Wild Ride: An M/M Shifter Mpreg Romance Bundle

by Preston Walker

  Machinery beeped softly in various parts of the room, tracking heartbeat and blood pressure and all sorts of other important things that Mickey didn’t quite understand. Houston was hooked up to every single one of those machines, wires crisscrossing his body on top and beneath the thick patches of bandage. An IV drip fed into the back of his hand, and that was the part Mickey disliked the most. He wondered if you could feel the liquid entering you, mingling with blood in your veins. Would it be warm or cold as it traveled the circuit of his body?

  A light shudder ran down his spine. Reluctantly, he tore his eyes away and looked at Houston’s face again. The alpha might have just been sleeping, his mouth slack and his breathing easy. He looked almost innocent.

  Then, Houston’s eyebrows furrowed together.

  Mickey sat up straighter, holding his breath. Something inside him gave a tentative stir, and he held one hand against his chest. The alpha’s eyelids flickered now, and his lips moved.

  Then, Houston turned his head and opened his eyes to look right at Mickey. The whites were bloodshot, and the vibrant gray turned faded and weary, but there was a smile in those eyes all the same. “You look like I’m going to die or something.”

  Mickey tried to smile in return, but he couldn’t stop his own wince. Houston’s smile disappeared entirely. “Someone died?” The police officer sighed. “Of course someone died. I saw in the kitchen...”

  “That wasn’t it,” Mickey said. His heart could not have sank any lower than it was right now. He could feel Houston’s soul nudging at his, asking for permission, but he didn’t know how to let the other in. He didn’t even know if that was something he wanted to do.

  “So, why don’t you go ahead and tell me what it was, then?” Houston prompted. He started to sit up, the beginning of what looked like a very laborious and painful process.

  “I didn’t know the restaurant was owned by shifters,” Mickey muttered. His cheeks colored as heat rose to them. “I also didn’t think a three-star restaurant was going to have people living in the back of it. I thought that’s how it was with little mom-and-pop shops but I guess it makes sense. Rent in NYC is crazy high, which is one of the reasons why...”

  He was babbling. He knew it, but couldn’t stop. The words kept coming even while he was fully aware that they needed to stop.

  “Mickey,” Houston murmured, fully sitting up now. He leaned over, groaning, and laid his hand on Mickey’s thigh.

  The omega gave another shudder, feeling slow heat ignite where he was touched. His blush deepened, cheeks going from pink to full, blazing red. This wasn’t how it should have been. Houston was the one who had gotten hurt. Mickey should have been comforting him, not the other way around.

  “Sorry,” he grunted, clearing his throat. “Uh. Anyway. There was someone in the kitchen and I walked right into them.” That sounded incredibly unbelievable but he sure as hell wasn’t going to say that he’d been so caught up in thinking about Houston that he forgot to pay attention to what he was doing. “They caught me and alerted everyone else and called the cops. And then I don’t really know what happened. Someone screwed up. A gun went off. Something happened. I just don’t know what, exactly. Someone got something mixed up, or did something wrong.”

  “If everyone is truthful, it’ll be in the police reports of the incident,” Houston murmured softly, sounding as though he was trying not to interrupt for once.

  Mickey shrugged. “I guess so. But, someone’s gun went off and then... a jaguar went down. It was a female. It went right through her neck. And then the others just lost it! I tried to escape but that big black one caught me and shoved me in the freezer. And that’s where I was until you showed up.”

  Even just recounting the experience had him feeling anxious. He looked around the small hospital room, breathless and half-expecting to see a jaguar lurking in the shadows beneath the bed or something.

  Houston’s fingers around his knee tightened slightly, reassuringly. “What happened after I showed up?” he asked, encouragingly.

  Mickey shrugged a little. “You and the black jaguar talked, and then he said something about there being shifters blocking your exit. And there were. A lot of them. But I guess the police must have come in behind them because suddenly there were a whole lot of gunshots. And the jaguar leaped on you and started tearing you all up.” Pain choked his throat. The sight of Houston disappearing under the black beast’s impossible mass made him tremble with fear. He didn’t know if he was more scared then when it was happening, or now when he was recounting it. “And then I don’t know what happened. Suddenly, all the jaguars just ran away and there were ambulance people surrounding you.”

  Houston nodded, looking down at the IV in the back of his hand. Mickey glanced anxiously at the door, wondering how much time was left for them to talk like this before a nurse came back in to interrupt them.

  “And how are you holding up?” the alpha murmured. “To be caught up in the middle of that.”

  Mickey shrugged, but he couldn’t meet Houston’s gaze. If he did, he didn’t know what would happen. “I didn’t mean for any of it to happen,” he whispered. “I just wanted to grab a few things to feed my pack and then leave again. I didn’t mean for anyone to die.”

  The hand on his knee slid up to his thigh and patted him softly. “Mickey, have you actually tried to be part of the system? I know it has its faults but it might be able to help you out at least a little so you don’t have to do this all the time.” Mickey tensed up, and Houston immediately removed his hand and then held them both up in the air. “I’m just asking. I can’t learn if I don’t ask.”

  The omega sighed a little. “We’ve got people in the pack where their whole job is to go to soup kitchens and bring back what they can, or to pick up supplies from food banks. The thing is, stuff like that isn’t guaranteed. There are a lot of homeless who all do the same thing. And it doesn’t matter how many soup kitchens there are, or how many churches are having free luncheons, or how open the homeless shelters are, there’s never going to be enough. It’s all based on luck. The food is going to run out. The shelters are going to fill up. Someone’s always going to be left out. It’s not a guarantee.”

  “I see,” Houston mused. Something seemed to occur to him and he looked around a little. “All that happened but the police still let you go?”

  He had to laugh at that. “Um, no. I escaped. They have no idea where I am. Hell, the hospital doesn’t even know I’m in your room right now.”

  Houston snorted and shook his head. “I can’t believe you. Actually, I can. I can definitely believe you, and I think you’re going to end up making me lose my job.”

  “So cut all ties with me,” Mickey said, almost pleading.

  “I don’t think so.”

  Mickey tossed his hands up into the air. “So, then lose your job! Become one of us!”

  He was about to say more when there came a soft voice from just beyond the door. A feminine voice called through. “Houston? Are you awake? Don’t move, I’m coming in!”

  There was no time to waste.

  Mickey had been preparing for this moment since he first entered the hospital room. He supposed he was fortunate that Houston’s case wasn’t severe or he never would have gotten the opportunity to come inside at all. Still, it never hurt to have a backup plan in case of something like this.

  Dropping out of his chair onto the floor, he shapeshifted into his slender wolf form and pressed as far under the bed as he could. His pelt was a mottle of colors, blended shades of white and black that added to his natural stealth. It had served him well before on many occasions, and he just had to hope that he would still find it useful now.

  He had just pulled his hind paws under the bed when the door to the room opened and the nurse walked inside. She hurried briskly over to Houston’s side, moving around to the far edge where the machines were slowly beeping. “How are you feeling there, Houston?” she asked, her voice as soft as flower petals.

>   Mickey fought to keep his pelt from prickling with jealousy. As an omega, he should have been that soft and desirable.

  Houston murmured something in response, and the nurse gave a soft little laugh. “That’s good to hear. So, now I’m just going to go over a few things here with you and I need you to tell me how much it hurts, or what you feel, okay?”

  “Okay,” Houston said, in a somewhat clearer voice.

  “I’ll just need to lower the bed...”

  Shit!

  “No!” Houston snapped.

  There was a sharp intake of breath as the nurse jumped with surprise at his tone. He immediately softened it. Mickey strained to hear properly through the pounding in his ears. “Sorry. It’s just... I’m not sure how that would feel yet, you know? Can we go through the stuff first?”

  The nurse agreed, and Mickey let out a soft groan.

  “What was that?” the nurse asked. “Was that you?”

  “I didn’t hear anything.” Houston had put on a dumb voice that Mickey didn’t think sounded very convincing, but the nurse didn’t do anything other than let out a small hum in response.

  For the next ten minutes, they ran through whatever tests or exercises she had to determine whatever it was that she wanted to know about how Houston felt. Mickey didn’t really pay much attention to it. All of his focus was taken up by the need to remain cramped in this awkward position when everything in his body demanded he stop this nonsense and get out immediately. His legs ached and his spine was twinging so hard that soon it might become spasms. He struggled to keep his breathing calm, to swallow the growls forming in his chest.

  Finally, the nurse took a step back away from the bed. “Okay,” she said, cheerfully. “That’s all from me. The doctor is going to be in to see you shortly. Depending on what he says, we’ll either keep you overnight or release you after a few hours. It seems like you’re through the worst of it, though! Good job!”

  “Thanks,” Houston said. It sounded as though he was smiling. Beaming, in fact. “Can you tell me at what point I can get someone in here to visit me?”

  “Such as?”

  “Um... co-workers. Or the Chief. I’m a police officer, you know.”

  “Oh, I know.”

  That tone of voice was definitely flirtatious. Mickey couldn’t stifle his growl that time. Luckily, no one seemed to hear him.

  “Well, we’ll see what the doctor says. If he approves, I’ll send along the first person I see to come see you right away.”

  The moment the door shut again, Mickey rolled out from under the bed and let out a pained yelp. Shifting back into a human, he stretched and listened to his back pop like crazy. “Dammit,” he growled.

  A soft chuckle came from behind him. He spun around, a snarl on his lips as he faced a laughing Houston. He demanded, “What’s so funny?”

  Houston flashed a grin. “When you stretch like that, your ass pokes out.”

  Mickey turned his head away, blushing hard. “Shut up.”

  “I can’t. It’s a really nice ass.”

  He couldn’t decide whether to be flattered or not. Being ogled wasn’t his idea of a good time, especially not after all that just happened. On the other hand, it felt good to be appreciated for himself for once. All the others in his life were far more concerned with what he brought, or what he had to offer; understandable, but this was still a nice change.

  Mickey sat down in his chair again, keeping half of his focus on the door so that he would have more time to get into a better position next time someone came in. “I’m sorry I caused all this trouble,” he said. And that was the last time he was going to apologize, he knew. A person had to move on pretty quickly in this life in order to survive.

  Houston just shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know what was going to happen. And it’s not your job to worry about what happens either.” He smirked. “It should be, because you’re a criminal and I personally know a lot of people who would love to pin all their troubles on you. It’d save us a lot of paperwork. But, you’re... uh...” He cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t know if you’d agree with me or not but I think considering what’s between us, it’s kind of my job to worry about what happens, isn’t it?”

  It wasn’t really a question, but Mickey answered anyway. He wasn’t going to give up that easily. “You don’t just get to try and barge into my life like this, you know. You don’t get to think I’m your mate and then insist on dominating everything I do. I’m not doing to stand for that.”

  “Hold it.” Houston reached out with one hand. Mickey stared at it. “Come on, please? Just give me your hand, okay?”

  “Why?” The hairs on the back of his neck prickled.

  “Because I want you to be able to feel what I’m about to tell you. I don’t want you to just hear it. I want you to feel it.”

  Not really knowing what to expect from this, Mickey reluctantly gave his hand over to the other. His fingers were swallowed up within that warm grasp, heat traveling all the way up his arm and back down again.

  And Houston looked up into his eyes and said very slowly, “I don’t want to barge into anything. I won’t try to dominate you, unless you want it.” A flash of mischief flickered in his gaze. “I do just want to try to help out you and your pack. I’m authority. Maybe I can get something done.”

  Mickey snorted and shook his head, but he didn’t pull his hand away. “That’s like putting a bandage on a bullet wound, Houston. You might stop the bleeding but it doesn’t fix all the ruined tissue and shattered bones. You’re treating the aftermath, not the cause.”

  Houston nodded reluctantly. “I know. But you have to start somewhere, right? Besides—don’t get mad—your pack is full of weak people who don’t know how to defend themselves. You were the cause of some pretty bad things for those cats. Don’t you think they might come seeking revenge on you?”

  “And an injured alpha is going to make a difference in that?”

  Houston shrugged. “What do you have to lose?”

  Everyone’s respect, he thought. But, at the same time, he was very aware of the fact that he had already just been convinced. Houston was right. The cats might come for them, and who knew what was going to happen to them after that? And it would be good to have someone relatively able-bodied around. Another pair of hands never hurt.

  He didn’t admit out loud, or even to himself, that he also really did just want Houston around.

  “Okay,” he agreed. “But the moment you try anything funny, you’re out in the sewers with the rats. They’ll eat you alive.”

  “No, they won’t,” Houston replied, calmly. “They’re so used to people down there that one let me pet it when I was walking back.”

  Damn. If threats don’t work, I’m going to end up having to talk to him like a normal person.

  Chapter Eight

  “Good to see you, Chief,” Houston said, looking up at the woman who walked into his hospital room. She looked ragged and worse for wear herself, with bulky padding of her own wrapped around her shoulder beneath her uniform.

  “And good to see you, Houston,” she said, walking over to the chair at his bedside and plopping down into it. Her half-smile became a frown. “This is warm. Who got in here before me? They said I was your first.”

  “I’m pretty sure my first was some biker dude in a bar back when I was seventeen,” Houston said, drily.

  Elmers rolled her eyes. “Don’t play coy with me. Who was in here?”

  “A friend,” he replied. “Definitely not my first but probably the last. I hope.”

  “Ah.” Understanding lit up in her eyes. “That kind of friend. I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

  He had to laugh at that. “It’s a very recent thing.”

  So recent it hasn’t even happened yet.

  “Well, good for you then.” Her expression changed to one of business, and Houston followed suit. “I’m telling you, this one is going to be a real shitstorm. We have a lot o
f casualties, a lot of reports to write, a ton of things to cover up, and no convenient answers for any of it.”

  “I did the best I could, Chief.”

  “And without you I would be dead. I’m not exactly complaining. Actually, I think a lot more of us would be dead if not for you.” She sighed. “I just wish that had gone easier. But, I’m not really here to bother you with that right now.”

  “No?” He raised one eyebrow. “Just here to keep me company, then?”

  Chief Elmers didn’t exactly smile. “Not quite. I’m here to tell you that, for the time being, you’re going to have to go on leave.”

  Houston shoved himself up to a better sitting position and stared at her, aghast. “What?”

  “Calm down,” she growled. “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t have to, but we have to maintain our cover. That means you have to maintain yours. As far as the general public knows, you’re just a regular police officer. What do you think the rest of the department is going to think if you show up tomorrow and act like nothing is wrong when half of us saw you get mauled, and the other half was told every grisly detail?”

  Houston scowled and folded his arms, very aware that he was pouting. He couldn’t help himself though. It wasn’t his fault that shapeshifters had the ability to heal much faster than humans.

  An idea suddenly occurred to him, however. During his break, he could devote every moment he had to Mickey. This was actually the perfect opportunity.

  “Fine,” he agreed. “I’ll do it.”

  Chief Elmers looked relieved, but her hazel gaze also curdled with suspicion. “You agreed to that a bit too easily. And lucky you. It’s like getting extra vacation time. You going to spend all of it in bed with your boy toy?”

  “We actually haven’t gotten that far yet.”

  She laughed and shook her head, ponytail at the back of her neck bouncing. “A guy like you? Things won’t stay that way for very long. So, I expect to see you back to work the Monday after next.”

  Seeing as how today was a Friday, that gave him about a week-and-a-half off. “You’ll see me,” he promised.