Taming The Alpha: A Wolf Shifter Mpreg Romance (Savage Love Book 3)

by Preston Walker

  Then, all his doubts were knocked out of his mind as he reached the waiting room at the front of the police station. There was a single row of chairs against the wall, and a single person sitting in the chairs.

  Robbie.

  Ulysses stopped in his tracks, trying to make sense of this development. Why the hell was Robbie here? Any reason the omega might have had to come in search of him wouldn’t have led him to the police station. No one even knew he was here except for the cops.

  For the briefest moment, he was angry. Why should he always be rescued by this wolf? Why couldn’t Robbie mind his own damn business? This was one of the reasons they had broken up in the first place.

  And then Robbie stood up and cried out, “Lee!” and Ulysses forgot everything he had been mad about as the omega rushed into his arms, held him around the neck, and squeezed tight. The pressure delivered by Robbie was of a kind that made him feel like a sponge, like he was having all the dark things compressed out of him so he could soak up the better feelings coming his way.

  Ulysses lifted his arms, gripped Robbie tightly around the waist and pulled their bodies flush together. “What are you doing here?” he asked, and was glad that his voice didn’t show any of his former emotions. In fact, all he sounded was tired. And god, was he tired. He felt like he had after all his injuries sustained in the crash were healed, but he hadn’t regained his former strength and stamina, like it was the walk through the station that had done him in. His legs were even wobbling.

  Robbie lifted his head from his shoulder, but all he did was press a kiss to Ulysses’ cheek, and then his lips. His beautiful auburn hair seemed bleached out under these fluorescent lights, and his eyes were hazy with worry.

  Robbie spoke with their lips still pressed together, his breath warm and sweet. “I had something to tell you. I tried to go to the shop to find you, but no one was even there.”

  Officer Jones had been standing politely off to the side this entire time, acting like he wasn’t being witness to a private reunion. At this news, he straightened up. His eyes narrowed and he reached for his pocket, yanking out a cell phone with a severely cracked screen. “What did you just say?”

  Turning to face the cop for the first time, Robbie opened his mouth. Then, he shut it. Ever the model citizen, he seemed to be reconstructing his response so it would be befitting of his lesser stature. “Sir, I said Wheeler’s Repairs is empty.”

  “What do you mean, empty?”

  “I mean, the lights are on and the doors are unlocked, but no one’s there.”

  The cop opened his mouth as if to ask another question, then seemed to think better of it. Shaking his head, he lifted his phone to his ear and marched back the way he had come, disappearing down the hallway and leaving the two of them alone. Well, mostly alone. There was a cop at the front desk and even though he acted like he was idly browsing a magazine, his posture gave him away. He was listening very, very intently.

  A light touch of lips, so orgasmically soft, brought Ulysses’ attention back to the omega wolf wrapped around him. “Lee, what’s going on?”

  Ulysses sighed. He shook his head, then leaned in and hugged Robbie to himself even tighter than before. He didn’t want the cop at the desk to hear him giving out private information, so he brought his lips very close to Robbie’s ear under the pretense of the embrace. “Tell you when we’re outside.”

  Robbie didn’t respond, didn’t nod, didn’t give any sign at all that anything meaningful had passed between them.

  Good, Ulysses thought.

  They headed outside together, to Robbie’s nondescript red van. Looking at it, Ulysses felt a pang of regret. He wished he could talk to that guy who had accosted him, wished he could apologize and maybe give the man a free punch or two. Unwittingly or not, he had caused that man a lot of pain and trouble.

  Once they were in the van, Robbie started it up and pulled out of the parking lot. He drove slowly, ponderously, probably very much annoying the drivers behind him. Luckily, this wasn’t California. No one considered the difference in speed to be a life altering offense, so there were very few honks from anyone inconvenienced.

  Robbie seemed not to mind at all. That seemed somehow stunning to Ulysses, because Robbie always drove exactly the speed limit, obeying all traffic laws both written and implied. There had never been a lapse like this before. Then again, this wasn’t exactly a normal situation.

  Finally, Robbie pulled into the parking lot at the back of a Taco Bell. Morning service had died down and the lunch rush hadn’t yet started up, so there was no one in the drive-through. A few other vehicles were parked around the place, though they seemed to belong to employees.

  Robbie turned off the engine, then turned to face Ulysses. “What’s going on?”

  And Ulysses told him everything he could, restraining the urge to groan because he had already said all these things a dozen times over in the presence of the police. Robbie deserved a fair chance to hear it all.

  At the end of it, all the other man could do was shake his head. “I can’t believe it. That really fucking sucks.”

  Surprised, Ulysses laughed. And then he laughed some more because of the look Robbie gave him. “I don’t think I’ve heard you swear before. Geez, now I really know how much my situation sucks, don’t I?”

  Robbie gave a sheepish grin. “I don’t think I have to tell you all the things that are running through my head. I really want to, but I guess there’s no point in doing that. You’re probably thinking the same things.”

  If the entire shop had emptied out around the time Ulysses was at the police station, it was quite clear that someone knew the roof was about to come down on their heads. Rather than stick around and try to sort things out, everyone had pack up and run.

  How many of them knew what was going on, and how many had just gone home because Wheeler told them to?

  Maybe something else entirely had happened. The thing was that Ulysses didn’t know.

  Suddenly, he just didn’t want to know. He’d had enough with poking his nose into places where it didn’t belong. This was out of his hands and he didn’t want it back.

  “Robbie?”

  “Yes?”

  “How did you find me?”

  Robbie was quiet for a moment, wearing that adorable look he had when he was trying to gather his thoughts. “I don’t know. After I realized no one was there at the shop… I don’t know what I thought. I got scared, thought something might have happened to you and everyone else. A robbery. I was going to call the police, and I was going to try to find some members of either Shadow Claws or Lethal Freedom to get a message to your leader. And then something just came over me. It was like I knew where you were and how to get to you, except I couldn’t put it into words. I just started driving and I took the turns that felt right. Then, before I knew what was happening, I was at the police station.” Robbie suddenly blushed. “I completely forgot about the reason I wanted to talk to the police in the first place. I just wanted to know that you were okay.”

  Feeling warmth in his heart, Ulysses reached over to place his hand on Robbie’s thigh. “What did you want to tell me?”

  But Robbie just shook his head. “It can wait. There’s a better time for it. Right now, I just want to go home.”

  “Home sounds good.”

  “I’ll drop you off.”

  Something inside Ulysses trembled as he made a decision, though the warmth inside him only strengthened. “That’s not where home is.”

  Robbie looked over at him, his sapphire eyes very wide and precious. Then, he smiled. It hung crookedly on his lips because there were tears in his eyes, but the canted angle seemed somehow very handsome. “I suppose I can keep you for the night. But after that, you’re going to the pound.”

  You’ll have fallen in love with me and want to keep me around by then, Ulysses thought.

  He didn’t say it aloud, though he wanted to keep the banter going. He felt like bringing out the L-word would be
just a little too heavy for the situation they were in right now.

  And still, even after everything that happened, he wanted to be careful. It was never too late to fuck up.

  Instead, he said, “Let’s go home.”

  And that was good enough.

  12

  Ulysses lay in bed with Robbie, staring up at the ceiling. Even though he still felt exhausted, he had been wide awake ever since his head hit the pillow. His thoughts kept churning around and around inside his skull, making such a racket it was like he was trying to take a nap on top of a riding lawn mower. He wasn’t thinking of anything new, wasn’t forming any new theories about what could be done in this situation. He had no idea even if anything could be done.

  He just couldn’t get himself to shut up.

  He hardly ever had trouble falling asleep, but he damn sure was having it now. All the sleepless nights he had missed out on were here now, piling on top of him all at once.

  The mattress creaked. The bed adjusted. Robbie rolled over onto his back, staying close enough that their hips still touched.

  “You still awake?”

  Ulysses kept looking up at the ceiling. “Yeah, I guess I am. You?”

  “I think I am.” Robbie sounded as if he was smiling. He kept his voice low, as if the dark atmosphere of the bedroom required a muted tone of voice even though there was no one else around to disturb. The blinds were closed, the curtains drawn, and the door was shut, cutting them off from the rest of the world. “You know, I usually don’t take naps only a few hours after I first wake up.”

  Snorting, Ulysses reached over to lay his hand on Robbie’s thigh. Fabric prevented him from feeling the soft, warm skin he was searching for. Then, warmth settled on the back of his hand as Robbie placed his own on top. Even though that still wasn’t quite what he wanted, it was good enough for the moment. He had something to ground himself, to focus on. “Neither do I,” he said. “I thought I was tired but now that I’m lying down, I can’t get my brain to shut up.”

  “I can tell. You’re very wiggly.”

  “You didn’t have to lie down with me.”

  “But I think I did.” Robbie himself gave a wiggle, scooting even closer. “I wanted to stay close to you.”

  For a moment, quiet fell between them. It was a companionable silence, the kind only true friends could share, where there was no pressure to break through.

  Then, Ulysses opened his eyes and looked over at Robbie. “Hey. How did we come to this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Having sex. Lying in bed together. How did we get here, when we never went anywhere before?”

  A rustling sound came from the other half of the bed as Robbie shook his head. “I don’t know. Things just came together in the right way this time, I guess. Do you regret it happening?”

  Do I regret it?

  “Fuck, no.” Ulysses shook his head, too. He kept his head turned towards Robbie, letting their foreheads touch. “I feel like things were meant to be this way. I just fucked it up the first time.”

  “Let’s forget about the past. Let’s just be in the now. Tomorrow, do you still want to be with me like this?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  Where is this going?

  For some reason, Ulysses found he didn’t dread where the conversation might be headed. He thought that he might, but, in fact, he was looking forward to it.

  “What about the tomorrow after that? And all the other tomorrows?”

  A very, very heavy question. He was being faced now with all the things he had wanted to avoid, to hold off on, and there was nowhere for him to turn or hide. Feeling as though his heart was trembling, Ulysses summoned up the truth from where he had been protecting it deep inside his heart. “I would still want to be with you. Forever.”

  “Promise?”

  Ulysses lifted up his free hand, sticking his little finger in the air. “Cross my heart, hope to die.”

  Robbie laughed, then reached out to entangle their pinky fingers. “Good. So, do you want to hear the reason I came to find you?”

  Here it was. The reason they were having this talk. Ulysses’ heart gave a little flutter in his chest, and his stomach echoed the feeling in response. “Yeah, I really do. I want to know what was so important that you were able to follow our bond and track me down like that.”

  For a shifter to have a sense of where another was, or to have an idea of what they were doing, was not rare in and of itself. It happened all the time, especially between mates or siblings or others who had a strong connection. Ulysses wouldn’t have thought yet that he and Robbie would have that type of bond, though maybe they did because of the time they spent together before. Their hearts must not have forgotten each other.

  Robbie let out a long, slow breath. “Part of me really wonders if I should tell you this right now, but I don’t think I can keep quiet about it any longer.”

  “Then don’t,” Ulysses growled playfully. “Spit it out.”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  For a moment, he didn’t understand. Then, the words clicked into place like a puzzle piece having found the correct place where it belonged.

  Rolling over, Ulysses tossed himself up to his elbows where he could stare down at Robbie. “Get out of here.”

  Robbie laughed, reaching up to wrap his beautiful hands around Ulysses’ face. His fingers were very warm, very gentle as they caressed his cheeks. “I’m pregnant, Ulysses.”

  He was laughing, though he didn’t know why. He just couldn’t think of anything else to do that would properly express the complicated soup of emotions inside him right now. Joy and fear and a whole slew of other things which had no name. Somehow, he didn’t feel as if this was exactly real, like he must be dreaming it. Yet, at the same time, he knew he would never have had enough imagination to conjure up this scenario in a thousand years. He never gave any thought to kids, not even when they were being annoying in public in his proximity. He just ignored them, blocked them out.

  And now Robbie was saying he was about to have one.

  “No,” he said.

  “Yes! I swear! I took a test and it came out positive, Lee. I’m going to have a baby.”

  “A baby,” he repeated, wonderingly. Saying the word didn’t make it feel any more real. He had the knowledge, knew what it meant, had it all figured out, but it just wasn’t clicking for him.

  “Your baby. It’s yours.” Robbie looked at him with his eyes very wide and beseeching. “Lee? Are you okay?”

  Ulysses flopped onto his back again and stared up at the ceiling again, except now he wasn’t really seeing it. He wasn’t seeing anything at all. He was imagining a baby, made from his and Robbie’s union. This meant he was going to be a father.

  Robbie’s stomach was going to expand like an overstretched balloon. When he popped, he would expel a pup instead of a gust of damp air.

  A pup, maybe with blue eyes and auburn hair, and a beautiful face.

  Or dark hair and hazel eyes, which might be different shades at different times in the same day.

  Or a melding of the two?

  Suddenly, he wanted to know. He wanted to find out. He needed to see that baby. He needed to hold that pup in his arms, look down at it, recognizing himself or Robbie in its features.

  And from there, that pup would have to grow. It would learn to sit up and crawl and walk, and ride a bicycle, and all manner of things which humans did. It would discover itself as a shifter, learn the joys of racing wild and unrestrained.

  And beyond even that, the pup would no longer really be of himself and Robbie. Really, from the very moment it was born, it would be molded by the experiences it had, which in turn would make it its own person.

  It would make its own choices, find its own mate, have its own pups.

  The last little bit clicked for him. He understood.

  His baby.

  Ulysses propped himself up on one elbow again, then reached out with his hand and lay it on Robbi
e’s stomach. “Do it now,” he demanded.

  Robbie laughed, and the sound was as relieved as it was joyful. “I wish I could. I’m just as excited as you are.”

  “Holy shit,” Ulysses said.

  “I know!”

  If Ulysses had thought he was restless before, now he felt like he was about to crawl out of his skin. He got up on his hands and knees, then moved over so he was straddling Robbie. Lowering his head, he brought their lips together, kissing his omega softly and sweetly, taking as much time with it as he could. Their tongues slid together, heat against heat.

  Pulling back just enough to breathe, Ulysses murmured, “Is that enough to convince you I still want to be with you?”

  Robbie wrapped his arms around him tightly, then slid his hands down low. Ulysses felt fingers creeping under his waistband, grazing his bare skin. “I think I need a little more convincing.”

  Grinning, Ulysses pressed his lips down on Robbie’s again, forcing them apart and sliding his tongue in his mouth again. Curling his tongue around Robbie’s, Ulysses gave a few quick, teasing sucks, then moved on, shoving past. He tried to devour Robbie’s mouth, kissing him hungrily, forcefully.

  Soft moans escaped from Robbie. His fingers tightened, his nails digging into Ulysses’ skin.

  Ulysses growled, feeling his groin start to throb. His cock hardened, pressing against the front of his pants. Desire pulsed through his entire body. His heart pounded and his breath came faster, blood racing so fast through his veins that he could hear his pulse in his ears. Growling louder, he pressed more of his weight down on the man beneath him.

  Letting out another series of moans, Robbie clutched harder at Ulysses. His body strained up as Ulysses strained down, their bodies fighting to be connected.

  And now Ulysses could hold back no longer. He was spiraling rapidly out of control, swept away on a tide of adrenaline and emotion.

  Grabbing at Robbie, Ulysses curled his fingers and tore at his clothes, tossing them aside. He straightened up and then gave himself the same treatment, until they were both as naked as the day they were born.