WithHerCraving (7 page)

Katrin didn’t want to think about Jarvis. It hurt too much.
She’d just found the perfect male, not only physically, sexually, but
emotionally as well. Jarvis ran with more honor than any werewolf she’d ever
known, shy of her sire. Everything she knew about Jarvis appealed to her. The
way he’d stood up for her at the grocery store, when he’d hurried from Howley’s
right after she’d paid that pup to go inside and find him, and how he’d
insisted on brushing her hair and bathing her before they approached the humans
and Cariboo cop.

Pushing herself, she ran faster, ignoring the growing pain
in her back paw. No matter how fast she ran, her thoughts stuck with her. She
was doing a lousy job of not thinking about Jarvis. She was probably leaving
one hell of a strong scent for anyone to track her by.

Katrin tried drawing in her emotions, putting all of Prince
George and everything that had happened to her there out of her thoughts. So
much easier growled about than done. Already she ached for Jarvis. She wanted
to howl to him about the injustice done to her. Katrin wished she had shared
with him what had happened to her litter. Then he would have known how great
her sire was. He would have smelled the truth in her howling of the many great
things he had done throughout Katrin’s life. Jarvis would have known.

But what did it matter? Jarvis hadn’t lived in Prince George
that much longer than she had. What if the McAllister male and the Toubec
litter hadn’t believed him? Just because he smelled of the truth when he told
them wouldn’t have made them believe a half Cariboo-half Malta werewolf hadn’t
convinced him of her lies. After all, Katrin must be some kind of monster with
the blood of a condemned species flowing in her veins.

This wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. Her sire hadn’t deserved
any condemnation in his life and he sure didn’t deserve to be dishonored this
way and howled badly about in death. What had Malta werewolves done to this
community to result in her being locked in a room while Jarvis was informed of
her bloodline?

Katrin came across a highway and barely slowed after
noticing no approaching cars, flying across it and continuing her trek. Only
once did she glance over her shoulder. She didn’t smell any werewolves close
by. Jarvis wasn’t chasing after her.

Her hind leg increasingly throbbed and her anger and
bitterness lessened as remorse grew stronger. It shouldn’t be like this. Her
littermates—who had so much more of their sire’s blood in them with their black
hair and beautiful, long black coats when in their fur— shouldn’t have had to
run to the safety of an American pack. The three of them should have been able
to run together. Just because Katrin took after their mama didn’t mean she fit
in with a
lunewulf
pack.

The ground grew hillier and rockier and she was forced to
slow. When the trees thickened, only then did Katrin dare stop to take a look
at her hind leg. The moment she saw the swelling her brain registered the pain.

Fucking tail! It’s broken.
She whimpered, curling
into a ball and licking her fur where it hurt most. There was a bulge where the
bone was cracked. It might just be a hairline fracture, she wasn’t sure, but it
suddenly hurt like hell. Anger and adrenaline had sent her flying out of that
den and in her rush, she’d done damage that would hinder the rest of her trip.

Katrin glanced around her, sniffed the air and watched
warily for any other predators. An injured animal was fair game for all types.
She could defend herself but at the moment she wanted only to rest and wallow
in the stupidity that had resulted in her injury.

She sniffed the air the moment the smells around her
changed. It wasn’t another animal or werewolf, but a pungent odor she didn’t
recognize at first. When it grew stronger and the ripe smell of gasoline hit
her, she jumped to her feet.

Katrin ignored the pain. The ground was vibrating and she
heard a motor but she wasn’t near a road. When she spotted the three-wheeler
she backed up into the trees, growling instinctively even though the rider
wouldn’t hear her.

“Katrin!” a woman yelled.

What the hell?

Katrin focused on the rider. It was Heather McAllister,
standing and holding the handlebars as she slowed and searched the trees.

“Damn it, Katrin. I know you’re in there somewhere. I’m
sorry, okay?” Heather was yelling at her as she brought the three-wheeler to a
stop, left it running and climbed off. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. I’m
sorry I locked you in the room. I get stupid when I get mad, or at least that’s
what Marc says.” The human female was walking toward the trees.

Katrin smelled her humility. She was sincere. She was
actually apologizing to her. Heather kept walking, getting closer although she
didn’t see Katrin lying behind the trees.

“I, uh, brought you some clothes. You’re taller than I am
but they should fit. And Jarvis’ jacket is on the three-wheeler too. He and
Marc are back there behind me.” Heather thrust her thumb over her shoulder.

Katrin looked in the direction Heather pointed. Jarvis had
run after her? She hadn’t smelled him. Had she been hurt so bad that her
instincts were numb?

“God damn it, I already got yelled at for locking you in the
room. I’m sorry, Katrin. I know you’re in these trees somewhere. Don’t make me
keep searching. I told the guys I wanted to apologize to you alone. It’s my
stupid pride. I just get so pissed when anyone insults me because I’m human.
Most of us are very good people. I’m sorry,” she wailed, carrying out the last
two words.

Katrin knew she meant it.

“If you don’t come out soon the guys will come sniff you
out. Please accept my apology. I didn’t mean for you to run off. I guess we
both have sensitive areas that piss us off,” she added quietly.

Katrin stood and walked toward Heather. With each step the
throbbing in her leg increased until she felt the pain in her teeth. It hurt
like hell.

Heather spotted her and straightened, taking a step
backward, but then forcing herself to stop. Katrin detected a trace of fear but
Heather swallowed it. She was being brave and the human female actually earned
a bit of Katrin’s respect for that.

“Oh God, you
are
hurt. Jarvis was right.” Heather
spun around and ran back to her three-wheeler without further explanation.

Katrin stood where she was, remaining in the shelter and
comfort of surrounding trees. She watched the human female snatch a bundle off
the three-wheeler then yell, “She’s hurt!” before racing back to Katrin.

“Here are some clothes,” she offered, walking right up to
Katrin and holding them out close enough for Katrin to smell them. “Jarvis said
you would think they stunk like a human.” Heather’s smile and her shrug matched
her continued smell of humility. Her honesty was no longer challenging and
angry. “I can’t change how I smell and I know perfume doesn’t hide how I smell
to a werewolf.”

Katrin barely had time to react when two large males bolted
into the trees. One slowed when he neared her but the other damn near plowed
into her. Katrin fell to her side and growled fiercely.

He was sniffing her everywhere. Katrin recognized Jarvis’
scent at the same time he discovered her injured leg.

Damn it! That hurts!
She growled fiercely but Jarvis
ignored her.

He licked her leg, sniffed it, taking his time, learning the
extent of her injury before slowly raising his gaze and staring at her with
concerned and pissed silver eyes.

Fool woman!
He raised his lip, showing off long,
dangerous-looking teeth.
Don’t ever run from me again.

I wasn’t running from you.
Her growls fell on deaf
ears.

Jarvis straightened. He turned and looked at Marc and
Heather. Katrin did the same. Both were watching them with solemn expressions.
He barked once and Marc straightened, looking at Jarvis then shifting his
attention to Katrin. Then turning, he nudged his mate.

“God damn it, Marc. You knock me on my ass and I swear I’ll
smack you,” Heather snapped.

If Katrin weren’t in so much pain she might have laughed as
the tiny human female tried bullying a large male werewolf in his prime.

“I don’t want to go.” Heather continued arguing with her
mate as he began pushing her out of the trees. “She can ride back with me on
the three-wheeler. I can get her to the house safely.”

Heather’s complaints faded when Marc managed to herd his
mate out of the trees and away from Katrin and Jarvis. The human female didn’t
understand. Katrin’s leg hurt really badly, but if she changed into her human
form it would hurt a hell of a lot worse.

The three-wheeler revved up and Marc and Heather left them.
Jarvis gripped Katrin’s fur with his teeth and helped pull her to her feet. He
licked her gently, sniffing as he did. Katrin had never felt so pampered.
Jarvis’ tongue was like heaven. For a few moments the pain subsided and she
almost staggered from how good he was making her feel.

Jarvis rumbled in his throat and Katrin opened her eyes. She
stared into his silver eyes, his face close to hers. He’d quit licking her and
now simply stared. In their fur, he was so much larger, almost twice her size.
He looked down at her and smelled so strongly of love she was overwhelmed. She
couldn’t look away.

Announcing publicly that they were mated might possibly have
been the most foolish act of her life. She’d been so shocked by the words she’d
howled in an effort to protect them that she didn’t know how to react after the
words were out. Publicly growling such permanent words bound her to Jarvis for
life. Katrin knew if Jarvis didn’t want it, he would be able to run his way out
of the mating. Another pack wouldn’t have heard her howling that they were
mated. If Jarvis wished for his freedom, he would have it.

The way he looked at her right now, along with his rich,
incredibly enticing scent, didn’t make her think he planned on running anywhere
without her.

It had torn her heart out running from the one male she’d
felt more of a bond with than any other she’d ever known. Not only was he
incredibly sexy in his flesh and in his fur, he touched her and made her orgasm
stronger than she’d known she could. His protective, dominating and honorable
nature drew her to him, just as it had the night before when she’d sniffed him
out at Howley’s.

Could Jarvis make her as happy as her sire did her mother?
Was he the male she would run with the rest of her life? Hunt together? Fight
together? Make love and be happy just as her mama and sire had been their
entire life?

Thoughts of her sire and mama sobered her as so many
memories of them appeared in her mind. Jarvis immediately smelled the change in
her emotions and narrowed his gaze. He growled low in his throat.

It’s not what you think
, she rumbled and stepped
forward to nuzzle into his coat.

Katrin forgot about her injured leg momentarily and
immediately went down in the hindquarters.

Damn it
! She snarled, hating her injury. Katrin had
believed jumping out the window her smartest move at the time. The human had
locked her in the room after telling her they knew she was half Malta werewolf.

Oh shit
. Now Jarvis knew she was half Malta werewolf.
She looked up at him as he pressed his body against hers, allowing her to lean
on him. He definitely smelled of admiration and lust. Maybe she had imagined
his lust smelled strong enough to be something longer term. But he hadn’t
curled his nose in disgust or walked away.

They ran back to the McAllister den together. Jarvis paced
himself alongside Katrin. When they were in the backyard, Katrin noticed a pile
of clothes under a tree. The sweats Heather had offered her were folded next to
them. They did stink of human and Katrin hesitated.

Jarvis didn’t. The change swept over him with impressive
speed. He was a product of living in the mountains, just as she was, and having
to move with swiftness just to stay alive. She also enjoyed the view as she
stared up at his growing human form. When he stretched, muscles in his back and
his ass twitched and flexed. There were a fair amount of scars on his body, but
it was to be expected of a male his age.

“Stay right where you are. Don’t leave,” Jarvis ordered the
second he had his jeans snapped.

He wagged a finger at her and she made a show of snapping at
it. Jarvis laughed and ran into the den with his shirt in his hand. When he
returned just minutes later, his shirt was still twisted around his torso. He
held out clothes he’d grabbed from her backpack.

“These might smell better,” he said.

God, he was so damn sexy. His blond, tousled curls fell past
his ears. She loved how he smiled, how he smelled, that incredibly drool-worthy
body.

Katrin continued staring at him as she let the change take
over. Slowly the sounds around her muted. The clarity disappeared as her eyes
became human. Her senses dulled. But she barely noticed. As her spine changed
shape and the bones and muscles in her body shifted from that of werewolf to
human woman, her attention remained on Jarvis.

Then the pain set in.

“Ow!” she howled, her voice still half-human and
half-werewolf.

“That’s it, my sweet little Cariboo.” Jarvis was ready for
her. He hadn’t been standing there enjoying the view, but waiting for the pain
to set in. “Let’s get you inside. The pack doctor is on his way.”

“I don’t need a doctor,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Give me my clothes. I’ve been hurt worse before.”

“As have I,” he said, handing underwear to her but then
remaining close so she could lean on him to put them on. “We might not always
live like this, but for now we have the luxury of a doctor and assurance the
bone won’t heal wrong. We might as well take advantage.”