Authors: Donna Flynn
“I suppose you have a plan?” Lucan asked Alec who had watched with barely concealed rage when Kirk had
dared to touch
her.
“I’m playing it by ear.” He grabbed his coat off the back
of the chair and walked to the back door
. “See you ar
ound.”
Lucan nodded secure
in the knowledge Gregory and himself
would be close by at the bonfire to make sure the two predatory males did not get killed or kill one another.
*****
“If I eat another marshmallow I will turn into one," Lane told Alec as they sat around
the fire with all of the other revelers
later that evening
.
“Well you would defiant
ly be my
favorite food,” he teased
.
Mercy watched their exchange feeling sick to her stomach. Alec was b
eing sweet and attentive to Lane a
girl she really liked and knew deserved it
. Still, s
he could not help the jealousy she felt every time he placed his hand on hers
or when he leaned close
as they spoke.
To top it off s
he felt cold inside
and no matter how hard
Kirk tried to make her happy s
he just could not seem to muster up the usual fun loving attitude she normally possessed.
“Ar
e you cold?” Alec asked Lane. S
he nodded
and he took of his jacket placing
it around her
shoulders
letting
his
arm lay
there
. Lane leane
d her head against his shoulder,
yawned and he smiled down on her dropping a kiss to her forehead.
He had no romantic interest in her and she felt the same for him, but he genuinely liked her and wanted to be her friend.
Mercy jumped to her feet outraged by what he was seeing,
her whole body trembling
with rage.
Every fiber of her being demanded she march over to them and pull Lane from his arms.
“
Y
ou alright?” Kirk asked jumping up
next to her looking concerned.
“I do
n’t feel ve
ry good,” she managed to get out
before walking away
to get some fresh air before she made a fool of herself
or hurt someone
.
She felt horrible for making Kirk so miserabl
e. It was wrong,
but she could not change how she felt, she was too
far-gone
. Alec had made her fall for him, despite
all the reasons she knew they should never be together
.
“Mercy wait,
” Kirk called out following
until she stopped
,
swiping
away
the tears in her eyes
. He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her laying her head against his chest. S
he was upse
t about Alec, every time he and L
ane were near that night she became sul
len and teary eyed. She was
slipping away
from him
and
nothing he could do would
change it
.
If the way her and Alec acted around each other were any indication of
their
tru
e
feelings he wondered if he shoul
d get out now before he became any more enamored with her.
“Why don’t I take yo
u home
.”
“Would you mind?” She hated
that he was so nice to
her even w
hen she was clearly upset about another
guy
.
He was simply th
e kindest person she had ever m
et and once
again,
she
chastised herself for not caring about
him,
as he deserved.
“Nah
,
let
’
s get out of here.”
He walked her to the car and helped her in kneeling at the door to talk to her about thei
r situation
, but h
e never got
a chance to say
a word.
As Mercy looked down on Kirk, his
face went
ghost
white and he grabbed his chest
looking down
in shock
at th
e crimson stain that blossomed across his chest
before collapsing against her leg
.
She
scrambled out of the car with a scream
, watching the blood flow
from his chest
in horror
.
Suddenly
,
Alec was there next to her his hand over her mouth
,
his arms wrapped around her mid section
as he bent
over her protecting
her from any other bullets that might strike
.
“D
o not scream it will bring the others do you understand?” She nodded and he removed his hand
.
He felt the presence of others from his pack
moving towards them
and knew they were safe
,
so he leaned down to look
over the wound
on Kirks chest
.
“Is he…” she could bring herself to say the words
,
but he knew what she meant.
“No he’s alive, but we need to get this bullet out ca
n you do it?”
She nodded and
leaned
down next to Kirk
placing her hands over the
wound
.
B
lood seeped through her fingers, it
s sticky wetness making her nauseas,
but
she forced herself to concentrate
. She felt her energy
leave
her
body
and work
its way through his,
thoroughly cleaning up the mess the bullet had made
. W
hen she had done what she could
she pulled out bringing the offending it
em along with her
,
coming in
to her own
body gasping for air
and
promptly passing
out into Alec’s
arms.
“Go
! Get her home we
have him.”Gregory commanded striding
towards them in
his human form. “Luc and I will drive Kirk’s car to the
house
,
we will call his father once we have him settled.
“Better call the sister too
,
I would bet anything there is Mandrake in his system
, Mercy wouldn’t have known to look
.” Lucan told him sliding into the car as Gregory lifted Kirk into his arms
and laid him in the back seat
.
“We will make sure she comes with their fath
er,” h
e told him sliding into the passenger’s seat bes
ide the young
Alpha
who moaned in pain
.
*****
By the
time,
they arrived at the hou
se Alec
had Mercy in his arms on the front porch
waiting for them
.
Lucan joined him
,
opening the door as Gregory walked up the stairs carrying Kirk in his arms.
“Get her in bed
.
I will clean him up and tuck him
in the guest room,
” Gregory ordered
. “Once you get her settled
,
get back to the fire and take your da
te home then
come back here.” Alec
was about to protest leaving
,
but his father impaled him with a look that stopped him from speaking. “Son, she will be safe here and by the time she wakes you will be back
,
but we must
not
let the human
s know what happened there tonight
.”
Alec carried Mercy to her room and laid her on the bed covering her with a soft pink blan
ket
before kissing her tenderly
and heading out to take care of business.
He
hated leaving her
,
but knew his f
ather was right
. E
verything
mu
st appear normal
so
,
he did as requested with a heavy heart.
“Mercy got the bullet out and I purged the Mandrake from his system
so
he should be fine
.” Nina told the men assembled in the room
a few hours later
.
“Why did this
happen?” Kirks father
Jared
demanded
angrily
.
“We didn’
t see
anyone
,
the bullet came from nowhere
,
” Lucan told him.
“Well I guess you are
not very good at protecting a
nyone are you?”
Jared yelled.
Lucan
already stressed by the events of the last few weeks,
came at him with alarming speed
.
Gregory stepped between t
hem stopping him from attacking
the outraged
Alpha
.
“This is not going to help anything.” Gregor
y said placing his hand on Lucan’s arm to calm him
before turning to Jared
. “
I was there to
o
and I did not feel another’s presence
.
Whoever this is t
hey are smart an
d know how to go about their
business
without detection
.”
“Father
,
they saved him by reacting so quickly
,
you should be than
king them not acting like they were responsible
.” Nina said pla
cing her small hand on his arm. “
Now apologize to Lucan he did nothing wrong.”
“Nina
do not interfere
with pack business
,
”
Jared
growled
angrily.
“A
pologize
,
it is the right thing to do
and you know it
,” s
he scolded
unafraid of his harsh tone
.
Lucan watched as the strong
Alpha
crumbled under her soft reasoning
.
He couldn’t blame the man
,
s
he
was
the pre
ttiest thing he had ever seen and h
er brand of warmth would be dangerous to a
n
y man
.
S
he turned to him and
his entire body stilled as he
r eyes meet his. If anyone would have told him his breathe would be taken away and his heart would stop beating
when he meet his Bond M
ate he would have said they were crazy
,
but now he finally understood
what it was all about.
“I’m sorry Lucan
,
I know you are honorable
,
I am jus
t concerned for my family,” Jared said taking a seat
next to his son
,
laying
his head in his hands
unaware of the exchange between his dau
ghter and the man he spoke
too
.
“He’s not
the only one who has been shot.
”
Alec
told them as strode
into the room
looking slightly rumpled
and worried
. It had taken only a short time
to get
Lane home
,
but it had
seemed an eterni
ty knowing Mercy was there without him
after such an experience. He had checked on her immediately upon
his return to find her still sleeping peacefully,
then on a hunch went to the office to make some calls.