The Pack (24 page)

    
“You okay?” he asked placing his hand on her arm.

      “Oh yeah allergies,
”
s
he told
him
s
wiping her finger under her eyes
to dab away the moisture.

     “Hey girl,
” Gina walked up,
but s
toppe
d short when she noticed
Alec
with her
friend
. “Well, well, you must be Alec.” She looked him over not bother
ing to hide her interest.
“Mercy has talked about you nonstop since I met her
,
it is an honor to met you at last.”

     “Gina I have to go
, can you show him around?
” Lane
asked then
turned to him with a thin smile. “It was nice to meet you
,
maybe we will
have a class or two together.”

     He watched her rush
down the hall and
duck
into the restroom
wondering if anyone else knew about her feelings for Kirk
, but decided she probably hid them since she and Mercy were
friends
.

     “So what brings you
to our little neck of the woods?
” Gina said leaning against his locker
with a seductive smile.

     “You are well aware of
whom
and what I am
,
so don’t bother
with the niceties
.” He
leaned closer piercing
her eyes with his own. “I have not had the chance to talk to you before now
,
but I
am sure Lucan has already spoken with
your mother
after the debacle the other night. Let me just say this
,
if you so recklessly put Mercy in harm’s way again the consequences will be severe
. I won’t have her in danger just to satisfy your own selfish needs.
”

     “Whoa there tiger
,
I knew she would be with Kirk
,
he would never let anything happen to her.
Besides, it was her needs I was looking after, her brothers keep her
locked up like a vestal virgin.
”

    
She smiled seeming none too concerned by his threat
.
so he st
epped closer his body taunt,
his wolf hovering
just
under the surface.
He pushed his dominance towards her
and knew she felt it when she paled and her hands
began to tremble.
“Never again place her in
danger or you will answer to me,” h
e warned.

     “I won’t I swear,” s
he told hi
m her
lips quivering
.

     “Good now I need y
our help.”

    
He smiled
and she melted ready to do anything he asked
if it put her on good terms with him
.

****
*

    
Mercy looked to where Gina leaned against the locker
gazing upon
Alec
with adoration
.

    
He
leaned in
close
as they spoke, one hand on the locker next to her head, the other on her shoulder. The pos
e
intimate for two people
who had only just met and a
sudde
n rush of jealousy o
vercame her with such ferocity she found herself taking a deep breath to calm down
.

    
She had been upset when he had taken off with Lane
without even saying goodbye
,
but
now she was infuriated that
Gi
na her best friend
,
was
chasing after
him too. Her anger
was
completely
irrational and
she tried to tell herself she only cared because she did not want to see her friends get hurt
, but
she knew it was more than that. Deep down she feared he might find the one girl that took him away from her forever
and that idea terrified her
.

     “Hey babe you ready
to go?
” Kirk asked noting how
she stared
at Gina and Alec
with a frown
.

     “I prom
ised Alec to take him around
,” s
he told him
pulling her hand away. “Go on ahead to your first class
,
I will meet you after.” She did not giv
e him time to respond
,
but took off in Alec’s direction
.

     Kirk smothered back a growl and stormed off down the hall angry that she had so easily dismissed him. He
had not realized
Alec would be at the school
,
but know he knew
he had to step up
his game
. A
smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as
he thought about how to do just that.

*****

     “Hey guys ready for class?” Mercy asked forcing herself to sm
ile as she walked up behind Alec
.

     Alec
was aware
the minute she made a
beeline towards them
.
T
he rus
h o
f her emotion she experienced
seeing him with Gina
,
was
easy to pick up on even from across the hall
. He was aware of her jealousy
and decided to use that to his advantage
.

     “I’m ready.” He looked to Gina who was
still staring at him
as if
star struck
and grinned
. “Are you ready?”

     “
Oh
…
yes.” She turned to Mercy and
blinked as if just waking up.
“Let’s go
,
we don’t want Alec to be late on his first day.
”

*****

    
By the time lunch came aro
und word had gotten out about the new guy at school
. A
bevy of girls
surrounded Alec
as he sat down to eat
,
except for
t
he one he wanted nex
t to him more than anything. Mercy
sat with Kirk at th
e other end of the table where
he was forced to watch them fli
rting and sharing their food like two lovesick fools.
H
is own food was left
untouched
on the tray
in front of
him, as he grew
more aggravated with each passing minute
.

     “She has no clue does she?” Gina asked sliding
in next to him
,
pushing away another
g
irl who frowned, but moved down the bench grudgingly
.

     “No
and for no
w I want to keep it that way,” h
e replied sharply
, the hard edge of
hi
s voice making his bad mood clear
.

     “Don’t kill me
,” she said
raising her hands in the air.
“
I thought you t
wo were
only
friends until this morning
,
but I can see how much you care for her
,
so let me help
.”

    
He realized he had been surely towards the girl. Her help could only be to his benefit so he decided to take her up on her offer.
“Sorry it’s
hard
watching her with him
.” He laid his fo
rk o
n the tray and turned to face her
. “What
does she see in him anyway?”

     “Well
,
he’s good looki
ng, athletic,
treats her like she
’s
the only girl in the world
and they have a lot in common
.” B
y his
frown,
she could tell
he
had not liked her answer. “Loo
k she has no clue your into her
,
why don’t you just tell her?”

 
   “I can’t
. S
he won’t take me seriously. Mercy thinks I am a flirt and unable
to commit to one girl.”

     She eyed him suspiciously. “And what would have given her that idea?”

     “
I
used to date a lot of girls
,
but only because I did not understand what
I
felt for her
and was trying to vent my frustrations
.”

     “Sure
that’s easy to believe,” s
he
said with a doubtful expression
.

     “Look, w
hen I first met her she was six
and
her parents had just died. S
he was lost and afraid
,
I was her only friend
and
although I felt our connection, I had no real idea what it meant. When I realized how deep our connection was I thought about going to her brothers, but then she started asking questions about boys and I lost it.
At
first,
I dated other girls to keep busy and vent my frustrations, but then Mercy caught me out on a date one night and it became a way to keep her at arm’s length so I let it go on. ”

     “I don’t understand.
Why not
explain to her what we all are
and save everyone the pain
?
I mean
,
her brothers
are pack surely, she would understand and be forgiving.
”

    “She would never understand
.” He glanced
to where
she sat
,
holding Kirk’s hand
,
t
alking with his friends
happy and content
with her life
. “Her parents were killed by wolves
and she was attacked by one of the young ones in our pack before they moved here.
She hates wolves
and i
f she knew
what we were
and what she is destined to become
it might be
too much
for her to handle
.”

  
  “Females are not born pack. She doesn’t h
ave to
be like the rest of us she could choose a normal human life,
”
she reminded him.
Her own turning had been an accident, a
chance encounter with a male Were
that ended with
her
being
bit and
left
heartbroken when he fled in horror after
.  It could have made her bitter, but she always knew what her parents were and
planned to turn one day anyway so she went with it
embracing her Were side
whole-heartedly
.

     “Mercy is a different case
. H
er mother
and father are both part of the two oldest packs in our history and the mix of their DNA created an anomaly that made her Were from birth.” She stared at him with amazement, and he went on
.
“We
were unsure when she will shift
,
but
when the other male
attacked her and tried to force her to bond
, t
he only way to save her was for me to claim her in front of my
pack
. Once I spoke the
words
,
the bo
nd between us
became harder to resist
.  W
hether she feels it or not
,
I
am her Bond M
ate and she is my destiny
.
I have no choice
,
but to convince her I am the one she should be with
or I will be missing a piece of me for the rest of my existence
.
”