“I had it stripped and modified. If you don’t crash a bike, you definitely don’t crash a chopper. I guess I could have saved the kickstand, taken a hunk of metal for a doorstop. But anything else, not worth it.”
Not being in possession of a motorcycle himself, Robbie had to rely on what he learned by osmosis from his friends in Lethal Freedom. From what he could remember, he had the impression that Ulysses had compromised the integrity of his bike by tampering with it. The crash had thus done such extensive damage it couldn’t be saved.
“Gosh,” Robbie said. “I’m sorry, Lee.”
Ulysses shrugged. “I guess there’s a bright side. I’ve always wanted to build my own hog from scratch. I know enough about taking bikes apart to put them back together again. I was going to head over to the shop, talk to the guys, and see if they could give me some prices to get started. Some guidance, I guess.”
Robbie nodded, understanding now. “When’s my next turn?”
“In about a mile. I’ll point it out.”
They drove on in silence together for another minute or so, making little progress because of traffic and the quantity of streetlights. Robbie waited as long as he could, and then heard himself talking before he even prepared anything specific to say. “How are you healing?”
“Didn’t you already ask me that?” Ulysses growled, annoyed. “Oh, you said healing, not feeling. Same damn question. Hurts to breathe. Hurts to walk. Hurts to do anything.”
“Did you see your primary care doctor like you were told?”
“Yeah,” Ulysses grunted. “And basically all he told me to do is wait and take aspirin and consider getting counseling for my drinking problem.”
“Consider? I thought it was going to be mandatory, after the crash.”
Ulysses abruptly jabbed his thumb to the right. “Turn here.”
Distracted, Robbie struggled to adjust to the demands of the other wolf so he wouldn’t miss the turn. Ulysses seemed content to return to silence after that, but Robbie’s curiosity had been aroused.
“It’s not mandatory?” he repeated.
Ulysses heaved a huge sigh, although it probably wasn’t as huge as he wanted it to be because of his bruised ribs. “Not right now. The police got ahold of me, though. I’ve got a ticket. And a court date. Depending on how fat and stupid the judge is, I might have to. I’d tell him to shove it, except I don’t really want to go to jail. Be damn inconvenient.”
Inconvenient, not scary or life-altering. As usual, Ulysses missed the point.
“Your judge won’t be fat or stupid,” Robbie said, trying to reassure him. “They work very hard and have a lot of education.”
Ulysses snorted. “Fat. And stupid. All of them. You’re naive if you think otherwise.”
Puzzled and troubled, knowing this wasn’t his problem but concerned anyway, Robbie went back to driving. Five minutes later, they arrived at their destination. Reaching out, Ulysses grabbed the door handle and prepared to shove the door open. “Thanks.”
Ulysses had never thanked him for anything before. Robbie blinked, his eyes suddenly stinging. “Sure,” he managed, then cleared his throat. “I could wait for you. Drive you home for real.”
He should have been thinking about his caregivers, the kids. He should be thinking about the groceries in the back of his van. He wasn’t. All he cared about in this moment was making sure Ulysses was okay.
“Thanks, but no. I’m good. I’ll walk. Get some exercise.” Ulysses pulled on the door handle.
Robbie reached over and locked the door before he could. “Wait,” he said, very quietly. “I don’t think you should do that.”
“Unlock the fucking door, Robbie.”
“No! You’re hurt, and I hate seeing you hurt! I hate seeing anyone hurt, but especially you.” Robbie clenched both hands on the steering wheel, feeling each individual bump and crease on the surface dimpling his palms. He stared straight ahead, not daring to look at Ulysses. He hated confrontation, hated it with a passion. He just wanted to get along with everyone. Why did Ulysses have to make this all so difficult?
Now he was getting mad, and he was one of those people who cried when he was angry. He couldn’t help it. The tears would just start coming, even if he was spitting mad.
“Well, it’s my own fucking fault I’m hurt, so just let me deal with it.”
Robbie almost did. He almost let Ulysses go. He almost reached over to the unlock button at his left side, to allow the other wolf to get out and just do whatever the hell he wanted. He could feel himself doing it, nerve impulses racing from his brain to his muscles, prepping them for the simple action.
Clenching his teeth, he somehow managed to stop himself. “Ulysses,” he said, his voice choked with angry tears, “yes, it’s your fault. But it’d be my fault if I let you get hurt by doing this.”
Ulysses yanked roughly at the door handle, then grimaced as he caused himself pain. “This is none of your business.”
“I’m making it my business.”
“Like always.”
“Like you don’t do the same?” Robbie snapped. He whipped his head around, staring hard at the other wolf. He could hardly breathe he was so mad, tears dripping off his chin. “Always pushing your way into things that don’t concern you?”
Ulysses said nothing.
“I don’t care how much of a stubborn asshole you are. You got in a wreck that could have been a lot worse, so don’t go making it worse! I can help, so let me.”
Ulysses didn’t move for a moment. Then, he let go of the door and turned to stare at Robbie, hazel gaze so intense he could feel it like laser beams against his skin. “Don’t be such a crybaby about it.”
Wetness on his face, moisture running in burning streaks down his face. Not upset, only angry, but these tears could not be reasoned with. They would keep coming until he managed to calm down.
All the same, he wiped at his face with his hands, then pulled in a deep breath. The words Ulysses used weren’t exactly the most gentle or understanding, yet they had been delivered in a way which didn’t quite match up with his usual methods. They were…almost teasing.
“Then, don’t be such a jerk.” His nose was running, making him sound a little nasally. He sniffled, aware that this made him sound like even more of a crybaby than ever. “I don’t know why I keep running into you lately, but it has to mean something. It’s not just coincidence. Not for us. I’m meant to help you, and you know it. You can feel it too, right?”
Ulysses shook his head, not in denial but in confusion. “I don’t know.” His shoulders slumped. Now it was his turn to sigh, and it was a natural sound, lacking the gusty dramatics from before. “I guess it is kind of weird how you’ve been here both times I’ve needed something.”
Not help, but something. I’ll take it.
“Fine. You win. You can give me a ride home when I come out. Not sure how long it’ll be, though.”
Looking at Ulysses, Robbie didn’t think it would be long at all. The alpha was reaching his limits, his shoulders slumping, and his eyes growing dim. His face looked haggard, his mouth dragging down at the corners. A more tired person didn’t currently exist in the world. His body was using resources at a faster pace than usual to accommodate for all the healing it had to do, taking everything he gave it. And knowing him, he wasn’t giving enough. He would be trying to exist as he normally did, not allowing for the changes he was undergoing.
Which gave him an idea.
“While you go in and talk, I’ll go get us something to eat on the ride back to your place.”
“I’m not exactly hungry.”
“You will be.”
It’s like arguing with a toddler.
Fortunately, Robbie had quite a bit of practice in that regard.
“I’ll buy us something anyway. You can eat if you feel like it, or you can save it for later.”
Ulysses turned his head to look out at the shop. They were just idling in a parking spot while talking, not att
racting any particular attention to themselves. The lot was filled with what Robbie considered a surprising number of other vehicles. He hadn’t heard of this particular shop before—Wheeler’s Repairs—but they must have been doing pretty good business to have attracted such a crowd.
“What kind of fast food are you buying so it’ll hold up for hours?”
Robbie bit his lip to hold back a smile. If Ulysses had a fatal flaw, it was his inability to resist the offer of food, even when he wasn’t in the mood to eat.
“We passed a Taco Bell on the way here.”
Ulysses licked his lips. The motion seemed to be performed unconsciously, causing Robbie to feel a flush of warm deep inside his stomach. “So, cheap stuff, huh?”
“But only the best cheap stuff.”
“I guess I can’t argue with that. Fine. But don’t get in a rush or anything.”
“I won’t,” Robbie promised.
Ulysses gave him an odd look, as if he thought the seriousness of the statement was a little odd given the subject matter, and then he tugged on the door. “Let me out.”
Robbie obeyed this time and watched closely as Ulysses began the long process of getting out of the van. He was prepared to lunge over the center console to help or to toss open his own door and run around to the passenger side of the vehicle to help. His precautions proved unnecessary, as Ulysses powered through the movement by way of sheer determination. He staggered upright, then started limping off in the direction of the shop. As he stepped into the middle of two rows of parking spots, he didn’t bother to look either way.
Robbie winced. No cars were coming, and even if one was, they surely wouldn’t have been going fast enough to keep from braking in time. All the same, he wished Ulysses had looked around himself anyway. This was not the time to neglect basic safety.
He kept watching as Ulysses made his way fully to the repair shop. Someone opened the door for him from within, and he disappeared inside. The door slid slowly shut on pneumatic hinges, and then Robbie could see no more.
Feeling a strange ache deep inside himself, an ache for which there was no real name, he shifted from park to reverse and worked his way out of the parking spot. When that was done, he shifted again, this time into drive, and went in search of the Taco Bell he had seen earlier.
Upon finding the restaurant, he went inside and ordered probably way too much food, even for two wolf men. Definitely too much food, he decided as he was carrying the assorted bags and boxes back out to his van. He had grabbed a sandwich from the deli at the same store as he bought his groceries for dinner, so he was nowhere near hungry enough to go popping burritos like they were jelly beans.
Still, if it would entice Ulysses, he supposed he could find it in himself to work at a wrap or something during the drive.
Only about 20 minutes had passed during the process of driving to the Taco Bell and placing his order. He had to hand it to the workers. They had taken his huge request in stride and started producing faux-Mexican fast food as if they were machines on an assembly line. The bad thing was, their speedy, practiced nature meant he might be getting back way too early for Ulysses to have done everything he needed to do.
I guess he’ll never know what time I got back if I just park out in the lot and wait for him.
Or, Ulysses might see him through the windows. Robbie’s van windows were not tinted. He liked to be visible from the outside, so that when he waved at friends and unfamiliar faces alike, they would see him and know him, or at least be able to tell that he was going to let them cross the street without running them down.
And the shop windows were tinted. Robbie couldn’t see in, but Ulysses could certainly see out. He might be annoyed or feel pressured to finish up his conversation sooner.
After a few moments of deliberation, while the savory scents of beans and cheese and fried tortillas started to fill the interior of his van, Robbie shrugged and pulled onto the street to drive back to the shop. There was really nothing that could be done for it. He had nowhere else to go, no quick errands to run. It would probably be the lesser evil if he had to wait on Ulysses, instead of making Ulysses wait on him.
As he pulled back into the parking lot of Wheeler’s Repairs, he saw that all of his concerns had been for naught. Ulysses stood just outside the entrance, talking animatedly to a person who appeared to be a customer, since they wore a suit and had pagers on their belt.
Robbie gently pressed on his brakes, caught up in watching what was happening. He was still fully visible and Ulysses would probably feel him staring, then give him hell about it.
That wasn’t what happened.
The wolf standing there, though he wore Ulysses’ skin, was not the Ulysses that Robbie knew so well. His proud, arrogant features had smoothed out, and even from where Robbie sat, he could tell his eyes were bright with interest. He was making many gestures with his hands as he spoke, which was not something Robbie had ever known him to do. Ulysses spoke with his entire body, and the message he was usually trying to convey was intimidation or dominance.
Not right now. Now, he was cranking something, then miming lifting something else. The rest of his posture was easy and relaxed, as if he was holding this conversation with a person he knew very well and was comfortable around.
That didn’t seem to be the case, not as far as Robbie could tell. The businessman in the suit wore a rapt and attentive expression, and he was nodding continuously, occasionally repeating something back to Ulysses with the same hand motions. He looked like a student, standing in awe of a master.
Suddenly, the magic of the moment ended. The businessman’s mouth moved, and Robbie read his lips.
“Thank you so much!”
Ulysses nodded curtly in response, then turned away. His gaze slashed across the parking lot, honing in easily on Robbie’s van.
Robbie waved, as if he wasn’t experiencing a very sharp and specific form of mental vertigo, and eased off the gas so he could drive right over to the curb where Ulysses stood.
During all of this, the businessman wavered, like he had forgotten what he was doing, before turning around and heading off in the direction of his car in the parking lot. For some reason, Robbie had the impression that the guy had been about to go inside the shop when Ulysses turned him away. What was that all about?
Feeling more curious than he ever had in his entire life, an intrigue so intense it was practically a thirst, Robbie parked and then popped the lock so Ulysses could get inside.
The alpha seemed to have no trouble getting inside this time, having puzzled out the best method to do so. The only complaint he made was when he reached to bring his seatbelt around his chest, bending his wrist backward to do so. Waving his hands around while he talked might seem like it had been a bad idea.
“It smells like food in here,” Ulysses commented. Though naturally low and gruff, his voice lacked the rough edge Robbie had come to know so well throughout their time together.
“I’m pretty sure it’s now going to be a permanent feature of the van.” Robbie tightened his fingers on the wheel as he drove, trying to rein in his desire for knowledge. He just couldn’t figure it out. There was something about Ulysses’ animated talking with the businessman, reminding him of something, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.
Ulysses didn’t reply. He reached down into the leg space underneath the dashboard and brought up one of the bags, the bottom of which was practically dripping with grease. As someone who often got covered with grease—of a different nature, but grease all the same—and oil, he didn’t even seem to notice when some of the liquid stained his jeans. He dug in, brought out two enormous burritos and handed one off to Robbie.
Robbie accepted the gift, then set it down on his thigh to unwrap it with one hand. He didn’t like to take his hands off the wheel while he was driving as a rule, but it seemed like a necessity right now if he was going to act normal.
He supposed the food was good, although he couldn’t really taste muc
h of anything. His mind was too distant right now, too caught up in other things to care about the flavors.
He bit his tongue, bit his lip, held the steering wheel even tighter with his remaining hand. None of it made a difference. The curiosity inside him continued to grow, words rising up the back of his throat. His mind felt parched and achy. If he didn’t talk soon, he was going to go crazy from the silence.
“Holy shit.”
Robbie jumped, relaxing his grip on the wheel at the same time so he didn’t send them jerking around. “What?” he demanded, more eagerly than he meant to.
Ulysses snorted and shook his head, staring at him. He could feel that bright gaze boring into him, seeing right through him. “You’re acting like you’re about to explode, Robbie. If you have something to say, then say it.”
He couldn’t help it. He blushed. Searching for words, he took a tiny bite of his burrito and chewed thoroughly, reducing the tortilla and beans to a gummy paste before finally swallowing. Even after that, he still had no idea what he was going to say.
When in doubt, tell the truth.
“I didn’t want to bother you by talking too much.”
Ulysses shrugged. “It’s okay. I know you like to talk. It’s nice sometimes to just sit back and listen to you.”
Robbie blinked. “Really?”
“Yeah, I guess so. It’s funny. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter what you’re saying. I just like to hear it. It’s like background noise when you fall asleep. Ocean waves. Not that I listen to that wimpy shit.”
Ulysses was saying, in his own way, he found listening to Robbie to be soothing. Calming.
His heart rose, his soul lifting in a moment of pure and unbridled joy. This might just be the nicest thing Ulysses had ever said to him. “Okay, then! I was just wondering, is all. Who was that guy you were talking to? A friend?”
“Don’t know him from any other random guy on the street,” Ulysses grunted. He took an enormous bite of his food and swallowed almost without chewing. His appetite was clearly returning. “He wanted to know if I was an employee and could I answer a question.”
Taming The Alpha: A Wolf Shifter Mpreg Romance (Savage Love Book 3) Page 6
