Bonded to the Pack (Born to be Were) (14 page)

Mercy looked to Alec and smiled, but
said nothing until the end of class when they were leaving and he slid his arm
around her brushing his lips across hers. “Control,” she murmured with a
chuckle.

Alec laughed and pushed her against the
nearest wall, his body pressed dangerously close to hers, his lips hovering
just a hair away from hers. “With you, I have no control,” he murmured.

“Thankfully,” she said breathlessly just
before their lips met in a kiss that heated her body and placed thoughts in her
head that nothing to do with control and everything to do with reckless
abandon.

“Get a room,” Gina said as she walked by,
winking at Mercy.

“Don’t I wish,” Mercy, said earning a
growl from Alec, who was staring down on her with a frown. “I know, I know, you
promised my brothers we would wait.”

Alec nodded, not trusting himself to say
anything.

“Well then, I guess we are done here.”
Mercy ducked under his arm and began to walk away, but he pulled her back
against him, pressing his lips to her shoulder.

“We will never be done,” he whispered
huskily in her ear. “I will want you for the rest of my life and even after.”

Mercy laughed and pulled out of his
arms. “You’d better,” she said taking off down the hall, knowing he would
pursue her and that she would let him succeed in catching her.

*****

It
wasn’t until lunch that Alec’s thin thread of control snapped. They had been
enjoying their meal with their friends when the male Were who hung out with
Jaden approached, his eyes locked on Gina.

“Oh
God, here he comes,” Gina said to Mercy. “If he doesn’t leave me alone, I swear
I’m going to punch him.”

Alec
and Rich turned to watch the arrogant male who approached, both of their bodies
tense and ready to spring.

“Hey,
Gina,” Wren said, taking the empty seat next her, ignoring the two males who
glared at him.

Gina
turned to look at him seething with anger. Even though she found him incredibly
attractive, she wasn’t looking to start anything with him. He was trying to rip
her best friend away from Alec and that alone was reason enough to dislike him,
but it was clear he was also a player and she was done with that type of guy.
“Go away,” she said irritably.

“Don’t
be like that sweetheart, I know you’re attracted to me,” Wren purred, ignoring
the glare she bestowed upon him.

“Look,
I know your type and I’m just not interested, so just back off.” He reached out
and ran his finger down her arm and she grabbed his wrist clenching it so
tightly he flinched. “Touch me again and I will break it.”

Rich
laughed and Wren jumped off the bench toward him. Fists flew, blood spurted,
and people screamed moving swiftly out of the way. Rich took a punch to the jaw
that floored him and Alec immediately rushed in, slamming Wren in the stomach and
knocking him across the room and into a table full of teenagers, who hollered
and sprang to their feet. Wren jumped up and ran towards Alec ready to return
the hit, when Jaden stepped between them, capturing his gaze and compelling him
to stop.

“I
told you to control yourself, Wren.” She looked to Alec with a thin smile. “I’m
sorry, he won’t bother you again.”

Alec
stared at the male who had just moments before been full of rage, shocked to
see him standing still as statue, uttering not a word. “Uh…yeah, keep him on a
leash,” he said before turning to Rich, who was getting aid from Mercy and Gina,
who fussed over his split lip like he was a conquering hero. 

“Let’s
go, Wren,” Jaden said angrily. She walked out of the cafeteria with Wren
following behind like a lost puppy and everyone slowly returned to their
lunches.

“Are
you okay?” Mercy asked, laying her hand on Alec’s arm.

“I’m
good. I just wanted to knock his lights out and am a little upset I didn’t get
the chance.” He took his seat and pulled her down onto his lap. “There’s
nothing like a little squabble to get the blood pumping.”

He
was riled up and had no outlet to take it out on since Jaden pulled her lackey
away and Mercy knew it. She felt his wolf stirring inside of him wanting to be
free to seek out the other male and prove he was superior. “Alec, I don’t want
to fight with these people, it won’t help our cause. Let’s just ignore them,
and hopefully Jaden will keep him under control.”

Alec
tightened his fist at his side and willed his wolf down to wait for a more
appropriate time to be free and although the wolf whined inside of him, it did
as he commanded. “For you, I will try, but I can’t promise anything.  If he
goes after one of my pack again, I will beat him within an inch of his life, if
he’s lucky,” he told her honestly.

“Well,”
she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “If he goes after one of your pack
you have my permission to kick his butt.”

“Mercy,
we need to go,” Gina said next to her, looking slightly shaken by everything
that had transpired. “If we are late to class again we are going to be in so
much trouble.”

Mercy
jumped to her feet, Alec rose from the bench next to her, and they hurried out
of the cafeteria to class, unaware of the lone figure who stood at the bank of
windows watching from outside. The man shook his head and smiled, then turned
away from the window and shifted into a massive black wolf that trotted off
into the forest that surrounded the high school.

Chapter Nine

Mercy sat upon the bench in the rose
garden, listening to the sounds of the forest around her, enjoying a quiet afternoon
while Alec spoke to a few more Alphas trying to garner their support. With the
Elders coming so soon, everyone around her was tense and filled with worry, but
she was oddly calm. She had decided after talking to Mason that her best course
of action was to prove to the Elders that Alec wanted to embrace the old ways
and that he would be an asset as her mate. If that failed, well, she had made
plans for that too, but she didn’t want to think about that just yet. First,
she would confront them, then she could make decisions regarding how best to
proceed.

The noise of the forest around her ceased
suddenly, and she sensed another’s presence. She turned to find Jaden standing
at the edge of the wood line, watching her warily and offered a smile.
Throughout the week, she had been everywhere they were and she had somehow
managed to reign in her cocky male companion, for which Mercy was thankful.
Wren now kept his distance, said nothing to Gina, and avoided Alec like the
plague, which made things between them tolerable.  “How are you, Jaden?” she
asked in a friendly tone.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I
thought you should know one of the Elders is coming earlier than expected.” She
wasn’t at all happy one of them felt the need to come and check on her when
Jaden had never failed them before, but there was little she could do.  She had
been undecided whether or not to tell Mercy, but in the end the girl had been
pleasant and friendly to her, despite Wren’s rather disappointing behavior, and
she didn’t want her to be surprised when an Elder showed up out of the blue.

Mercy was surprised Jaden would tell her
that kind of information given their circumstances, but didn’t look a gift
horse in the mouth. “Thank you, I will let Alec know.”

“He is very protective of you,” Jaden
said walking a little closer.

Mercy smiled, recalling a time when she
resented that protectiveness. “He loves me and would kill to keep me safe,” she
told her.

“I can see that,” Jaden said stopping
before her. “You are very lucky.”

“Tell the Elders that,” Mercy said, meeting
Jaden’s startling blue eyes.

Jaden wanted to tell her that she didn’t
agree with their plans, but she kept silent out of loyalty to the Elders.  “I
will,” she said instead.

Mercy looked at her quizzically. “I
don’t understand you, Jaden. You seem like a nice person, why would you help
the council separate two of our kind meant for one another?”

“I don’t get to choose where they send
me,” she answered uncomfortably.

“You could say no,” Mercy replied.  

Jaden saw red, hating that the beautiful
Were before her had so many freedoms she had never known. “Do you think I have
not thought about that,” she snarled, taking a step closer to where Mercy sat, her
body trembling with fury. “We aren’t all protected and pampered like you have
been! Some of us have to make our own place in this world and this is mine.”

Before Mercy could comment, Alec was
there between them, shoving Jaden backward far away from his mate. Wren flew
from the forest, slamming into Alec, knocking him back a few feet. Alec
retaliated and buried his fist in the werewolf’s face with a fierce growl.

“Alec, stop,” Mercy screamed, as he tore
into Wren with rage so dark she feared he might actually kill him.

“Wren, stand down!” Jaden ordered, at a
loss as to why Wren had reacted so violently towards the other male who was
only ensuring his mate’s safety.

Lucan and Cade appeared, tearing the two
apart as others from the Elders’ guard came running from the woods. Gregory
appeared with a large contingent of his pack behind him and moved to the front
where the two groups stood separated by mere feet.  Their bodies trembled with
anger, and their snarls filled the once calm area as they stared one another
down.

“Enough!” Mercy and Jaden screamed at
the same time, stepping between the two groups back to back, each facing their
prospective packs.

“He dared to touch you, a representative
the Elders sent to protect the Born Were,” Wren argued heatedly, staring daggers
at Alec, who glared right back, his body shaking with fury.

“He thought I was going to harm his
mate. I understood that, you Neanderthal,” Jaden admonished.

Alec seethed, his body trembling with
rage and Mercy reached out, running her hand down his arm. “She wasn’t going to
hurt me, we were just talking.”

“I felt her anger, and she was too close
to you,” he snarled.

“Her anger wasn’t for me, it was at her
own situation and if you wouldn’t have burst in acting all macho, I would have
explained that,” she chastised.

Gregory was the first to cool down. He called
for his pack to back down and Jaden followed suit. The guard walked slowly back
into the forest grumbling about not getting to fight, but following her orders
despite the fact she was smaller and nowhere near their match in strength.

“I’m so sorry, Jaden,” Mercy apologized.

“No, I am sorry. I lost my temper. I
should have known better,” Jaden said with a weak smile. “I’ll just go now.”

“Please come back anytime. I am sure
that after this, Alec will be a little more cautious before making an ass of
himself again.” Alec growled behind her, but she ignored him.

“Maybe, but remember what I told you,”
Jaden said before disappearing into the tree line.

Alec immediately pulled Mercy into his
arms burying his face into her hair and taking a deep breath of her scent,
assuring himself she was indeed all right. “Do not ever let her that close to
you again,” he commanded angrily.

“Alec, she is not our enemy,” Mercy assured
him.

“She is not our friend either,” he
growled.

“You need to stop being so
overprotective and trust my instincts.”

“I could not bear for you to be hurt,”
he said his resting his forehead against hers. “You are my life and if anything
happened to you, it would kill me.”

“Jaden isn’t going to hurt me, she is
protecting me,” she told him with a chuckle.

Alec snarled and took a step back,
clearly not amused. “This is not a funny situation.”

Mercy placed her hands on her hips
glaring at him. “Of course not, but you’re making it more difficult than it has
to be by acting irrational.”

“Well, one would think as my future mate
you might listen once in awhile when I talk and do what I tell you to do,” he
snarled angrily.

 “You think because you’re my mate you
own me, but guess what, Alec? I have a brain and I don’t need you to run my
life!” she snarled back.

Alec crossed his arms over his chest and
glared at her, but said nothing more.

“Mercy, if you two are done squabbling,
do you want to tell us what Jaden was talking about?” Gregory asked.

“Oh yeah, she came to tell me one of the
Elders is coming to check in on me.” Alec lifted his head immediately and she
took a step towards him, wanting him to see she wasn’t an idiot. “She didn’t
have to tell me that.”