Bonded to the Pack (Born to be Were) (9 page)

“You wouldn’t have sensed them,” Mason
said, understanding his upset.  “They give off no odor and are smart enough to
blend in with their surroundings. I first noticed them a few days ago in the
forest, talking about you, Mercy, and the Elders. I followed them then, but the
female was watching for anything suspicious so I couldn’t get too close.” Mason
leaned against the tree and watched Alec’s mood shift from happy to rage-filled.
“I assume you know them, then?”

“I don’t, but I suspect the Elders sent
them to keep an eye on us.”

Mason looked to Mercy’s house. “Are you
going to tell her?”

“For tonight I’ll just keep my eyes
open.  If they flew back home they are not a threat right now, but God knows
when they will show up again.” Mason nodded and Alec stuck out his hand. “Thanks
for letting me know.”

Mason shook his hand and frowned. “You
should also know the female was talking to your friend Rich in the lobby.”

“What the hell!” Alec thundered. “I
thought I could trust him, I thought he was on our side.”

“I don’t know what they were talking about,
I was too far away, but he seemed kind of dazed after she left.”

Alec thought about Gina, and hoped she
wasn’t too attached to Rich, because he was going to kill him if he found out
he was the one who had told the Elders about Mercy.

“Look, I don’t know what is going on,
but I know that you’re angry and probably want to strangle him, but the old
saying “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” really applies here. If
you tip your hand, Rich might run, and you will never know what is going on.”
He pulled his tie from around his neck and stuffed it in his pocket. “I’ll keep
my eye on him. If he meets her again I will let you know.”  

“Thanks, Mason, I would appreciate it,
and please don’t say anything to Mercy about this, she had a wonderful night and
I want that to be what she remembers.” Plus, he didn’t want her to worry.

Mason nodded and walked back into the
forest, leaving Alec to his own thoughts.

Alec wasn’t sure what to make of Mason.
It could be he was lying and setting Rich up to get in good with him, or he
could be telling the truth, which meant Alec had to deal with the fact his best
friend had turned on him. Either way, his mate was in danger and he couldn’t allow
it to continue. No longer could he trust the people he had thought would never
betray him and now he would be forced to turn to someone he had never thought
he would ask for a favor. With little other choice, he took out his cell phone
and dialed the number of the one person he knew could never hurt Mercy, even
though it killed him to do it.

Chapter Five

Mercy woke Sunday morning to the sound
of birds chirping and the smell of bacon cooking in the kitchen downstairs. She
stretched and got of bed, anticipating seeing Alec again after such a magical
night. A quick glance in the mirror to be sure she didn’t look frightful, and
she was on her way out of the door. With a smile, she jogged down the stairs
and turned into the kitchen, faltering when she saw not only her brothers and
Alec at the table, but her ex-boyfriend Kirk, who had at best a tentative
relationship with Alec.

“There she is,” Lucan said from the
stove where he was in the process of flipping pancakes.

Every eye in the room turned to her and
she felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment.

“Morning, Angel,” Alec said coming to
her side and placing his arm around her, escorting her to a chair.

Cade slid a glass of orange juice in
front of her and she took a large swallow before turning to look at Kirk.

“I know. Weird, right?” he asked with a
grin.

Mercy nodded, not trusting herself to
say anything. Given their history together it was more than passing odd, but
she didn’t comment, instead she looked to Alec, who took one of her hands in
his and began stroking her fingers nervously. “Alec, what is going on?”

“We need help and Kirk is about the only
one I trust to give it to us at this point,” he explained.

“What?” Mercy shook her head in
confusion and looked to Cade, who sat across the table watching it all with a
grin.

“I have reason to believe that Rich
might be the one who tipped off the council about your being a Born Were. He is
the one in charge of the pack members keeping watch over you so I can’t exactly
trust him, but I can’t pull him off that duty either without raising suspicion
so I asked Kirk to help us out.”

“Alec, Rich wouldn’t do this. He is your
best friend,” Mercy said, unable to believe Rich would be capable of such
deceit.

“It has always seemed that way, but I
have some evidence that is pretty damming and I can’t trust him until I know,
but I also can’t let him know I have evidence on him.  If he knew, it might
force his hand before I know exactly what it is he is up to.”

“I can’t believe this.” She clasped his
hand, seeing clearly how upset he was by the news his friend might be the very
one that betrayed them.   

Alec tightened his grip on her hand and
looked to Kirk. “I needed someone who had no reason to betray us to help, and
since Kirk is heir to his own pack and has always cared for you he was the
logical choice.”

Mercy was stunned. Alec asking for Kirk’s
help was huge, and it meant he had no one else to turn to.

“I have offered some of my father’s
people to keep an eye on things around here. Since we are the local pack, our
presence won’t seem odd to Rich or the rest of Alec’s pack.”

She stared at them in disbelief. Not
long ago they were ready to rip each other’s throats out and now, to protect
her, they were working together. Tears flooded her eyes and Alec pulled her
into his arms. “Isn’t this going to be weird for you?” she asked Kirk.

He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe a
month ago, but I know now that Alec is your true mate and I am dating Lane now
so, there’s no weirdness for me. Are you alright with this?”

Mercy gulped and looked to Alec, who
seemed awfully calm about everything.  The only sign he was aggravated was the
tight grip he had on her hand. “I guess I mean you and I were friends long
before we dated, but won’t Lane mind?”

“Nah, she knows how I feel about her and
she is your friend too, you know.”

 He gave her a charming smile that
melted the last of her reservations and she found herself agreeing with their
plan. “I’m so glad you and Lane found each other,” she said, honestly happy he
too had found love.

“Yeah, me too,” he said, his cheeks
growing slightly pink.

“So how exactly is this going to work? 
I mean Rich knows about me dating Kirk, he isn’t going to believe that you are
okay with us being friends.”

Alec smiled and patted her leg. “No, but
he knows that you and Lane are friends and as such would expect your men to get
along, despite our past. Don’t worry, Kirk and I will play our parts well.”

“So what, we are now going to be the
best of friends and begin double dating?”

“No,” both men said in unison.

Alec cleared his throat, looking to Kirk
with a thin smile. “I just want an extra set of eyes and someone I can trust to
keep an eye on you if the need should arise.”

“And I have agreed to be that guy,” Kirk
said.

“So at home you will have you brothers
to watch over you and at school you will have me, Kirk, our pack, and some of his
pack keeping an eye out.”

“Okay, if you’re both sure you can
handle this, I’m alright with it.”  She looked to her brothers, who had been
silent throughout the exchange. “What do you two think about all of this?”

“Right now it seems like the best course
of action. I mean, we know Kirk is honorable and his pack’s loyalty to him is
not in question, so it couldn’t hurt to have their help,” Lucan said.

“Besides, Rich knows we trust Kirk’s
pack and with Lucan and Nina being Bond Mates they would be the obvious choice
for us to bring in for help, so it won’t raise his suspicions,” Cade added. “It
is a solid plan.

 Kirk stood and shook hands with her
brothers before turning to Alec and shaking his hand too. “It takes a great man
to put aside their differences for the good of his mate.  I hope one day I can
do the same if my mate is in trouble.”

“You would, and if that day ever comes
you can count on me for help,” Alec told him sincerely.

Kirk turned to Mercy and smiled, but
made no attempt to touch her. “See you at school.”

“Thank you, Kirk.”

“Don’t thank me, your mate asked for my
help. I hope you can appreciate just how hard that must have been for him.”

Mercy reached for Alec’s hand and
squeezed it tight. “I can.”

*****

Knowing someone had betrayed her and
told the Elders about her existence weighed heavily upon Mercy for the rest of
the week. She should have felt at ease with Alec’s pack and now Kirk’s watching
over her, but instead she was uneasy and was constantly on guard. On top of
everything else going on in her life, it was finals week and that meant hours
of review at school and a ton of extra studying at home until late into the
night. By the time Friday came she was so tired and stressed. All she wanted
was to go home where she knew she was safe and could get some rest.

“Tired, Angel?” Alec asked when she laid
her head on his shoulder as they sat on the porch swing after school.

 “Exhausted,” she answered, snuggling up
against him and closing her eyes.

Alec knew it had been a tough week for
her, he had sensed her panic every time Rich was near and her fear made him
tense. He hated the uncertainty that surrounded his longtime friend, but there
was nothing to be done about it until they knew one way or the other if he was
the traitor. So far, they had found nothing to suggest Rich had been the one
going to the council, except for Mason’s word and they didn’t know him well
enough to trust him either.

Mason had been oddly silent since
talking to Alec. He was always there, just out of the way, watching and waiting,
but doing nothing suspicious. Lucan had taken a late night trip to the airfield
and found records that indicated a male and female had indeed taken a flight
out from there the night of the prom, which confirmed Mason’s findings, but
didn’t clear him in any way. Despite his long friendship with Rich, his
instincts told him Mason was telling the truth. The lone wolf had nothing to
gain by going to the Elders with information about Mercy and he genuinely
seemed to care for her, but he wasn’t going to just blindly trust anyone. Not
anymore, he had learned that lesson the hard way just a few months before when
one of his childhood friends fooled him and tried to kill Mercy.

Alec looked down, realized Mercy had
fallen asleep and he smiled, running his fingers through her long silky
tresses. Her hair was soft and smelled of vanilla and evergreen, a scent
distinctly her own. He settled back against the swing, happy to stay there
until she woke again. Soon, he thought, soon he would never have to leave her
side.  Once they were bonded, if she wanted a nap, he could curl up in the big
bed he had bought just last weekend for their bedroom back home and stay by her
side, without worrying about her brothers wanting to kill him. Within a few
short weeks, she would be his forever, and that was worth all of the back-stabbing
and rank fighting in the world to him.

Lucan walked out onto the porch and
smiled sadly when he saw his sister curled up in Alec’s lap sound asleep as he
rocked the porch swing steadily. “She has always loved to be rocked to sleep,”
he said taking a seat across from them. “When I first brought her home she
would curl up every night on my lap and lay there as I stroked her hair and
sang to her until her eyes would close and she would fall fast asleep.”

“I remember,” Alec said.  Even back then,
he had been unable to stay away from her. He been there many nights with her
brothers as they tucked her into bed and read her stories from the many books
she had collected. Back then he was more like a friend, a confidante, and all
he had wanted was to see to her happiness, but even then, he had known that
their destiny would lead them to the moment that was close at hand.

Lucan sighed. “She has been up every
night this week, those dreams are terrorizing her.”

Alec knew: he had been outside the house,
felt her fear, but had allowed her brothers to handle her, since he was
watching for any sign of the pair that had managed to infiltrate the prom.

“This can’t go on, we need to end it and
soon,” Lucan told him.

“Do you think I don’t know that, Luc,”
Alec said a little more sharply than he had intended. “I had pictured a much
different scenario than this. I feel like I am robbing her of her life by
bonding so soon with her. But another part of me is glad to finally claim her
for my own. She is everything to me. I can’t let them take her away. I won’t
let anyone have what is mine!”