Real Men Shift Volume Two: Paranormal Werewolf Romance Boxed Set

by Celia Kyle

  “Thank god,” Val sighed dramatically. “I have another question for you. Is this pregnancy going to prevent me from performing my duties as enforcer? I have a job to do, but I obviously don’t want to put the baby at risk.”

  “You should be fine for now. Later on, when you’re further into your pregnancy, you’ll want to slow down and take it easy. But right now, normal exercise and everyday activities are just fine. Of course, throwing full grown men, such as Dick McNish, over your head like a javelin probably isn’t a great idea,” Trina said with a wink.

  Valerie smiled warmly. “Damn it. That throws a wrench in my evening plans. Seriously, though, Zeke will be relieved to hear all of this.”

  “How are things with your mate, by the way? Everything going well?”

  Trina didn’t normally pry into the private lives of her patients, but she always made a point to keep tabs with pregnant mothers. Small relationship problems could become big problems later.

  “Doc, I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive, attentive partner. He’s been right by my side every step of the way. And being an enforcer, working with my own team of men—it’s such a natural fit for me. I was worried that once I left the Army I’d miss the discipline and routine. Zeke told me I’d fit right in, and I really have. I’ve never been happier in my life. Honestly, I never thought anyone could ever be so happy.”

  As thrilled as she was for her new friend, tears burned the backs of Trina’s eyes again. Averting her gaze, she cleared her throat and sniffed back the threat of tears, smiling through the pain.

  “I’m glad to hear it. That joy you’re feeling, hold onto it as tightly as you can. Happy mama means happy pup. Oh, and that reminds me. I ordered some prenatal vitamins for you the other day. I’ll drop them off as soon as they come in.”

  “Okay, thanks, doc.”

  Val shrugged into her jacket and set her ball o’ fluff on the floor to scamper around between the clinic and the cabin. Then she turned an unusually bashful look on Trina.

  “Mind if I ask something a little more… personal?”

  “Shoot,” Trina said as she made notes in Val’s chart.

  “What’s got you feeling so down?”

  “What?” Trina answered, taken aback. She’d been expecting another pregnancy question, like the best sexual position, or if the baby could feel Zeke’s dick when they made love.

  “Come on, Trina. I’m a woman and a wolf. And apparently all these pregnancy hormones make me extra sensitive to the feelings of others. You’re going through something difficult, and I want to support you. Now spill, if you want.”

  Trina froze, her back to Val. It was her duty to care for the pack, not the other way around. But if she turned around and met the woman’s gaze, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from blubbering like a baby. She needed to remain strong, and to do so, she kept her increasingly blurry gaze on the chart in front of her. A strong hand grabbed her shoulder and gently turned her around. And just as she’d suspected, the soft caring in Val’s eyes did her in. The levee broke.

  Choking back a sob, Trina poured out her heart and soul to Val. Every detail of her time with Max, every feeling, every up and every down. Not a speck of their time together was left out. During all of it, Val listened intently, nodding where appropriate, just like a good friend should. By the end of the tale, where Cassandra somehow scared off her mate for good, a weight had fallen from Trina’s shoulders. She didn’t feel good, by any means, but she felt… better.

  “Wow,” Valerie breathed, frowning. “That… um… man, that really, uh… sucks.”

  Then she reached out and patted Trina’s shoulder in the most awkward way possible, almost making her laugh. Val was the toughest woman Trina had ever met, yet the concept of nurturing seemed so foreign to her. As soon as her baby was born, she’d get it, but at that moment, she might as well have been a robot.

  Trina pressed her lips together to keep from smiling, but she couldn’t hold back. Val started snickering along with her until they both broke down into a fit of giggles. Even Fang wanted to get in on the action by “boofing” a few times as she stood near the clinic’s door. Either that or she needed to piddle.

  Once the giggles faded, they were left smiling at each other. Almost as if she couldn’t help herself, Val pulled Trina into a brief, tight hug.

  “I’m sorry I’m so bad at this stuff, but I want you to know I’m here for you, okay? Seriously, day or night, I’m just a phone call away.”

  Trina nodded, tears welling again, but they weren’t quite as sad as before.

  “Thanks,” she choked out.

  “Well, I’d better get to work. Who knows what my team gets up to when I’m not around to keep them in line.”

  Instead of traipsing back through her cabin, Trina opened the clinic’s main door for Val and froze. Her brain couldn’t process what her eyes were seeing quickly enough, and when it finally did, she cried out.

  An exhausted-looking Max leaned against the doorjamb, completely nude and bleeding.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I’ll, uh, leave you two alone,” Val stuttered out the words.

  Max barely noticed Val edge past him. He was so focused on his mate. In fact, he might not have registered her at all if Fang hadn’t started growling at the unexpected sight of him. He didn’t blame the little dog in the slightest. She had officially been appointed an honorary member of the Soren pack and no doubt could sense Max wasn’t a member… yet. A guard dog—as tiny as Fang was—growling at a blood-covered, non-pack wolf loitering outside a door was a good thing, all things considered.

  But he couldn’t take his eyes off Trina, his heart cracking in two as tears spilled down her pallid cheeks. That pain in her eyes was caused by him, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to forgive himself. Hurting her was the last thing he’d wanted.

  When he reached for her, the desperate pain turned to hardened anger and she jerked away from him. Wheeling around, she stormed into her cabin without a word. He half-expected her to have slammed the door in his face, but she’d left it ajar. Max took a deep breath and then stepped in after her.

  He paused long enough in the clinic to brace himself for the sight of his mate flung on her bed sobbing into her pillow, but when he stepped into the cabin, he was surprised to find her standing in the middle of the room, clutching some blue fabric to her abdomen and glaring at him so hard it nearly pinned him to the wall. Before he knew what was happening, she threw the wad of fabric at him, which he caught deftly, thankful it wasn’t a spear.

  “Cover yourself,” she snarled.

  Max blinked at the fabric for a few seconds before realizing it was a man’s robe. A scent lingered faintly on it from its previous owner—Trina’s first fated mate, Dean. It wasn’t the first time he’d caught a whiff of the man, and he accepted that it wouldn’t be the last.

  Tugging on the too-small robe, Max took a step forward, wanting to explain himself. But she shoved her hand at him, stopping him in his tracks. Her eyes were bright red, as if she’d been crying all night. Max wanted to pull her into his arms, to comfort her, to tell her everything was okay, but he wasn’t dumb enough to actually do it. He’d fucked up and it was time to pay the piper.

  “Now,” she spat once he was fully encased in the uncomfortably tight robe like a sausage, “do you mind telling me exactly where the fuck you’ve been?

  It wasn’t so much a request as a demand. And a vital one, at that. He had to play his hand very carefully, or he might end up sharing the dog house with Fang. Oh, who was he kidding? Fang slept inside, snuggled between her two masters. If Max was lucky, Trina would toss him a thin blanket to curl up under while he slept on the porch.

  “I’ve been in the woods,” he said softly.

  “The woods!” Trina barked, balling her fists up. “Uh-uh, not good enough, Max. Look, I don’t know what you got used to while you were off running your lone wolf vigilante bullshit for so long, but claimed or not, we are still mates. Beli
eve it or not, mates tell each other stuff, Max!”

  Max closed his eyes and absorbed her anger. It was the least he could do, considering how upset she must have been. Keeping his face stoic, he accepted and honored her feelings while struggling to keep his wolf under control. It was still a little too wild for his taste, snapping indignantly that their mate dared to scold them so mercilessly.

  “Trina—”

  “Nope,” she interrupted. “Don’t you dare try to shush me, Maxwell Kincaid. I’m not even close to finished! I deserve answers, and I want them right this minute. I’ve told you everything about myself, yet I don’t even know your middle name. No more mysteries, Max. No more secrets. No more jerking me around and disappearing into the woods without so much as a word. If you want me to fix those stitches—again!—you’d better tell me exactly who the hell my mate actually is.”

  With a sense of finality, Trina crossed her arms and watched him with narrowed eyes, as if she believed in her heart he wouldn’t answer. That lack of trust killed him, but he knew it was all his fault. And she was right. She would never trust him if he didn’t tell her everything.

  “Dean,” he said quietly.

  “What?” she snapped, brow furrowing

  “Maxwell Dean Kincaid. That’s my given name.”

  Trina blanched. “Dean?” she whispered.

  He nodded, acknowledging the coincidence—or not—that he carried the same name as her first mate.

  “Kincaid was also my pack’s name. My father was the alpha. I was his eldest son.”

  She’d regained her composure, as well as her anger, so Max quickly continued his tale. “I grew up assuming I would eventually take over the pack leadership for my old man. Honestly, I never really liked the idea. If you can’t tell, I’ve always been happy doing my own thing, for the most part. But it was my duty, so I accepted the fact the role of alpha would one day be my fate. In a strange and terrible way, it actually came true.”

  “What happened?”

  Max took a calming breath to keep his emotions under control. “Dick McNish happened. The reason I know so much about the man and what he’s capable of is because he started with us.”

  Trina frowned, letting her arms fall to her side. “What do you mean?”

  It was a hard story to tell—in fact, he’d never told it to anyone before—but if he wanted her to trust him again, he’d have to power through. No matter how much it hurt.

  “He showed up under the same pretenses as in Tremble. Started courting local politicians, making friends, cozying up to the local contractors, and greasing palms with all the right people. Pretty soon it was a big party of good ol’ boys. You know the type.”

  She nodded somberly.

  “Didn’t take long before he brought an offer to my father for our pack lands. Of course, he had no clue we were wolves. As far as he was concerned, we were a bunch of stupid hicks sitting on prime undeveloped land. Must have figured we’d be easy pickings. I’m sure he thought we’d jump at his pathetic offer.”

  Max’s jaw clenched, remembering Dick McNish sauntering into the elder Kincaid’s office like he was king of the fucking universe. He’d barely glanced in Max’s direction after he’d realized he was no one of importance. Yet the asshole had somehow remembered him, two years later.

  “You should have seen the look on his face when my father told him to shove his money up his ass. As you might suspect, that pissed ol’ Dick off something fierce. Seems he’s used to getting his way, surprise, surprise. Didn’t take long for the legal disputes to start landing at our feet. McNish had made all the right friends. Old ordinances from a hundred years ago got dusted off, and the city suddenly started talking about whether the land had a right to be in our hands at all. When the threatening calls started coming in, my father snapped.”

  As exhausted as Max was, he was energized by the memories and his hatred for McNish. Still, he knew he needed to sit for the next part of his story. Running a hand through his messy hair, he glanced at an empty chair at the table and gave Trina an inquisitive look. She barely hesitated before nodding and taking the chair opposite him.

  “Dick McNish killed my father,” Max said bluntly and then shook his head as if that somehow amused him. “Wow, I don’t think I’ve said that out loud before.”

  He could see in Trina’s eyes she had questions about the statement, but she remained silent, allowing him to tell his story in his own way and his own time. He loved her for that.

  “Late in the game, McNish requested my father come to his office to discuss matters. At first, Dad was going to refuse, but his ruling circle convinced him to hear what McNish had to say—if for no other reason than to learn more about his intentions.

  “Dad was already pissed off about the legal mess McNish had somehow unleashed on the pack, so his wolf was already close to the surface. I have no doubt McNish antagonized him during their chat because Dad wouldn’t have shifted in front of a human otherwise. But he did.”

  Max’s gaze had drifted off to the side, lost in the fog of the past, but Trina’s sharp intake of breath drew it back with a snap. The anger had fled from her eyes, and though she was still closed off, he saw sympathy glowing somewhere in them.

  “Apparently, Dick keeps a revolver in his desk at all times, or at least on the night of my father’s death. And just like that, one of the finest alphas my pack had ever known, and the best father a guy could ask for, was gone. McNish won. Even while I was grieving, I tried to keep the pack together, to fight my father’s murderer and his cronies, but I failed. Maybe I was too inexperienced, or maybe my heart wasn’t in it, or maybe McNish had his claws in too deep by then. Whatever the reason, he easily broke us up after that.”

  “Where did everyone go?” Trina asked, worry for a pack of strangers written all over her perfect face.

  Max shrugged. “Wherever they could. Most melted into the wilderness. To this day, I have no idea where many of them ended up. Probably neighboring packs, for the most part.”

  “What about the rest of your family?”

  “Mom wanted to go with me and my younger brother, Cole, but we insisted she join forces with our omega. Safer that way, especially considering how determined I was to avenge Dad. They joined a pack about a day’s drive from here, and last I heard, were happy and healthy.”

  If they got out of the latest dust-up unscathed, Max wanted to track down his mom and hopefully learn what became of Cole.

  “What remained was a ragtag group of angry young males, and they looked to me to lead them. I did for a while, but we were less of a pack and more like a bunch of fuck-ups blowing around in the wind. Thank god my little brother stuck with me. Cole was only a year younger, so when I decided it was time to go it alone, he was the obvious choice to take over after me.”

  “Why did you leave them?” Trina asked, suspicion marring the clear blue of her eyes like a scar. She was wondering if Max had abandoned them the same way she thought he’d abandoned her.

  “Because I had to stop him, Trina. A couple of months ago, near Atlanta, we ran across the remnants of another nomadic pack wandering around looking for a place to land. We shared our dinner with them, and they shared a tale that chilled our bones. It sounded sickeningly familiar, only more recent.

  “Best we could figure, McNish realized what a gold mine shifters were. We were all sitting on ancient pack lands that may or may not have been acquired legally or had all the proper paperwork filed back in the day. Knowing we would shy away from the spotlight for fear of exposing our existence to humans, we became easy pickings in his eyes. The perfect opportunity to snap up some prime real estate for next to nothing—with the exception of a few measly bribes.”

  “Jesus,” Trina breathed.

  “Yeah, Jesus couldn’t help us either,” Max said with a sigh. “After connecting with that pack, I found my purpose in life and left the group. A good leader wouldn’t have made that decision, but I never was a good leader. It’s not in my DNA. But it was
in my brother’s, so I left him in charge and took off on my own. I figured if my life was worth nothing, the least I could do was take down the man who’d ruined it. I only had two reasons to live, Trina. To stop Dick McNish from targeting any more wolf packs, and to kill him.”

  A paradox whirled around inside him. Just telling the story brought all of the terrible emotions crashing back, yet he’d never felt freer in his life. Certainly not since McNish had taken everything from him. But staring into his mate’s eyes cemented his belief that his life could be whole again, and hopefully very soon.

  “Until you,” he added softly.

  Trina blinked rapidly but remained silent. Max respected that. She had a right to be upset. All he could hope was that she’d listen with an open heart.

  “I’m sorry,” he said at last, as honestly as he could. “I’m not exactly proud of my past. I didn’t want to dig up old demons and risk…” He trailed off, not sure how to form the right words for what he wanted to express.

  “You didn’t want your past to make me think less of you,” Trina finished for him. “Max, you’ve been fighting an uphill battle for the last two years. Why on earth would I hold that against you?”

  He didn’t answer. He couldn’t. For two years, he’d struggled with the shame of letting down his pack and his family. Then for the previous two months, he’d set his sights on murder. That wasn’t exactly every woman’s dream man.

  “Why did you run off when Cassandra said those awful things?” Trina asked, finally putting voice to the one thing she wanted to know most in that moment.

  “Awful?” Max asked, surprised at her perception. “I didn’t think they were awful in the slightest. I don’t know Cassandra, but I do know that omegas often speak in riddles even they sometimes don’t understand. The Kincaid pack omega was extremely powerful too. It can be jarring, I suppose, but I found Cassandra’s words…inspiring.