Insatiable: Hunter's Moon Book 5

by Rice, Rachel E.

  They trotted along dragging the meat until they neared the cave. It was a secluded area and well camouflaged with snow and boulders.

  “Leave the meat here,” Hunter said. “If they kill me or you for bringing me into their liar, then I don’t want to make it easy for them to eat.” Soiree looked up at Hunter and then she laughed. It made sense. Why should they benefit from his work and then kill them with full stomachs.

  She watched at him as he buried the meat. “We can get it later if all is well.”

  “Come. We have to walk around these mounds of snow. Let me go first. If the two young wolves smell you they may attack first without asking any questions,” Soiree said walking behind the fortress of snow into the mouth of the cave. Then they both shifted. She grabbed the pelts hanging and placed them around her body.

  Soiree handed a large seal jacket to Hunter and something to cover his bottom. “You should cover yourself. You don’t want them to know how large you are. The werewolves are not the size of you down there.” She smiled. “They can be very jealous especially the older wolf. But don’t let his feebleness fool you. They are all cunning and brutal. Don’t say too much and don’t mention that you are a Samsa.”

  “Why?”

  “Don’t ask any questions now.” Hunter is like his mother. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut and he always had to know the why of everything.

  They were immediately stopped before they entered the main chamber by a young werewolf standing with a broad chest, but not as tall as Hunter. He watched at him suspiciously.

  “Who told you to bring him here? We have laws preventing this,” the brown haired werewolf barked at Soiree.

  She barked backed, “He’s a great hunter. He has instincts that you don’t have. He can be an asset to our pack. And he is a stray like you were when I found you. Now get out of my way.” The young wolf’s eyes wavered up and down and over Hunter. Hunter met his strong gaze with a stronger one. One day Hunter will be the head Alpha, but he wasn’t one now.

  “Lower your gaze. Don’t look him in the eyes. And for our sake, don’t look our Alpha in the eyes. It’s disrespectful. And don’t say a word. Let me talk.”

  As Hunter and Soiree walked closer to the inner sanctum of the cave, they came to an abrupt stop. Sitting on a throne of sticks fashioned together to make a chair, sat an older werewolf with a young female sitting next to him. Her breasts are exposed and Hunter can’t help looking at her.

  “Who is this, Soiree, and where is the deer you were sent to bring back?”

  “I have it. We left it not far from here because it was too heavy to carry.” The old werewolf looked pleased as he cast Soiree a closed smile.

  “This is a stray I picked up.” She turned to Hunter, “bow to our Alpha.” Hunter did as he had been told. He thought of the teachings of his father. He was in hostile land and in hostile territories. He would give in for now because the wild werewolves would break or destroy him, and so he did as he was told.

  He lay prostrate on the floor in front of the Alpha. Then out strutted a handsome werewolf. He wasn’t afraid of the Alpha. He stood in front of the old Alpha. “What’s going on here? I heard Soiree. Did you bring back the meat?”

  “I brought it back.”

  “That’s what’s important. Don’t listen to my father. He’s old and he will be gone soon and then you will be mine to take as I please,” The older wolf cut his eyes on the handsome werewolf.

  “How long will you stay an Alpha if you are sending out werefemales to do your hunting?” the old wolf growled.

  The younger werewolf angry at his father’s words walked over to Soiree, raised her from her position, but put his foot on Hunter’s back and stomped on him.

  Hunter had never felt the foot of a werewolf, or anyone, man or beast. It came as a surprise and he recoiled in pain.

  “What is this you have brought back to my liar? He’s no more than a pup,” the younger werewolf said.

  “I’m not a pup,” Hunter snarled. The wolf kicked Hunter again. This time more brutal and firmer than before until he landed at the feet of the old werewolf. Soiree glared down at Hunter begging him to remain quiet.

  The young werewolf had knocked the wind out of him. Soiree pulled away. “We have meat. He’s a great hunter. I’ve never seen such skills at hunting and killing animals.”

  “Where did he get those skills?” The younger wolf asked Soiree.

  “Is he here to invade and kill the remaining small pack that is left? He never would have found this place if it wasn’t for you sending out Soiree to hunt for us,” the old wolf declared.

  “He’s not here to spy and kill us. He was lost and he doesn’t remember where he came from or what his name is. I call him Hunter because he’s the best hunter beside me I’ve ever seen,” Soiree said.

  The young wolf walked closer to Hunter lying on the floor holding his ribs where the young wolf kicked him. Hunter’s muscles were hard and tough from chasing animals in the forest with his father. He ran and hunted deer, moose, and an occasional bear at an early age. He would heal quickly.

  “Stand up Hunter,” the old wolf said. “My son doesn’t know how to treat guest. Especially one who can track game where there is no game. We were planning on abandoning this territory because food is scarce, but now you come along and give my small pack hope. As long as I’m here, my son is not to touch you again.”

  The young wolf watched at Hunter with blood in his eyes. Hunter had seen that look before. It happened when Bane kidnapped him and then dropped him in the middle of the north of Alaska hoping that he would die, but not by his hands. Maybe he didn’t want Hunter on his conscience if he had one.

  Infuriated, the young wolf grabbed Soiree by the hair and pulled her into a nearby section of the cave. Hunter heard him tear her clothes from her body and he heard him tell her that she was his and he heard him tell her to get on her knees. Hunter heard the sound of the young wolf as he reached his climax. Everyone in the cave heard it too.

  Hunter sat down watching at everyone. “Hunter. Get the meat. I will send one of the wolves with you. If I send my son, I don’t think you will be coming back.” Hunter glanced around knowing what the old wolf said was true.

  He didn’t take the chance of meeting the old wolf’s gaze. He knew by the young wolf’s reaction to his father and to Soiree, that everyone was under the control of the old Alpha. And the old wolf was still in charge for now, and the young wolf didn’t want to fight for control of the pack. The young wolf would have to wait until the old werewolf died to assert his authority.

  Listening to the callousness of the young wolf’s words, and obvious brutal nature of the young werewolf, the old wolf wasn’t long for this world. Hunter realized that he had to get away from them sooner than he had planned.

  Hunter would take the young wolf’s abuse. He took it month after month. He went out and brought back deer and he was able to kill a moose which infuriated the young wolf after each hunt. The taunt and abuse had become more brutal. At first Hunter thought that he had a broken leg but it was just dislocated. The young werewolf became angry and went on a tirade kicking him and abusing Soiree as two of his werewolves stood nearby ensuring that Hunter wouldn’t retaliate.

  Each time Hunter went out to stalk game, once he captured it, he would bury a portion of the animal in the snow. Some of the snow was beginning to thaw and he had to think about leaving. Soiree saw that Hunter was exhausted and on a few occasions she cooked the meat for him. It was directed by the young wolf to give him the intestines. Hunter was forbid to eat the meat he had caught. He would eat what no one wanted.

  On one occasion, Hunter could digest the meat from an old moose, so Soiree cooked it for him. When the young werewolf found out, he became enraged. But Hunter reached for the young wolf’s arm before it came down on Soiree.

  The old werewolf had become weakened and sick. The young werewolf was out of control and took to beating and kicking the other wolves. They were close to revolt
ing, but they were afraid of the young werewolf. It became glaring to all that Hunter was the one keeping all of them alive and not the young werewolf who wanted to become the Alpha.

  Hunter stood toe to toe with the young wolf as all watched on afraid to make a move. “You are not going to touch her again,” Hunter said meeting the young werewolf’s dark explosive eyes.

  “And who are you to stop me? Some abandon mongrel someone didn’t want.”

  “I’m Hunter Samsa. My father is the Alpha of all Alphas. Wilder Samsa. And you are nothing. You send females to hunt for you and then you mistreat them.”

  “If you are such a big shot, and your father is the almighty Wilder, why are you here and cowling when I beat and kick you? Where is he now to protect you from me?”

  “I need no one to protect me from someone the likes of you. I stayed to help Soiree.” Hunter turned and watched at Soiree as she hunkered down with her hands over her head to protect her from the blows of the young wolf. “Soiree come with me.” Hunter held out his hand.

  “She won’t go because I won’t let her. I’m her mate. She is bound to me for as long as she lives and I live.”

  Hunter dropped the young wolf’s hand, took one step back, and shifted into a large white wolf. “She will be leaving with me now. Either you let her go with me or you will not be alive to protest.” The young werewolf broke into a howl of laughter.

  The young wolf changed in a second to a menacing werewolf. He is larger than Hunter in his werewolf form. Standing six feet high on all fours. He’s a matured wolf and Hunter could see that when the young werewolf draws his lips back and shows his sharp incisors. Neither werewolf knew how deadly the other was. They walked in a circle eyeing each other and trying to gage each other’s fitness for a fight.

  “Go now Hunter. You can’t beat me and my pack. I’m giving you a way out.” Hunter knew the young wolf wasn’t that generous. There was no way he would let him walk out of the cave, or if he did, he knew that he could fall prey to him huddling in a cave running from the freezing cold of the night.

  Hunter had to end this now.

  He spied the young werewolf with his sharp eyes. The young werewolf appeared intimidating in his wolf form, but he was the one that was soft. The time Hunter had lived with them he had hunted and fought off wolves, killed a moose. The young werewolf had stayed in the comfort of his cave lying around with the werefemales.

  The young werewolf had no taste for a hunt. He had no taste for blood. He had a taste for sex.

  Hunter had grown and matured into a werewolf with the taste of blood in his mouth from all the hunts. His muscles hard and his body lean from the lack of too much food. The young werewolf gorged himself on the meat that Hunter brought back and he lay around eating and fucking the entire day month after month.

  Looking at the young werewolf brought a smile to Hunter’s face. When the young wolf saw his smile it enraged him, and he rushed Hunter with all the intentions of landing a killer blow. Hunter leapt to the side with the same smile on his handsome face.

  “What? You don’t have the instincts to kill your own kind. Did that soft living teach you that?” The young werewolf mistakenly said.

  Then the young werewolf rushed and leapt in Hunter’s direction. But Hunter stood and with one large powerful paw and long nails made one swipe across the young wolf’s chest. The young wolf looked down and he couldn’t believe the gash that Hunter had placed on his thick fur. Blood oozed down the right side of his body. But he remained on his feet.

  “Is that all you can do?” Hunter knew that he had wounded him but he didn’t know how severe the wound is. Soiree and his father watched in silence and terror. When the young wolf tried to take a step, he limped because no one had seen Hunter take a piece out of the young wolf’s hind leg.

  “Come with me, Soiree,” Hunter pleaded. He held out his hand once more. “I’ll take you with me. You don’t have to stay here and let this poor excuse for a werewolf treat you like a dog. Where I come from, we treat werefemales with respect.”

  One more rush at Hunter, and the young werewolf stood with only one eye. Hunter had gouged it out in passing.

  “Stop!” The old wolf shouted. “He’s my only son. Don’t destroy him.” Hunter didn’t want to kill him because he would have done that on the first attack. Hunter looked the old wolf in the eyes. He had made his point. He wasn’t any werewolf. He was the son of Wilder. The Alpha of all Alphas.

  Hunter held out his hand to Soiree once more, but she never came to him. She moved near the young werewolf and he angrily waved her off. “I can’t go with you. I belong here with my kind,” Soiree said taking a step back.

  Turning and walking away, Hunter grabbed some furs as he walked through the entrance of the cave. He had stayed too long in hopes that he could take Soiree with him. But she was bound to the young werewolf.

  Hunter had damaged him and made him less than himself in Soiree’s eyes. When she looked at Hunter, it wasn’t as before with fondness, it was with hatred.

  No matter how Soiree acted as if she cared for Hunter, it was only because he could provide for her pack and for her soon to be Alpha. Hunter wasn’t worried about the other werewolves or the old wolf. The old werewolf had seen better days and they were behind him.

  The other werewolves saw a superior werewolf in Hunter. In fact they had never seen one the likes of Hunter. He trotted along to the places he had buried the meat. The first one near the cave had been dug up and taken. But there were other places, he thought. Then he went to the next site. The meat wasn’t there either.

  It was Soiree. She watched him and went back and stole his meat. Now he was once again in the tundra without food and shelter, but he did have clothing.

  Chapter 15

  Ducks and Geese is plentiful in January. Another year, Hunter thought as he wandered from cave to cave trying to find his way south always traveling when he knew he could find food. He didn’t particular care for wild ducks but now it became a necessity.

  “You never know what you will eat until you are hungry,” his father had said. Hunter wished he had come across larger animals. But weak as he is, he couldn’t chase it down. He had walked and ran miles in the days he left Soiree’s cave looking for shelter and always for food.

  Hunter watched at the weather looking for stars as he made his way south. He was sure he had traveled over three thousand miles in that time. Groggy and dead tired he came from out of the thick forest and walked onto a highway.

  A large white truck’s tires screeched, but before he could dashed to the side of the road to get out of its way, the truck hit him, and threw him into the brush.

  When he opened his eyes, a large husky man with a red hair and face stood over him. “What the hell are you doing out here? There’s nothing for miles on this road. Are you Ok?” Hunter shook his head and stood. “You are a tall one.” Hunter had grown three inches since he left home. He was six feet three. Taller than his father and maybe the height of Drayton.

  Looking at the burly man in the red and black lumberjack shirt, Hunter’s eyes opened and closed. “What are you doing out here with just a coat on? You don’t have shoes or pants.” When Hunter didn’t respond he put Hunter’s arm over his shoulder and helped him out of the ditch and into the cab of his truck.

  “There’s no hospital for hours. I hope you last long enough to get to the next town.”

  “I’m Ok.” The driver glared at Hunter.

  “You sure boy?”

  “My name’s Hunter.” He feebly held out his hand.

  “My name’s Sam. I haul lumber along this highway. Good thing It’s light. I never would have seen you in the dark.”

  “My name is Hunter Samsa. Do you have a phone?”

  “We’re too far from civilization, Hunter. We won’t be able to use a phone until we get to a truck stop. That’s another thousand miles. I don’t use the thing myself.” He looked at Hunter. “Look in the back for a pair of pants, shirt and shoes. I don’
t guarantee that they will fit, but they will have to do for now. I guess you’re not too picky.”

  “Where are you going?” Hunter asked reaching in the bag and pulling out a shirt and pants.

  “I’m taking a load of lumber to Fairbanks and then I’m heading back up north. You’re more than welcome to ride along with me. Hell, I need the company. If you don’t ask me any questions about my private life, I promise you I won’t ask you any.”

  “That’s a deal,” Hunter said.

  “I don’t have a razor. That beard looks awfully long. But you youngsters seem to like it like that. In style I understand,” Sam said smiling then turning to watch the road.

  “Almost lost my load when you walked out in front of me.” Hunter didn’t respond. He just looked around as if it was the first time he had seen a road.

  Sam drove through the night with Hunter barely saying a word, and then early in the morning he pulled his rig into a truck stop. “I don’t have any money and I’m hungry. If you give me your address, I’ll pay you back. And I’ll help drive,” Hunter said.

  “The money isn’t a problem. I figured I owed you a breakfast seeing I was the one who hit you. Are you Ok? If you feel like you need to see a doctor, I think I can find one.” The red faced man pulled a twenty out of his pocket and handed it to Hunter. Hunter took it and nodded his appreciation.

  “I’ll still buy you breakfast. Keep your twenty on you just in case. A man needs some money in his pocket otherwise he’s in trouble.” Hunter thought his troubles were over. All he had to do is use a phone, call his father mother and his nightmare would be over.

  Sam brought the truck to a full stop and jumped out of the truck at the same time with Hunter.

  They met up together heading for the entrance to the café. “You look tired Sam. I can drive,” Hunter said opening the door to the restaurant and letting Sam go first.

  “Do you know anything about a four wheeler?”

  “No, but how hard can it be?” Hunter questioned. After what he had been through everything else would be easy. The red faced man looked at him and shook his head. The arrogance of youth, he thought. They tramped over to the first booth they saw and sat. Both men tired and worn out.