WithHerHunger

With Her Hunger

Lorie O’Clare

Book eight in the Lunewulf series.

Mariah has just lost her entire family. For years,
lunewulf
have lived peacefully in the Yukon Territory. But when humans burn the
werewolves’ homes, Mariah and her pack run to a new home. Determined to embrace
her new life and not be destroyed the way her pack was, Mariah refuses to be
controlled by anyone. When she spots Luther with two other males, she’s not
only interested but willing to take all three of them on. Only one of the males
remains in her thoughts though. She will have Luther again.

Luther runs on the edge of the pack that leaves the Yukon
Territory and heads to British Columbia. He is Cariboo
lunewulf
. The
lunewulf
think his kind are barbaric and run with less honor. Luther has no need for all
of the
lunewulf’s
laws and traditions. He does have a need for Mariah
though. It burns so hot through him he won’t let her out of his sight, or his
bed, until she agrees to be with him forever.

Chapter One

Mariah Engel ran from the flames until they were just a glow
in the darkness behind her. The smell of so many dens burning until they were
ashes blowing in the breeze was something she would never forget. Mariah’s
world as she knew it was gone.

They’d been warned not to look back. She did anyway. The
horizon in the darkness was a mixture of yellow, orange and red melting
together and rising at varying heights with a darker backdrop of the mountain
range she knew by heart. Mariah was staring at where her pack had hunted,
played, mated and lived their lives in peace for years. Now most of that pack
was dead, including her sire and mother. She’d fought tooth and claw to save
them and failed. The humans wouldn’t kill her too. Mariah would survive.

One of the older females running next to her bit her
shoulder, and Mariah snarled at her but then obeyed the previous warning and
looked ahead into the darkness. She ran with the pack. Make that her new pack.
Her pack in Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territory, had been burned out by humans.
Whoever had decided it was a smart idea to tell humans werewolves lived among
them, and always had, must smell like the worst idiot ever.

She had howled in mourning over the death of her litter. Now
she would run forward. There was no reason to look back again. There were
thirty survivors running with her, all of them purebred
lunewulf
like
herself.

At the moment they were covered with soot, each of them
carrying the stench of the fire with them. But once they had a chance to bathe,
they were all pure white, the color of the moon.
Lunewulf
were known for
their speed and their pure white fur. It was that speed that allowed the thirty
survivors to escape and cover the mountainous terrain in record-breaking time.
Soon they would reach their new destination and Mariah would start her new
life.

* * * * *

On day three of running, Mariah was more than willing to
rest for the night. They were buried deep in the Canadian Rockies with the
wildlife so abundant around them her mouth watered just smelling nearby elk
among the trees and trout in the rushing river where they stopped.

Without waiting for anyone to give permission, Mariah dove
into the frigid water and came out a minute later with a large rainbow trout
flopping in her mouth. She dumped it on the bank and turned, diving again into
the mountain-fresh rapids.

Others joined her in the fishing adventure. The school of
trout was on to their predators and immediately swam quickly, fleeing for
safety. With other
lunewulf
splashing in the water, the fish were harder
to catch. Mariah sank her teeth into a second large trout. It fought for its
freedom and Mariah bit down, tasting the meat of the fish.

She fought not to down her kill that moment. Her stomach
growled in protest when she dropped the fish on the bank as she had with the
first one. There was a pack to feed. She would contribute. As she shook the
water free from her fur, already several males were taking off into the
mountain, following the scent of the elk. Before long, all of them would be
feasting on what they had killed collectively.

Mariah found a sunny clearing and began cleaning herself.
She took her time straightening her fur and getting it to lay right as the sun
slowly dried her. The spot she’d chosen was a bit of a distance from where her
new pack was setting up camp. She could hear a few of the older females and
males, who had changed into their flesh, talking among themselves as they
gathered wood and started fires. The smell of burning wood and the sounds of it
crackling as flames grew made her feel lazy.

Another sound prevented Mariah from stretching out and
basking in the sun. It was the sound of males moving in the rocks above her.

Mariah rolled over, tilted her head and listened. She
sniffed the air and breathed in the virility of males on the prowl. They
weren’t hunting her but something else. She moved lithely to her paws and
pounced onto the cliff just above her. That’s when she smelled the elk. It was
a large bull elk, a male with antlers a good four feet in height above its
head. The beast stood around nine feet tall.

Mariah froze as the bull elk turned from where he stood on
rocks not twenty feet from where she was and looked at her. Her stomach
growled. She licked her lips. The elk let out a fierce bugling sound and dug
its large hoof on its front foot into the ground. She hesitated for a moment,
trying to decide if she should charge or not. The creature was almost three
times her height.

Before she could decide, three males flew at the bull from
different locations. They leapt at it as the bull bugled one last time before
it collapsed to its death. Mariah watched in awe while the males settled in to
enjoy their kill. These weren’t
lunewulf
males. They weren’t males who
had run from her new pack. These were Cariboo
lunewulf
, a wilder,
unpredictable breed of
lunewulf
. Cariboo were larger. Pale streaks of
red tarnished their white fur. As she stared, one of the males ripped a piece
of raw flesh from the beast and tossed it at her. Mariah hadn’t realized she’d
been spotted.

If she hadn’t gone without stopping to eat all day, and
possibly if she hadn’t spent the day running hard through the mountains, Mariah
might have considered how clearly tradition was howled when it came to a male
offering his kill to a female. Instead of giving any of this thought, she leapt
at the raw meat and settled down to enjoy the treat.

The male who had tossed her the meat lay on the other side of
the dead bull, his massive paws resting over the creature’s midsection. All
three males were so much larger than
lunewulf
males. Their thick bodies,
broad shoulders and strong cheekbones unnerved her and spiked her curiosity.

She honestly didn’t know how they compared to the males in
her new pack since she’d had little time to sniff any of them out. The last
three days had been filled with intense running and all of them remaining
focused on their surroundings so they wouldn’t run into more trouble. Also, as
was tradition, if not law written down on some antiquated tablet, mated females
ran, forming a circle, surrounding unmated females, who were kept in the middle
of their group as the pack ran together.

But these males, Mariah mused, as she finished the meat and
relaxed in the thick, cool grass near the ledge where she’d jumped to see the
elk, were damn near twice the size of a
lunewulf
male. She’d never met a
Cariboo
lunewulf
before. They were known to live deep in the mountains.
The howlings had it that they were wild and virtually untameable. She’d heard
once or twice how a Cariboo always fought to the death. Their laws and
traditions were harsher, allowing no toleration for weaknesses of any kind. The
howlings were clear about them being less civilized.

Although the ripe smell of the warm blood draining from the
animal was strong enough to mask any other scents, Mariah smelled her own
curiosity. The cool grass didn’t stop the warmth forming deep in her womb. What
would it be like to fuck such a large, powerful male? Obviously he would be
rough, dominating, if not fierce in his lovemaking.

Mariah blinked then realized she’d been staring at the male
who had tossed her the meat. Not only had he caught her damn near drooling over
him, he looked more than curious when he returned the attention. Almond-shaped
silver eyes never blinked as they focused on her.

Something shifted inside Mariah. It wasn’t fear, although it
crossed her mind that she should put full speed into running back to her pack.
She dismissed the thought without wondering why she did and instead held on to
the gaze of the powerful-looking male.

The other two males helped devour the bull elk, although now
Mariah noticed both of them were aware of her too. That warmth deep inside her
slowly swelled and began pulsing, matching the solid thumping of her heart.
Outnumbered didn’t begin to describe her situation. If all three of them came
after her.

That thought damn near made her come. Mariah had never
questioned the laws and traditions all
lunewulf
ran by since before
she’d been whelped. Her litter had protected her. Her sire and mother provided
for her, taught her their ways and kept her close and sheltered. Once she’d
come of age and had begun running with other single males and females, the primary
intention being they find a mate, Mariah had rolled in the large meadows with
one or two males. None of them had ever impressed her enough to do more than
that.

The male who had tossed her the meat rose and ran his long
tongue over his teeth and the fur around his mouth. Mariah was entranced by the
action. In spite of her heart suddenly beating faster and apprehension mixing
with her curiosity, she didn’t move. Every muscle in her body tensed as those
silver eyes darkened and turned a cool, determined metallic gaze. There was
only a moment to react when he leapt over his kill and flew through the air
directly toward her.

At the same time as he roared, his fierce tone being quite
clear, Mariah knew she could run or belly up and surrender. Be it a quality or
fault, there wasn’t a submissive bone in her body. Mariah snarled, jerked into
action, and at that moment breathed in the intensity of his lust.

Lunewulf
were known for speed. Mariah raced from the
cool grass up the side of the mountain. Over rocks larger than her and
undergrowth with branches trying to trip her, she ascended the side of the
mountain. Once she reached a plateau of trees and dark stretches of shade, she
raced across the wilderness. And with each breath, she filled her lungs with
the scent of the male bounding after her.

Mariah was aware of the scream she made when the male leapt
on her only because her throat ached from the strength of it. She went toppling
paw over tail as the Cariboo captured her.

For a moment, with the wind knocked out of her, she lay
dazed, smelling rushing water not too far from where she lay on the ground. The
powerful male pinned her body underneath his. Then, to her surprise, slowly and
with erotic precision, he began licking her fur.

Sensations rocked her entire body. Mariah’s insides spiked
as her flesh suddenly burned with a fever hotter than she’d ever experienced.
Without thinking, she shoved herself to her feet. It was all too much.

She gave herself a fierce shake before it dawned on her that
the male had let her up. As roughly as he’d bombarded into her, toppling her
over, he now stood next to her, staring down at her with a dangerous grin.

Don’t get any ideas,
she growled, taking a step
backward.

My ideas aren’t any different than yours.

Mariah couldn’t breathe. He was so large—everywhere. And
muscular. More male than she’d ever fantasized about. Not to mention, there was
a carnal sex appeal about him. If he smelled this rough and ready in his fur…

Swallowing proved as difficult as breathing. When she did
manage to inhale, the smell of lust was as ripe and fresh on her as it was on
him.

Damn. She was in trouble. Serious trouble.

There was a chance Cariboo
lunewulf
weren’t as
uncivilized as howlings said they were.

It doesn’t matter what you smell,
she tried, stepping
sideways this time.

God damn him for laughing. She snarled, inching around him
so she wasn’t between him and the racing water that sounded like a waterfall
and probably pooled into a fast-paced stream. Swimming her way back down the
mountain would be her ultimate last resort. That’s when she noticed the other
two Cariboo
lunewulf
.

Mariah braced herself, glancing from the large male who’d
pounced on her and the other two who stood back watching. She smelled their
lust, curiosity and delight. Mariah didn’t want to be the second prey the three
of them captured today.

Did she?

Try running if you don’t want this
, the male closest
to her rumbled what had to be those exact words.

In their fur, their growls and roars were almost always
closely interpreted. It wasn’t the same type of communication as in their flesh
where words were cut-and-dried. The male’s meaning was interpreted through his
growl, body language and scent. Mariah was pretty damn sure she nailed what
he’d just growled at her with little to no error.

Not to mention, he was suddenly a hell of a lot closer than
he’d been a moment before. Mariah turned and looked up. He was so masculine,
the mere definition of the word. She was speechless, frozen where she stood.
Her brain didn’t want to function, nor did her body. At least not where escape
was involved.

If she did want this, could she handle three Cariboo at the
same time? Because as strong as this male’s lust was standing right next to
her, the other two wanted her also. Their scent was powerful enough to drift
toward her in spite of aromas mixing between her and the male closest.

His silver eyes grazed over her body, igniting the desire
inside her she’d first felt while watching them with their kill. Muscles flexed
under white fur streaked with faded shades of dark orange red. Staring head-on,
Mariah got an eyeful of his thick, barrel chest. But when she raised her
attention to his face, his penetrating gaze left her mouth dry.

The male moved closer and lowered his head. A low growl
emanated from deep inside him as he pushed the side of his head against her
shoulder. Mariah damn near fell over. Although it could be how weak her legs
suddenly were. The moment his hot tongue seared a path down her neck to her
shoulder, she became acutely aware that this was going to happen.

More so, Mariah decided she wanted it to happen. She’d
endured her sire and mother dying. Her entire pack had gone up in flames. The
den where she’d been whelped, that held all her memories until just a few days
ago, no longer existed. Then, with barely enough time to perform a burial
ceremony, those remaining had taken flight. She’d run for three days. And
although exhaustion would probably hit her soon, at the moment she felt
exhilarated.