Bonded to the Pack (Born to be Were) (25 page)

“I
wish to challenge that law!” Mercy cried out, silencing everyone instantly.

“You
wish to do what?” Valdis drawled out, looking properly offended.

Mercy
straightened her shoulders and looked directly into his eyes praying her fear
did not show. “I wish to challenge the law,” she said again louder and clearer.

Valdis
looked around the clearing in amazement as if he had never considered she would
make such a request. “You impertinent young female, how dare you question the
laws of our ancestors.”

“It
is my right as a citizen of our society to challenge any law.” The crowd behind
her began to twitter, but she ignored them and continued. “This law does not
consider the damage it inflicts upon the Born Were and the mate destined to be
hers.”

“Emotions
will not keep you safe,” Valdis spat out, his face flamed with indignation. “We
are to do everything in our power to protect the Born Were, one of the purest
of our kind and delivering her to the strongest warrior is the only way to
ensure that.”

“Just
because someone is strong physically, does not make them perfect and may I
point out that the last time you used this law the winner did not get to bond
with the Born Were because the loser killed him and drove the Born Were to
commit suicide rather than be without the mate she was destined for.”     

“How
dare you make such an accusation! The last Born Were fell from a cliff. We do
not believe that there was any foul play involved.”

Mercy
took a deep breath, reminding herself now was not the time to delve into the
past. All she was supposed to do was issue her challenge and allow the others
to handle the rest.

“Young
lady, you have interrupted these proceedings with your ludicrous theories and
wasted enough of our time. Unless you can show some evidence that proves this
drivel please take a seat and allow us to continue,” Valdis commanded, looking
smug and superior, confident there was nothing she could say that would
convince anyone.

“I
know what happened back then because I have seen the Born Were on many
occasions and she has shown me,” she told me argued.

“But
the last Born Were is dead,” he sneered. “Surely you do not want us to believe
that you are in communication with a dead woman?”

  Mercy
noted a pale light begin to glow behind Valdis and the woman from her dreams
appeared, looking upon him with anger. “Sometimes the dead aren’t resting and
she is angered that you refuse me, when you know in your heart what caused her
death.”

Valdis
growled loudly and pounced over the table before anyone could stop him grabbing
Mercy by the shoulders and shaking her. “Are you blaming me?” he roared.

It
took Gregory, Lucan, and Cade to hold Alec back as Valdis shook her mercilessly,
demanding a response.  

Mercy’s
teeth rattled as Valdis repeatedly shook her, but she ignored the pain, knowing
she had to continue. “You were responsible for killing her as surely as if you
had taken a knife to her,” she said loudly so all could hear. “She knows of
your part in the plan to bond her to Micah and allow him the use of her
prestige to rule the packs. She knows how the two of you plotted together to
keep her from her destined mate and she knows you are the one who told Micah
where they were performing the Bonding Ceremony where her lover was killed, and
she gave her life to be with him.” 

“You
know nothing,” he growled, his grip on her shoulders tightening enough to cause
her to cry out.

“I
know that no father should ever sell his daughter for his own gain,” she told
him.

“You
know nothing!” he thundered, slapping her hard enough across her face she fell
to her knees before him.  

Alec
roared and broke free of the trio trying to hold him back, running towards them
with alarming speed unable to control the rage that tore through him at seeing
Valdis hurt his mate. Mason ran from across the clearing and tackled him to the
ground to keep him from interfering.  He was the only one at that moment with
enough calm to know she had to finish what she started. Gregory and Mercy’s
brothers rushed to aid him as he pulled Alec to the sidelines, but even with
four of them a struggle ensued.

Mercy
knew she had to move quickly before Alec broke free once again. “You betrayed
your daughter and indirectly caused her death and now you sit here judging me
for wanting the very same thing you denied her.”

“I
didn’t kill her!” he cried out his face twisted in agony. “I only wanted what
was best for her.”

“The
fates created her Bond Mate for her, are you saying that you in all of your
infinite wisdom know better than the fates who she should have been with?”

“He
was weak!” he bellowed. “He could never have protected her, but Micah swore to
me he would; he vowed to put her before anything, even his own pack!” Everyone
gasped and looked to Micah, who watched it all unfold, his eyes filled with
rage as he came to his feet. “When she died he blackmailed me. He swore that if
I breathed a word about his involvement in her death, he would tell everyone
what I had done. I thought it was in the past and I could forget about it, but
when his daughter cast her runes and saw you, he threatened to expose me if I
did not cooperate. First he arranged to have your parents killed so you would
be orphaned and the Elders could take over your care, but your brothers stepped
in and took you before that could happen. Then he managed to get your brother,
Trevor, integrated with the rogues so we could kill your father and he could
hand you over to Micah, but that failed miserably thanks to your boyfriend
there.” He looked to Alec then back at Mercy. “The Elders were never going to
enforce that law but he insisted so his son could fight and win you and he
would have the power of your status for his own, so I brought it to everyone’s
attention.”    

The
ghost of the last Born Were appeared at his side, her soft white glow
illuminating the clearing, causing everyone to gasp. Valdis looked at her with
fear in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I never knew how wrong I was until it was too
late,” he said, but not to Mercy, or the assembled Weres. He spoke to his
daughter, whom he could now see as clear as day. A knife flew from the darkness
embedding itself in his chest, but he made not a single noise. Instead, he
lifted his eyes to his daughter and begged her forgiveness. “I always loved
you. I just wanted you to be safe.” Valdis reached out one shaking hand and the
ghost took it in an offer of forgiveness, lifting his spirit from his body. His
vacant body fell to Mercy’s feet and the ghost looked to her with a smile.  

“Thank
you,” she said linking her arm through her father’s.

“You’re
welcome,” Mercy whispered.

Both
forms wavered then disappeared from view. Everyone stared, awed by what they
had seen and unsure how to react. No one expected Micah, who had just been
accused of the most heinous crimes, to appear behind Mercy with a large deadly
blade that he pressed to her neck as he held her against him.

“No!”
Alec screamed, breaking free of those who held him and rushing towards where
Micah held Mercy captive.

“Stay
back,” Micah bellowed, tightening his hold on Mercy.

“Let
her go, she has nothing to do with any of this,” Alec pleaded.

“She
has ruined my life and now I will ruin hers,” Micah said dragging her towards
the wood line. “Let us go and you all live; interfere, and I will kill her and
as many as I can.”

Mercy
looked to Alec and saw the fear in his eyes. He knew, as she did, that Micah
wouldn’t let her live, even if he got away. Too much had been revealed, his
plans were ruined, as was his life, all he had left was to make her suffer for
her part in it and she was confident he would make it excruciating.    

Everyone
stood down but Dean, who approached his father warily. “Father, we can be away
quicker without her,” he reasoned.

Micah
snarled and looked to his son with a growl. “You had the Born Were in your
hands and you let her escape, why should I listen to you?”

“I
did what I had to, to save my sister,” Dean countered.

“She
has always been your weakness,” Micah replied shortly.

“Perhaps,
but without Juliet we lose our ability to hide our scent and see into the
future,” he reasoned. “You always told me to keep my assets close at hand and
she is our greatest asset.”

Micah
considered his words and nodded. “You are right, gather your sister and come
with me.”

Dean
turned to his sister who shook her head and cried out when he grabbed her arm
and pulled her along behind him to where their father stood. “Let us go before
they decide to try to be heroe’s,” he sneered.   

Micah
nodded, pulling Mercy into the inky blackness of the forest as his son followed
towing his sister behind. Mercy struggled despite the knife at her neck and
with a growl, Micah tossed her over his shoulder and began running through the
thick maze of trees and brush with his children by his side, feeling pride in
his son for the first time ever.  

Alec
turned to Mason, who nodded in silent agreement shifting as he did, trailing a
safe distance behind the foursome, waiting for the right moment to pounce.   

*****

As
they traveled Mercy kept watch behind for any sign of Alec and Mason, but she
saw nothing to indicate they were following and she began to worry that maybe
Dean had not followed through with their plan, that maybe he had played her and
all along, he was in league with his father.

Micah
stopped suddenly and tossed his human cargo on the ground, looking around for
the best route to take him out of the forest and to the road where he knew Ryan
waited with a getaway vehicle. He was sure the female’s family and boyfriend
were close behind and needed to throw them off track. He looked to Juliet, who
was arguing with her brother, punching him on the arm, earning a slap across
her face for her efforts that knocked her to the ground. She would be useless
to them in their current circumstances so he decided instead to follow the
river, which would hide their scent until she could gather everything she
needed to cast a spell to do it for them. “We will follow the river to the road
and meet Ryan there.”

Dean
nodded. Ryan wouldn’t be there if everything had gone to plan and he
anticipated seeing his father’s face when he realized he was well and truly
caught. When his father turned his back, he glanced to his sister who removed
her hand to reveal a large red welt on her cheek despite his best efforts not
to hit her hard and blanched. She smiled, feeling his unspoken apology, but
looked to where Mercy lay on the ground blood running freely down her neck from
a large jagged tear in her flesh where the knife must have gouged her when she
struggled. He nodded and walked to his father’s side, distracting him while
Juliet tore a piece of her skirt and pressed it to the wound.

“Hold
this against it for now,” she said before backing away a few feet and sitting,
holding her cheek and pretending to sob softly.

“Shut
up,” Micah roared, clearly aggravated and losing his control. Dean turned and
raised his hand taking a step towards his sister, playing his part, but his
father grabbed his arm and stopped him. “No, she will be useful later. We don’t
want her hurt.”

Dean
dropped his hand and turned back to his father. “We should go before they catch
up.” He looked to Mercy. “Do you want me to carry her?”

Micah
looked undecided at first but then he nodded. His son had proven his loyalty by
following him and he deserved respect. Besides, he planned to bond them
together as soon as they were able, in hopes their offspring might produce more
like the Born Were. Full-blooded and powerful Weres he could use to build and
army to destroy all of the packs so he could dominate their world without
interference. It would take time but he was a patient man, after all he had
waited almost a hundred years for the current Born Were, what was another
twenty or more to build the ultimate army.

Dean
grabbed his sister’s wrist and pulled her next to him, then looked down on
Mercy with a wink, lifting her as carefully as he could in his arms, cradling
her against his broad chest instead of throwing her over his shoulder as his
father had done. Micah looked back at them with a frown, but turned and walked
into the river with Dean close behind nodding to his sister who held little
bits of material from her skirt that she hung randomly around branches they
passed when her father wasn’t looking.

*****

Alec
and Mason followed the trail left behind by the brother and sister, both wary
for any sign of deceit. Both anxious over the welfare of their Bond Mates now
that they were in the hands of a male Were whose sanity was in question.  

Alec’s
wolf scented its mate just at the edge of the river bank and he paused, scanning
the area for any sign that might have been left behind when a strip of red
linen caught his eye and he looked to Mason, who had also spied the clue to where
the group had gone.