Bonded to the Pack (Born to be Were) (12 page)

“I have to go,” she said, running for
the back door.

“Mercy.” Lucan reached for her, but she
growled angrily and he pulled his hand back in surprise.

“Go,” Cade said sensing her need to run
and clear her head. Lucan shot him a dirty look, but he held firm. “The forest
couldn’t be better protected, Luc, let her go.”

Lucan nodded and Mercy took off through
the door, shifting gracefully as she met the forest wall. Her wolf was free,
running through the familiar acres of endless forest, jumping fallen trees,
chasing rabbits and deer, as her human side retreated into the far recess of
her mind to hide out and regain her sanity.  She sensed the Elders’ Weres as
she ran, but ignored their presence and continued on her romp around the woods
until she was exhausted and ready to return to her human state. Easily she
shifted and reached into the hollow of a tree, grabbing a spare change of
clothes. Once dressed, she walked to the river and sat down, staring out upon
the clear, clean water instead of returning home. 

“You know Alec won’t let anyone else
have you,” Mason said, walking out from behind a large tree where he had been
hiding.

“He may not have a choice,” Mercy told
him grimily.

“If it comes down to it, I would bet my
money on Alec. You do him a huge injustice by not believing in him.” He sat
next to her and tossed a loose rock into the still water, making tiny ripples
across the surface.

“I don’t want him to fight for me,
Mason. I chose him. I want him for my mate, and I don’t think the Elders have
the right to take the choice from me,” she explained, tears forming in her
eyes.

“Listen, I don’t know much about pack
law, but I have been all over these woods listening to these new-comers and I
can tell you the Elders are feeling pressure to convince the packs they are not
a useless figurehead.” He sent another rock flying into the water and turned to
face her. “So many packs are being taken over by young Alphas who are
unfamiliar with the old ways that they want to show that they still have power.”

“That’s ridiculous. Alec wants to bring
back the old ways, not forget them,” she told him, reminded of how hard Alec
had been working to reorganize yearly pack meetings where all of the packs
could mingle, talk business, and maybe find their Bond Mates if they were
lucky.

“The Elders may not know that, but if
someone pointed it out to them, it might make them look at things differently.”

Mercy perked up instantly. He was right,
if she told them about Alec’s efforts and pointed out that he was trying to
keep the old ways, she might be able to prove he was the one for her. Suddenly
the idea of meeting the Elders didn’t seem so daunting and she jumped to her
feet excitedly. “Thanks Mason, you’re the best,” she said, kissing his cheek
and running back through the woods for home.

*****

It was dinner when Alec walked into the
kitchen wearing a tight black T-Shirt and a pair of form-fitting jeans that had
Mercy chewing her lip as watched him stride closer. Fortunately, for her
sanity, he spared Lucan and Cade only a quick hello before pulling her against
him and lowering his head to hers, kissing her so passionately that when he let
her go she had to hold onto his arm to stay upright.

“How are you, Angel,” he asked with a
wicked grin.

“Better now,” she said breathlessly,
staring up at him with love shining in her eyes. “Where have you been?”

“I was meeting with a few other pack
leaders. They too believe that forcing any one of our pack members, Born Were
or not, is completely barbaric.”

“Are they willing to stand up to the
council and say that?” Lucan asked.

Alec shook his head with a frown. “Not
until more of the packs agree to stand with us, but I don’t plan on giving up
until I have talked to everyone.”

Mercy grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
“I believe in you, and others will too.”

“I know you do, baby, and I won’t let
you down, I swear, even if I have to fight every male who tries to come between
us.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” she
said, hugging his waist.

“Me too, Angel.” He hugged her tight,
savoring the feel of her in his arms, committing it to memory for the time he
might not be with her.

“Let’s eat,” Lucan said, setting out the
meal he had made for them.  For once though, no one had an appetite or very
much to say while they ate.

*****

Alec sat on the porch after dinner,
Mercy wrapped in his arms, as she spoke to Gina on her cell phone making plans
for school the next day. It was spirit week and as captain of the cheerleading
squad, it was up to Mercy to organize the cheerleaders to energize everyone for
their last spirit week of the year. With everything going on in her life, he
tried to get her to pass it off to Gina, but she insisted she needed something
normal to keep her busy so he had relented.

“Okay, Gina, thanks for your help. I’ll
see you tomorrow,” Mercy said, then hung up the phone with a sigh and leaned
back against him. “Tomorrow’s theme is masquerade. Gina got us both masks to
wear.”

“Great,” he said, willing to wear a stupid
mask if it would make her happy. She sighed loudly and wrapped her arms around
her stomach, staring off into the distance.

“What’s wrong, baby?” He knew it was a
stupid question even as it came out of his mouth and blanched when she looked
at him with a raised eyebrow.

“If you can’t get the other packs to
support you, what will happen?”

“Don’t even think about that. I will
make this work somehow,” he told her. Mercy turned and stared up at him,
looking so fragile he couldn’t help but pull her to him and hold her close.

“I don’t want to go into this blind.  You
need to tell me everything that could happen so I know what to expect,” she
said wearily. He was trying to protect her. To keep her from worrying, but the
unknown was far more worrisome than anything he could tell her. “Please, Alec,
I need to know.”

Alec knew he couldn’t keep her in the
dark; she had the right to know what they were facing, but a part of him feared
she would not believe he had the ability to win her if it came down to
fighting. He took a deep breath and explained, despite his reservations.  “The
council will most likely detain you until they make a decision. If we are lucky,
maybe enough of them have decided that our bond is more important the old laws.
If not, every pack will have the right to put forth one of their own to fight
for the chance to bond with you.”

His fingers rubbed hers nervously. Mercy
clasped them with her free hand and looked up meeting his gaze, realizing he
needed her support more than ever. “So if it comes to that, you just have to
win and we can be together forever right?”  He nodded and she smiled, hugging
him close. “Good, then there is nothing I need to worry about.”

Alec was shocked by how easily she
believed he would win. He had thought she would worry, beg him not to fight,
but instead she seemed to calmly accept that the outcome would be in his favor
and that everything would work out. It was so unlike the old Mercy that he was
speechless, but the moment she reached up and pulled his head to hers and their
lips met, he realized didn’t need to use words anyway.

*****

From the woods, a figure watched, her
porcelain white skin luminescent in the moon light that broke through the tree
branches that towered above her. Her hands were clenched as she watched the
young couple on the porch, jealousy for what they shared making her body
tremble.  She had been sent to ensure the Born Were didn’t run or that her mate
didn’t try to bond with her before she met with the Elders. It was not a job
she had wanted.  The idea of tearing apart two Weres who had found each other,
gnawed at her.

“I miss the forest back home,” Wren said
behind her.

“Me too, but the Elders were very clear.
Until they arrive, we must stay.”

The males hand fell upon her shoulder and
she whirled on him, teeth gnashing as she snarled. A jolt of electricity
flooded her at his touch and she despised her body for the reaction it had to
him. “Do not ever touch me again, Wren, or I will end your miserable life
without a thought.”

Wren pulled his hand back, and stared at
her quizzically. “I have never seen you this tense, Jaden, what is going on?”

Jaden looked to the couple on the porch
and frowned. “Do you ever wonder if it is real?”

“What?” Wren asked following her gaze,
still not understanding.

“The idea that there is one perfect Were
for you, the only one who can make you whole?”  She watched as Alec stroked
Mercy’s check tenderly, causing a ripple of jealousy to go through her.  They
seemed so perfect for one another and she resented that fate had made it that
way for them when they made her own mate so very wrong for her.

“I have never seen it,” he told her,
looking doubtful.  

“Me either, until I saw these two
together.” Jaden said quickly, unwilling to let him see her own feelings for
him. “Look at them. See how he instinctively knows how to soothe her. She is no
different: as scared as she is, she believes in him and doesn’t doubt for one
second he will be the one who wins her.” She watched Alec gather Mercy in his
arms and carry her into the house as if she were the most precious thing in the
world to him and felt a warmth spread through her that she had never felt
before. Many times she had dreamed of Wren doing the same thing to her, but
ever would she admit that to the womanizing male before her.

“I think you’re crazy,” Wren sneered.

Jaden didn’t even bother to respond,
Wren didn’t believe in love. He was a notorious womanizer who jumped from one
woman to another. On assignment that could be helpful when they needed to get
close to their targets, but for some reason his constant womanizing was
annoying her more than ever on their assignment. Maybe it was the fact that
everyday she was confronted with two mates so obviously meant for one another.
Or maybe it was just that she was ready for that kind of relationship in her
life, but either way it was getting to her.

“Let’s get out of here and let the
others keep watch, we have a big day tomorrow,” he said, rubbing his hands
together in anticipation. “I would imagine there will be a lot of hot girls at
that high school and I intend to sample as many as possible before we leave
here.”

“Our mission here is not to fool around
with the locals, Wren. We were sent to ensure that the Born Were remains where
she is and is kept safe until the Elders arrive.” 

“Whatever,” he said, shifting easily to
his wolf form, staring up at her with canine eyes as dark night.

“You’re such a jerk,” she told him,
calling upon her own wolf, and shifting seamlessly into a stark white wolf
before running off through the forest, howling loudly to let the others know
she was leaving.

Wren’s wolf paused, looking back at the
house seeing the girl’s light turn on as her mate walked off the porch stairs,
smiling happily despite the circumstance they were facing. Maybe, he thought,
there was something to the whole Bond Mate thing, not that it mattered to him.
There was no way he was being tied down to one female for the rest of his days,
no way in hell!

*****

Mason watched the female and her partner
leave the clearing from the spot where he rested high up in an old evergreen
covering his scent with its bountiful fragrance. The male was a cocky little
piece of work who needed to be put in place by some she-wolf who wouldn’t put
up with his crap, but the female was different. She seemed to care about Alec
and Mercy, which he found interesting given the fact she was there to split
them up.

“Mason,” Alec called from beneath the
tree.

Shocked Alec had found him so easily and
took him by surprise Mason climbed down and shifted back to his human form.
“How did you know where I was?”

Alec smiled. “You’re not as hard to
figure out as you think you are, now that I am getting to know you.”

Mason grimaced. He prided himself on the
fact he could blend in wherever he went, but Alec had figured him out in a very
short time. Either he was slipping or Alec was just that good; neither option made
him happy. “What can I do for you?”

“You could try putting on some clothes
and following me to my house.”

Mason bristled at his command. He wasn’t
part of Alec’s pack and he didn’t take orders from anyone.

Alec realized almost immediately, what
he had done and turned to face Mason with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’m used
to issuing orders, not asking favors.”

Mason felt some of his initial anger
leave him and he nodded.

“I need your help, and trusting you is
not easy given I know very little about you, but this is for Mercy and she
believes in you so I am hoping her instincts are right.”