The Pack (14 page)

    
The hate he held
for the man who sired them made his blood bo
il and he sensed
his wolf awaken
.
His father was
old school, h
e believed in fighting for your place within th
e pack, a philosophy that forced Linda to leave.
He refused to change and she c
ould not fathom the idea of
her child
being
raised in suc
h a
primitive environment.
She
tried
to take Lucan and Cade with her
,
but their father
forba
d
e
it
so she left before
he found
out
ab
out the baby she carried
.
Somehow,
though
she
had,
keep tabs them
,
and
when they le
ft the
pack,
she sought them out and begged
them to protect Mercy
if something happened to her
.

    
His
body tingled and his
spine
moved
under his skin
as he thought of all
the pain his father had caused
in their lives
.
He was the reason they had left, and he was the one responsible for their
brother’s
reign of terror over them as children.

     “Enough
! He has no impact on our lives now
.” Lucan placed his hand on his broth
er
’
s
arm and squeezed
.
After years of
having,
only ea
ch other to depend on they
read each other
well
, anticipated
each other’s thoughts and moves with startling regularity. He
sensed Cade becoming
very close to allowing
the shift overtake him
.

     Cade
responded to his brother
’
s touch
easily
,
the cal
ming influence of Lucan’s
wolf commanded his to rest
and soon he leaned
against the counter,
breathing heav
il
y,
as his wolf slunk
back into its hiding place
deep
inside of his human form
.

     “Cade what’s wrong?” Mercy
cried out rushing inside to his side
,
laying her hand o
n his back.

    
His skin tingled as soothing
heat flooded him
warming him inside and out.
Just one touch of her hand
reassure
d
him that everything they had done
was worthwhile
and he turned to fa
ce her fully in control of himself again
. “
Nothing brat, just a little headache
.”

     “Are you sure?
” s
he said looking
doubtful
.

     “He didn’t sleep well last night
.
I told him to go rest for awhile
,
but
yo
u know how stubborn he is.” Lucan
handed her the plates and napkins he had gathered an
d pushed her towards the table
hoping to
sidetrack her. He
pulled the frittata out of the stove and handed it to Cade
to bring to the table
.

     “Thanks,
” Cade
said.

     “No problem,
” Lucan replied turning
back to the counter, grabbing
his coffee and joining them at the
table
.

    
Alec sat
next to Mercy
digging into the food on his plate
with
unbridled
enthusiasm
while she watched him with a half smile,
wondering how he stayed so trim and fit
. 
“I guess now you're here I can kiss left
overs goodbye,” s
he teased
.

     “You missed me admit it,” h
e said placing h
is fork on his empty plate
staring at her half eaten portion
with envy
.
“You done?”

    
She nod
ded and
slid the plate towards
him unable to r
esist the urge to look him over
. He was
,
to her
,
simply the most gorgeous guy ever and her
heartbeat
out of control as
the old lo
nging for him began to grow
again inside of her
. He meet
her gaze
as if sensing her interest and
he
gav
e her a devastating
smile that melted her
instantly and reminded her why all girls fell for him.
    

    
“Some
thing wrong?” h
e asked bringing her from her musings
. 

     “What? Oh…no…y
ou got some on you,” s
he murmured reaching out to brush
a toast crumb from his lip
. Such an innocent gesture lead to him
playfully bit her finger
in response
before
taking her hand in his own and bringing it to his mouth
. His warm soft lips
brushed a kiss over her knuckles immediatly
ending her laug
hter and spreading a warmth though
her
that made her gasp
and pull her hand back in surprise.

    
Both of them froze
startled by her reaction. T
he room seemed to grow smaller as they stared at each
othe
r oblivi
ous to everything, but each other
. She stared at his lips
wondering
what it
w
ould be
like to kiss them, to have them against her own. A low
moan
emanated from deep inside his throat and he
r eyes
met his
in shock. T
hey
leaned closer
to each other, their hands twi
ning together
, their heartbeats synchronizing until they beat in perfect harmony
.

    
Lucan slapped his hand on
th
e table making them both jump
in surprise.
“We need to get going
the movers are comin
g at ten o’clock
,” he said then looked
to Mercy
.
“Would you help me clean up?”

     “
Sure.” She pulled her shaking hands
from Alec’s and stood
,
grabbing the pl
ates,
em
barrassed by how easily she had been
seduced by his charm
.

     “Alec, let’s go ne
xt door and get the place ready,
” Ca
de said from the doorway.

    
Alec
nodded and
joined him at the door
giving Mercy one last
longing
glance bef
ore walking out
on the front porch
still dazed by her response to him
.

    
“I’m
glad
your father had the for
esight to buy
this property, the guest house will make a nice home for you,
”
Cade said making small talk.

     “Yeah
,
it
sure did
come in handy,
”
Alec,
agreed wondering for the first time if his father had any inkling of
his feelings for Mercy
back when he brought the property.
Knowing hi
s dad, he was sure he did.

*****

    
T
hey finished unp
acking all of Alec’
s things
late in the
evening and the men were in the process of devouring th
eir second pizza when Mercy finally sat
down
.
She
was too tired
to
contemplate eating,
so
she
laid her head back against the soft cushions of the
leather
sofa
Alec’s father had sent
and closed her eyes wanting a few minutes to relax
. S
he
was
half-asleep
when she
felt the cushion move under her. Immediately
she
recognized Alec’s scent
and opened her ey
es prepare
d to tell him she was going
home
, but he cut her off before she could utter a word
.

     “Tired?” h
e
asked placing his arm around her shoulders
.

     “A little,
” s
he told him rubbing her temples
to help ease the ache
there
.

     He pulled her closer and she rested her head on his shoulder letting him rub the soreness from her neck.
His fingers were like magic
,
soothing her tired muscles and before long
,
she fell into a deep peaceful sleep
.

    
The me
n talked and joked until a little
after midnight when
L
ucan
finally
broke up the gathering. “W
e should all go to bed,
” he
said after he finished the
last slice of pizza. “You got her or should I carry her
home
?”

     “I got her
,
” Alec said lifting Mercy
easily
in his arms and
carrying her towards the
door Cade held
open.

    
He carried
her
across the yard
to their house
and up the stairs
all the while
dread
ing the moment he would
leave her
side
.
It had been
nice to hold her in his arms as she
slept and he an
ticipated the ache that would fill him once he let her go. 

    
After l
aying her on the bed and tucking
a blanket aroun
d her, he brushed
her li
ps
with his own
,
unprepared
when she wrapped her arms aroun
d his neck and pulled him close
r
ki
ssing
without
hesitation
.
It was like a
dream to have her respond as she did
and he might
never
have
left he
r
side
,
but
for
Ca
de clearing
his throat
at the door. With r
e
luctance
he pulled back unwilling to take unfair
advantage of her while she slept
.

    
“Good night Angel,” h
e whispered
turning away
.

     “Night Alec, lov
e you,” she mumbled,
turning on her side
away from him
.

     He stopped dead, shocked by her words
,
but C
ade cleared his throat again leaving him little choice
,
but to leave
the room
.