Bonded to the Pack (Born to be Were) (11 page)

“I don’t know what’s going on, but we
will handle it, don’t panic.” Alec held her tight, trying to be confident for
her, but inside he was scared to death.  If the Elders proceeded with their
plans there was always a chance he could lose her and that was not something he
could not fathom.

Another knock at the door had them all
tense and looking to it with unease.

 “Alec, open up, I need to talk to you,
it’s important,” Kirk said on the other side.

Nina rushed to the door and opened it
for her brother, seeing immediately he was angry.

Kirk didn’t waste time with niceties. He
looked directly to Alec and spoke. “What the hell is going on? I thought you
wanted our people watching over the house?”

“I do,” Alec said, looking confused.

Kirk frowned. “Then why are the Elders’
Weres roaming the forest and watching the house?”

“What!” Alec exclaimed, letting go of
Mercy and walking out of the back door, surveying the area and feeing the
newcomers’ presence. He let out a string of colorful curses before walking back
inside, looking ready to commit murder.

“Alec, what is happening?” Mercy said
coming to his side, wrapping her arms around his waist, and laying her head
against his shoulder.

Alec wrapped his arms tighter around
her. “The Elders sent in their guard to make sure I don’t run off with you.”

“What are you going to do now?” Kirk asked
solemnly.

Alec wasn’t sure himself what his next
move would be, but he knew he wasn’t giving up his mate, even if it meant
fighting every male werewolf who challenged him to keep her. “We will figure
something out,” he said, his chin resting on the top of Mercy’s head as she
buried her face against him, her fear pulsating, adding to his own.

*****

Cade was home a few hours later, angrier
than a bear when he strode into the house looking like a motorcycle gang member
with all the black leather and chains he wore. “What is going around here?” he yelled.
“I leave for a night and everything goes to hell.” He had encountered two
unfamiliar wolves on his ride in, who pissed him off with their self-righteous
attitudes when he questioned their presence. To his deep satisfaction, both
would be hurting for a long time, but was still clueless as to why the Elders’
guard was there at all.

Mercy sat up from where she had been
snuggled against Alec’s side and ran to him babbling on about the council, the
letter, and their guards. Through it all, he hugged her close promising it was
going to be okay, despite the fact he wasn’t sure it would.

“Gregory will be here any minute.  We
can discuss what we do next when he gets here,” Lucan told his indignant
brother.

Alec stood and flexed his fist. “I need
to find Rich; he has answers and I want them.”

“Alec, this is probably not the best
time to confront him,” Lucan said, looking troubled.

“I can feel your rage from here. You
might end up killing him, which would prevent us from getting the information
we need,” Cade said.

“Don’t worry, I will get the information
I need before I kill him,” Alec snarled, his body tense and ready for a fight.  

“Alec don’t,” Mercy said, coming to his
side and laying her hand on his arm. “Killing Rich won’t make this go away.
Besides, you’re assuming he is guilty without hearing his side of things.”

Alec felt some of the rage inside of him
subside with just her gentle touch. He looked down on her, taking in her soft
features and timeless beauty, feeling his entire body respond to her gentle nature.
Soon calm washed over him and he knew she had been using her healing to soothe
his beast. “Thank you, Angel,” he said, feathering his lips across hers. “My
father is here,” he said, going to the front door, watching as his father got
out of his car, scanned the wood line with a frown, then slammed the car door
before walking to the front porch.  

“Alec,” Gregory said to his son before
glancing to Mercy, who was rubbing her hands together nervously. “How’s she
doing?” he asked softly as his son opened the door for him.

“Upset, scared, and trying to hide it,”
Alec answered quietly.

“This is a mess. I requested an audience
with the Elders when Lucan called, but they turned me down. Not that I think it
would have done much good anyway. Those old farts are too out of touch to understand
the bond between mates anyway, but I wanted to try.”

Alec nodded. “I have the feeling they
have already made up their minds,” he said. “What better way to show how
effective they are than to produce a Born Were and parade her before all the
packs, offering her up for sacrifice to make them look powerful.” His contempt
for the Elders must have shown because his father placed his hand on his
shoulder and squeezed it hard.

“They are powerful, Alec, do not ever
doubt that,” Gregory cautioned before letting him go and crossing the room, sweeping
Mercy into his arms. “How are you?” he asked, hugging her close.

“Fine,” she answered, trying desperately
not to cry.

Gregory chuckled and looked down on her
with disbelief. “How are you really?”

Mercy sighed. Gregory knew her to well
to fall for her lies. “I’m scared.”

“It’s okay to be afraid,” he said, his
heart breaking for her.

Mercy looked across the room to Alec who
was engaged in conversation with her brothers, and frowned. “I’m not afraid for
me. I’m terrified for Alec. He plans to fight for me and I can’t stand the idea
of him being hurt.”

Gregory met her gaze and nodded. “He
will do what he needs to see you safe and by his side.”

“Promise me if things don’t go as
planned you won’t let him do anything stupid. I couldn’t live if he were hurt
or worse,” she choked out. 

“I will not let him do anything
foolish,” he promised.

Tears welled in her eyes. “Thank you,
Gregory,” she whispered, knowing he would never break that promise. If her
feelings were right, soon Alec and she would be separated and when that
happened, she didn’t want him doing anything stupid that would cost him his
life.  She couldn’t live if she knew anything had happened to him, but she
could accept whatever was coming if he was safe from harm.

“Have faith. My son loves you. He would
move heaven and earth to be with you, forever.” He kissed her forehead and
walked to where the men were all talking, leaving her to her own devices. 

Unable to stand any more talk of the Elders,
and what was to come, Mercy turned away and walked out of the kitchen. Alec’s
gaze followed her the entire way out, so she kept her back straight and her
emotions in check until she was ensconced in her bathroom, the shower running
as she sat on the floor choking on her sobs as she let all the tears she had
been holding back fall.  Only there, where she knew they wouldn’t hear her,
would she allow herself to wallow in self pity. Alec didn’t need to see her
fall apart, he needed her to be strong and believe in him, and God help her,
she was going to do just that.

*****

“So, the plan is to carry on as usual,”
Alec said to the men assembled at the table. “There is nothing we can do until we
see the Elders, so for now, we just act as if nothing is out of the ordinary.”
He looked to Rich, whom he would have rather beaten to death than have at the
table, but managed to control his rage. “I don’t want one of our pack getting
hurt if they get in the way of the Elders’ guard, so remind them to keep a good
distance away.” Rich nodded and Alec looked to Lucan. “I want Mercy to have a
big party after the Graduation Ceremony.  Maybe that will help alleviate some
of the stress she is under.” Lucan nodded, looking solemn. “Dad, I will be home
this weekend to see to the last of the rank fights before graduation.”

“Son, maybe you should wait until after
graduation, your plate is kind of full,” Gregory said worriedly, afraid Alec
might be too distracted to fight at his best.

Alec turned and looked to his father,
meeting his Alpha gaze with his own fierce one. “I want this handled and out of
the way now.”

Gregory nodded, seeing his son was in control
and thinking like the Alpha he was soon to be.  “Okay, I will make the
arrangements.”

“Good, we’re done here then,” Alec said,
rising from the table. “Luc, is it okay if check on Mercy before I go?”

“She’s probably asleep. She was
exhausted when I went up earlier, but go ahead,” her brother said wearily.

“Man, I’m out of here, but tell Mercy I
said good night and that I’m sorry about everything,” Rich said as he walked
for the door.

Alec saw red instantly and spun around
at Rich’s words, but Cade’s firm grip on his arm kept him from acting. He
looked up to meet Cade’s cool grey eyes and snarled. “It’s not worth it man,
let it go right now. You’ve got bigger problems.”

Alec knew he was right. Instead of
pounding on Rich as he had intended he walked into to the hallway and up the
steps that would lead him to his mate.

*****

Mercy shifted in her sleep as Alec
walked into her room and he moved swiftly towards the bed, standing over her,
admiring how even in sleep she was the most beautiful female he had ever seen. She
sighed and turned on her back giving him a clear look at her pale white
complexion, highlighted by her Titian hair that lay in a riot of curls around
her like a halo.  She was exquisite and he couldn’t help but reach down and
brush her cheek with his finger to just to feel the softness of her skin.  Her
head turned instantly towards him and he felt a bolt of desire run though him that
he had come to know so well. Backing away before he could react to the
temptation, he took a seat in the chair next to the bed, happy just to be near
her, to watch over her as she slept.

The clock ticked as he sat staring at
her for most of the night, unable to leave her side. Lucan had checked in on
her a few times and so had Cade, both of whom said nothing about his presence
by her side. He knew they were thinking, as he was, that it might be a very
long time before he had the chance to be alone with her again and he intended
to make use of every second they had together.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Mercy
began to toss and turn, her soft mewing noises bringing him from the chair to
her side. She thrashed about on the bed, tears running down her cheeks as she
begged and pleaded with someone to free her and his heart broke. Instantly he
was by her side, pulling her into his arms, whispering words of love to her until
only the sound of her even breathing once again filled the room. Assured she
was at peace once again, he closed his eyes, allowing himself the sleep he had
been depriving himself of since he had begun to watch over her house every
night.

Chapter Seven

“Are you crazy, Luc,” Mercy snapped at
breakfast the next morning when he told her that he was throwing a party for
her the night they graduated.

“Alec wants this for you, and besides
maybe planning a party will help relieve some of the tension over the next few
weeks while we wait.” He looked to his brother for help, but Cade offered a wan
smile and said nothing. They all thought Alec was out of his tree for wanting
to throw a party the night before Mercy had to face the Elders, but he refused to
back down, telling them that he wanted her to enjoy her last night of freedom.

“He’s crazy too then!” she argued.

“I think this is nuts too, but he loves
you and he wants to make you happy so just go with it, and for Gods sakes don’t
give him a hard time about it. He has enough on his plate without you acting
like a shrew,” Cade told her.

Mercy turned to look at him in
disbelief. “You think I’m acting like a shrew?”

“I said don’t act like one, there’s a
difference.” He rolled his eyes and she placed her hands on her hips, directing
her angry stare upon him, making him squirm in his chair.

She knew he was right. Alec wanted to
keep everything, as normal as possible, but it wouldn’t work no matter how hard
they tried. She was alarmingly aware of how every tick of the clock brought her
closer to the time when she would have to face the Elders and she didn’t expect
a reprieve from them. Gregory thought that they were flexing their muscle to
show the other packs they were still powerful and that they would indeed evoke
the old law that would make her a prize for any male Were willing to fight for
her. According to the law, which Gregory had read with a fine-tooth comb, every
pack would have the right to offer up one male in order to win her as their
mate and bring a Born Were into their pack in the hopes her offspring might
produce another of her kind.  It made her sick to think that in less than a
month, some stranger could have the right to essentially own her because he
beat the hell out of all the others who wanted that honor.  She shivered
involuntarily and wrapped her arms around her mid section, feeling suddenly
nauseous. Her brothers looked on her with sympathy and she knew she needed to
get away from them, to get away from anything that reminded her about the
horrifying situation she was in.