The Alpha's Boy {Man x Man}

{TWELVE}

I felt gross. But by the end of the second day in bed, I was able to get up and move around. My open window told me that Preston and Riot were working in the fields, their voices just low enough that I couldn't pick out what they were saying in my half-awake haze. Nani had spent a lot of time in my room, speaking with me, trying to help me keep my body under control. I was half expecting to phase with everything going on inside, but luckily I was still in a human form. Though I questioned if being in my wolf would make it easier. Seeing as the pain was dulled while you were phased. But Miquel had cautioned me against it. Telling me it was better to wade this out as a human rather than a wolf because once I phased back, who's to know how much pain I could be in, and what it would do for my body because my wolf wouldn't sweat out the toxins.

I wanted to get back outside now though, I needed to feel the wind on my face rather than a breeze on my arms, the sun on my skin rather than the curtains muting the rays.

I wanted to run.

But I knew that wouldn't be an option. They wouldn't let me out of their sights, not right now while my sobriety was still in infancy. Really, I didn't want to go far. I didn't want to ruin this. I didn't want to be the family disappointment, the kid that everyone whispers about over thanksgiving. I wanted to be there for my brothers. I wanted to help out on the farm and not be the reason everyone is scared to have their medications in front of me.

I didn't leave the house right away, at first, I stayed inside with Nani and Miquel, they needed help fixing a leak under the sink, so I spent some time working on that, or really I mostly watched as Miquel did all the work and showed me what to do if this ever happened again. Which he was pretty adamant that it wouldn't after his handy job, but you never know about the bathrooms.

Nani made us some lunch before I finally made my way outside, it was late afternoon now and I was still feeling a little clammy from the fever that was lingering, It wasn't as high as it was the day before, and broke in the night but my body was still fighting off everything I had put it through. Feeling all of this made me want to run again, my arms itched, my skin felt like it was crawling, thoughts passed my mind that I tried so hard to fight. Once I was in the daylight I walked towards the barn, hoping I would find Preston there with the ghost-like he would normally be around this time. But before I could make it the side-by-side pulled up from behind me, I jumped out of the way as Preston pulled up beside me and ushered me in.

He wouldn't hear my phone if I had tried to talk to him, so I just gave him the universal sign for what the hell? before getting on with him and being handed a helmet. "You need a ride. I need to check on the other field before we move the cows, so I figured you could come with me." I nodded, putting the helmet on my head and holding on while Preston raced through the tracks. My stomach churned but I paid it no mind as the wind hit my skin, it was wonderful. We got to the second field in seconds and Preston turned the side by side off before lifting his helmet off.

'Why didn't we just phase and run out?' I asked, helmet still on while I held my phone in my hand, it would have been faster had we been in our true forms. He had a smell to him, Preston did. I knew he wasn't a human.

"I didn't want to show you up by flying while your little legs tried to keep up." He said as I took my helmet off. I froze and looked at him, my fingers quick on my phone.

'You're a shifter?' He has a supernatural smell, and maybe I had been around shifters too long to really tell the smells apart, but I never would have guessed he was one. Especially because most shifters tried to stray away from wolves.

"Yea, but I grew up with a wolf pack. Mom was a wolf, got my dad's genes."

'Hybrid?'

Preston looked flush as he rubbed the back of his neck like he didn't want to speak or brag about it. Ray was a hybrid of the two as well, It was becoming more common to find hybrids, the goddess was trying to fix the rift between the two of us. A hybrid was akin to a golden wolf, they were stronger and faster, but I spent enough time around shifters to be a little weary. Not that I didn't trust Preston, I just didn't trust his background.

"Yea, a hybrid. Don't make a big deal out of it. It's nothing special. Besides, I know what you are goldy." I smirked at him, causing him to laugh.

Once we finished in the field, which was just making sure there was nothing dangerous or dead hiding in the grass before letting the girls into it. "You and Riot are going to move them next week when I'm gone, so you'll need to do another sweep the day before ok?"

I got into the side by side, nodding as we put out headgear back on and headed back to the house.

As the house was coming into view I saw a figure standing by the silo, looking up at it with what looked like a notebook and pen in their hands. This must have been the mysterious Riot that I hadn't run into yet. The man stood a little over six feet, his black hair peeking under a baseball hat, he didn't seem to be paying us much mind until Preston parked himself on the other side of the silo. We both got out, butting out the gear in the homemade trunk. "'Bout time you're back. You not fill this at all while I was gone?" The man asked, his voice gruff, a little hard like he was frustrated. We walked over and the man who stood with a hand on his hip, cowboy boot tapping on the ground as his green eyes looked towards us with question.

"Oh, this must be the sick grandson eh?" He asked, before meeting my eyes, and when they locked my heart stopped, breathing caught in my chest.

'Oh,' I signed. 'It's you.' was all I managed before the rocky ride finally caught up with me and I threw up on the ground in between us.