Wild Ride: An M/M Shifter Mpreg Romance Bundle

by Preston Walker

  “It’s okay,” Keiran said, surprised at the heat stinging the backs of his eyes. “I don’t think I would have made it here without people to help.”

  “You’re one of a kind, then.” After that, they focused on walking and keeping up with the advisor, who tapped his foot while waiting impatiently a ways down the side of the immense castle. It was hard enough going that speed on his own, but when he supported the weight of another, it was impossible. Keiran just settled for doing his best.

  When they were close enough, Don sped off again. If anything, he moved even faster than the last time.

  Ty came up just behind Keiran, the alley cat omega on his arm. “Hey,” he hissed.

  “Yeah?”

  “I don’t like this guy.”

  You aren’t the only one.

  In due time, they made their way about halfway down the length of the castle. Set deep into the wall, there was a modest door. Don gestured to it. “This is the general servants’ quarters. Maintenance crews and the like. No doubt some of you will end up working here, so don’t forget it.”

  A few of the omegas murmured their assent, so Don shoved his way through and charged off again down the glimpse of a hall beyond.

  “Someone hold the door,” Keiran said. His request was more of a command this time, his tone a bit short, but no one seemed to blame him for his frustration. One omega moved to hold the door, and the others started filing through.

  Whatever Keiran expected, this wasn’t it. When he thought of servant quarters, he thought of a tiny room full of the bare essentials. The room would be so small that it appeared crowded even then, and it would be dusty and dirty. Most of the supplies were broken, usually by displeased masters. Maybe if the servants belonged to a particularly wealthy master, there might be two or three rooms in a cleaner state.

  But this... it was at an entirely different level.

  It was an exact miniature of the grand castle entrance hall, with the only difference being size and the absence of golden decorations. Despite that, tapestries, carvings, and handcrafted paintings still covered an impressive amount of the stone and wooden surfaces of the walls. Many different rooms branched off the main hall, and conversational chatter echoed around from the rooms so it seemed as if ghosts haunted the empty main hall. Every surface sparkled, which only made sense to Keiran; if he lived in such a great place, he would take pride in keeping it spotless as well.

  “Come along now,” Don called with his customary impatience. “We’re nearly there.”

  As Keiran staggered along under the weight of the woman on his arm, he peeked in the open doorways, catching a glimpse of a supply room stacked with mops and buckets, a gleaming kitchen with something savory-scented bubbling on the stove, and a number of bedrooms with only two or three beds apiece. Only a few times did he chance to see a servant there, and that was when they were asleep in bed. That made sense, as it was the middle of the day and no doubt all the servants were busy working.

  Don waited until the first omegas reached him before gesturing into the open doorway beside him. Unlike many of the other rooms, only this doorway and the bedroom doorways had actual doors in their frames.

  “This is the bathhouse,” he said. “You will cleanse yourselves in there. Women to the left, men to the right. There will be no intermingling of sexes. If I catch word that you have disobeyed this one rule, you will not be allowed a job within these castle walls. Do you understand?”

  This time, every single omega murmured their understanding. No one was fool enough to risk this opportunity.

  For once, Don seemed pleased.

  Of course he’s pleased. He’s being listened to and he likes that.

  “As you finish, find your way to the dining hall and I will have food provided for you. Eat your fill, and I will work on procuring sleeping accommodations for you for the night.” Don hesitated, and Keiran felt his lungs tighten with astonishment that the snobbish man could actually look bashful. “With such short notice, I’m sorry if those accommodations aren’t very comfortable. But, you will be safe and it will only be temporary until I can arrange something better. Now, if you would please?” The advisor gestured to the door.

  As the omegas filed into the empty room just beyond the door, Keiran felt his nose twitch as the damp scent of water reached him. Water and soap. Nearly a month since he’d had a bath or touched soap. A sudden realization came over him of how dreadfully filthy he must be—how filthy they all must be—and he wanted nothing more than to leave everyone else behind and charge down the short hall to the right.

  However, a burning sensation at his back reminded him that he had been setting an example for the others this whole time. He couldn’t give up on that now, not so close to the end.

  Keiran turned to look at all 20 of the others as they looked back at him, ragged, exhausted and leaning on one another for comfort as though they were no longer strangers but had known each other for years. The realization struck Keiran like a fist to the stomach. He was shy by nature, but right here, right now, in front of them, he didn’t feel shy at all. They had all grown too close for that.

  His heart ached. He was going to miss them.

  “I guess this is it,” he said. “I’m so glad all of you made it.”

  “We wouldn’t be here without you,” someone replied, and the other omegas murmured their agreement. From the easy way they spoke, their respect for him was far stronger than their respect toward Don.

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Keiran answered. “You’re all strong. So, from this point on, we start over. Don’t ever forget what we went through.” As if they could. “And if I see you in the halls sometime, don’t forget to say hi.”

  There was nothing else to add. The omegas split into their groups and filed into their respective bathhouses.

  Keiran’s jaw dropped. Joyous tears sprang to his eyes and this time he let them fall, coursing down his cheeks as he took in the sight of what was before him. A short stretch of stone floor led to a gigantic bath that took up the entire length of the floor. It was nearly a swimming pool, filled to waist height with steaming water. Lockers along the wall provided a place for the omegas to stash their clothes, which they did eagerly. Then, as if they were pups and not tired travelers, they all jumped into the bath and splashed around.

  Nothing had ever felt so good. Water on his skin, washing away dirt and sweat, easing the tension of his sore muscles. Water in his hair, freeing clumps. Soap, sliding slick and gentle over his skin. By the time Keiran finally climbed out of the water, everything smelled like roses and the clean bath looked like a mud puddle.

  “I feel bad for whoever’s gonna have to clean this thing,” Ty commented, while pulling on his shirt.

  Keiran flashed a quick look at the fox’s body. His muscles were tight and plentiful, pleasing to the eye, but they didn’t have the same effect on Keiran as looking at Jace’s body. The prince was something else.

  Closing his eyes for a moment, Keiran savored the memory of that powerful touch between them.

  “Hey.” Ty sounded alarmed. “You feeling okay?”

  Keiran’s eyes snapped open again. The image of Jace he held onto—dark eyes and handsome, broad face—drifted away on the steam rising from the sludgy bath. “I’m just tired.”

  “No kidding?” the fox yipped.

  Rolling his eyes, Keiran shoved the other omega and then finished dressing himself. “You ever think that maybe one of us will end up cleaning that out?”

  “Oh, god,” Ty groaned.

  Already this was the longest conversation they’d ever had, and Keiran felt sentimental. While he hated that omega’s weakness, he knew he really would miss the annoying ginger. Ever since that first day, Ty had pulled more than his fair share of their combined weight and his complaints only came as jokes.

  “I never asked what your plans were once we got here.”

  Ty barked a laugh, slashing his fingers through his hair. Water droplets flicked through the air. “I gues
s that’s because none of us ever thought we’d actually make it here.”

  True enough.

  Ty gave a little shrug and then blinked up at Keiran. The omega wolf started. He hadn’t realized how tall he was in comparison to the other. “Listen, I don’t think I’ll actually be sticking around very long. Enough to get back on my feet, yeah, but I’m a thief. I’m a wanderer. You know?”

  “I know,” Keiran replied. He bit his tongue, hiding his thoughts behind the sharp pain. The fox was a fool, unchanging in his ways even after all this time. Except, there was a glimmer of something deep in Ty’s gaze. Some sort of hesitation. He wasn’t certain of his own conviction. Keiran guessed that none of them were, anymore. Going through what they had all gone through would certainly leave a person with a new impression of life. “Maybe I’ll still see you sometimes though.”

  “Sure!” Ty gave another of his yipping little laughs. “When I creep back in the middle of the night to dig through the treasury.”

  Smiling, Keiran gestured back toward the way they’d come. “I’m starving, aren’t you?”

  Following their noses, they reached the dining hall. Just like the rest of the place, it was large and clean. A handful of rescued omegas were already there, wolfing down what looked to be bowls of some sort of stew. A servant wearing a brown, stained apron wandered around, refilling bowls and occasionally pausing to wipe a tabletop clean.

  “Look.”

  Following Ty’s finger, Keiran spied the tall, stuffy advisor sitting at one of the tables next to a coyote. They both seemed deep in conversation, with the coyote gesturing wildly when not spooning stew into his mouth; Don listened with far more attentiveness than Keiran would have given him credit for, replying with no judgement in his expression at all.

  “I wonder what that’s about?”

  “No idea,” Keiran replied. “And if I’m honest, I barely care. I’m hungry.”

  The stew was quite honestly the best thing Keiran had ever tasted. The gravy was thick and rich, filled with hearty chunks of beef and a liberal amount of peas, carrots, and potatoes. After weeks of only eating charred, tough meat, the explosions of taste on his tongue were like tiny raptures. The food alone made two weeks of travel worth it.

  “There he goes again.”

  Ty said that several times as they ate, always commenting on the advisor’s movements as he went from one omega to another and had the same sort of deep conversation with them. In fact, as Ty went to return his empty bowl to the servant in charge of feeding them, Don stopped him and they had their own conversation.

  However, Don never spoke to Keiran. He could only sit and wonder what those talks were about, until a light tap on his shoulder brought his heart jumping up into his throat. Twisting around, he saw another servant.

  “I’m here to lead you to where you’ll be sleeping for the night,” the servant said, cheerfully. “If you’ll follow me?”

  Flicking another glance back over his shoulder at the advisor who was ignoring him, Keiran stood up from his bench and followed the servant down the hall to the storage closet he’d first seen upon entering these quarters. Blankets and pillows covered the empty floor space now; five of each. Two other omegas already slept curled up, dead to the world.

  The servant whispered, “I know it’s not great, but when you get assigned a job tomorrow, you’ll get put in an actual room, so I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Sleep well!”

  Keiran didn’t think he would have been able to sleep in a real bed; not so soon after days of huddling on the ground. A blanket on the floor seemed like just the right transition between the two. Rolling up in his, he tucked his back against a row of solid steel buckets and stared into the darkness behind his eyelids. Even though he was no longer running, his thoughts raced now more than ever. He thought of his village and his father, and the omegas who hadn’t come with them. He thought of all the others who had, and what their lives were going to be now... what his own life was going to be.

  I’ve been so busy up until right now that I never thought of my own future. I think I’ll stay here for a while and then... what?

  Maybe the answer would come of its own accord. Keiran desperately wished for that to be the case. He had given everything to this journey. Now it was time for the world to start giving back to him.

  And what of Jace?

  He snorted at himself.

  “Shh!” one of the other omegas hissed.

  Keiran hardly heard them. Thinking of Jace made everything inside him slow down. He imagined again the big alpha and his beautiful wolf form, brown as an oak but with flashes of every other color ever found on a wolf pelt, from that milky splash of white on his chest to the black stripe slinking along his spine. The prince was beautiful, as a prince should be. Unfortunately, now that they were in the castle, the divide between them was going to be far more than just that of a name. Prince Jace would be up in the highest level of the castle, where the royals belonged.

  An omega servant like Keiran would only ever catch glimpses of him, if indeed they ever managed to cross paths at all. Oh, well. Keiran would never forget the journey, and he would always carry the images he had of Jace in his mind.

  When sleep came, it was like falling into Jace’s dark gaze. Keiran went to it willingly and did not stir until he was being nudged awake the next morning.

  Chapter 8

  “Uh?” Keiran grunted. He cracked his eyes open just a slit, enough to see the face of a pretty female servant blinking down at him.

  “Rise and shine,” she chirped, cheerfully. “Today’s the day where you’ll be assigned your job!”

  Everything came rushing back to Keiran, and he sat up so quickly that he was briefly dizzy. “Right! Sorry. Where should I go?”

  The servant patted him on the shoulder and smiled sympathetically. “There’s no need to rush. Don won’t start until everyone’s present. Help yourself to some breakfast in the dining hall and then join everyone else just outside, please.”

  Breakfast turned out to be even better than yesterday’s stew. There were a variety of things to choose from, from oatmeal to sliced fresh fruit, baked eggs, glazed ham with pineapple... Keiran ate as much as his stomach would hold and washed it all down with a mug of fresh tea before sloshing his way back down the hall and outside.

  The other omegas sat in the grass, resting in front of Don and another group of people who Keiran didn’t recognize. Each person seemed different and no two were dressed alike.

  Ty gave him a smile as Keiran sat down beside him, and then he resumed tearing up the grass with his pointed nails.

  After a short time, the last two omegas filed out of the castle, chattering and smiling happily at one another. Dressed in clean clothes, fed, rested, and presentable, they looked like two ordinary people who had been friends for years.

  “Ahem.” Don cleared his throat, piercing the pair through his cold, dark gaze. They seemed to take notice of the fact that they were being waited upon and quickly took seats at the edge of the group. “Good. Now that we’re all assembled, I will be assigning each and every one of you to your future jobs. These men and women gathered here have agreed to give you a position underneath them. You are in their debt.”

  As if we don’t already know that we’re indebted to every single person here.

  Lifting a clipboard, Don barely glanced at the papers held to its surface. “Diego, please come here.”

  A small man stood up from the middle of the crowd. Keiran recognized him as being a black bear, who often brought up the rear when they were traveling. He scurried up to stand in front of the advisor and the mixed crowd of shifters, all of whom appeared to be beta or alpha predators.

  “I’m here,” Deigo mumbled, nervously.

  The advisor rolled his eyes. Keiran’s dislike of him deepened even more. “Yes, I can see that. According to what you’ve told me of yourself, bear, you will be assigned to work in the kitchens beneath Bethany
.”

  A beta wolf shifter with creamy olive skin stepped forward, assessing the small bear in front of her. She was plump, with her hair worn in a distinctly grandmotherly style. “Can you cook?” she asked.

  Deigo shuffled his feet. “I usedta peel potatoes and onions at me Da’s inn.”

  “Well, it’s a start. You’ll do. Come with me then.”

  The two walked away together as Don glanced at his list again. “Do we have Perdita?”

  One by one, the omegas were given their future assignments and then led away by the ones who would be in charge of them. Keiran saw no pattern to any of it and could only guess that Don gave them their new jobs based on what he’d learned of them during his brief interactions. Some were assigned to the library, another to the stables. One headed off to the garage where he would train as a royal mechanic, and another still simply ended up as a cleaner on the 3rd floor of the castle.

  And then there were a lucky few who headed away from the castle and back toward the city, to start their jobs there. Ty was one of them. He waved as he scampered off in the footsteps of an immense boar shifter.

  In the end, only Keiran was left standing alone. There were no other taskmasters waiting for him, only Don who regarded him with an unreadable stare.

  He didn’t talk to me either. Maybe he forgot about me or doesn’t think I’m worth bothering with.

  He could believe that very much, knowing what he did about his faults. Except hadn’t he started thinking otherwise on this journey, when he surprised himself by becoming one of the most helpful people?

  Drawing on that sense of importance, remembering the rush of pride that pulsed through him when he realized there were others depending on him, Keiran spoke. “Isn’t there a job for me?” he asked.

  Don nodded, gesturing with one long-fingered, dark hand for Keiran to approach. There were calluses on those fingers; hefty knobs formed from constant writing. “Oh, yes, Keiran. You have the most important job of all, I think.”

  “You know my name?” Keiran shook his head, hesitating. “I never told you.”