Wild Ride: An M/M Shifter Mpreg Romance Bundle

by Preston Walker

  I guess I was just biding my time and waiting until he could be up and about. I don’t have a reason not to do this now.

  Sighing, Tristan walked inside and went to his room. Agatha smiled at him as he came close by, but Jack just scowled. “What do you want?”

  “You’re coming with me.”

  “What, are you going to kill me, too?”

  That was a low blow and he would have called the omega out on it, but the resulting argument really wouldn’t have been worth his time. The pack had been horrified to lose some of their own in such a gruesome and terrible way, but they understood now that Tristan was serious about his new mate. No slight towards the omega would be tolerated. It helped to cement some of the power that he held over his people.

  “No. You want to go outside, don’t you? How do you feel about going for a walk?”

  Jack lifted up his head, his eyes bright. Tristan felt something twist in his stomach, and the sensation made him uneasy. “Really? Outside? On the mountain?”

  “What other outside is there, omega?”

  Agatha stepped between the two of them, a disapproving grimace on her face. “I don’t think so. It will be a few more days until Jack is ready to even walk around the camp unassisted.”

  “Aggy!” Jack scowled, stomping one foot. Tristan observed that it was the twisted ankle, and that it held up quite well under the pressure.

  Clearly, doctor and patient had grown quite close during their extended time together. Tristan did like that. Agatha was in a position of power, though it was of an indirect source. If the others saw that she trusted Jack, they would be more accepting of him as well.

  I really need to get started with thinking more on that whole council thing.

  However, as much as Tristan himself respected the doctor, he knew that this was a place where he had to draw the line and assert his authority. “Agatha, look at him. He was pale when I found him, but now he looks like a baby seahorse. I can practically see right through him. He’s almost the replacement window.”

  He thought he saw a smile on the omega’s face.

  “He’s wasting away in here and you know it. All I do is hear him complain, and you nag at him.”

  “That’s what a doctor does.”

  “I know, but can you really blame the kid?” Tristan shook his head. “You want him to eat, but he can’t do anything to work up an appetite. You make him walk in circles so he can stay strong, but we both know that it isn’t the same. It’s not what a wolf needs, is it? Hard, flat floors are nothing like walking through meadows. And the air in here—he needs mountain air. You have to let him go out sometime. If you’re planning to make him wait a few days, why not just do it now? It’s not like he’s about to die anymore.”

  Jack turned towards the doctor with a pleading look in his eyes, looking as hopeful as a puppy. Tristan just barely managed to hold back a comment about getting him a leash.

  “Please? Can’t I go? Just for a little while?”

  Agatha scowled and crossed her arms. “Just don’t go far.”

  “Yes!” Jack pumped one fist in the air. “Ow!”

  Tristan shook his head again and turned to leave, figuring that the omega would follow him very quickly. He did, although “very quickly” was a relative sort of term because he couldn’t move fast at all.

  “So, where are we going?” Jack asked, limping a little as he came up behind the alpha.

  He didn’t respond for a moment, instead taking his time to look around the camp. A few shapeshifters here and there had noticed Jack, although none came up to speak to him just yet. Good. There were two reasons for this walk that they were about to take together. The first was that he knew if he took a single day off from patrolling the mountains, something terrible would happen.

  The second was damage control. If Tristan could have a conversation with the omega while they were on even ground, he might be able to learn just enough about him to put on a convincing façade for the pack. He figured that he didn’t actually have to be heads over heels for the guy. He just had to be able to tolerate him.

  “Agatha said not to go far,” he finally said, bringing himself back to the conversation at hand.

  “Yeah, well, you don’t particularly strike me as the kind of guy who takes orders from others.”

  Tristan glanced at Jack and allowed himself a bitter sort of smile. “Well, you would be right about that. How about this? There’s a meadow not very far away. We’ll go there and see how you feel.”

  “Great! Wolf or human?”

  Tristan frowned then. He hadn’t given much thought to that. Honestly, nudity was not a very big deal to him. It was simply a fact of life, and not many of his pack were shy. However, he didn’t know how he felt about transforming, shedding his clothes, and then potentially having to return to his human form. He had been taken around Jack once, and it had some effects on him that he didn’t think he was ready to consider taking on again.

  “Human. For now.”

  “Okay.”

  Together, they set out into the forest.

  Very soon, the alpha had to wonder if this had been the best idea. Jack had to walk extremely slowly in order to be able to keep his balance. His steps were slow and rather loud on the forest floor. He couldn’t maneuver very easily, leading to a lot of pausing and backtracking to get around obstacles that meant nothing to Tristan.

  Still, despite the annoyance of being held back, Tristan slowly came to the conclusion that he was enjoying himself. Even if he didn’t particularly like the company he was in, it felt better somehow to have company at all rather than to be ranging around and searching for something intangible. He supposed that was simply the wolf in him, longing for his pack even when they weren’t present.

  “So.”

  Tristan grunted, acknowledging the omega.

  “What’s your pack like?”

  He turned back slightly to look at Jack, working his way laboriously up part of a small hill that led deeper into the green of the forest. “What do you mean? It’s just like any other pack.”

  “Sure, on the outside,” Jack panted, stumbling slightly as he worked his way up the final couple inches. Pausing on flat ground, he bent over and put his hands on his knees before straightening up again. “But, like, that’s not everything. I mean, my pack was a whole town. But, I think we were weird. We never would have dreamed of hurting each other. I always thought it was really boring.”

  Despite himself, he was curious. “How does a whole town operate as a wolf pack? Any humans?”

  “Yes,” Jack said, murmuring for a moment as he looked around himself. Tristan looked around as well, trying to see the sun-dappled greenery through new eyes. This part of the mountain did not pass by any trails, so it was all rather untamed. Vines dangled from trees, and moss sprouted across every available surface. Fallen trees littered the forest floor, as well as uncountable branches. “There were some humans, but they didn’t know we were wolves. And it really wasn’t like much of a pack at all. It was just like...a regular village, with a mayor and everything.”

  “That’s unnatural.”

  “I thought so,” Jack agreed. Now that the omega had caught up, Tristan kept on moving. He could already see the meadow up ahead, a great spot of light where the trees thinned out. “It was like everyone was just so complacent with the way things were. Omegas treated like fifties housewives or something. Disgraceful, I think. That’s part of the reason I wanted to leave my family.”

  Despite himself, Tristan was interested. “Was your family very big?”

  “My parents and my five younger siblings.” The omega winced. “They were alphas. All of them. It was like I was some sort of mistake.”

  Maybe you were.

  He didn’t dare say that out loud, though. He didn’t know if this stuffy little guy would appreciate it. Living in an environment like that, Jack had probably gotten some pretty messed-up views of the world that explained his desire to be alone and get away from o
ther wolves.

  Instead, what he said was, “Maybe some mistakes can turn out to be good things.”

  Jack just shrugged. “I guess, if you want to try to think about it like that. I just don’t think I was one of the good ones. Oh!”

  Tristan turned at the sound of the startled exclamation, just in time to see Jack about to topple over. One foot was wedged beneath a root that protruded aboveground, and his other leg was buckling. At any other time, the nimble omega would have been able to right himself, but he was too injured and slow to do that now.

  “Careful,” he said, and reached out to right Jack with a hand on his arm. When they were both stable again, they carried on.

  Something seemed to have settled between them. Tristan couldn’t really put his finger on what it was, but it made him feel somehow hopeful about all of this. Even if we never become true mates, I think I would be okay with being his friend.

  Something else occurred to him. “If you dislike your family so much, why were you so worried about them worrying about you? It seems like you should be happy that you disappeared off their radar.”

  Jack gave a low little huff. “I guess it seems like that, but really, I don’t hate them. I’m not nearly as young or as stupid as you seem to think I am.”

  “I don’t think you’re young or stupid at all.”

  “You know I can feel when you lie to me, right?”

  Damn.

  Jack huffed again, and Tristan was beginning to get the idea that that was how the little omega laughed without completely giving away the secret that he was amused by something. What kind of family life did it take to get a person to the point where they disliked laughter?

  “Well, I know all about the real psychology behind it and everything. I mean, when you’re always pushed to the side, you can see things a lot clearer.”

  Tristan thought of Peter, the intelligent asexual wolf.

  “So, I know that my parents loved me and my brothers and sisters. I know that most of the grown-ups and elders in Wolf Haven were just trying to look out for me. It’s a really hard world to live in, but they would never listen to me when I told them things that I knew were best for me.”

  “Hmm. I can’t relate.”

  Jack scowled. “Of course you can’t. You live in a really small pack in the mountains. I bet your mom gave birth to you outside and then let you wiggle your way back home or something because she wanted you to be a free spirit and make your own choices.”

  Tristan threw his head back and laughed. He couldn’t help it. Something about that comment slipped right through his defenses and got him good. “You’d almost be right about that, Jack. Of course, my mom and dad knew that I was going to be the one to take their place. Wiggling your way home in your birth sac is the first true test on your way to being a true leader.”

  Now it was Jack’s turn to laugh. Compared to Tristan’s deep bellow, his laugh was high and light, seeming almost to resemble the chiming of bells as wind rustled through them.

  For the first time, Tristan took a very good look at his new mate’s human form. Tall but slender, he had a head of shaggy brown curls and grey eyes like an overcast sky. He also had stubble on his chin, which amused him because a guy with that body type was never going to grow anything more than peach fuzz no matter how hard he tried.

  A little flush of warmth went through his body as they continued walking, arriving at the meadow. The grass was lush and soft, speckled with tiny purple mountain flowers, but the ground was strewn with stones and branches that would have made relaxing there difficult.

  Tristan again turned to Jack, his mouth open to ask how he felt, but the words caught in his throat as he looked at the boy. His mouth went dry. The warmth deep inside him seemed to spread, slowly working its way down to settle in his groin.

  Not here. Please. Don’t make this awkward.

  It didn’t feel awkward though. That was the problem with it. He was the alpha. The alpha of alphas, meant to be dominant. Here was his mate, and no matter what his true feelings were, the wolf inside him was begging for the chance. It was a beautiful day. They were alone. The meadow would be a good place, provided they chose a good area or improvised a bit. His mind raced, full of options.

  Stop, he growled at himself. Just stop it. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want anything to do with his body.

  He looked away from Jack, swallowing hard and trying to grab ahold of his instincts. When he looked back, the omega was gone and a wolf stood in his place next to a pile of clothes.

  And now Tristan had every opportunity to study the wolf before him. As slender as his human form, the small wolf had tawny brown fur with a brindle pattern and darker markings on his face that curled sweetly over his eyes.

  As he watched, Jack turned around and braced his legs out to the sides slightly, and then raised his tail.

  Quickly, Tristan looked away. “What are you doing? Stop that!”

  Confusion clogged in his throat, along with embarrassment. Jack returned swiftly, and Tristan kept his eyes averted, not wanting to see.

  He wanted to see, but he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to be pulled into this. How could he casually be friends with Jack in the middle of their façade when suddenly Jack was trying to make it real?

  “Sorry,” Jack muttered, zipping up his pants. The sound sent a shudder through Tristan, who struggled to contain his animalistic urges to jump on the smaller man. “I thought... I’m sorry. It’s just that you saved me and I thought I owed you. You know?”

  Tristan kept his gaze across the meadow, not turning to look back even though he was almost certain that Jack was decent by now. “I thought you didn’t want to be mated to anyone. Why would you even offer yourself like that?”

  He knew that if he had kept looking, he would have transformed and mounted. There would have been no stopping him.

  “I don’t know.” Jack sounded just as bewildered as he did. “I just felt you watching me and the wolf inside me knew it was what I’m supposed to do. I didn’t control it. It just happened.” His voice twisted, turning bitter. “Maybe my parents were right. I’m just a stupid omega. I’m a slave to my instincts. I should just give up and let you fuck me now.”

  “It won’t mean anything if you just give in,” Tristan said breathlessly. He had no idea what his words meant. “And you can’t yet. I mean. Uh. That would hurt you.”

  Damn. That’s not what I meant to say. Of course it would hurt him, but that’s not how I meant it!

  Even when he was trying to be sensitive, all he managed to do was screw things up.

  Silence fell between them, both of them perplexed. Tristan didn’t know what to do. Time seemed to hang still between them. Neither of them wanted this, but it looked like both of them were losing sight of what they originally wanted.

  A fierce wind rolled through the meadow, setting the tree branches to dancing in the golden light of the sun. Meadow grasses swayed, thickets along one edge of the clearing rattling together. Tristan sighed as his hair was batted around his face, and then he pulled in a deep breath. Clean, cool air that smelled of dampness carried in on the breeze that must have rolled off down the mountain.

  “Do you smell that?”

  The instant Jack said the words, Tristan picked up the scent. His whole body tensed up immediately as he recognized it as belonging to a shifter, but not one he could directly identify.

  Jack moved in closer to his side, trembling slightly. Tristan went breathless with anticipation, his spine tingling as he breathed deeper. The scent was fresh, blowing in from somewhere.

  “We have to follow it,” he said. “Damn, I wish we had a hunter with us.” He was built for fighting, his body and instincts straining towards that purpose. A hunter would be more adept at tracking the scent, however.

  He hadn’t realized that Jack had grabbed onto his arm until he let go again. Although his face was red from holding his breath with fear, he looked stubbornly determined. “We don’t need one. I’l
l lead.”

  “But you...”

  Jack became a wolf again and raced off as fast as he could, which really wasn’t more than an unsteady hobble. Shaking his head, Tristan started off after him. Quickly catching up, he braced Jack from one side with his broad shoulder. Feeling his mate’s burden lighten, he put his nose in the air to follow the scent.

  In the back of his mind, as they headed deeper into the wind that was growing in strength, he knew that they should have turned back and gotten help. However, the scent wasn’t strong and it wasn’t a track. Leaving it behind would have meant they lost it and wouldn’t be able to locate it again, and he just couldn’t take that risk. Never before had he found the scent out in the mountains begging to be followed like this.

  Abruptly, as they left the meadow and pushed through a series of thick ferns, Tristan lost the scent beneath a sudden perfume of mushrooms gathered in the trunk of a nearby dead stump.

  Damn. Lost it.

  However, Jack just pressed his nose against the ground and continued staggering on.

  Tristan kept pace, still sniffing for himself and finding nothing. The only thing that made sense to him was the possibility of the omega having extremely well-developed senses to give him an advantage, evening out with his lack of physical strength. Either way, Tristan was suddenly glad to have him along.

  They followed the scent up the side of a low-lying hill that led slightly above the tree line of the immediate forest, offering a gorgeous view of the sunlight splashed across the treetops like paint. Part of a river wound across the edge of the slope before dropping away again, and that was where Jack suddenly stopped.

  Both of them transformed into humans again and looked out across the icy river. It was in full form, neither wide and sluggish with snowmelt but not diminished by heat. Water curled and rippled around the rocks in the water, lapping gently at the sand beneath their feet.

  They kept their eyes averted from each other, although they were distinctly aware of the other’s nakedness. Tristan had a raging erection, something that always seemed to happen to him when his blood was pumping, no matter the reason.