The Pack (27 page)

    
The kiss between them hung like garlic in a room full of Vampires, neither wanted to address it and both wanted it to go away.
It all came
to head on the ride home one afternoon
when Mercy decided she ha
d enough
and took matters into her own hands
breaking the mutual
silence
. “So are you going t
o the bonfire tomorrow night?” s
he asked tentatively.
He snorted
,
but
did not reply
. “It would not hurt you to g
e
t involved with the school
,
homecoming is a big event
and supporting our team is important.”

    “Really
,”
h
e sneere
d. “I
f you want to fix this
thing between us
don’t use a stupid bonfire
as the excuse to get the ball rolling.
”

     “Okay then how do I go about it
,
because I am not sure why you’re mad at me
at
all?
You are
the one who kissed me
!
N
ot once
,
but
twice
I might point out. I
f anyone should be trying
to mend this
it should be you.”
She folded
her arms ove
r her chest
giving him a cold stare
.

    
“Angel, it
took two for those kisses to be so ho
t
. D
on’t blame
me for your reaction
, maybe old Kirk just isn’t the right guy for you
.” He gave her a drool look and pressed harder on the accelerator
out of frustration
.

     “
Oh and I guess you are!
I didn’t
start this,
you and your wa
ndering lips did
! Fo
r yo
ur information
,
I
d
id not even want you to kiss me!” She turned
towards
the window
so he wouldn’t see the lie in her eyes
.

     “Yeah
,
that’s right
,
it was all me
. Y
ou keep on telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night.”
He pulled into the driveway,
parked
,
then turned to her. “Ask yourself
though
why
you took so long to pull away
,
or if yo
u even would have if Kirk hadn’t
call
ed
.”

    Mercy threw open the car door and grabbed her bag
,
angry he was turning everything on her
.
“God you just can’t stand the fac
t that I have another guy in my life
.” She got out and leaned down
to peer at him
. “News flash Alec
, you’re jealous. Yo
u have always had me to yourself and now you do not want share.” She slammed the door and
took off to
wards
her house
,
but he moved
in front of her almost knocking her down
as she collided with him.

     “You think you know it all don’t you?” He grab
bed her arms and pinned them to
her sides
. “You don’t know anything Angel
.
I kissed you because I wanted too and right now I am not sure whether to throttle you or kiss
you again.” He pulled her against him
ignoring her
backpack as it fel
l to the ground
with a loud thump
. 

     “Alec don’t do this please,” she whispered
,
suddenly very afraid of the feelings
his being so close stirred inside of her.

     “Don’t do what?” h
e asked his lips so close all he had to do was move a fraction of an inch and he would kiss her as he so badly wanted.

     “
T
his
…
don’t play with me
,
I don’
t think I
can
handle it
,
not when I know I would be the only one who took it seriously.”

    
Her voice was plea
ding,
she shook in his arms
, and
he knew he couldn’t go through with it
. “Like I said you don’t know near as much about me as you
think you do.” He let her go,
reached down
and
handed her the bac
kpack. “We can do this your way.
I won’t kiss you again
Angel
,
unless
of course
you beg me
too
.” He turned to walk away
,
but stopped and
looked back
arrogantly
. “And you will.”

     B
y the
time,
she could form words
to answer
he
had
opened t
he door of his house and disappeared from sight. With a
sigh,
she wiped the tears that rolled down her
cheeks and
headed for her own home
.
It was unfai
r, she genuinely liked Kirk,
was happy to date him and then Alec came barreling back into h
er life ruining everything
.    

*****

   
Alec
watched from his front window as she walked to her house
,
her he
ad hung low
,
tears rolling down her cheeks.
H
e had been hurtful
and he hated himself for it,
but he hoped that she might come to see just how much she cared about him if he pushed her
.

    
Confident he was doing the right thing he
pulled out his cell and dialed
grinning
with satisfaction
when it was answered almost immediately.
“I
t’s Alec
,
I was wondering if you might want to go to bonfire
with me
tomorrow night.” He smiled when he got the answer he wanted
set
ting
his plan in motion
. “Good
,
I’ll pick
you up at seven.”

*****

    
“Lucan
,
Kirk wants to take me to the bonfire tomorrow night is that okay?” Mercy asked as they finished dinner
that evening
.

     “A
s long as you’re back
by eleven
I don’t see any problem.
” He sat back in his chair looking
thoughtful. “So, w
hat happened to Alec
,
he has not been around the last couple of days?”

     “You know Alec
.
A
ll the girls at school
have been
hanging all over him
.
I’m sure he’
s probably out with one of them,” s
he said dismissively
still reeling from their encounter that afternoon
.

     “Funny,
his father said he has been home
every
night this week
and he seems to be upset about something.”
He leaned closer looking suspicious. “You two have a fight or something?”

   
“Or something,
” s
he told him rising from her chair.

   
“What does that mean?” Cad
e asked
suspiciously
.

   
“Nothing
,
we just had a disagreement
,
it isn’t important
. I have homework to finish
,
so I’ll see you later.” She walked out of the kitchen le
aving both men staring after
.

     “Maybe I bet
ter talk to her,
” Lucan said rising from the table.

     “
She will talk when she is ready,
”
C
ade told him
stoppin
g him
from chasing after her.

     “What
m
akes you so sure?”

     “She isn’t ready to face this yet
. H
er
feelings for Alec must be
confusing. S
he
has always thought of him as someone unattainable
and now he is there every day doing e
verything he can to win her affection
s
.”

     “What are we supposed to
do sit around and watch her
hurt
ing
?” Lucan asked frustrated by the entire situation.
Some days he thought it might be better t
o tell her everything and pray she would understand
,
b
ut
the thought of her hating them
for
all the things they hadn’t told her
,
kept him quiet.

     “I know
,
I wish there was a different way too
,
but trust me she will come to us when she needs help she always does.”
He tried to sound
confid
ent despite his ow
n fears
, but he too was worried
.

     “Once s
he finds out the truth
,
she may never trust us again.” Lucan sat down ignoring the dishes in the sink
to ponder the past
. “Should we have told her all those years ago?”

  
  “She wasn’t ready then. I think she will be hurt
,
but she’s not six anymore she can handle it.
”

     “Yeah let’s hope
,
because I can’t imag
ine her hating us.
”

     “Spoken like a true father.”
A familiar voice said from the screen door.

    
Both men stilled at the sound of a new comers voice and turned to the door where the one person they never thought to see again stood watching them through the screen.

     “What the hell are you doing here?” Cade jumped to his feet ready to rush the door
,
but Lucan moved in front
of him
blocking his hasty assault
. “Let me at him,” Cade
argued shoving at his brother
, his wolf roaring to life inside of him
.

     “Don’t let him get to you
,
he wants you to fight him
,
so he can prove he’s stron
ger it’s the same old trap
don’t let him win,
”
Lucan warned.

    
Cade felt hi
s brother
push him down in the chair as
his body prepared to shift
.
His head dropped down to his ch
est and his bones began to move
,
but Lucan was to
o
busy focusing on his father
to help him.

  
  “What are you doing here
?” Lucan asked walking closer
to the door calling
to Gregory mentally to let him know of his father’s
unexpected
arrival.

     “I heard you had a daughter
and thought it might be appropriate to come
by and meet my son’s offspring,
”
his father explained.

    
He looked older more ragged than the last time they
had seen him and Lucan sensed a desperation about him
.
“Funny I don’t recall you being very concerned about family in the past. What do you really want?”