“Why don’t you just start at the start?” Bo whispered after a moment, speaking to his mate’s shoulder.
Ryker sighed softly. “But I hardly know where the start is anymore, Bo. Everything is so jumbled and confusing.”
“Then let me help.”
“How can an omega help an alpha?”
Bo was starting to get angry. “You still don’t have it through your thick skull? We’re equal. Alpha and omega. We complement each other. You get to have all the muscles, and I get to be the poor sap who figures out your feelings for you.”
A ghost of a smile played on the alpha’s thin lips. “At least I can agree with you on that.”
Bo sensed that Ryker was about to shut down on him again, so he pressed further. “Tell me about what happened before I saw you the first time.”
Ryker sighed again, but then he finally gave in. “I am the leader of my pack. We’re a motorcycle gang. You might say we dish out vigilante justice, but honestly it’s nothing as exciting as that. I just can’t stand by and watch while other people abuse the power they have over someone.”
Bo was skeptical, he couldn’t really find any reason in particular to deny that it was true. After all, Ryker had never abused him or overpowered him.
“I made us our home in that factory. It was perfect—everything you could ever ask for. I thought everything was good. I’m not sure when it started to happen, but the wolves started to look at me sideways, or refused to follow out orders. It was the younger ones at first. I thought they were just exercising their rebellion. I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop them.”
Ryker himself had been rebellious. No doubt he wouldn’t deny someone the chance to do the same.
“But then it was some of the older ones, too. And instead of listening to me, they started listening to this other wolf. He calls himself Jeriko. I don’t know if that’s his real name or not. But he was lying about me, saying terrible things when he thought I couldn’t hear. He told the omegas that I had been a pup-killer in the past. He told the alphas that I was going to steal their mates. Everything I did, I heard warped whispers fall from the mouths of his stupid followers.”
Bo shook his head and cuddled closer to Ryker’s side. “I don’t understand why you would keep a wolf like that in your pack, Ryker.”
Ryker grunted. The sound was bitter. “Because it’s a pack. That’s how packs work. Each generation is stronger than the last. It’s inevitable that someday there would be an alpha who would rise up and beat me, and take my place. I’d had some challenges. Every leader does. No one won.”
“But Jeriko did?”
“No!” Ryker’s whole body stiffened with anger. “Jeriko was hardly even an alpha. He couldn’t have beat a fly in an arm-wrestling competition. He was weak and that’s why I wasn’t worried. Until I came back to the shelter the day I met you. I can’t even remember now where I’d gone. It was that unimportant. But Jeriko and most of the others from the pack were there.
“Jeriko said he was changing the rules, that only the strong were going to survive. He said he would bring the pack members closer together than ever. And I guess that’s what he did, when they chased me out of there.”
“And your bike?” Bo asked quietly. “You didn’t just crash.”
“No,” Ryker agreed, sounding as if his soul was too heavy to carry. “When I was being confronted by Jeriko, he had some others tamper with it. I crashed when it gave out.”
“And that’s how we met,” Bo concluded, putting an end to that section of the tale. But there was more. “I know that you didn’t just spend this whole past month doing nothing.”
“That’s not very far from the truth,” Ryker replied.
Bo listened in silence as the alpha told him everything else. Nothing was left out. He paid attention to every excruciating detail, feeling their weight and emotional heft as Ryker handed them over.
When it was done, both alpha and omega were quiet as they looked around the darkened room. Even though the sun hadn’t set yet, the lack of lights and the drawn curtains gave the appearance of night.
Finally, Bo lifted up his head and softly pressed a kiss to his alpha’s cheek. He couldn’t even imagine going through all that, especially alone. Except, he felt the raw aching of it all pouring from Ryker.
“I didn’t even know her that well,” Ryker murmured. “I really didn’t know her at all. But she didn’t deserve to die. She was a good woman. And the pups...Bo, what kind of sick bastard kills children?”
“It takes a special kind,” Bo sighed, remembering fragments of ambulance calls that he would rather forget. He had long since shoved away that pain because it was a necessary part of the job, but this was Ryker’s life. “I wish you’d confided in me sooner.”
“I didn’t want to risk getting you hurt.” Ryker placed his hands over his face. But in the process, I got people killed.”
Bo sat up and shook the alpha’s shoulder. His thoughts were burning. “No! You can’t think like that! You did what you thought was best. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen, so you can’t blame yourself. But now you know that you have to tell me things. We’re mates. No more secrets, dammit,”
There was a long pause, and then Ryker nodded. “No more secrets,” he agreed.
“Good!” And now Bo climbed to his feet, pulling Ryker’s hand. The other’s skin was rough and callused against his. “So, come on. Let’s go.”
“Go where?” Ryker said dully. “There’s nowhere to go and nothing to do. I guess we can just start the rest of our lives now.”
“No!” Bo snarled. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up with an aggression deeper than anything he had ever felt before. “No—it’s time to fight, Ryker. A whole bunch of wolves don’t just disappear into thin air. They had to go somewhere, and that means they can be tracked! I’ll be right there with you and you’ll challenge Jeriko to a fight. And this time, you’re going to win!”
Something flickered in Ryker’s eyes, some dull bit of life that seemed almost hopeful. But then he shook his head, sagging beneath the weight of what he had seen. “Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”
And Bo knew what he had to do.
He lifted up his head and took in a deep breath. “Okay. If you don’t think we’ll win like that, then I have another way.”
“And what’s that?”
Bo sensed that hopefulness inside Ryker again, that struggling beam of light trying its hardest to pierce through a veil of cloud. The omega took a deep breath and tried his hardest to press his wolf soul against the alpha’s, to lend him strength and confidence until he could find his own again. “My pack. We take my pack against yours.”
“That has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” Ryker exclaimed, his eyes flying wide open. He leapt out of the bed to face down Bo, pressing his body intimidatingly over the omega’s. Bo didn’t care, though. All he felt was warmth and strength in the alpha’s body. “My pack are bikers in the prime of their life who have all seen their fair share of violence. And Jeriko is ruthless. And what of your pack? Family units and elders? Led by a gentle council who favor their children?”
“Right,” Bo said. When Ryker put it like that, his idea suddenly didn’t sound so great anymore. However, he pressed on. “But listen. That means a lot of people who are still going to be in the prime of their lives, too! And I don’t doubt that Jeriko is running your wolves ragged. Our lives are peaceful. We just might be stronger.”
“And what makes you think that they would be willing to put their lives at risk for a stranger like me?” Ryker growled. “I’m nothing to them.”
“Are you kidding?” Bo said, widening his eyes. “A murderous wolf in the area, and the other largest pack in the area is just going to stand idly by while bad things happen?”
Ryker seemed to ponder that for a very long time. Then, his eyes glowed with a sudden flash, and he looked up. “I don’t think any pack would stand for that, would they?” he growled
.
“They wouldn’t,” Bo replied firmly.
“Well, I guess it was about time for me to meet your family,” Ryker said, his voice softening now. Despite the softness, Bo could feel his conviction and let out a small whimper of delight.
My Ryker is back.
“And you know that no matter what, I’m going to help you,” Bo said. He slid his hand into Ryker’s, looking up into the alpha’s eyes. “I’ll stand at your side, right where a mate belongs.”
And Ryker leaned his head down and kissed him. It was a far cry from the awkwardness of earlier that day. This time, their mouths settled together firmly and their tongues danced sweetly between them.
Bo pulled away first, tugging on Ryker’s hand. “Let’s get going,” he said.
“Yes,” Ryker agreed, and they headed out into the hallway together. Their hips brushed as they descended the stairs, and Bo was almost amazed to discover that he actually felt the first stirrings of desire kindling deep in his stomach. His dick felt half-hard, and he could have easily stopped and let Ryker take him if the alpha had wanted it. And judging from the hand that settled onto his ass and squeezed firmly, Ryker wanted it.
A shudder ran through his body and he pulled in a deep, ragged breath. “Is it weird to be turned on right now?”
“No,” Ryker rumbled softly. “It’s the adrenaline. You might want to calm down before we meet your parents, though.”
Bo giggled from embarrassment and wiggled his ass against the alpha’s hand. “How do you suggest I calm down?” he breathed, tense from anticipation.
They reached the bottom of the stairs together, and Ryker reached out to push open the door that led out to the parking lot. Then suddenly, he was gone. Bo looked down just in time to see a black tail slide through the gap in the door a mere moment before it shut.
Transforming to a wolf himself, Bo nudged his snout in the gap that formed when the door bounced back away from the frame. Shoving his body through, he turned his head around and caught a glimpse of Ryker poking his head out from between two parked cars. His golden eyes twinkled, and he wagged his tail in the air above his head.
A race, huh? Fine, then. Big old puppy thinks he can run faster than an omega?
Bo narrowed his eyes and tucked his head down, letting out a low growl of challenge. Ryker’s jaws parted in a short bark. Bo yipped in return and then turned his snout in the direction of home.
So long since he had been home. Even just looking in the right direction made his paws tingle from anticipation. He couldn’t even imagine what it was going to be like to introduce the alpha to his well-mannered little family pack. Would they even be accepting of him?
They had to. Everything was depending on it.
The two wolves raced away across the city streets, no longer bothering to hide themselves from the onlookers. Some of them squealed at the sight of dogs, as humans tended to do when they saw animals they considered adorable. That put an extra prance in Bo’s step when he heard it, making Ryker shake his head and snort at him. Others let out yelps of alarm when they saw the two coming, shoving out of their way as they bounded on across the sidewalk. Their pelts brushed as they ran, their tails wagging and crashing together. Bo kept easily outpacing the enormous alpha at his side, but he pulled his pace to stay at his side.
Everything was as it should have been. They were heading off to face the world together, side by side, forever.
Chapter 11
Normally, Ryker avoided this side of town like the plague. It was too upscale for his tastes, too classy. The houses were too similar to one other, always painted in adorably neutral colors that complemented the houses on either side of it but without standing out. All the lawns were neatly maintained. The cars were all highly similar to each other, with no particular flaws or outstanding marks to separate them. The same went for the people as well. They all smiled too wide, but the expression never met their eyes. It was always perfect families, a prim and proper mother, a professional father who always wore suits to work, and an acceptable two or three children each.
No, Ryker didn’t belong here. He needed personality and flaws, wear and tear to give something a past and history.
He normally skirted this area—if he had to be here at all—but he had Bo at his side now. He couldn’t back down, no matter what sort of strange challenges came his way. And this might prove to be one of the biggest challenges he had faced yet.
Bo slowed their pace even further, which was a relief for Ryker. He was fast and steady but he was no match for an omega, which meant he had been huffing and puffing hard for a long time. The ruff of fur on the back of his neck stood on end as he realized that the reason for Bo’s slowed pace was that they were probably nearing his home.
They took yet another turn and Ryker froze in his steps. His ruff extended all the way down his spine now, and he flattened his ears against his skill.
They were facing the entrance to an area of housing of which the technical name avoided Ryker’s memory. It was one of those areas surrounded by a fence of planted trees and might as well have been gated. The sign near the main entrance road proclaimed Glenwood Acres.
Great. A fancier place with an even fancier name. I really, really do not belong here one bit.
Bo wagged his tail harder than ever before, tossing his head back over his shoulder to gesture with his snout at Ryker. Ryker didn’t move for a moment, and just gazed into the endless blue eyes of the omega. After a moment, Bo trotted back to him and they touched noses.
Ryker gazed into Bo’s eyes and the two rested their heads together. Really leaning against the omega would have knocked them over, but Ryker relaxed against him as much as he could anyway. For all his slightness, Bo was a powerful wolf with strength running through his veins. Bo knew what he was doing. Bo always knew what he was doing.
As long as I’m with you, I don’t think I’ll lose my direction again.
Bo gave a wolfish smile and then turned back to start on through the entrance to Glenwood Acres. Ryker gave him as much of a smile as he could manage but he let it fade when the omega wasn’t looking at him. He moved on as well, crossing past the sign and into the neighborhood. Immediately, the scents of backyard barbeque reached his nose. He also smelled the scent of sweat exuding from the adults who were sitting out around the barbeque grills, the end to a hard day’s work.
They stayed in their wolf forms, walking along calmly now. A few people saw them and lifted their hands as the wolves passed by. That was interesting. This neighborhood was probably under protection from Bo’s pack, which meant at least this part of Seattle was shifter-friendly.
Ryker glanced around him as they walked, taking twists and turns, but no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn’t find any landmarks around to keep track of where he was. Bo kept walking on, tongue lolling happily out of his mouth. He knew exactly where he was going.
Then, a gigantic ten-foot-tall fence loomed up in front of them. Half red brick and half black wrought iron, the fence wrapped entirely around a large estate ground. A long, winding driveway led beyond the gate, across a length of beautiful lawn strewn with tall trees, flowers and hedges throughout the pristine landscaping. At the end of the driveway was a separated garage building large enough for four vehicles, with yet a fifth and sixth parked out front. And then there was the house.
It was not a house. It was a mansion. It was the size of an apartment building in and of itself, perhaps even two.
“Ryker?”
Snapping out of his awe, Ryker pulled his gaze back to look up at Bo. The omega was a human again, waiting patiently to be noticed. Actually, he looked anything but patient. His whole body wiggled like a tail, his feet pattering on the path.
“I’m here,” Ryker grunted as he transformed. His shoulders were hunched up around his neck and he couldn’t seem to force them to relax again. “It must feel good for you, doesn’t it? To come back home?”
“It does!” Bo agreed. He scampered over to the ga
te and reached into his pocket to pull out a key, unlocking the padlock and then holding one of the enormous gate-halves open. “After you.”
Ryker shook his head and took the door from Bo, pushing the omega inside with a firm hand on his ass. “No. After you. Omegas first.”
“The puppy thinks he’s an alpha or something,” Bo teased.
Ryker shut the gate behind them and then jogged slightly to catch up with his mate. They walked up the length of the long driveway together, nothing else passing between them for the whole time it took. He tried to admire the scenery, and appreciate the vibrant colors of all the flowers and the strategic placement of it all that still left wide, unbroken swathes of emerald grass that seemed to be thriving despite Seattle’s constant cloudy days. It was hard, though. Hard, because he had to deal with his own thoughts, and even harder because Bo’s excitement was almost enough to send both of them bursting out of their skins with how thoroughly it was shared between them.
Bo started to pick up speed when they were halfway, until he was practically running. This time, he didn’t pull his pace, and neither did Ryker hurry to catch up. It was best this way, for the pack to first greet the one they knew.
Just as Bo’s light feet bounced up the steps of the wraparound porch, the front door opened wide and a middle-aged man lurched out.
Ryker’s eyes widened. The man looked like an aged Bo, with a light gait and a slender body. He had more of a beard, putting Bo’s scruff to shame, but his eyes were the same vivid shade of Blue and his hair was the same texture.
The man called out, “Bo! You’ve come home!” His voice was a deeper echo of his son’s.
Ryker stiffened at having someone else touching his mate when father and son embraced each other deeply, but he knew it shouldn’t bother him. They were family after all. It was just that he had gotten so used to being the only one with Bo, the only person touching him. The only person the omega would smile at. Yet there he was now, with his face pressed to his father’s neck.
Wild Ride: An M/M Shifter Mpreg Romance Bundle Page 12