Jax starts the engine. “He’s got at least six hours start on us to judge by how fast his scent was faded. Probably more.” He tosses his cell at Luke. “Gregor and Adam can meet us up there. Maybe call the wild wolves too. If he goes the wrong way, he may end up trespassing on their land.”
Luke dials while Jax drives. Gregor and Adam promise to leave work immediately to help them search, and Adam thankfully doesn’t try to make Luke stay behind.
As expected, no one from the wild wolves answer and it goes straight to voicemail. Luke leaves a message imagining their ancient cell phone wedged into a rock crevice somewhere. He emphasizes the pregnancy part of Cal being up there and that he might be scared and vulnerable and hopes it will be enough to make them see Cal as a pregnant wolf in need of help rather than an intruder.
Luke has to admit Jax drives a lot more sensibly than he would be. He’d have had the truck fallen into the ravine by now.
His stomach clenches and jumps with every bump in the road, and his mouth is dry. His mind races through a thousand terrible scenarios, but there is one question he keeps coming back to.
“What on earth possessed him to run off like that?” The words come out strained. Luke doesn’t even try to keep the worry out of his voice. Jax already knows he’s terrified. “ I just don’t get it. If Reed wasn’t there, why would he do that? I mean, I’d support him whatever he chose to do, but even if I didn’t, how on earth is running off into the mountains in the middle of winter going to help?”
Jax gives him a sad smile. “I’d guess he’s not thinking straight.” He slows the truck to drive around a fallen log. “The thing is: I’d do the same in his position. Probably.”
“What? Why?”
“I love you, big brother, but you think like an alpha. A nice one, yes, but still an alpha. Think about it. Think about where he’s been. I’d bet his experiences of alphas and cubs is very different to anything you’re thinking of.”
Okay, what would an alpha like Reed do?
Luke’s blood runs cold. He’s an idiot. He’s read enough romances with cardboard cut-out villain alphas. They never want cubs. And he knows what sometimes happened in real life but...
“I’d never do that, Jax. Never.”
Jax still has that same sad expression on his face. “I know, but it’s not you. Cal would need to trust the whole pack, not just you. And it won’t be his life he’d be risking with that trust.”
Luke falls silent. No matter what happens, he decides, he’s going to call up that omega helpline as soon as he’s found Cal and give them a big donation. No one should feel they had to make the decision Cal has.
Omega rights have always been one of those things that he’s in favor of and knows he supports, but he’s never done anything practical to help, other than vaguely trying not to be an asshole. He’s starting to understand that omegas don’t have that choice. They don’t get to opt out of worrying about this stuff.
Jax draws the truck up outside the cabin. The snow has almost completely melted, but it’s late afternoon now and Cal has been gone for hours. Luke runs into the cabin and checks every single room anyway, shouting Cal’s name in case he’s come back, but the cabin is cold and empty.
Only Cal’s scent remains, faint in some rooms and stronger in others, and changing in places. There’s a distinct change to it too, as Jax had said. It’s less lemon and more like oranges. For the first time, Luke wonders if that’s how it works. Is their cub going to come out smelling like oranges?
If their cub survives. If Cal survives.
Luke shifts on the cabin porch and sets off into the woods surrounding the cabin. Cal’s scent is fainter here in the melting snow, although there are still places where it’s stronger and Luke can see where the snow was disturbed on Cal’s flight away from the cabin.
Jax shouts at him from the cabin. “Just wait. We’ve got the sheriff coming up too. Don’t go off half-assed. We need a plan.”
Luke already has a plan: find Cal. Luke puts his nose to the ground and follows his mate’s scent.
CAL
sore paws and a set of blue eyes
There is something wrong with Cal’s front paw. It’s not broken, or at least he doesn’t think so, but every time he puts it down, pain spikes up his leg and into his chest.
It could be worse. He’s lucky he isn’t dead, and he knows it. It could have been a longer drop. He might not have landed in fresh snow. He walks by pulling the paw up and hopping along on the other three legs. It’s slow going.
All he needs is to find somewhere safe for the night: an overhang or even a big bush, but nothing seems sufficiently sheltered. If the wind picks up in the night and the temperature drops — a real risk —, he’ll be in big trouble.
It also doesn’t help that he thinks there’s someone — or possibly someones — following him. He’s not heard or seen anything, but every now and then he gets whiff of something on the wind.
It’s not a familiar scent. It’s not Luke or Jax or any of the Winterstoke brothers. Cal’s heard there are wild wolves in the mountains, or it could be someone else entirely. Whoever they are, they’re keeping their distance for now.
He picks up another scent on the wind. This time, it’s a welcome one. It smells like soil, rotting leaves and bear. The scent of bear is old and faded, and at least three years old but still part of the cave that it hibernated in nearby.
Cal follows the scent. The cave is perfect, set back from the snow and accessed by a small overhang.
He crawls into the space, favoring his paw and curls up to try and sleep. Any other time, he wouldn’t be able to, but he’s exhausted and in pain. His body needs it.
Outside, the wind picks up. It whistles into the little cave. Cal curls into himself as hard as he can to try minimize the exposed areas, and all he can think about while he does it, is that he could be sleeping in Luke’s bed right now, curled up against his warm alpha instead.
By morning, the wind has died down. A glimmer of bright blue is just visible through the crawl tunnel. Cal gets to his feet, testing out his sore paw. It’s better than yesterday but he’s still going to be hobbling today. If he’s honest with himself, he’s going to be hobbling for the rest of the week at least.
Cal sniffs the air out of habit as he stands. He stops in his tracks. The air smells like wolves. Not one wolf or two, but an entire pack, and it’s a pack he doesn’t know. By their scent, they’re waiting for him outside his hidey hole.
Cal doesn’t bother to stay where he is. He’s going to have to do this sooner or later, and if they meant him harm, they could have done it yesterday when he was alone and exhausted.
He crawls through the space and out into the winter air. There are fourteen wolves waiting outside, most of them alphas.
They all look up as Cal hobbles out of the cave. Even if Cal could outrun them, it would be a poor place for it. They’re surrounded by boulders hedged in by pines. The single exit route has a blue-eyed male wolf laying across its entrance.
The largest wolf is a grizzled old male, gray-haired around the muzzle and covered in scars. Cal’s not stupid. He lowers himself to the ground immediately and rolls over, exposing the softness of his belly.
The old wolf nods and Cal’s suspicions are confirmed. Not just wolf: werewolf. He thought they were by their scent and the way they behaved, but he’s never spent any time around real wolves so until that very human nod he couldn’t be sure.
The big wolf saunters over and sniffs at Cal, paying particular attention to his belly and the scent glands behind his neck.
Seemingly satisfied, he turns and nods at one of the female wolves who gathers something up in her muzzle and trots over to Cal, dropping it at his feet.
It’s a pile of long-stemmed yellow-and-white flowers with round little leaves. There’s something about the flowers that are familiar, but he can’t remember what they are. Cal sniffs at the flowers, confused.
The old wolf shifts. The man in front of Cal ha
s long gray hair that hangs halfway down his back. His beard reaches almost as far. He’s hairy and scarred and clearly used to being in charge.
“Eat,” he orders.
Cal sniffs the flowers again. They don’t seem poisonous, and if the wolves wanted to kill him, there’d be an easier way to do it. He looks up at the old man.
“Eat,” the old man repeats. “Then you can join us. We’ll look after you.”
Odd ritual, Cal thinks. Why not just offer to have him join? He’s under no illusions why they might want him. He’s a clearly fertile omega. Although, they’d have to wait until his cub was born before....
The thought of his cub jogs his memory and he remembers where he saw the flowers.
Terror skates up Cal’s spine. He hasn’t seen them in real life, only in picture form on a box of tea in a drugstore. There’d been a warning on it: not for pregnant women or omegas.
He shakes his head.
The old man looks furious. “Eat! We’ll put another one in there as soon as your next heat hits.”
Cal doesn’t want another one. He wants this one: Luke’s one.
Almost as if the thought of Luke conjures him, Cal picks up his scent on the wind. Cal hears him too, before he sees him. Luke is making no attempt to stay silent, just like he hadn’t bothered when they were playing chase in what feels like a hundred years ago.
Luke races into sight from amongst the pines, skidding to a stop in front of the blue-eyed wolf blocking his way. The two wolves face each other growling, hackles raised.
The old man yips suddenly. The blue-eyed wolf whines and steps aside, letting Luke through. Luke is panting hard, like he’s been running for hours. His feet stumble as he races forward. Luke doesn’t hesitate. His nose is right in Cal’s fur, sniffing him all over and checking for injury. He whines at the injured paw, then nuzzles at Cal’s neck.
Only when he’s seemingly satisfied that Cal isn’t in any immediate danger, does he turn his attention to the old man.
A low growl sounds in Luke’s belly, and he doesn’t need to be human for his meaning to be clear. Mine.
The rest of the pack snarl in response. Cal shivers behind Luke, and feels Luke stiffen in response.
“I don’t think so, Winterstoke,” the old man says. “This one ran from you.”
Luke shifts and stands on two legs, seemly unconcerned that he is now completely naked in front of a pack of snarling wolves. His face is red with exertion, and his blond hair is sweaty. He’s breathing hard, but he still manages a firm: “No. He’s mine.”
“Then why’s he here, boy?” the old man says.
Luke deflates beside him, his broad shoulders drooping, and Cal can smell Luke’s fear and disappointment in his scent.
Cal whines. He wants to shift, try to explain everything he’d been feeling and everything he was terrified of, but he’s not sure he has the words for that, human or not.
Luke glances at Cal, his eyes miserable. He opens his mouth, then closes it again, and Cal realizes Luke has no idea how to answer the question.
Cal whines again and rubs his head up against Luke’s calf. He’s not going to shift. Luke might have the balls to bare everything in front of that many teeth. Cal doesn’t.
But he can still show the wolves whose side he’s on. He stares right at the old man and bares his teeth.
To Cal’s surprise, the old man bursts out laughing. He looks ever at the blue-eyed wolf and says, “No mate for you, son. Not today.”
Relief flushes through Cal’s body, and Luke lets out a deep breath.
The tone in the old man’s voice changes. “I warned you, Winterstoke. I told you to keep out of our territory. This is your last warning. We see a single other member of your pack in here, and we’ll kill them, with pup or not. Omega or not.”
Luke nods. “We’re leaving.”
The old man nods and shifts back into his wolf form, then trots out between the boulders without looking back. His wolves follow.
Cal is left alone with Luke. He wants to both jump on him and lick his face and run away as fast as he can at the same time.
Cal can’t believe how badly he’s screwed this up. It’s the second time he’s tried to run from Luke. The first time had some logic to it. This one, he just can’t explain.
Luke gets to his knees and takes Cal’s muzzle gently in his hands. “Are you okay?”
Okay? Cal is a damned idiot and he could have killed both of them, but he senses that’s not what Luke’s asking so he just nods.
“And this?” Luke touches Cal’s paw. “I’m just going to take a look, okay?” Luke feels around the swelling. Cal holds back a whine. It hurts to be touched, but Luke’s fingers are gentle. “I think you’ve just sprained it. We’ll get Jax to take a look when we get back.”
It’s far too cold to be standing around nude in the snow. Luke’s hands are ice-cold. Cal wants to tell Luke how sorry he is. He’s about to shift so he can explain himself, but Luke’s not done talking.
“Jax had a few words with me,” Luke says. “Don’t get me wrong. I think it was a dumb thing to do, but–” He hesitates, clearly trying to find the right words. “I’m not an omega. I’ve never had to worry about the things you do or have to risk what you’ve gone through.”
Luke closes his eyes, and his mouth turns down at the corners. When he speaks again, his voice is rough and raw, and the words just tumble out. “You don’t have to be with me, if you don’t want it. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want. I know you have no reason to believe me. Not when I turned up when you were in heat and in no state to say no, but I won’t ever do that again. I swear to it. Just let me make it up to you. We’ll make sure you and the pup are safe. I swear it. We can talk about it once we’re out of Isaiah’s territory. Then if you still want to go, I’ll pay you out your earnings from the bookstore, and send you on your way. I promise.”
Luke doesn’t wait for an answer. He shifts back into the big blond wolf, and nudges at Cal’s haunches.
Cal struggles to his feet and tests the sore paw. It’s going to be a long way back down the mountain. He begins hobbling towards the entrance between the two boulders. Luke follows close, habitually sniffing the air, ears pricked and alert all the way back to the cabin.
LUKE
bubble baths and veggies
They arrive back at the cabin just before sundown. There are three trucks outside, but by the scent of it, no one’s home. Cal is limping hard and Luke gets the impression he’s hiding just how bad it is.
Luke is as good as his word. He promised he wouldn’t take advantage, and he doesn’t, but he’s not above getting a little bossy for Cal’s own good.
Luke shifts to open the door, and the first thing he does is point at the sofa and say, “Sit down. I’m going to pour you a hot bath. That should help the paw.”
Cal either knows Luke is right or is simply too tired to argue, because he jumps up onto the sofa, and shifts where he is, then pulls the quilt over himself.
Luke makes his way to the bathroom where he turns the water to the hottest it can get. The bottles on the shelf catch his eye. The lavender bubble bath is half empty. Cal must like that one. Luke pours in a generous dollop, the finds some clothes while he waits for the bath to fill. He checks on Cal on his way to the spare bedroom. Cal hasn’t moved. He’s just half-sitting, half-lying in the same position.
Luke pulls a shirt and pants on from the spares kept in the dresser, then goes out to his truck to get his phone to call Jax. He walks back to the cabin and the bathroom as he dials.
Jax takes a while to answer, and Luke imagines him out running in the dark, then trying to shift and get his phone out of little bag around his neck. When he does answer, he’s out of breath and can only manage a ‘Yup?’
“I’ve found him. We’re back at the cabin.”
Jax draws a deep breath. “He okay?”
Luke hesitates. “I think so. He’s s
prained something, I think, and is tired. He ran into Isaiah’s pack. The old wolf’s pretty pissed.”
Jax coughs on the other end. “Right, I’ll call everyone back in. Shouldn’t take more than an hour for me to get there. I’ll give him a quick check up. Just keep him warm so long. Is that a bath, I hear?”
“Yup.”
“Perfect. If he’s hungry, give him something light to eat, preferably with veggies.”
“Will do.”
Luke hangs up and checks the water. It’s just right, so he turns it off and goes to get Cal, half expecting him to be asleep, but his omega turns towards him as he enters the room.
“I’m so, so sorry, Luke. I completely freaked out.” Cal’s voice is so low, Luke can barely hear him.
Luke’s first instinct is to run to him and reassure him, preferably by covering him in slow, gentle kisses, but he made a promise. No more taking advantage.
“You don’t have anything to explain. Come on. I’ve poured you a bath. You need to warm up properly.”
Cal nods but doesn’t move from where he is. He blinks slowly.
“Come on,” Luke says. He puts his arm around Cal and helps lift him from the sofa. The swelling that was on Cal’s front paw is reflected on his left wrist. It’s red and swollen and looks incredibly painful. He’s filthy dirty too and covered in cuts and bruises. Luke wants to kiss them all better.
He doesn’t.
“Jax is on his way to give you a check-up, so don’t worry about the wrist for now. My little brother is full of it, but he knows his doctoring.”
That gets a faint smile from Cal. He’s still completely naked so Luke doesn’t have to worry about the awkwardness of undressing him. Between them, they manage to manhandle Cal into the bath without damaging his hand and wrist further, although he lands heavily in the bubbly water, so that it splashes over the side and onto the tiled floor.
Cal’s skin glows in the light of the candles, slick with water and soap. He turns his head to look at Luke and opens his mouth. Luke gets the impression he’s about to apologize again.
Winterstoke Wolves Collection : An MM Mpreg Shifter Romance Bundle Page 11
