Bonded to the Pack (Born to be Were) (16 page)

Like most of the male Weres she knew, he
was completely comfortable with his body and offered a slow grin at her assessing
gaze, as he came closer.  She smiled back and shook her head at his cockiness.
If she had not found her mate, he might have tempted her, but as it was she was
totally and completely in love with Alec and no man, no matter how hot he was, could
change that. “He’s in Lucan’s office making calls. Do you need something?”

“I was checking in to see if he needed
anything. I know he has been really busy lately.”

“Oh, go ahead in, he’s probably almost
done.” Mercy looked off to the wood line where Jaden stood, her eyes transfixed
on Mason as he spoke with her. The representative of the Elders was biting her
bottom lip as she looked him over from top to bottom, clearly enthralled by the
specimen of manhood before her, and Mercy had to stop herself from chuckling. Mason
had that effect on all females, but thankfully, it didn’t seem to make him
cocky like it would most males.

Mason followed Mercy’s gaze, his eyes
coming to rest on the dark-haired beauty the Elders had sent. He had been
following since her arrival and was completely baffled why all of the large
males she had brought with her seemed to follow her every command without any
argument. In fact, the giant that was by her side most often seemed to do
whatever she wanted whenever she turned her anger upon him. Suddenly her eyes
shifted upward. She met his gaze with her startling ice-blue eyes and he found
himself unable to look away. His head began to hum and he felt a pressure build
there as she continued to hold him captive in her gaze and when he thought he
could take no more she smiled softly and released her hold over him.

“She’s very pretty,” Mercy said.

“Many of nature’s creatures are
beautiful, but they are also deadly,” he said frowning as Jaden turned away and
walked back into the forest.

“Do you think that she is not what she
seems?”

“I try not to think much about her at
all,” he said. In actuality, he wasn’t sure what to make of the dark-haired
vixen, but he did know she was working for the enemy and that was enough to
breed distrust.  “Will you tell Alec I was here? He knows how to find me if he
needs to.”

Mercy nodded and he jumped of the porch,
walking away with much more haste than he had approached with and she knew he
was going to follow Jaden. Mason had turned out to be one of her fiercest
protectors and if he found and evidence that Jaden meant her harm then she felt
sorry for the she-wolf. She stood at the rail of the porch watching as he
disappeared into the greenery of the forest and sighed.

“Everything alright?” Alec asked, sliding
his arms around her waist from behind, nuzzling her neck tenderly.  He had been
so busy lately that time to just be alone with her and hold her in his arms was
rare.

“Fine,” she said turning in his arms,
feathering his neck with kisses of her own. “Mason was here, he wanted to know
if you needed help with anything.”

Alec smiled and brushed her lips with
his own. “The only thing I need is you, my love,” he vowed pulling her close,
laying siege to her sweet soft lips, as he had so badly wanted to do all day
long.

Mercy moaned, pressing herself as close
as possible to him. She had missed the time alone they used to share, but with
the forest overrun with the contingent of Weres the Elders had sent there was
no solitude to be found there and with her brothers always skulking around the
house, they didn’t have a minute alone. Of course, Cade had left just that
morning for a trip to meet some of the Alpha’s from the central part of the country,
and Lucan was currently at Nina’s house meeting with her father. It presented a
rare opportunity, one that she wanted to use to her advantage. “Let’s go
inside,” she murmured against his lips.

“Mercy,” Alec growled knowing what it
was she wanted.

Mercy smiled and took a step back,
reaching for his hand, pulling him along behind her into the house, stopping at
the bottom of the stairs and looking up towards her room.

“No,” he said firmly.

She sighed. “If there is even a small
chance we might never be together I at least want this,” she pleaded. “I know
you made that stupid promise, but things change. Everything has become unclear
and I don’t want to live my life never knowing what it was that is between us.”

Alec brushed his hand across her cheek
and pulled her into his arms. “I swear, I will not let you go, no matter what I
have to do to keep you.”

Mercy looked up, her green eyes meeting
his, tears welling in them. “I want you, Alec. I don’t want to wait another
second minute or hour to be with you.” She swiped with frustration at a tear
that rolled down her cheek. “This is all so stupid. Everyone knows we are meant
to be together, so what are we waiting for?”

Alec’s jaw clenched. He didn’t want to
break his promise to her brothers, but part of him wanted to mark her so that
all the others males vying for her would know she had been with him. Know he
had been the first man to know her in every way a man could know a woman. It
couldn’t be helped: it was instinctual and part of being a male werewolf.

“Please,” Mercy murmured against his
lips, her arms encircling his neck.

Alec groaned and lifted her in his arms,
moving swiftly up the stairs to her room. Once there, he placed her on her feet.
She tore his T-shirt in two and tossed it on the floor behind him and he
chuckled.  “Slow down,” he murmured, his own hands falling to the hem of her
shirt lifting it over her head and staring down on her satin-covered breasts
with shaky, uneven breaths. He had anticipated this moment for so long, wanted
her more than anything he had ever wanted in his life and now that it was upon
him, he was nervous and afraid to hurt her.

“Alec,” she whispered uncertainly.

Alec moaned and swept her off her feet lying
on her bed, careful not to place his full weight upon her. “I want this to be perfect,
Angel, there is no rush,” he told her his hands moving over her stomach,
stopping at the front clasp of her bra. Mercy trembled beneath him and he met
her gaze. “Are you alright?” She nodded placed her fingers over his whether to
stop him or urge him on he wasn’t sure, but he pulled his hand away lowering
his head instead, brushing his lips along the edge of her bra line.  She arched
towards him, her hands running down his back as he savored the softness of her satiny
skin and when he his fingers finally came back to the clasp she moaned deeply
and no move to stop him. He leaned down and took her mouth in a fiery kiss that
left her breathless as he worked the clasp between his fingers. He had just got
it unsnapped when the door to her room flew open, banging against the wall and
startling them both.  

A large man with a white beard and
weathered face took in the scene before him and moved swiftly to the bed,
lifting Alec off of Mercy and tossing him against to the floor. Mercy screamed,
clutching her bra around her, and Alec roared, flying at the intruder with murder
in his eyes.

“Enough!” the man commanded, raising his
hand, forcing Alec to stop dead in his tracks. He bent to pick up Mercy’s shirt
and tossed it to her. “Get dressed and meet us down stairs,” he ordered walking
to the door, waiting for Alec to follow him before closing it behind them.

Mercy rushed to pull herself together
and raced out of the door and down the stairs to the kitchen where Alec sat
across the table glaring at the older male, who waited patiently for her
arrival.

“Ah, Mercy, come and take a seat.” He
pointed to a chair and waited for her to sit before going on. “This is
certainly not the way I wanted to meet you, but be that as it may, here we
are.”

“Who are you, and what are you doing in
my house?” Mercy asked insolently.

The man smiled, his white beard rippling
as he let out a chuckle. “You are a fiery one, aren’t you.” 

“This is Alaric,” Alec said taking her
hand in his. “He is one of the Elders.”

 Mercy lifted her eyebrow and looked to
the man, feeling the power that radiated from him, suitably intimidated. “So
you’re here,” she said rubbing her fingers over Alec’s, feeling his body trembling
with rage.

“Apparently just in time,” he said,
looking between them with censure.

“What happens between my mate and myself
is none of your business,” Alec growled slamming his fist on the table and
rising from the chair. Alaric turned to face him, his ice-blue eyes meeting his
and Alec fell back into his seat clutching his chest, letting out a strangled
cry.  

“Stop,” Mercy screamed, placing her hand
over his chest slowing down his heartbeat and bringing it back under control
before looking to Alaric who watched her curiously. “Leave him alone!” she
demanded.

“I will, when he stops acting like a
jealous fool,” he said laying his hand upon the table with a growl.

Alec took a deep breath as Mercy hugged
him close, burying her head against this chest. “I’m alright, Angel,” he said,
running his fingers through her tangled curls.  “What do you want?” he asked
Alaric angrily.

“I came to see if my grandson had any
common sense, but I can see that he, like his father, seems to have misplaced
it,” Alaric said angrily.

Alec immediately fired back at him in
outrage. “I don’t have a grandfather, so what the hell are you playing at?”

Mercy stared at Alaric seeing clearly
the family resemblance. He turned to her, his ice- blue eyes meeting hers and
she gasped, placing her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. Alec was immediately
at her side placing his arm around her shoulders, but before she could tell him
anything, Gregory burst through the door and came to their side, staring upon
Alaric with outrage.

“Son,” Alaric said rising to his feet.

“You lost the right to call me that when
I asked for your help and you did nothing,” Gregory told him sharply.

“I did everything I could for you back
then, but the Elders as a whole made the final decision,” he answered, his eyes
filled with pain.

Gregory’s body trembled and his eyes
morphed from blue to amber. “My mate died because of you, so don’t come here
and pretend that you care about your family now.” He turned and looked at Alec
and Mercy. “Are you both alright?”

“We’re fine,” Mercy said since Alec was
too busy staring between his father and his grandfather with shock to answer.

“Son?” Gregory placed his hand on Alec’s
shoulder.

“Dad what is going on?” He looked to
Alaric as if seeing a ghost. “You told me he died. You said that all of my
grandparents were dead.”

“Your mother’s parents are dead and the
night your mother was murdered,” he looked to Alaric with hatred, “he died
too.”

“Son, I tried to make them see that the
threat of the rogues needed attention, but back then I was the new guy and they
didn’t exactly listen to what I had to say,” Alaric explained.

“I lost everything that night,
everything but my son and I thought if I kept you away there was no chance you
could ruin his life too, but I was wrong wasn’t I? Here you stand trying to
take away his mate too,” Gregory snarled.

Gregory looked ready to shift and Alec quickly
pulled Mercy out of the way just in case he lost his control.

Mercy stared at Alaric. She could see he,
too, blamed himself for the past. In fact, she could see he clearly had
suffered his son’s loss every day of his life. Alaric’s eyes snapped to hers
and she looked away, embarrassed she had been caught staring at him.

“Why did you come?” Gregory asked.

“Alec is my grandson. I want to do all I
can to help him.”

“He doesn’t need your help!” Gregory
roared.

Alaric’s eyebrows lifted. “I am not the
new kid on the block anymore, son. I am now the oldest and I have more power
now than I did back then.”

Gregory snorted. “Unless you can change
their minds and just go back to wherever you came from, and leave us alone,
you’re of no use to us.”

“Gregory,” Mercy said, placing her small
hand on his arm. “I know you two have your differences, but we need all the
help we can get and he is one of the Elders. Surely, that means something. Let
him stay and help us.”

“You’re asking a lot,” Gregory said
placing his hand over hers.

Mercy looked up, blinking back tears.
“I’m asking for my life,” she told him seriously.  

Gregory pulled her to his side and
hugged her close. “That, I could never deny you.”  He looked to his father.
“You can stay, but if my son or his mate gets hurt in all of this, I will kill
you this time.”

Alaric nodded and looked to Alec. “I
will do everything I can to help you, but you must be prepared for the worst,
and you must not in any way compromise Mercy,” he told him, referring to the
way he had found them upon his arrival. “It would be seen as an act of defiance
and that will not win you any favors from the other Elders.”

“My son is ready to face anyone who
might challenge him and he will keep better control of his emotions from here
on out,” Gregory answered for his son.

“I hope so,” Alaric said. 

A knock sounded and they all looked to
where Jaden stood at the screen door, watching them all warily.

“I thought I made it clear I didn’t want
you close to Mercy,” Alec snarled.

“And I told you that she is not our
enemy,” Mercy said, going to the door and opening it for her.

“Grandfather,” Jaden said, walking briskly
to Alaric’s side.

“Jaden.” Alaric reached out and pulled
her against him in an affectionate hug.

“Care to explain?” Gregory asked,
looking at Jaden with newfound interest.

“This is your sister Anna’s daughter.
When she passed away I was the only family she had left, so I took her in and
raised her.” He looked down proudly on his granddaughter. “She is one of the
Elders’ best emissaries.”

“Grandfather, stop,” Jaden said, pulling
away from him and turning to face Mercy. “I didn’t know it was him coming and
until I overheard your conversation just now, I had no idea I was related to
Alec in any way.”

“It’s alright, these guys seem to keep a
lot of secrets,” Mercy told her.

“Are you never going to let me live down
not telling you that you are a werewolf,” Alec said.

“No I am not, but I have decided to love
you anyway,” she said walking to his side, and placing her arms around him.

“And I thank God everyday for that
miracle,” he said kissing the tip of her nose.

“Grandfather, surely there is something
we can do to help them?” Jaden said.

Alaric looked at the young couple and
knew she was right. There was no denying they were Bond Mates and he believed
that should outweigh any old law inexistence, but he wasn’t the only one making
the decision. “I will do everything I can, but as I was telling my son we
should prepare for the worst, just in case.”