The Pack (26 page)

      The door opened and Mercy
got in
,
tossing
her bag in the back seat
,
then
buckling he
r seat belt before
turnin
g to him
.
“Le
t’s go,
”
she said in a clipped voice.

     “Sure thing,
” h
e
said starting
the c
ar and pulling
out of lot
,
his hand over the
crack
, so she wouldn’t see it
.

     They drove in silence for most of the ride
until he decided he had enough of her c
old shoulder and tried to end it
.
“So your fr
iends are nice.” She looked at him coolly
,
bu
t said nothing
. “Gina was gracious enough to help m
e to all my classes and Lane seemed
really
sweet.”

    
Her eyes flared with anger as she glared at him. “L
eave Lane and Gina alone
, they are both
vulnerable to guys like you a
nd
we both know you are not capable
for a long term relationship
. I don’t want one of them to get hurt
.”
She had all day to work up to the rage she was f
eeling and now it all came t
umbling out.

    
Seeing him with Gina, Lane,
and all of the other girls that stalked him
all day
long
,
was just too much a
nd now he had the nerve to flaunt them in her face
.
It was frustrating, worrisome
, and had her so upset,
she wanted nothing more than to strike something or someone.

     “Whoa I have no interest in hurting anyone
!” h
e argued. “S
ince you were t
oo busy with Kirk to help me
out
, I was thankful they were there,
that’s all
.”

    
He pulled into his
driveway and parked thinking they could clear the air
,
but she was in a fine temper and before he could say anything more she attacked again.

      “
You know what your problem is Alec?” He shrugged which only made her angrier. “
You don’t like n
ot being the center of my world. Y
ou can’t stand Kirk
getting any little bit of my
attention
,
but guess what
,
he’s my boyfriend now so get
used to it or leave me
alon
e.”

    
She opened the car door,
got out slam
ming it behind her
and stalked towards
her front porch
. 

     H
e was fast
though
and was on her before she even noticed him
following.
“Don’t ever do that again!
” he snarled grabbing her arm,
pulling her
roughly
against him
.

     C
aptivated by
his swirling eyes
,
confused by their change from brown to amber
she could do no
thing more than stare up at him
.
“Alec,”
she whispered uncertainly. 

     His body trembled
as he held her close
,
his breathing grew labored and the rage he was feeling made him reckless
.
“You don’t know me at all if you think that I would hurt your friends. Hell
,
you ju
st don’t seem to know me
anymore
period
.”

    
His grip tightened on
her arm, he
leaned down
his lips hovering
just
over hers
and she gasped
.
He wanted to kiss her
,
to show her that he was the one for her and that no one else should ever touch her again
,
but he feared scaring her more than she already was.

     Mercy,
frightened
by
his
outburst
, knew she should pull away
,
b
ut as his warm lips
hovered over
hers
all she wanted was for hi
m to kiss her
.
It was wrong,
she was dating
Kirk,
but her body did not
agree with her mind. Before she could
stop herself
,
she pressed closer,
twining her fingers
deep within the silk strands
of his hair
pulling him towards her until
their lips met
.

     Alec growl
ed low in his throat
taking her mouth savagely
,
delving into her warm willing lips with relish as she c
lung to him
desperately
. She whimpe
red in his arms pressing
closer until it felt as if
their bodies were one.
His flesh r
ippled as her
warm hand
moved under his t-shirt caressing his back as he held her within his arms. His wolf sprang to life wanting
to
claim its m
ate, but he managed
to hold
him
back
and savor the moment he had longed for most of his life
.

      Mercy pulled back meeting his heated gaze with her own unsure what was happening between them
, confused by the rush of emotions his touch stirred within her
.

     “Y
ou’re so sweet
,” he whispered
kissing her again
.

     Mercy was undone
. Her body
took
control
, and h
er brain
went
on
vacation
,
as his warm lips moved against hers
once more
.
Nothing mattered, but Alec and t
he need to be as close to him as possible
. S
he became
consumed by his
fiery
kiss
es. T
he feel of his heated skin unde
r her hands drove her
crazy and she moaned
when he lifted her
,
wrapping her legs around his waist as he pressed her back against
the car. 

    
In that moment she would have
follow
ed
him anywhere
, done anything he wanted
, but
her c
ell
phones sudden
ringing brought
reality crashing back
down
around
her
. She pulled back shocked by her
behavior
,
her feet dropping to
the ground
as he stared
down
at her with desire-
laden eyes
. Alec
too appeared
shaken
, he took a step back
giving her space, but
she wa
s tempted to just ignore the phone
a
nd pull him back into her arms.

    
The phone rang shrilly again and s
he
looked down at the number
on the screen placing
her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming at the insan
ity of it all. The trembling of her hands made it difficult to open the phone
and Alec’s heated gaze on her did not help
,
b
ut somehow she managed to communicate
.
“
Hello?” s
he answered
breathlessly
.

     “Are
you alright?” Kirk asked his own voice strained
,
as if he was aware
what had been happening before he called
.

    “Ah yeah I ju
st…” Alec spared her a dark look then
stalked off l
eaving her to talk
,
but she realized she was unsure what to say
.
She was defiantly not okay
,
as mat
ter of
fact,
she was as far
from
okay
as possible
, but she couldn’t explain that to him of all people
.

     “Mercy,”
h
e said again.

    
She looked at the phone in her hand and lifted it back to her ear
taking a deep breath
. “Sorry I was in the m
id
dle of something.”

     “I just wanted to make sure you
got home safely,” h
e told her
his voice filled with concern
.

     “Why wouldn’t we
,
Alec is a good driv
er,” s
he
told him trying to sound upbeat
,
but i
t was weak
sounding even to her own ears
.

    “I worry,
”
he answered
dully.

     “Can I call you in a little bit
,
I have to do some homework a
nd
it’s my
night to make dinner.” S
he walked into
the house and laid her bags down
,
feeling
like
the world’s worst girlfriend
.

     “Yeah
,
you take car
e
alright.”

    
He sou
nded miserable,
but she was not in the frame of mind to help herself
,
much
less,
anyone else
feel better
,
so she just said goodbye
and hung up
.

  
She
walked to Luca
n
’s office
to ask him about the dinner plans, surprised to find
Cade and Gregory
with him
talking in hushed tones
. They all turned as she walked into the room
,
their looks assessing as if they all k
new what had happened between her and Alec
and h
er cheeks flamed with embarrassment
.
 

    
Lucan broke the silence.
“
I ordered pizza for dinner
,
so get your homework done and relax
a bit.
”
He smiled
warmly
and she felt instantly relieved
.
If he had any idea
that her and Alec had been tra
ding kisses
just outside he would not have been
so calm.

     “Thanks
Luc.” She left them alone and
ran up the stairs, walking
to her room
slowly, wondering
why she h
ad allowed Alec to kiss her
at all
, but t
he answer was simple
. He
was the one who held her heart, had since she was six years old, and probably would the rest of her life
.
It was stupid, th
oughtless and
she hated herself
for even thinking it when she had a nice guy like Kirk around, but
still there it was.

*****

    
The next few
days were a trial for both Alec an
d Mercy
. T
hey
were like polite strangers on the ride to and from school an
d once there they went their separate
ways.
Alec spent his days watching Mercy cozy up to Kirk in the halls at school and Mer
cy spent her days watching
other
girl’s cozy up to Alec with all the subtleness of a tiger stalking its prey.