Moon Tide
Book 6 Insatiable Series
By Rachel E Rice
Published 2016 by Rachel E Rice
Table of Contents
Title Page
Moon Tide #6
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Books by Rachel E Rice
Author’s note:
Books 1-4 of the Insatiable Series can be read in order. Don’t miss the Hunter Series a continuation of the Insatiable Series. “Hunter’s Moon” and “Moon Tide” are available now everywhere. Coming soon Moon Rapture.
Reading Order
Insatiable: The Lone Werewolf Finds a Mate
Insatiable: A Werewolf’s Hunger
Insatiable: A Werewolf’s Wedding
Insatiable: The Werewolves’ Challenge
Insatiable: Hunter’s Moon
Insatiable: Moon Tide
Insatiable: Moon Rapture
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by Rachel E Rice
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. No reproduction of this book part or whole is permitted. This book should not be scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without the author’s permission.
Chapter 1
He didn’t feel like himself. A strange emotion came over him as he stood glued to the spot staring at Devin and Katie holding hands. Devin’s hand passively clutching hers. Hunter’s blue eyes glaring into space seeing and not seeing them. Everything appeared out of focus.
Hunter’s depthless eyes following their every move.
The stark memories of her in his dreams after he had been kicked and beaten in a cave in Alaska, gnawed at his insides. The only thing that kept him going were thoughts of seeing Katie and her wonderful smile. He just knew she would be waiting for him when he returned, and he would ask her to marry him. But instead, she went on with her life.
Now he was thinking like a human, but he wasn’t human anymore. He is a werewolf of the worse kind. The kind that could kill in cold blood. The kind that would kill his brother for one night to mate once more with the human he loves.
As Katie came into focus, Hunter sees the image of himself with Katie, but it’s not him it’s his twin brother Devine. He can’t process the body language, they are close, and their smiles are too truthful for Hunter. They are gazing at each other as if they are in love. He senses the undeniable attraction they have for each other. It’s the same appeal he had for Katie when he first looked into her eyes.
Devin wears the same look and Hunter’s mind tells him that she’s devoted to Devin, or that she’s in love with him, and no longer does she have the same feeling for him that he experienced so long ago. It felt like yesterday to Hunter, but it was indeed a long time ago. Two years.
It had been a harrowing two years to get home and to discover that the person he wanted the most, the person he dreamed of each night as he lie nursing his wounds on a cold cave floor, was no longer his to dream of.
He had been away too long, his mind tells him. He sees a difference in Katie’s face, she wears makeup. Her eyes hidden with dark mascara. When he first met her, her face was pale except for the natural blush of her pink cheeks. Her hair long then, and now it’s short. She wore a dress. This time she has on jeans.
It’s not because the season had changed when he first met her that she wore a dress. Then it was spring and now it’s spring again.
Hunter’s senses speaks to him. Devin and Katie have been intimate with each other in ways he never experienced with her. Hunter smells Katie’s body as she moves in his direction to get a better look at him as she drags Devin with her because she can’t bear to release his hand.
Knowing that Devin has been with Katie in the most intimate ways, Hunter pushes himself away from his mother, from Adrienne’s arms, and in a flash he has Devin by the shoulders holding him off the floor. His arms are powerful. He could crush Devin if he wanted to. But where does this thought come from? he questions.
Jealousy is a human emotion, his mind tells him.
At first Devin thinks this is a playful move until Hunter tosses an unsuspecting and confused Devin across the room. Hunter stands over him flashing his deadly teeth, his lips curling back growling. His steely blue eyes stalking their movements. His breathing rushing fast and hard into the air. His wide chest moving up and down. His nostrils flaring.
Adrienne is stunned and her eyes grow wide and she’s shaking.
She shouts at Hunter, “No. No. Don’t do it. He’s your brother.” Hunter calms at the voice of his mother, and he glances down, tilting his head to one side at Devin who appears to be unconscious in the corner.
“What’s wrong with you, Hunter?” Katie says, her voice harsh. Her forehead furrowed, and her eyes glowing with disproval as she rush to Devin’s side.
Hunter didn’t expect a cold reaction from Katie. He thought she would be there waiting for him, but instead she’s angry and bewildered at his attack on Devin. Doesn’t he know that Katie belongs to me? Hunter’s mind is telling him. Doesn’t she understand why I’m angry?
Devin lay unresponsive in the corner of the foyer as Adrienne kneels down to comfort him. Katie stands over Devin. “Are you alright,” Katie says her voice warm and caring. Hunter didn’t know what to make of her concerns for Devin. But it’s clear because her bitterness is hurled at him. Only him.
Katie looks up at Hunter, “Why did you do that?” She places Devin’s head on her lap after sitting in the corner looking over to Adrienne. Her eyes are begging Adrienne to do something. Adrienne hopes this is only a misunderstanding and the situation will go no further.
Still Devin doesn’t respond. His eyes are closed but his heart is beating. Adrienne checks his pulse and it’s strong. Her heart rests inside her body once more. She takes a long breath and close her eyes.
Adrienne knew why Hunter did what he did. And Drayton and Lycell knew as well, and that’s why when Drayton and Lycell heard and saw the disturbance, they did nothing.
Lycell said to Drayton, as they stood looking down from the second floor at the disruption Hunter had caused, “He’ll get over it. They’ll settle it and we’ll have peace here once more. Leave them alone and they’ll figure it out,” and Lycell. He hit Drayton on his left shoulder and they walked away.
Hunter paused a moment and settled himself. His breathing still ragged. He inspected his brother, then he looked at a mirror in the foyer and saw his image glaring back at him. His e
yebrows making a deep V in his forehead. His eyes narrow peering at everyone in a threatening manner, everyone except his mother Adrienne.
With his mouth open showing his deadly teeth, and seeing the fright in his mother’s eyes he stopped his threatening behavior.
Hunter struggled with his instincts and nature. He was a different werewolf so much so that he didn’t recognize himself and he didn’t know what to do about it.
It would take a lot to get over the idea that his brother had stolen his mate. The torment he had gone through had changed him into a fearless possessive werewolf, and he couldn’t turn back if he wanted to. It was as if he was a soldier who had returned from war. He had done too much and seen too much to ever be the same again. His only hope was to try to live with himself.
He had gone down many roads and they all led back home and back to Katie.
Hunter couldn’t face another day without a touch of Katie’s warm flesh. After nights of living in a cave and being shot and kicked and beaten, the thought of Katie had kept him whole and kept his humanity intact and now this. His own brother had taken from him something more precious than his life. And his animalist instincts had kicked in, and he didn’t know how to keep them at bay.
The front door swung open with a bang and there stood Wilder, breathing heavily ready to attack. He heard the commotion as he neared his ranch on his return home from the council meeting in Canada.
Wilder watched at Devin struggle to sit up. Katie and Adrienne stood watching at the door on hearing its explosive opening. Then Wilder spied Hunter. Wilder’s body relaxed. Wilder’s hand went to his mouth after seeing him. His face showing quiet relief.
“My son.” He made one step in Hunter’s direction and then realized that it was Hunter who was the cause of Devin lying on the floor.
“What is going on?” Wilder questioned. His voice firm.
“Wilder,” Adrienne shouted and ran to him. “Your sons are...”
“I know,” Wilder said his eyes wavering between Devin and Hunter. He walked to Hunter and hugged him leaving Adrienne to check on Devin. Wilder waves at Katie and Adrienne to move away from Devin. Devin looks up at a stressed Katie and Adrienne.
“Leave us alone. We will sort this out,” Wilder says to everyone. He hands Devin his hand but Devin refuses and stands on his own.
Wilder turns to Hunter, his voice is warm when he says, “Are you hungry.”
“No.”
“Are you tired?”
“No,” Hunter says. Hunter’s penetrating glare is on Devin, and Devin is looking up at Hunter with mixed feelings. His eyes asking why. Devin couldn’t fathom what had gotten into Hunter where he would use such brutality and force on him.
Devin would never fight Hunter, but clearly this is not the same brother he had known two years ago. Could he have changed that much? They look at each other eye to eye. They are maternal twins. The only difference in them now is that Hunter’s body is more muscular. They are the same height and their eyes are blue, but one has a look of peace, and the other has a look of war.
“I will not have my two sons in open battle under my roof.”
“Then maybe one of us should leave,” Hunter said.
“Surely you two can come to some conclusion about the human,” Wilder said. “It is about the girl.” He knew. What else could cause two werewolf brothers to quarrel and attack each other? Hunter and Devin’s eyes waver back and forth at each other.
“Father, her name is Katie,” Devin said looking over at Wilder as Wilder stands in the middle of his restless sons.
“There can never be peace between us as long as he is with Katie,” Hunter said. “She is my mate. I was with her first,” his voice is low and husky.
“As long as she agrees, we both can share her like father and our uncles did with mother,” Devin says. His voice light and agreeable. Devin doesn’t understand Hunter’s possessive nature.
“I’m not like my father. I will not share the future mother of my pups,” Hunter called out. His voice broke the silence in the house and the sound of pups crying echoed downstairs. Everyone looked around and at each other.
“That is the sound of our family and my pack, Hunter. It’s time you understood that there are things far greater than all of us and more important than when and who you mate with,” Wilder’s tone is commanding and impatient.
Devin moved closer to Hunter. Hunter’s hair stood tall on his arms. Wilder knew that this disagreement had to be settled and settled soon. Wilder walked into the center of two young werewolves ready to fight over one female.
“Did you not hear what I said?” Wilder’s eyes are meeting Hunter’s. “This can’t go on. I need you two. It’s a matter of life and death that we put this aside until later. We have more pressing and urgent problems than who fucked her first.” Wilder’s voice is forceful. He emphasizes each word.
Hunter raised an eyebrow at his father. “It’s something that concerns all of us and especially this pack. I don’t give a fuck if the both of you impregnate her. What I care about is the survival of my family,” Wilder said. His voice rising and falling. His tone distasteful.
But who dared call him on it?
“I have just come from a council meeting and there appears to be a hostile response to werewolves and shifters of all kind in the human communities. There was so much I needed to explain to both of you as you were developing into yearlings. But that was taken away from me because of Bane kidnapping you and Adrienne,” Wilder said looking at Hunter with the concern of a father.
Hunter saw the worry in Wilder’s eyes. He wanted to ask why didn’t his father come for him, but he had too much respect. Hunter knew Wilder must have had a good reason.
A concerned Devin watched around the room at Hunter and Wilder then he questioned, “What is it father?” Hunter’s steely blue eyes focused on Wilder but his mind was still on Katie and Devin. He stood thinking of nothing of what Wilder had said about the council meeting. “Does it have anything to do with the large population of shifters coming into Samsaville?” a troubled Devin asked.
Devin had a right to be concerned. It was because of him that shifters have invaded their small town.
Hunter knew nothing of what his father and Devin were talking about and he didn’t care. He had spent over a year in the wilds of Alaska fighting to stay alive and all he wanted to do was rest. All he wanted to hear was that Katie was his, and she had been waiting for him, longing for his return.
“Precisely. They are coming here because we are the only protection they have against the humans bent on destroying them. They have decimated wolves and werewolves in the forest in Alaska,” Wilder added. “These humans know little of the other shifters. They are just concerned about werewolves, but the bear shifters think they will discover that they exist and they will be the next target because they have to hibernate.”
That caught Hunter’s attention. “What about Alaska?” Wilder turned to see Robert walking into the foyer.
“We need to discuss this in the library. Robert, I will need you, too,” Wilder said.
A surprised Robert on hearing Wilder, turns to Hunter, “That girl you brought here is very sick. She’s not a werefemale. She’s human.” Wilder’s blue eyes grew wide with alarm.
“The human population outside of Samsaville have declared war on shifters. Bringing her here is adding fuel to fire. They already think we’re kidnapping human women and raping and brainwashing them. Your grandmother spread that rumor when Adrienne refused to go back with her. I hope you have a good explanation for this,” Wilder said to Hunter.
“She’s only maybe fourteen or fifteen. She has no family that I know of. What would you have me do leave her to die?”
Wilder looked indifferent when Hunter raised the question. If it meant to protect his pack, then the answer would be clear to him as a leader.
As a lone alpha wolf, Wilder had never been in love before until he met Hunter’s mother, Adrienne. He allowed his brother’s to s
hare her and marry her, and she had all their pups to ward off those out to destroy him and his family. He did this to ensure that the Samsa’s name would flourish. And there would be enough pups born in case of war.
There was no doubt in Wilder’s mind that war was coming.
Chapter 2
“Hunter, you brought a child here and she’s human?” Wilder questioned as he slid into a large leather chair, placed his hand to his face, and stared in Hunter’s direction. The large stone fireplace heated the room and brought sweat to Wilder’s face. It was either the room was too warm or he was extremely agitated.
Resting his arm on the mantel at the far end of the fireplace and away from Wilder and Devin, Hunter adjusted a figure of an old man sitting by a tree, shook his head and smiled thinly. No doubt it was bought by Adrienne, he thought. His slow response to Wilder proved that he had long past being a pup and yearling. He raised his head with quiet confidence.
Hunter glanced down at Wilder with a raised eyebrow. “What would you have me do? I didn’t think I should leave a helpless little girl in the woods. I thought Samsas’ word and honor stood for something.” Hunter cut a sharp glance at Devin. “But I see it means nothing.”
“That’s enough, Hunter. There are more pressing matters than you falling in love with the first female you’ve had sex with.” Hunter’s eyes narrowed. Then Wilder remembered Robert sitting next to him, his lips in a tight line and saying nothing, but simmering just the same as a frown line appeared in the middle of his forehead.
“I apologize, Robert. I didn’t mean...”
“I accept your apology,” Robert said his voice warm with a cool tone.
“Now can we get on with something more important,” Wilder said circling the room with the movement of his head, and his predatory eyes landing on Hunter. “It seems that there’s a murderous gang of werewolves from Bane’s pack. The now deceased Bane, I might add,” Wilder said without a hint of humor.
It was the first time Hunter had heard Bane was dead and no doubt at the hands of his father. Hunter took in a long satisfied breath. That feeling coursed through his body and finally he could rest and pursue the woman he longed for.
Insatiable: Moon Tide Book 6 Page 1
