“Hey, what’s the hurry? If you want to stick around for a bit, my shift is almost over, too! We could get a drink or something.”
Just before the elevators, Bo turned to look up at the nurse. He smiled hopefully, dark eyes shining. Built like a linebacker, Clancy still wasn’t quite as large or muscular as Ryker, but Bo understood that the man was still handsome.
Maybe I should say yes. Who knows? I could be wrong about Ryker being my mate. If I mess that up, I could still have...something.
Shapeshifters didn’t ever take humans as mates because humans had no animal soul to be connected to, but he wondered if it would really hurt to get a drink with the nurse.
Opening his mouth to accept the offer, Bo was suddenly struck with a wave of pain and he grimaced, raising one hand to press against his pounding heart. He could feel Ryker shifting restlessly around in the bed almost as acutely as if he himself had been in the alpha’s place.
They were connected. It couldn’t be denied. Which meant doing anything with another person was wrong.
“I’m sorry, Clancy. I’m really tired and I just want to get home today.” Bo winced sympathetically as Clancy’s expression fell. “Uh...maybe another day, though.”
And just like that, the ear-splitting smile had returned along with a flash of teeth as white as the floor tiles. “Okay, I’m going to hold you to it!”
Dammit. I’m going to have to quit my job and move to Mexico.
Clancy looked up as the intercom system blared to life, and a voice filtered through the speakers. “Oh, they’re looking for me. I should go. See you later, Bo!”
Bo smiled as the nurse waved good-bye, just barely wiggling his fingers before moving off at a high speed that ran counter to his large size. “See you.”
Turning around, he pressed the button for the elevator and stepped inside when the doors parted with a cheery ding!
Five minutes later, he perched on the edge of a bench near the main entrance of the hospital. These doors were the closest to the recovery rooms, and he had gone ahead and moved his truck to the adjacent lot. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
His determination and nervousness grew as one, intermingling, all through the half-an-hour it took until he finally felt his awareness of Ryker stir inside him again. The alpha was on the move, limping unsteadily back and forth around the hospital room as a doctor tested his mobility. A few more seconds of stillness followed, and then a wash of relief and yet more motion. This time, it was a constant stride in a singular direction.
He’s coming.
Bo waited, biting his lip, until at last the alpha stepped through the double doors. His breath caught in his lungs at the sight of the battered man, and he felt nothing more than an enormous urge to sweep him off his feet and take care of him.
“Ryker!”
“I can’t believe you,” the alpha snarled. “I told you to leave but you just waited here?”
“I can’t just not do something to help you!” Bo blurted out. “I help people. It’s my job.”
“It’s not your job to take care of me!”
Bo felt the wolf in his chest surge to life in response to the alpha’s aggression, sensing only just in the nick of time what he was about to do. “You can’t transform here!” He whispered the words as loudly as he could, not wanting to be heard as there were still people coming and going constantly. They were getting enough weird looks as it was. “There are too many humans! And you’re too weak!”
Ryker’s shoulders slumped almost at once. “I know. I just...” He sighed. “I really ain’t used to this, kid.”
“No shit. Alphas don’t need anyone, right?” Bo held his breath.
“Right.”
“Except you’ve got a bunch of bite marks on you that probably came from your old pack, so you at least know what that’s like, right? And you can...feel it too, can’t you?”
Ryker lifted his head, dark eyes blazing. “If you take me home, it’ll be dangerous for you.”
Bo shrugged. “I’m an EMT. I drive around in an ambulance that goes at speeds that could beat your pretty little motorcycle in a race, and I am constantly working in a high-stress situation. Taking you to my apartment is going to be a piece of cake. Hell, I won’t even have to drag you. I can just toss you in the back of my truck.”
“An omega with a dangerous career and a truck?” Ryker shook his head, looking slightly mystified. “You’re an odd one, aren’t you?”
Bo answered but his reply was lost beneath a shout. His heart sank and he turned, regretting what he saw. Clancy, striding towards him with a hurt look on his face.
Dammit. Maybe I should have dragged him and tossed him in my truck.
“So,” Clancy panted, striding up, “this is the reason you said no to me, huh, Bo? You couldn’t just tell me the truth, so you had to get my hopes up?”
“Clancy, I...”
Ryker stepped in front of Bo, one arm held out before the omega. “Let me take care of this.”
“Hey, no!” Bo grabbed at him, but it was far too late. His fingers clutched at nothing but open air.
The enormous man before him was gone, having long since dropped down onto four massive black paws. In fact, all of Ryker’s wolf form was massive, even for an alpha. His fur was thick and glossy, as dark as night, and his ears were pointed handsomely.
Long black muzzle parted, lips wrinkled in a snarl, Bo caught a flash of white fangs and starlight-yellow eyes as Ryker lunged towards Clancy.
Clancy squealed, turning on his heel.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still, gigantic wolf poised in the beginning of a leap. Then, Ryker slipped on his sore legs and flopped ungracefully onto his side like a puppy that wasn’t quite used to its body yet, and Clancy ran on, oblivious.
Bo ran forward and dropped onto his knees at the wolf’s side, suddenly feeling timid when he realized just how much strength this body held. “Ryker!” he begged, plunging his hands deep into that thick pelt to shake the alpha wolf. “Turn back, before anyone comes!”
Ryker snarled, scrabbling uselessly at the concrete with dull claws, before sitting up as a man and then trying to stand on his own. Just in time too, because someone burst through the big double doors and looked around rapidly.
“That black kid said there was a wild animal out there!” the woman huffed. “You two need to get inside, quick!”
“Huh?” Bo said, feigning confusion as he looked around. “I’ve been standing out here talking with this patient for a few minutes now. I haven’t seen anything.”
The woman looked suitably confused. Taking advantage of it, Bo turned towards Ryker and stared right into his night-black eyes. “Are you coming?”
Ryker returned the stare, letting Bo know with every part of his being that he was incredibly unhappy with this arrangement. Then he nodded, and that was that. As calm as could be, they slowly walked together to Bo’s beat-up old truck.
“This thing has seen better days,” Ryker commented.
Bo shrugged. “It gets me where I need to go. Isn’t that the point? Oh...I guess maybe a need-for-speed kind of guy like yourself wouldn’t really agree, would you?”
There was only silence in reply, so Bo shrugged and started to work his way out of the hospital parking lot and back to the main streets of Seattle. A thin, constant drizzle of rain spattered against the windshield, not enough to really be a nuisance but just the right amount to still necessitate a flick of the wipers every now and again. For the most part, the driving was easy and quiet, but definitely not companionable.
“So, um...can I ask you something?” Bo said.
“What?”
Bo waited for a moment for the street light at which they were idling to change colors, turning safely left before continuing on with his question. “I guess it might not really be any of my business but umm...why a motorcycle?”
“What do you mean?” Ryker sighed, sounding impatient.
“Your wolf form is really impress
ive.” That’s an understatement. “Really powerful but like, also probably really fast. Steady, too. And when you’re a wolf, you don’t have to obey the laws of traffic or anything.”
“What makes you think I was obeying them on my bike?”
“True,” Bo conceded, pausing before a stop sign for a full three seconds, as the law decreed. “But that kind of just makes my point. Why not just run as a wolf?”
“Why do you drive a truck instead of running everywhere?” Ryker challenged. “It’s the same thing, isn’t it? It’s just another mode of transportation. And even though it’s just Seattle, it would be remiss of any of us to draw too much attention to ourselves.”
There were some shifter-friendly cities around the world. Seattle was considered one of them, although it wasn’t so much a form of acceptance here as it was the authority turning a blind eye to strange sights as long as no one was hurt. Bo had to admit that the alpha had a point.
“Remiss is a pretty big word for a biker.”
“I’m not just a biker. I’m a biker who pays attention.” The alpha shifted in his seat, leaning his cheek softly against the window. Bo couldn’t help but keep sneaking glances at him out of the corner of his eye, despite the fact that he was the safest and most attentive driver he knew. After a moment, the alpha continued to speak. “And besides, that’s just it, isn’t it? I’m a biker. More comes with the territory than just the name.”
“So, you’re part of a biker gang?”
No answer again, and Bo took it to be an affirmative. A small puzzle piece clicked into place in his mind. Maybe the gang had been Ryker’s pack. His crash was probably connected to that, but there was still a lot of information missing for him to be able to draw any sort of conclusion from it.
After a short time, they arrived in front of Bo’s apartment building. He guided them into his parking spot and parked easily, and was about to get out and come around to the passenger’s side to help Ryker out, when the alpha spoke again.
“This is an apartment.”
“Right. That’s what I said.”
“I know that,” Ryker snapped irritably. “But...you’re an omega. Who lives with you? Parents? Siblings?”
Bo shook his head, a little mystified. “I mean, my sister stayed with me for a couple of months because she was in town visiting and didn’t want to impose on the pack back at home. She was my roommate. But she left to go back to her new pack a while ago. So, I’m alone now.”
“You live alone. That’s not normal for an omega.”
“I told you my family is kind of modern. So, I live alone. Is that going to be a problem?”
Once again, Ryker said nothing.
We’re really going to have to work at breaking that habit of yours, puppy.
Together, they got out of the truck and went up a few flights of stairs together. Bo walked behind the alpha, ready to catch him if he fell. Well, ready to break his fall, anyway.
Once they were in the hallway, Bo slid under the alpha’s arm and guided him over towards his door to let them both inside.
“Pardon the mess,” Bo said as they entered, trying to be polite even though the foyer and living room just beyond were downright immaculate. He kept a clean house. He had held onto some of his true domestic nature, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Ryker took a few steps deeper into the room as Bo shut and locked the door behind them. A growl rose up in the man’s broad chest, giving Bo only a fraction of a second of warning before he leapt.
It was a better jump than the one at the hospital but still clumsy, bowling them both over onto their sides on the carpet. Bo squealed, the high sound deepening into a thin howl as he transformed into his wolf counterpart. Heavy paws clung to his thin frame, dragging at him, and then jaws buried in his scruff.
Bo let out a snarl of his own, suddenly realizing what exactly Ryker meant to do with him. And sure enough, the injured alpha dragged his hind legs beneath his body and pressed his stomach against the omega’s back.
For a moment, he felt the press of an erection against his rear. His wiry limbs went weak and wobbly with desire, especially as the fangs tightened harder against his skin. Urgency churned in his loins, making his mouth open with panting.
Only when the hard erection started to slide inside him was he able to come back to himself. The pressing weight of the other was immense and beyond simply heavy, but he was weak and Bo was still strong, if tired after his long day.
Digging all four of his paws into the carpet, Bo clutched at the strands and thrust himself forward. Carpeting ripped in his claws but he was free of the other, leaving the alpha unbalanced and collapsing.
Then, Ryker was human and pushing himself up to a sitting position with a grimace twisting his lips. Bo just stared at him in silence, staying in his wolf form. He raised his tail threateningly and fluffed out his soft, silky pelt into angry spikes that came to a peak along his spine.
“It’s a problem,” Ryker muttered.
His heart pounding, Bo hardly understood what that meant until he realized it was the answer to his question from before.
“I told you that if you brought me home, it was going to be dangerous to you. You asked me if I could feel it, omega. I can. We’re connected. We’re mates now. I was going to take you like a mate should. If I wasn’t so damn weak...”
I’ve had enough of this guy treating me like I’m just some tool.
Bo transformed back to himself and then stood up to his full height, planting his hands on his hips as he glared down at the other on the floor. “Now you listen to me, puppy,” he said, spitting out the word in the same manner as the alpha said “omega.”
“I’m listening.”
“Three times now, I’m telling you that I come from a very modern family of shifters. My pack doesn’t believe in having any boundaries like that unless it’s something you just can’t help, or something you want! I’m not going to be some omega who just sits around and lets you do whatever you want to me, whenever you want. That’s just not how this is going to work. We’re mates. That means you have to respect me. Plus, I didn’t have to give you a place to stay. I could have let you stay out on the streets, but I didn’t.”
“What are you trying to say? Just spit it out.”
Bo swallowed hard, avoiding looking directly into those dark eyes. One look would snare him and he would go back on his word, and then all of this would mean nothing.
“When and if we do stuff, it’s going to be when we both want it, and when we’re both capable. And you can’t treat me like any other omega, because I’m not. I face way worse things than you on an almost daily basis. You don’t scare me.”
“Are you sure?” Ryker huffed. “Your fear-scent is pouring off you.”
Bo stood his ground. “There’s a difference between being scared and having a healthy amount of fear. You never want to take a dangerous patient for granted but you can’t let them take advantage of you, either. Same thing with dangerous animals.”
The two only stared at each other, and then Ryker shook his head. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
“Maybe you’ll feel more sensible after some sleep,” Bo said, not quite sarcastically. “You can even have my bed. I’ll sleep out here on the couch, since you’re the one with all the boo-boos.”
Ryker groaned. “Please don’t say that again.”
As tired as he was, of everything, Bo couldn’t help but to let out a tired little giggle. He patted his thigh softly. “Come on then, puppy. Let’s get you tucked into bed.”
He wasn’t sure who was more amazed when Ryker actually followed obediently along behind him.
Chapter 4
A soft voice crooned, “Wakey-wakey, little puppy dog.”
Ryker groaned and rolled over in bed, flopping one sore arm over his face to hide his sensitive eyes from the sharpness of the light suddenly pouring down from the ceiling. “Please, go away.”
“Nope,” the soft voice continued.
“As your mate and a member of the healthcare profession, it’s my sworn duty to ensure that you not only get a proper amount of sleep but that you take care of yourself in every other way, too!”
He fought against a smile that wanted to form on his lips, created purely out of some misguided affection for the omega that seemed to have just grown out of nowhere overnight. Opening his eyes, he looked up into the handsome young face of the kid he was suddenly mated to. “You’re enjoying torturing me, aren’t you?”
“I’m afraid that I can’t answer that question,” Bo said cheerfully.
Ryker felt his heart twist softly in his chest and he had to fight against another smile. All of this felt too surreal, too simple and wholesome after the events of the day before.
“Come on. I need to at least check on your wounds.”
And now he was shuddering at the thought of being undressed in front of the omega, in a far more intimate setting this time. No spectators, no rocking ambulance. Just them, alone, in a bedroom. To make it all that much worse, it was Bo’s bedroom, and his bed, his sheets, his pillow. His mate’s scent was all around him, so light and teasingly fresh.
Fire tightened in his loins, coiling between his legs. Just like that, he felt an erection tent against his jeans. His muscles tensed up, everything in him commanding his body to spring and attempt again what he tried last night.
But, he remembered what Bo said to him, and so all he did was sit there and fume quietly to himself while the omega undressed him with dainty hands. Dainty hands that could hurt, he quickly discovered, breath hissing between his teeth as Bo gently pulled away the patches of gauze to examine his injuries.
“These are looking pretty good, actually,” he commented. “Even better than I would have thought.”
Shifters were fast healers, after all. Especially predator types. Dominant shifters, and even those who weren’t so dominant, often tended to suddenly and abruptly clash in physical arguments or displays. However, that was simply part of life. Fights were forgiven as easily as wounds healed.
Except for betrayals.
Wild Ride: An M/M Shifter Mpreg Romance Bundle Page 4
