’d been sleeping on…

  Or the pungent odor of another werewolf’s blood.

  That was the first scent to leave the air when he began straightening to stand on two legs. It was also the smell that bothered him the most. There were many questions that needed answering. Jarvis needed to know if he had to go find a male and kill him to maintain his mate’s honor, or protect his little bitch from an angry den that might sniff her out.

  As much as he needed to know all the things she’d done through the night, Jarvis needed even more to know that Katrin would always run with him. His primal side insisted he make her remain where she was, close to him, so her scent was always fresh with every breath he took. The man side of him knew it had to be Katrin’s choice.

  Katrin began trembling uncontrollably the moment she stood in her flesh. She immediately squatted down, her long auburn hair tangled and stringy as it fell over her face and down her bare back. Jarvis stared at her full, ripe breasts. Her nipples were so puckered they were like pointed, mouthwatering beacons.

  There were a few scratches on her that weren’t there before she ran from him. Katrin wasn’t injured though. That was a relief. He hadn’t smelled her blood when he’d cleaned her. That took a load off his mind.

  He zipped his jeans then squatted. Katrin’s fingers shook so badly she struggled with the drawstring around the cloth bag he’d worn around his neck that had her clothes in it.

  “Let me,” he said softly, putting his larger hands over her smaller, cold ones.

  “Thank you.” Her voice was scratchy.

  More questions surfaced. Jarvis would wait. First he’d get his beautiful female dressed, then back to the den where he would feed her and take care of her. After that she would answer all his questions, and he would howl to her how he had to have her with him, no matter what concessions that meant on his part.

  Jarvis opened the bag and began pulling out everything he’d grabbed before running after her the night before. First came the hairbrush. Even though her matted hair hung around her face, Jarvis saw her smile. Her lips were chapped. Another thing he would make sure was remedied.

  He handed her underwear, socks, bra and long underwear. As much
as he wished he had time to keep her naked and ravish that beautiful body of hers, Katrin needed time to recover from her night. Part of being mated was always keeping his mate healthy and happy.

  “Are you okay?” He had to know at least a few things right now.

  Katrin plopped down on the rock after putting on her underwear and long underwear and accepted the heavy sweater he had for her.

  She pulled it over her head then tugged out her long hair with one hand. She really needed a bath.

  “I’m not sure,” she admitted, and stared up at him with so much pain in her eyes it tore at his heart. “I…I killed a male last night,” she stammered.

  “Fucking tail,” he hissed, tensing at her confession. Jarvis looked around them at the peaceful surroundings. He sniffed the air and didn’t smell any other werewolves nearby. When he looked back at Katrin, tears stained her dirt-covered cheeks while she yanked her jeans up her legs. “Let’s get you back to the den. My mate needs a hot bath and meal. We’ll figure everything out after that. Come on, it’s not more than a quarter-mile hike. Are you okay to walk?”

  Katrin nodded and began attacking her hair with the brush. Jarvis continued surveying their surroundings as he helped her to her feet and held her close as they began the walk to their den.

  A few minutes later Katrin balked, freezing in her steps. Jarvis picked up on the scent of other Cariboo nearby at the same time she did.

  “That’s his scent.” Katrin dug her fingernails into the back of his hand.

  “His? Who?” Jarvis sniffed the air again, turning into her when he smelled her fear. Other than Katrin, he had picked up on the scent of another female, possibly two. Katrin’s scent was dominating the air around him. “I smell females.”

  “What?” Katrin hissed, turning into him and pressing her hand into his chest.

  Her hair was still wild around her face and streaming over her shoulders. But there was color back in her cheeks. Jarvis slipped his hands around her but she twisted, sniffing the air. Her expression turned frantic and the smell of her fear escalated when she looked up at him.