The Pack (11 page)

    A
nother growl
,
one much fiercer
in nature, which couldn’t be ignored,
made him pull
back
and glance
toward the wood line
.
There a
large wolf
stood watching
them
,
its massi
ve golden furred body hard to distinguish amidst
the fall foliage. The
power
flow
ing
aro
und him goaded
Kirks own wolf
to react
,
but he held his ground aware
he could not endanger Mercy or
the ot
hers who partied on unaware of the angry exchange with Mercy’s brother
.

    
The new wolf complicated t
hings. H
e
could tell by the territorial w
ay the wolf acted he thought Mercy was
his. He
had no idea Mercy had another m
ale after her
,
bu
t now
he had a taste of her
sweetness,
he was
not
willing to relinqu
ish her
.
“Go now with your brother
,
I will see you on Monday
at school
.”

     “Let’s go,
”
Lucan,
dema
n
ded jerking her to his side,
pulling her behind him
,
ignori
ng the
wide-eyed
stares of the teenagers
a
round them
who all gaped
as she struggled to keep up
.

   
Gina ran behind them
hoping
to ease the situation
,
but Lucan
turned
giving
her a low warning s
narl and she froz
e in place
.

     “You’re hurting me,
” Mercy told him trying to pull her arm away.

     “I
don’t care,” h
e snapped
o
pening the door of his Mercedes
,
tossing her inside before jumping into the driver’s seat an
d
taking off wheels spinning,
releasin
g a spray of gravel behind
that pelted the other cars in the area
and left a trial of dust floating
behind
.

     “Luc.” She sat up and
fastene
d her seatbelt trying
to explain
,
but he silenced her with a dark
glare
.

    “Not now
,
”
he growled
gripping the wheel,
fighting the
rage consuming
him
.
Wh
en
he found her in the arms of one of their kind
,
he near lost
control.  If
Alec had
not
been there
to keep him from shifting
things might have gone a lot worse
. Of
course,
Alec
too had
seen her with the other male
and even
now,
ran to vent his
own
rage before facing her again.

    
The ride was a quiet one
, the only sound
,
the soft hum of the engine as they both sat contemplating the evening. Mercy looked to her brother seeing clearly the anger and frustration on his face as focused on the road ahead. Never before, had she seen him lose his temper like
had back at the bonfire, but she had never lied to him before.

    
Tears filled her eyes and her body shook as she contemplated the scene she would have to confront once they made it home. He w
as so angry, almost uncontrollably and she feared facing him.
It wasn’t that she thought she didn’t deserve his anger
,
she just worried that in his
current state he wouldn’
t be reasonable and for the first time in her life, she was actually afraid of what he might do to her.

    
As
they turned into their driveway
Mercy
noted
Cade waiting on
t
he porch his
jeans
unbuttoned
,
his feet bare
,
and his
face grim.
Praying he would be her ally, she
threw the door open and ran
in
to his open arms tears rolling down her cheeks soaking his chest as she sobbed.
He patted her back and held her close
glaring at his brother
as he approached the porch
.

     “Don’t baby her
she is the one
in the
wrong
,
she lied to us!” Lucan bellowed
leaning against the porch rail
,
running his hand through his hair
in frustration
.
He hated to see her so upset
,
he had felt her hurt and confusion the entire ride home,
but
she had outr
ight lied to them
. That lie had
endangered herself and everyone in attenda
nce
at the bonfire.

     “G
ive her a break
,
it’s
not like you never mak
e
mistake
s in your life,
” Cade told him angrily.

     “I make
many
,
but I don’t count lying
to those I love
among them.”
He returned with a snarl, which earned a raised eyebrow fro
m his brother who was aware
they had been lying to Mercy since the day they had found her.

     “There are things wors
e than lying about seeing a guy
she likes,” Cade a
rgued in her defense
.

     “
N
ot this one,” h
e growled
his wolf respond
ing
to his agitated state
, fighting to get free
. “
I can’t do this right now.
I
need
time
to cool off
and get my head together
.
Can you handle
her
from here?” He looked towards the woods
eagerly
. T
he urge
to run
and
work off the anger
raging inside strong.

    
Cade
nodded sensing his brother
’s
need for relief.
“Go I will take care of her till you come back.
” He directed M
ercy into the house,
pausing in the foyer as
Alec walked down the last of th
e steps from the
upper floor
dressed in
a pair of flannel sleep pants
looking rumpled
and sleepy
as if he had just woken.

     “What’s going on?”
H
e asked breathing heavier than normal after running the entire way home and barely making it into the house before Lucan pulled into the driveway.

     “Lucan hates me,” s
he wailed turning from Cade
to throw
herself into his
arms. H
e
wr
apped her in h
is embrace, which immediately made her feel safe and protected
. Alec
always had that ability. H
e was a safe harbor
when she was hurt or in trouble and she needed him more than she cared to admit after the nights debacle
.

     “Nonsense,
even when he is angry
you must always
remember he loves you
,” Alec
told her his ha
nd twined in her soft hair as he
r
face pressed against his chest
.
It was right
she came to hi
m in times of trouble or sorrow. He was her destined mate, it was his job to ensure her happiness and he didn’t take his responsibility lightly
.

     “Not this time
,
he’s so mad
, I’ve
ever
seen him like that
,” s
he told him her voi
ce broken as she trembled involuntarily
. “He nev
er hurt me before
,
bu
t tonight
I was scared
he might
.”

     Alec noted
th
e bruises forming on her arm
,
purple and black
shapes the size of a man’s fingers
then looked to
Cade
who was staring at them in horror too
. His head began to pound,
his
heartbeat
quic
kened as he noted each mark that marred her alabaster skin
.
I
f not for Mercy pressed so
close,
he might not have been able to keep from chasing aft
er Lucan to make him suffer for each mark he had placed upon her
.

     “Nothing you
ever do would make him hat
e you. He
was very angry
, but
he did not mean to hurt you
. H
e left
because
he needed some time to think
before you two talk about this
.”
Cade told her,
aware
Alec was contemplating chasing down his brother
. A
male who found his bond mate
wou
ld kill anyone who hurt her
, h
e just
praye
d their relationship with Alec would circumvent that instinct
.
“Come let’s get you something warm to
drink and we can talk.”

     “Some hot chocolate will
calm
you
.” Alec told her knowing she loved th
e rich
chocolate
drink
. He
had
even memorized
how she took it, m
ilk
,
two marshmallows,
whipped cream and a piece of chocolat
e bar on top for extra flavor.

     They adjourned to the kitchen where Cade prepared their drinks while Alec sat with Mercy at the table trying to coax her into smiling.
Alec’s cell phone rang and he
answered
immediately
expecting Lucan to be on the other end, but to his surprise found an unexpected voice from his past.

     “H
ello Alec
,
we need to talk
about what happened tonight,
”
t
he male on the other end
said, his voice
instantly reminding
Alec where he'd seen
Kirk
before
.
The gangly youth
changed
a lot
since the summer Alec had spent with his pack
,
but now
he recognized
him as the local
Alpha
’s son
.

    
A growl
emanated
from deep within his throat and
Mercy glanced his way
with surprise
. “I need to handle this it’s business
,” he explained placing
his hand over the receiver.

     “Why don’t you take the call out
side,
I need to talk to Mercy anyway
.”
Cade said sensing Alec’s need for privacy.

     “You may want to listen to your friend. I am su
re you do not want
Mercy to hear our conversation,”
t
he man on the other end said
as he placed the phone back to his ear
.