Bonded to the Pack (Born to be Were) (2 page)

“Luc, are you really okay about Alec and
me,” she asked, interrupting his thoughts. 

He opened the door and walked outside to
keep her company while she waited. “Would it matter?” he asked, taking a seat
on the rattan chair closest to her, earning a frown. As always, he wanted only
to ease her worries and rushed to explain. “Bond Mates are special, Mercy. I
know that and I know Alec will be a good mate for you, but you are both so
young. I wanted you to experience life and find your own path before some
overprotective male werewolf swept you off your feet and took you away.  

“You know, you are an overprotective
male werewolf too, or have you forgotten how you act when Nina doesn’t follow
your wishes?”

Lucan sighed. “Nina and I are adults. We
have experienced life without one another before we met.”

“So what, you want me to meet other men
and do with them all the things with them I want to do with Alec?” she asked
teasingly.

“God, no,” Lucan groaned.

Mercy decided to give him a break.  She
knew he only wanted was best for her, but she was confident Alec was it and
didn’t have a single doubt about their future together. “I love him, Luc. I
know you're having a hard time with that, but he is my mate, the one I am meant
to be with, whether it be now, or later.” She took the seat next to him and
smiled. “I know what I am doing. You have to trust me on this.”

Lucan stared at the ring that hung from
a thick chain around her neck and his jaw began to tic. Alec had given it to
her just before a crazy she-wolf from his past had tried to kill Mercy so she
could have Alec for herself. The ring was thousands of years old and had graced
the finger of every Alpha in their pack since its creation. By accepting it from
Alec, she had acknowledged to every werewolf who saw it that he was her mate. Although
it didn’t tie them together permanently, it was another step in the bonding
process Alec had unwittingly started when he had taken her hand in his when she
was just a child. Another step she took further away from her family, and from
him.

“Earth to Luc,” Mercy said snapping her
fingers in front of him.  “You know that no matter how much I love Alec it
could never diminish the love I have for you, right?”

His heart melted instantly. Mercy always
knew the right words to say to make him feel better. “I know, just as I know
you two are a good pair. It is just so soon. I want you to consider how much
the Bonding Ceremony will change your life. No longer will you be free to do
what you want. As the mate of an Alpha you will have to look to him for confirmation
on every decision you make.”

“I know that, but Alec is a fair person
and I know he will always try to do his best by me.”

Lucan shook his head. “When Alec takes
over the pack his word is final. I know he will be good to you, but there will
be times you will resent the fact he has the final say in your life.” 

“Does Nina resent you?” she asked in
response.

“Of course not,” he said, looking
insulted.

“We are not going to agree on this, Luc,
but I am aware how much I am giving up and I accept it because I know Alec is
the one for me. I don’t need another month, or year, to see that. You have to
trust me and allow me to make my own decisions.”

Lucan sighed tiredly. “I know, but it is
so hard to let you go.  Especially now when you are so young.”

Mercy knew Lucan had given up his entire
life to raise her, but now that he had found his Bond Mate Nina, she hoped her
presence would ease the pain her leaving his home would cause. Besides, once
the Bonding Ceremony was complete, they were all moving back to the little town
they had run from to protect her. In a place that small, she knew they would
see each other all the time.

Before Lucan could say another word,
headlights illuminated the driveway and Mercy flew off the porch, racing
towards the black Dodge Charger that carried her mate home to her. He watched
as she ran, but instead of seeing the young woman she had become, he saw the
little girl she had been and his heart ached. He would sorely miss having her
in his home, but he knew that she would be well cared for by her future mate.
Alec could do nothing other than love and cherish her for the rest of her
existence; he was her Bond Mate and no other female could ever mean as much to
him as she did. The car slid to a halt and he sighed, resigned to the fact
their conversation was over. With one last sad glance over his shoulder, he walked
back into the house to give them time alone to say the hello to each other.

*****

Alec
saw Mercy running from the porch and hit the brakes, stopping the car in the
middle of the driveway, and parking it, barely getting out of his seat before
Mercy launched herself into his arms. “Hey, Angel,” he said, hugging her close,
his nose filling with her sweet fragrance, as he savored the feel of her in his
arms once again.

“I missed you,” she said tilting her
face upwards so he could kiss her, frowning when she saw faint bruising across
one of his cheeks. “What happened?”she asked, taking a step back and looking concerned.

“Pack stuff, it’s not important,” he
said, pulling her back into his arms, his lips finding hers instantly. He had
missed her more than he could have thought possible while he had been gone. His
time away only increased his determination to bond with her as soon as possible,
so she would never again have to be left behind when he dealt with pack
business back home.

“Alec, you’re hurt, and I want to know
why,” she insisted, breaking off their kiss and trying to pull out of his arms. 

Alec sighed tiredly. He had hoped the
dark would hide the bruising until they at least had a proper greeting out of
the way, but he should have known better. When it came to him, Mercy didn’t
miss anything. “Mercy, it was a long, lonely weekend without you, can you at
least greet me properly, before giving me a lecture?”

“Of course,” she murmured, brushing her
lips across his quickly to appease him.

“I don’t think so,” he chuckled, his own
lips melding to hers in a demanding kiss that left them both breathing heavily
and Mercy clinging to him to keep herself upright. Her cheeks were flushed a
pretty shade of pink, her mouth kiss swollen, and her eyes filled with desire
as he pulled back to look down upon her with a satisfied grin. It did his heart
good to know that only he could make her so flustered with just one kiss, and
he couldn’t help but feel pride that she was well and truly his for eternity. “Now
that we got that out of the way, how have you been?”

Mercy frowned. He was trying to smoothly
move on to another subject so she wouldn’t question him about the bruising on
his face, but she was having none of it. It was bad enough he left her every
weekend, but now he was coming back with injuries that he refused to explain to
her and that made her angry. “You are not turning this around. I want to know
what happened to your face.” She placed her hands on her hips and glared,
waiting for an answer.  

Alec shook his head at her persistence. He
had worried about her reaction the entire drive back to the mountains and now
she was doing exactly what he had feared she would do, over react. Not long ago
she would have just accepted his refusal to talk about it, but now that she had
found her werewolf side she was not so easily swayed into obedience. While he
found it adorable at the present, soon it was not going to be acceptable. When
he took over his father’s pack, his word would be law.  Her disagreeing with
him in public would be detrimental to his position as Alpha and he had to make
her understand that, but he didn’t want to hurt her. “It was just a little
misunderstanding, nothing for you to worry about.”

She blew out an exasperated breath and
stared him down, but she could tell he wasn’t going to budge. “In other words
you aren’t planning to tell me what happened.”  Since he had started traveling
back and forth, he had been keeping many things from her. She wasn’t sure what
exactly, but she was hurt that he thought he couldn’t come to her with whatever
situation was bothering him.

Alec sighed inwardly. The monotonous travel
was taking its toll on their relationship. She was upset he was gone so much
and keeping things from her, and he was tired of longing for her when he was at
home amongst the pack he would soon lead. Soon, he was going to have to tell
her everything that was going on, but after being separated from her for days,
all he wanted was to hold her in his arms and forget about everything else but
her.

Mercy sensed his need for peace, decided
to let the bruise go for the moment, and just enjoy the fact he was there
beside her and was just as happy to see her as she was to see him, but soon she
knew they would have to talk. “I love you,” she said, kissing him long and hard
to remind him what he had been missing when he was gone.

“I love you too,” he said as he pulled
back, resting his forehead resting against hers. “You will never know how hard it
is for me to be away from you.”

“Oh I think I understand completely.  It
is no picnic being away from you either,” she murmured as he moved in to kiss
her again.

Fire, ran through Alec’s body as she pressed
herself against him. Every part of him, human and wolf, responded to her. Before
he knew what happened he had her pressed against the car, his hands moving over
her body as his lips danced in time with her own. She tasted sweet, like
honeysuckle, and she smelled so dangerously intoxicating that he couldn’t get
enough of her. It was a dangerous game they were playing, one that neither
wanted to end, but as always, the promise he had made her brothers repeated in
his head. He knew he had to stop before they got carried away and went too
far. 

“Alec,” Mercy murmured against his lips,
her breathing raspy, her voice laced with desire as her hand moved under his
shirt, her fingers cool rubbing against his overheated skin. “Why don’t we take
a walk in the woods and continue this there?”

“You’re killing me, Angel,” he said,
dipping his head to taste her sweet lips once more.

Mercy knew he was as tempted as she was,
and played on it. He had promised her brothers he wouldn’t have sex with her
until they were bonded, but the nightmares she experienced recently made her
fear they might never be together if it didn’t happen soon so she pressed him
for more.

Alec’s wolf growled deep inside of him
as he broke off the kiss and took a step back. He breathed in some of the cold
night air hoping to cool himself off, but Mercy wasn’t done with him. She
looked up at him with desire-laden eyes and smiled devilishly, moving so fast
he barely had time to register what she was doing before she had him pressed
against the car, her mouth laying siege to his as her hands roamed over his
already over-stimulated body.  He knew he should push her away and make her see
that he was trying to do the right thing by her, but when her hands slid over
his stomach, pushing his shirt up, he forgot all about the things he should do and
turned his thoughts to the things he wanted to do to her. Unconsciously he lifted
her against him, moaning her name. She wrapped her legs around his waist,
pressing her mouth harder against his and sunk her fingers into his thick hair.
He turned toward the forest with a growl and took one-step forward, when the sound
of the screen door slammed behind him alerting him to Lucan’s presence.
Immediately Mercy stiffened, dropped her legs, and pulled out of his arms. He
tugged his shirt back down just seconds before Lucan stepped to the end of the
porch and looked to where they stood with easy-to-read censure.

Alec looked to Mercy, who was flushed
and breathing heavily, and sighed. “Is he still upset about you wearing my
ring?”

Mercy fingered the ring that hung around
her neck and took a deep, calming breath, hoping to ease the trembling of her
body. “You know he’s not upset about the ring. It’s the idea that I am no
longer a little girl that bothers him.”

“That is for sure,” he said leering at
her playfully, before pulling her against his side with a chuckle and walking
her to the porch where her brother waited.

“Letch,” she said, slapping his arm
playfully, her face filled with concern when he flinched. “Alec, what is going
on?” She pulled his arm into the light the porch offered, gasping when she saw
three deep lacerations on the back of it that looked fresh and raw. “I want to
know right now what is going on!” she demanded.

“Will you just trust me? This is nothing
I can’t handle,” he snapped, looking away unable to bear the look of hurt in
her eyes.  

 “Welcome back, Alec. I made brownies,
come on inside and have some,” Lucan said, aware of the tension between them
and hoping to avoid a fight.    

“Alec,” Mercy said, clearly upset about
his injuries and the fact he had obviously intended to hide them from her.

“Let it go, Mercy,” he warned, his aggressive
Alpha side coming through.

She bristled at the arrogance of his
tone, but said nothing more as he escorted up the stairs and into the house.

“How’s your dad doing?” Lucan asked Alec
as they took their seats at the table.