Authors: Donna Flynn
“What’s going on son?” Gregory asked
looking concerned
.
“I
sp
oke to a few of the other pack
Alpha
s
,
two have lost their heirs
in the last month, one managed to find a healer to save his.
All
shot
the way Kirk and I were, but no one
was
aware of the poison
,
exc
ept for the one who survived
. Like u
s
,
the
y
thought it wa
s just someone out for revenge
,
but it seems t
his is not random or
only concentrated here. Someone
is trying to weaken
all of
the packs
by killing their heirs
.”
“But why
, w
hat could
be gained by this?” Jared
asked
disturbed by the fact his own son had been a target
.
“I am not sure
, but I intend to find out,
”
Gregory answered sharply. “Whoever started t
his has a plan and I intend to find out what it is
.”
“I’m going
to make more calls
,
but I wan
t to check on Mercy first,
” Alec said
concerned she might have woken in his
absence
.
“Go on
,
we can make
calls
,
you keep your eye on her
,”
h
is father
,
told him sensing his unease about leaving her alone.
“Thanks,” Alec said already at
the door anxious to get to his mate
.
“Anythi
ng I can do to help let me know,
” Jared told Gregory
rising
and clasping his hand
. “Is it safe to move him?” h
e asked Nina.
“I would like to leave him
here
for
the night
,
if that is not a problem
.”
She looked to Lucan who
nodded agreement.
“Would it be alright if I stayed also
,
I do not want him to awake alone?”
“Of
course it is no imposition,
” Lucan told her trying not to let his eagerness that she would be in his home show.
“Nina that would not be proper
,
you’re a young single female, I
will
st
ay with him,
” h
er father said
.
“You are needed at home and I am ol
d enough to stay where I please,” s
he responded
defiantly.
“You are not going to let me win this are you?” He chuck
led when she nodded
then kissed her cheek. “Good night
my dear
,
I will be back in the morning
.
Gregory, may
I speak to you for a moment
before I go
?
”
“Lucan
,
I will talk with you later,
” Gregory
said walking out with Jared.
“Thank you for letting me stay
.
I would not fee
l right leaving him here without
family.” She sat next to her brother and placed her hand on his forehead. “I thi
nk by morning he will be healed enough we can
out of your hair.”
“It is no
problem
,
besides with Cade gone it gets kind of lonely here at night
. I
t will be nice to have anoth
er adult to talk to.”
“This is nice of you.
I know you are not happy about Kirk dating Mercy and for the record I did not agree with my father’s tactics for forcing this on you.”
She blushed and lowered her hea
d in embarrassment
.
“I suppose he wanted the best for his son and it isn’t that I do not like Kirk
,
as a matter of fact I think he is a good kid
,
but …” He stopped unsure if he should sh
are that Alec was Mercy’s Bond Mate
.
“But Alec is her destined mate and this only complicates things.” She smiled when he blew out the breath he had been holding. “Kirk is young
,
he does not understand the pull of a
Bond M
ate yet
,
but my father should know better. I guess the idea of joining with
your pack is just to alluring for
him. We are a small in number
,
so to have Gregory’s protection would be a relief to my father
,
especially in light of all that is going on.
He will be more worried than ever now that this has happened.
Kirk is the only son
,
if he does not step up and become
Alpha
his legacy dies with him.
”
“We have always been friendly with your pack
,
Gregory would help your fathe
r without going to such lengths,
”
he assured her.
“That is good
to know. I must say though
,
I am afraid
Kirk is going to get his heart broken when Mercy chooses Alec.” She loo
ked at her brother sadly her face filled with compassion.
“Nina
,
Mercy does not know any of this
. S
he does not understand what she is or will be
.
”
“I would never say anything,” s
he told him sincerely.
“
S
he would never willingly hurt anyone
,
especially someone she cares for
if she could help it
.” He moved to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder. It was meant to be reassurin
g
,
but when she looked up
he was lost and they both felt the pull of their destiny.
The sound of
footsteps outside
had him pulling his hand away quickly
,
but they both looked flustered when Gregory walked in.
Thankfully,
he was too concerned about more pressing matters to notice the tension in the air.
“Luc I am headi
ng home for the night.
Alec is with Mercy
,
s
he’s still sleeping it off. S
end him on home when you tire of him.” He looked to Nina and smiled. “I’m glad your brother is going to be alright.”
“Thank you,
”
s
he answered
shyly
awe
d by
the
Alpha
before
her
.
Gregory was the stuff legends were made of and his son seemed destined to follow in his footsteps from what she had heard
. I
t was unfortunate for her brother he choose the wrong girl to have his first real crush on.
“I’ll see you out.” Lucan
walked to the
door behind his leader giving
Nina one last lingering look over his shoulder before closing the door.
*****
Just down the hall
,
Mercy woke
unsure where sh
e was
,
but instinctively knowing
who was holding her hand.
Alec was always
there when she needed him
,
something
she had never before really thought about
.
“Alec?”
she
said softly
her voice
tired and worn.
“Take your time,” he said
caressing her fingers with his own
.
“What happened?” She sat
up grogg
ily resting
against the
headboard
.
“Kirk was shot, but you healed him.”
Her face turned ashen as the events of the night ran through her mind. Her first instinct was to va
ult from bed to find Kirk
,
but Alec
immediately put a stop to that.
“Easy you need to rest,” h
e told her pressing her ba
ck against the pillows
.
“Kirk
,
h
e’s alright?” She clung
to his hand desperately
pray
ing it was true
.
“He’s fine
,
his sister is with him now in the guest room
. S
he said he will be good as new in a few days
.”
“Who did this Alec? What is going on?
First you get shot
,
then Kirk
,
I don’t understand any of this.
”
Her eyes filled with tears that
he swiped away with the tip of his finger.
“
My father
and Lucan are working on it. Y
ou just rest
and let them handle everything
.” He brushed her hair back from her forehead worried about the questi
ons he knew would come
.
Mercy might be naïve
,
but she was not stupid and
she
would want answers
he was not sure he could give her
.
“W
e should call the police
,
they need to be looking for this mania
c before someone else gets shot,
”
s
he persisted.
“H
ow could we explain to the police that we were shot and healed so quickly?” She bit her
bottom lip as she thought about his words
. He hated the look of despair on her face knowing she was once again thinking of her tale
nt for healing as a
curse rather than the gift it was. “Listen to me you saved us
.
Kirk and I
,
are more grateful than you could ever imagine
,
but if the world knew what you could
do,
people would n
ever leave you alone. We can’t take the chance of anyone
finding out
, n
ot because it’s b
ad
,
but because you would
never know a moments peace if word of your talent
got out
.
”
She let out a long sig
h and squeezed his hand.
“I’m sorry,
my gift causes trouble every time I use it.”
He sat
ne
xt to her on the bed holding
her in his arms as he had done a thousand times since meeting her. Her head rested on his ch
est and her hand in his trembling
slightly. “No it do
es not
,
you
need to see the good it brings and forget about everything else.”
The smell of her
hair teased his senses and the feel of her so close made it hard to resist kissing her
,
but he had promised he would wait until she begged and he would keep that promise even if it made him uncomfortable.
“Thank you for being here,
I know we have argued a lot lately
,
but it feels good to have my best friend comforting me.” She
snuggled closer
wanting solace
,
but f
inding something far more intoxicating
.
His body was
warm
against hers
, his fingers drumming
slowly on her hip
brought heat to her insides
,
and his breath
so close to her ear drove her to the brink of insanity
. All she had to do was turn her head and their lips would meet
. She wanted his kiss so badly
it hurt
,
but there was another person to consider
.