The Pack (25 page)

     “D
oes she
remember any of the attack
?” She peered
down the table
at
her friend
,
realizing
for the first time how
very
little she truly knew about Mercy’s
past
.

     “No and
it is better that way
for now,
but Kirk
’s fath
er threatened to tell he what we are
if we do not allow him the chance to court her
.” He looked to
where Mercy sat with her head on Kirks sho
ulder
frowned
. “So
,
even though I want to rip his head off right now I can’t.”

     “Are you afraid she will run
if you tell her everything
?”

     “I know she would run
,
but w
ho she might run too frightens m
e
.
O
nce she becomes part of someone else’s pack he
r choice is
gone and she wouldn’t
understand that
until it
was too late
.” He
growled
under his breath
as he glowered at Kirk. “That’s what he’s counting on.” 

     “Aren’t you afraid Kirk
will tell her
anyway
? It would certainly increase his advantage.”

     “H
is father h
as always been a friend of ours,
they won’t break the deal and
I won’t give him
the satisfaction of failing and
handing her over to him.”

    
Gina frowned
worried her friend might be
drawn into the middle of something that would not end well. Kirk wouldn’t step aside easily, his
Alpha
instinct would never allow it, but as her Bond Mate Alec would never let her go, he simply couldn’t live without her. “So
she has
to choose bet
ween the two of you
.
”

     “
She does not have to choose either of us
,
but I hope
she will
in time
come to see I am the one for her
.” He stood as the bell rang
,
ignoring the uneaten food on his tray. “Of course as her best friend I bet you could sway her decision.”

     “I could try
,
but I doubt she will listen
. S
he thinks I
am a little to
o
flirty with guys
,
but hey I am in your corner I don’t like the thought of her being used as a pawn
,
even if Kirk’s
intentions are
good
.”

     He smiled
genuinely
liking the outspoken female
now that they were on the same page
. “Thanks.”

     “No p
roblem.” She linked her arm through
his and they turned to leave only to find Mercy in front of them hol
ding hands with Kirk
,
frownin
g as she stared at their connected arms
.

     Mercy’s
lips tightened
into a thin smile
as she contemplated ripping Gina’s hair from her head
, but
somewhere inside a part of her that knew it was wrong
prevented her from acting upon her thoughts
.

    
“Oh hey we were just leaving,
” Gina
,
told her noting the lo
ok of displeasure on her
face
,
slightly nervous there might be trouble
.
Alec might not bel
ieve it
,
but she knew Mercy
and her expression
clearly
said she was jealous
and ready to defend what she thought was hers
.

     “Well don’t let us stop you
.
I thou
ght Alec
nee
d
ed
help
finding his classes
,
but it seems he had
no
trouble finding someone else to escort him
.”
She looked up at Kirk and forced herself to smile
. “I gues
s you were right
,
he doesn’t need me at all
.”
Saying it made the pain even more real and she felt her heart shudder in response.

    
Kirk smiled
and squeezed her hand.
“
I told you he’s a big boy,
lets go.”

    
She made no protest as he pulled her
along behind
him down the hall
, but when s
he
turned
back
to look at Ale
c
, tears laced
her eyelashes
and she felt as if her heart were breaking
.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that girls were throwing themselves at him, it had always been that way, but for some reason the hurt was worse than it ever had before.

    
Alec watched them go
,
his body trembling with anger.
Kirk
definitely
knew how to push his buttons
, but
i
f
he was not careful
,
he might hit the one that ensured war between their packs
.

     “Alec are you alright?” Gina asked worried that he might chase Kirk down and give him what he deserved for the little stunt he had just pulled.

     “I’m fine, s
hall we
go
?” He pla
ced his hand on the small of Gina’s
back following
as she led him to his next
class
,
neither one of them up for conversation after their encounter with Mercy and Kirk
.

*****

    
Once in the cl
ass Alec
took the open seat next to
Mercy and smiled
warmly,
de
ciding it was best to confront her
. “W
hat was that back there?”

     “What?” s
he
said with a glare
.

     “You know
,
the whole he does not need me thing? You are the one who sat s
o far away from me at
lunch
.
Gina
was just bein
g nice since
I did not know anyone
in the school yet
.”

    
“I couldn’t get past all of the girls who flocked to meet you
,
so we sat at the other end.”
Her fingers tapped the
desk as she spoke a sign he knew meant she was
still very angry.

     “I wou
ld have m
ade room for you,” h
e told her taking
out his notebook
as the teacher closed the
door and the bell rang.

    
T
he teachers nasally voice as she began the day
’
s lesson
stopped Mercy from answering, but she felt
Alec staring
at her througho
ut
class, which
made
her nervous and uncomfortable. Once
the bell
rang
signaling the end of class
,
she flew out of the
door into Kirks waiting arms
happy to get away from Alec and the confusing emotions he stirred in her
.

     “Damn!
”Alec swore as he saw them moving though the hall
,
K
irks hand possessively on her waist.

     “Problem?” Gina asked behind him
watching the pair navigate the hectic hallway
.

     “Nothing I can’t handle,” h
e told her
as they walked
together.

     “Really
,
because it seems Kirk is winning this thing without even trying.
” He scowled at her and
she
laughed. “Lo
ok she thinks you’re a skirt chaser
right?”

     “But I’m not
,” h
e denied earning a lifted eyebr
ow
. “W
ell I guess I was
,
until I saw her all grown up and ready for a rel
ations
hip.” He saw
Kirk kissing her g
oodbye at the door of her class
room and tightened his fist
wanting nothing more than to punch him
.

     “Fighting won’t make her notice you
, Mercy hates
violence,” s
he reminded
him
.

     “I don’t think anything I do will get her to notice me the way I want
as long as lover boy is around,” h
e told her punching the nearby locker in place of the grinning jock
.

     “Let me think on this,
I am sure we can come up with something.” She stopped at the door of his next class and in full
vi
ew of everyone
lea
ned in close pressing her lips to his ear
. To t
hose watching it would appear she was flirting
and that was what she wanted
,
because Mercy’s eyes w
ere glued on
them. “She’s watching and if she
truly
did not care about you
,
I don’t think the look on her face reflects it.” She kissed his cheek and darted under his arm back into the ha
ll whistling as she walked away
.

    Alec meet
Mercy
’s
eyes
seeing
clearly
the hurt look on her face
before s
he lowered her head
and fumbled with her books
. H
e too
k a seat
behind her
hoping to talk, but
s
he never looked back during class
. I
mpatiently
he waited for the end of class
to speak to her again
, but when the bell rang, s
he ignored him
when he called her name and rushed
to the hallway where Kirk waited
with open arms and a triumphant smile
.

   
Alec sat in the car at the end of day waiting for Mercy
,
eager to confront her. She had been so far off the mark assuming he had any interest in the other girls at school and he wanted to make her understand that was not the case. 
Unfortunately,
his eagerness to get to the car and talk to
her meant he was forced to watch as she said goodbye to Kirk
.

    
His
hands tightened on the wheel as s
h
e wrapped her arms around his
neck
and
moved in
for t
he long kiss
.  Jealousy
threatened to break his tight control
, h
is body tensed and sweat beaded h
is brow
as he watched them together their bodies pressed close, their lips melded together
.
He wanted nothing more than tear them apart and pound Kirks face into the pavement, but he fought the urge
, clenching his hands tighter
.

    
T
he
steering
wheel
s
napped
leaving a large crack through the rounded plastic and h
e looked into the rear view mirror
to find eyes of amber staring back
at him.
He
lowered
his head fighting his wolf, forcing himself to calm before the shift overcame
him
and turned into the very thing guaranteed to earn Mercy’s hate
. It took all he had to squelch his wolfs desire to fight for its mate, but
by the time Mercy walked to the car he had returned to a somewhat calmer state.