Ryker lifted his tail and slowed his pace, and Bo dropped back with him as they entered the tree line. Skulking now, like predators stalking flighty prey, the wolves pressed into the beginnings of the forest and slid through the shadows as dusk fully gave way to night. Insects woke to the cool of the day, and an owl cried out somewhere high above. Glowing eyes flashed in the light of the rising moon, pierced by the broken shards of silver that managed to break through to the forest floor.
And there, ten yards from the railroad tracks, was an empty husk of a building. It really did look like nothing so much as a shed. A small pulse of hesitant surprise shot through Ryker as he realized its size—smaller than he thought. How could a whole motorcycle gang’s worth of wolves fit in that?
I guess there aren’t really that many left, he thought unhappily.
A short yip came from the ranks of wolves behind Ryker, someone sounding the alarm. He pricked his ears and swung around to stare across the train tracks just as the reek of blood became overpowering.
They came. The wolf who led them had a pelt so pale grey in coloration that he resembled the moon. A thick scar sliced across the fur along his throat, and the rest of him was similarly covered in marks that were all in various stages of healing. His paws were so thickly clotted with dried blood that Ryker couldn’t see any fur at all until halfway up his powerful limbs.
Following him were wolves, some of which were unfamiliar. Rogues and loners, no doubt. However, Ryker recognized the rest—what was left, anyway. No omegas. Only beta and alpha wolves, all of them thin and haggard, bearing infected wounds and bloody patches of fur.
He recognized them, but they were not the same.
They no longer looked angry. He couldn’t imagine these poor creatures turning against him or throwing lies in his face. He could hardly even imagine how they were still alive, when every single one looked as though they would rather be dead.
The opposing wolves spread out to the side as Jeriko waved his tail, moving mechanically as though they had practiced this far too many times. Ryker did the same, and his own untrained wolves mimicked the movements of the opponents so that they couldn’t be directly flanked.
Jeriko shifted, standing up. He was well-dressed in clothes that still bore the price tags, upon which Ryker’s sharp eyes detected a great deal of zeroes. His emerald eyes glowed bright in the moonlight.
Ryker turned human as well, and so did Bo.
“So,” Jeriko said calmly, crossing his arms, “this is what you bring to fight me? A bunch of lapdogs?”
“Better than a bunch of half-starved, abused curs!” Ryker snarled, lurching forward. His heart ached to say such things about the men and women he loved, but it was true. He couldn’t let his emotions get in the way of this. “At least this pack behind me knows the real meaning of loyalty.”
Jeriko laughed bitterly. “Loyalty? What use is that? Strength is the only thing that matters in this world, or any other! Strength is the only thing that keeps the masses in place. You think those mutts love you? You think they owe you?”
“They owe me nothing. They’re good,” Ryker said simply. He bared his fangs at the other man. “Better than you will ever be. But I’m tired of playing this game of yours, you bastard. Fight me!”
“I will fight you,” Jeriko replied. Then, he smirked. “If you can catch me.”
Those words were a signal. The mangy pack broke ranks and streamed around their leader.
Ryker shifted again, and threw his head back in a howl.
Both packs collided, and snarls and shrieks burst out all down the length of the line of bodies. Someone yelped in pain, and there were thumps as bodies slammed together. Fur ripped, the sound disturbingly zipper-like in nature.
Bo’s packmates had their orders. No one was to be killed in the fight, if it could be helped.
A sudden pulse of sensation inside Ryker’s chest brought his head whipping around. Bo nudged at him with his snout, and then he turned his face away. Ryker followed his mate’s gaze, and he saw Jeriko simply standing there beside the train tracks as the tide of wolves came crashing down around him.
Come with me, he thought, leaping forward. He spoke the words to Bo in his mind, hoping that the omega would remember their plan.
Together with their paw-steps thundering faintly beneath the din of battle, alpha and omega gave chase to a traitor. Jeriko ran, far ahead of them. He knew the woods better than they did, which gave him the upper hand.
Ryker just carried on, running as fast as was feasible for him without stumbling into obstacles. After clearing a fallen log, he twisted his head around for a moment and nudged at Bo’s shoulder; the action caused him to stumble through a patch of bracket. When he straightened up, Bo was gone and Jeriko had paused beneath the darkness of a particularly thick oak tree. His white fangs were bared, catching the light and gleaming. His eyes declared a challenge.
From somewhere off to the side, a twig snapped.
Now.
Growling deep in his chest, Ryker lowered his head and then ran forward as fast as he could. Almost instantly, he slammed into the side of a tree and collapsed to the ground.
A streak of grey shot through the air as Jeriko leapt, bloody paws outstretched and fangs bared to grab onto the alpha beneath him.
From nowhere, a brown-black shape burst from the undergrowth and slammed into Jeriko’s side before streaking away again.
Bo! Yes! Thank you!
Ryker jumped back onto his paws, raising his tail high as he gnashed his fangs and circled his stunned opponent. Clearly, Jeriko hadn’t planned on being ambushed by an omega. Bo had landed a pretty good hit, tearing away huge clumps of pale fur, but the wound was superficial and wouldn’t really slow him down much.
And so began the dance. The two alphas circled each other, fangs bared. They lashed out, clawing and biting and circling, coming together before breaking apart again with only small bites exchanged as they tested each other’s limits. Jeriko was faster, but Ryker was far stronger. And Bo was all over the place, bursting from the shadows to land more light blows against their opponent before ghosting away again.
For a moment, as Jeriko hit the ground again after a particularly hard strike from Bo, it seemed as though the battle had come to an end. Jeriko rolled over onto his back, exposing his sensitive throat and stomach. Ryker lunged for him...and was met in mid-air by a wolf who had come from nowhere, sending him crashing roughly into the side of a tree. Heaving in a gasp of air, the alpha pushed himself up to his feet again and looked around wildly. Jeriko stood watching, a smug look shining on his twisted face.
You aren’t the only one with tricks up his sleeves, that look seemed to say.
Ryker howled at him, and they crashed together again. It was only on parting, reeling away with blood trickling down the tip of his ear, that he realized he couldn’t hear Bo anymore.
Shit, he swore, and spun around. That left his back exposed to Jeriko but he didn’t care. Jeriko was important. This fight was important. But Bo was his life.
There.
A dark shape streaked through the trees, heading back towards the train tracks. Relief weakened Ryker’s legs until he realized that another wolf was following Bo. Abandoning Jeriko, Ryker gave chase. His legs were weak now for an entirely different reason, and his heartbeat pounded in his ears as he ran. He was distinctly aware of fangs snapping at his heels, forcing him between a rock and a hard place. And then, through the pounding of his heart, he heard something else. It was a high, mournful sound that descended into a deep lowing, like the opposite of a wolf howl that started guttural and became clean.
He knew exactly what it was, even though he didn’t have direct experience with it. A person didn’t have to see something daily to recognize the sound, and especially not such a sound as iconic as the blast of a train whistle.
And now, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the approaching train. Huge and red and graffitied, it barreled along at a steady but bone-crushing pace to
wards Bo, who now lay limp and immobile on the tracks with blood pouring from his neck.
Ryker didn’t think.
Kicking out with his hind legs, he shut his eyes and put every bit of power and speed he had into one final, desperate jump. Landing hard, he looked around and saw Bo at his feet, and the other wolf jumping out of the shadows at him. Ryker spun around and lashed out with his front paw, crushing the attacker’s skull.
He grabbed Bo’s scruff in his neck and jerked him off to the side of the track—not very far away, but at least out of danger. And then he waited, as the clacking of the train increased in volume, and the whistle blasted again twice in short succession. Jeriko barreled towards Ryker through the trees, and now he jumped with his paws outstretched and his fangs aiming true for a death blow.
And still Ryker waited, until he saw the whites of Jeriko’s blazing eyes. Only then did he move, and he stepped backwards. Jeriko landed where he had been standing only a moment ago, paws smashing down on the rails. He tried to leap again but the thick, bloody clumps of fur around his paws were snared up in the old, rusted metal of the train tracks.
The train barreled past, not even pausing. Ryker held still, the tip of his nose almost scraping the metal flanks of the monster vehicle. He didn’t dare breathe. Some of his whiskers were torn away and the pain was agonizing, but still he held his ground as the train continued onward to its destination with a brand new passenger plastered to its front.
Only when it was gone, did Ryker take a full breath. Dampening the earth beneath his paws, staining the rust of the rails a darker red, was a massive splash of blood. The amount was larger than any animal could stand to lose and still survive, even a shapeshifter.
He literally burst apart. Like stepping on a grape.
Jeriko was no more. It was over.
Ryker blinked suddenly and spun again, throwing himself at Bo to lick the blood from his fur. Deep whines thrummed in his throat as he used his nose to part his mate’s silky fur to get a better look at the wound. Bo was an EMT but he couldn’t heal himself, and if Ryker lost him, all this had been for nothing.
His fear was unfounded, however. The scratch wasn’t even deep enough to scar. By the next day, it would be nothing but a sealed line where the fur only needed to grow back before it was gone entirely.
Satisfied, Ryker gave his mate’s fur another lick. He hated to move from his side but there was something terribly important he needed to do first. Then, and only then, would this all be over.
Throwing his head back, Ryker took a deep gulp of breath that filled his lungs and expanded his chest. Then, he gave a howl to end all howls. It started out as nearly a growl before rising higher and higher, losing the rough edge and becoming so clear it might have been a struck piano note left to hang in the empty air at the end of a concert.
Slowly, the sounds of fighting faded away as the wolves heard the victory howl and turned to see who was singing it. The Everett pack, and the survivors of Ryker’s pack, broke apart from one another and looked at Ryker. No one was dead, although many were injured and sank down to the ground as they saw him. They knew it was over.
Ryker shifted, turning human and standing up to his full height. He puffed out his chest, trying to look as proud of this accomplishment as he should have. “Jeriko is dead,” he said simply. “Because of me, Jeriko is dead. He is no more. I am the rightful leader of my pack once again, and if there is anyone who opposes my rule, let them challenge me now or leave the state forever.”
For a moment, no one moved. Ryker waited. Slowly, one by one, the unfamiliar wolves whom he assumed were loners looked at each other, shrugged, and then just walked away. With their “leader” dead, there was nothing to hold them together and no reason for them to stay.
And now Bo’s packmates drew away, leaving only the faces that Ryker knew so well. His voice choked. “I’m so sorry that I let this happen to you—to us. I should have found a way to protect us from this, too.”
No one spoke for a moment, and then a beta he knew as Chara lifted her head. One of her ears had been torn clear off the side of her face, and her eyes were terribly sad from where they peeked out from beneath her bangs. “You didn’t know,” she whispered. “None of us did. I’m sorry I let him...I let him convince me that you were something you weren’t.”
And now a chorus of apologies rang out, and those of his pack who were able to stand up did so, and they surrounded him. Ryker looked around at all of them, seeing the wounds on their bodies and in their eyes. Some of those injuries would heal quicker than others. It was his responsibility to see that, in the end, this scar on his pack would someday fade. And he knew just where to start.
A throb in his chest brought him turning to Bo just as the omega sat up as a human and rubbed his dripping throat. “Ugh,” he grunted, looking at the crimson smear.
Ryker went to him and bent down to pick him up and set him on his feet. “Are you okay?” he whispered.
“I am,” Bo murmured. Their foreheads touched. “Thanks to you, puppy.”
Ryker let out a low chuckle. “I love you, you stubborn little man.”
Tears sparked in Bo’s eyes, and the omega wrapped his arms around his neck. “I love you too, you huge jerk.”
Ryker patted his mate on the back and held him close for a long moment before pulling away slightly. He kept his hands on Bo’s shoulders, however. He couldn’t bear to stop touching him just yet. “Can you start tending to everyone?” he asked softly. “See if there’s anything bad that needs medical attention?”
“Of course I can!” Bo said, puffing up his thin chest.
Ryker had to smile. His Bo, always ready to meet the challenges given to him. “Good. It’s going to be a long road ahead of us yet, but I think the hardest part is done now.”
Chapter 13
As it turned out, Ryker was wrong. At least, he was wrong in Bo’s eyes. For Bo, the hardest part was not settling in with Ryker’s pack and becoming one of them. The hardest part was not checking the wounds of stubborn wolves who were all too macho for their own good, and it wasn’t continuing to work at his job like his entire world hadn’t changed. No, all those things went comparatively smoothly.
The hardest part was trailing along behind Ryker while he wandered around a dealership and picked out a new motorcycle. “It has to be just right, Bo,” he explained for probably the tenth time. Bo groaned exactly the same each time he heard the explanation. He had the words all memorized by now. The bike had to be perfect. It had to be new. It had to be intimidating, but economical. And the most important thing: it had to be safe and steady, because now that he was part of the motorcycle gang, he was going to be expected to actually ride a bike.
At least he didn’t have to ride one himself. He would always be with Ryker, pressed to his alpha when they traveled. Still, the buying process was incredibly boring and full of talk with technical words that he didn’t understand. Plus, there was all the negotiating. It was worse than watching his parents try to buy a car!
The really bad thing was how knowledgeable about all this stuff Ryker was, so he was a very savvy and intimidating negotiator.
After two long, dreadful hours, Ryker finally turned to Bo. His tone was cheerful, but the omega could tell that his mate was also becoming a little impatient with the salesperson. “I’ve picked one out.”
“Oh, good!” Bo exclaimed, relieved. “Which one is it?”
Ryker turned and pointed to a bike that looked identical to all the others in Bo’s eyes, except for possibly being slightly wider. It was deep blue in color, with silver accents. Bo distinctly remembered it as being among the first few his mate had looked at.
“If you wanted that one the whole time, why didn’t you decide sooner?” he growled, putting on a grumpy face.
Ryker leaned in and kissed his lips softly, sweetly. “I wanted to see if I changed my mind, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That’s how you know when you want something.”
Bo grunted
and returned his alpha’s kiss while the sales representative looked on awkwardly. “I guess that make sense. But what happens now? You pay for it, or...?”
To his credit, Ryker looked apologetic. “Actually, now we have to talk about rates and get a contract written up, that sort of thing.”
“No! Ryker!”
“Sorry, Bo.” Ryker winced. “Look, I’m not going to make you hang around here if you don’t want to. There’s a coffee shop just down the street, I think. Why don’t you go grab something and get a bite to eat? You might feel a little less grumpy.”
Bo pouted and stormed away playfully, but by the time he went out of the door he felt actually a bit angry. He thought he had been doing so well, adjusting to life with Ryker’s pack over the past month. The other wolves accepted him, and they grudgingly admired him for his willingness to be involved in everything, and to lend a helping hand when needed. He even started to move some of his things from his apartment to the shelter, although the answer of what exactly he was going to do in the future still evaded him. Ryker didn’t press him for answers, which was good because Bo had none. He felt like everyone expected him to quit his job now but even after all this, he still didn’t know what would be best.
But damn, he thought he’d been adjusting so well. He’d even gotten used to sleeping in a crowded place full of others. It was strange at first to be able to hear them all—the mates having sex, or crying out from nightmares, but gradually Bo became so used to having an audience at all times that he hardly noticed it. It was just background noise, and he also learned how to tune out the attentions of the others to have sex with Ryker. He did still prefer to do that somewhere private, though.
Wild Ride: An M/M Shifter Mpreg Romance Bundle Page 14
