The Pack (23 page)

     “I don’t see why not
,
I feel better and
I hate to miss practice.” He
wrapped his arm
around her waist a
s
the
y wal
ked to the front porch
,
where he
kissed her once more
before getting in
his car and driving off. She watched
him drive off
, unaware
Alec stood on his porch
seething
with jealousy.

*****

    
“Did you have a good day?” Lucan asked
as she poked
her head in
his office
to say good night.

     “I did
,
thanks for relenting
and giving Kirk a chance
.” She
hugged him
and kissed his cheek thankful she had the opportu
nity after almost dying
.

    
H
e held her close longer than usual
,
grateful
she was alive and wel
l.
“I wou
ld do anything to see you happy,” h
e
told her giving her one last hug before releasing her.
“Now get to sleep you need rest.”

    
As she readied herself for
bed,
Mercy could not help
,
but once again th
ink about Kirk and Alec
. It was good thing she knew where each of them stood
,
because if she thought for one min
ute Alec felt more than
friendship
for her, things
would become very complica
ted.

    
She closed her eyes and
settled down to sleep
,
but somewhere in
the
night,
a lone w
olf howled
.
The sound usually brought
fear, but for some reason
the loneliness
of its howl
,
broke her heart
and brought tears to her eyes
.

    
Alec walked into the kitchen
at seven-thirty the next mo
rning as
M
ercy and her brothers were finishing their breakfast
. H
er eyes were riveted on him from the moment he entered
and she could not stop staring
. His sh
oulder length hair hung
free and his eyes held a sexy
just woke
n
look t
hat companies paid top dollar for
their m
odels to reproduce. F
aded black jeans hung low on his hips,
a black t-shirt
emblazed
with a large phoenix hugged his torso
and black biker boots that
earned their
weathered
look from his love of motorcycle riding
completed his look
.
He was dangerous, sexy, and she found herself completely enraptured by him.

      Alec
moved through the kitchen
well aware of her intense stare,
pouring
a
cup of coffee
before leaning
back aga
inst the counter to face her
.
“You about ready Ange
l?
” He took a sip of
his coffee
fighting
his instinct
to
pull her into his arms
as he so badly wanted to
.

     “Ready
?” she asked in confusion
.

     “
Lucan ask
ed me to drive you to school,” he replied
smoothly
,
enjoying the heat of her gaze as it traveled over him.

     “What?” She turned to Lucan who was in the process of removing the dirty plates from the table
and he nodded in agreement
.

     “S
ince he is also attending school now
,
it makes sense
,
and I trust Alec to get you there and
back in one piece,” h
e explained
as he began to load to the dishwasher.

    
“Might
have been nice to ask me first,
” s
he grumbled under her br
eathe
. She might have expected such news
since he was going to
the same
school
, but she had not given the idea much thought
with all that had been going on
.

    Alec
took her bag from her
with a grin,
slung it over his
shoulder
, and grabbed her hand
giving her a devastating grin
.
T
he room grew suddenly warm, and the conversation around her became mere whispers in the background
of her fiercely beating heart
. S
taring
down at
their entwined fingers, she wondered
why it was when he touched her everything
, but him seemed to fade away to nothingness
.

     “Let’s go bef
ore we’re late,
”
Alec said
snapping her out of her trance like state
,
pulling her behind him out
of
the door
.

     “She took that well,
” Cade told Lucan as he handed him the
last of the dishes
.

     “Better th
an I thought
she woul
d.” Lucan said grimly
.
Either way she choose M
ercy was headed for heartache and n
othing he could do would stop it.

*****

    
“So I guess you must
be nervous about your first day.
I mean
,
I know you used to be tutored at home so thi
s will all be different for you,
” Mercy said trying to make
small talk to cover her
nervo
usness
as they drove to school
.

     “
I am sure you will
help me adjust,” he answered
confidently
un
concerned in the least
about fitting in
. He was
Alpha
, h
umans would follow his lead without understanding why
they did
. T
he only fly in t
he ointment was Kirk. T
wo
Alpha
s
in
one
pla
ce
who
had their sights on the same girl
could be a big problem
.

    “Of course I will
,
we have been friends forever
,
I would never
abandon you to the wilds of high school.” She
forced herself to smile
,
but
worried how his presence
would
affect her routine. He was always so protective of her
,
and now he would be around the corner
everywhere
she went
. T
here was also his dislike of
Kirk, which
would defiantly
make things
more complicated.

     “I will count on that,” h
e told her reaching out to clasp her hand. “You and
me forever r
ight?” T
hey
said
that
to each other
a million times
in the past, but she
never
kno
wn he had meant it as more than just a
thing friends say to each other. He so badly
wanted to tell her how he felt
about her
, but he knew
she was not ready to hear it
.

    “Forever,
” s
he re
plied feeling as if
she missed
somethin
g important
.

    He
pulled into the parking
lot
at the school
,
parked,
and came to her side to help her out.
Everyone stared
as she took his hand
and h
er cheeks flushed with embarrassment
as they
walked towa
rds the school amidst the wide-eyed stares of everyone present
.
Alec
always
gar
nered attention when he was around.
Males
wanted to be
like
him
, and
females u
sually
thr
ew themselves at him
even when she was at his side
. She had just forgotten what it felt like.

      Alec
was
also
aware of all the attention they were receiving as h
e followed her into the
school,
but
as always
he
focused only on Mercy and where she was going. Sh
e led him to the office, where he gathered
his
schedule,
then walked him to his
locker. A
s luck would have it
his locker
was
across from
hers and
Kirk waited
there his eyes narrowing
as they approached
.

    
Mercy
saw Kirk and
smiled. H
is whole demeanor changed
. A
wide smile took the p
lace of his frown and he
reached for her hand
, pulling
her close
and
kissing
her
while glaring at Alec
.

    
It took all of Alec’s
control not to punch him in the face
,
but a smili
ng girl next to them moved in front of him
interrupting
from his murderous
thoughts
.

     “Hey I’m Lane
. I
gnore them
,
they just started dating.” She waved her hand dis
missively
,
but he saw the
hurt in her eyes
as she cast a sideways glance
at Kirk
and wondered if he had found an ally
in her
.

     “Alec
,
it’s
good to meet you.” She smiled brightly and he
could not help but smile back, t
he
n she
reach
ed for the paper in his hand,
looked it over
then handed i
t back
.

   
“Let me show you too your locker so they can have some privacy.”

     He peered around
the crowded hall and wondered how anyone could have privacy there
,
but shook his head and followed her
taking in everything about her with one glance. She was tall,
slim
, her body well toned,
and had an infectious laugh that drew one to her.
Immediately he knew she had to be a cheerleader.

    
“Here you go.” She p
ointed to the locker
glancing
back to where Merc
y leaned against hers
,
Kirk
in front of her his hands on her hips as he smiled down on her
adoringly
. Her bottom lip tre
mbled slightly and
her soft brown eyes grew suddenly moist
as she stared at them
.