Authors: Donna Flynn

The Pack (36 page)

BOOK: The Pack

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Alec stared out of the window hating himself
for losing control
in her presence.
It was amateurish
,
and so beneath h
im
,
but around her it seemed to be a constant problem. As long as she denied
him,
his wolf would f
ight for her
and he was not sure how much longer he could wait for her to realize what they were to each other.

Mercy watched the play of emotions on his face and knew
what had to be done
.
It had taken courage to admit he wanted her
,
he had bared his soul to her and she could not longer deny him. Sliding onto his
lap,
she
laid her head against his shoulder wrapping her arms around his trembling body.

“Don’t,
” he plea
ded. His wolf
wanted its mate
,
it
called to her and she responded u
nable to deny
it. That
was all it was he told himself
.

“Kiss me Alec,
”
s
he whis
pered
.

“No you do not want this,” he told her his voice heavy with desire
. “I won’t force
this
on you.” He felt his spin
e tingle
,
knew he had t
o get away before he shifted
in front of her and ended the
charade
they had been playing for so many years
.

Mercy would not be thwarted though
,
she
pulled
his face to hers staring into his strange amber eye
s
without
fear
.
“I want this,
I want you to kiss me
.
I’m begging Alec.” She lowered her face and nipped at his bottom lip feeling his body quiver under her.
“I’m pleading with you…Kiss me.”
She
nudged
his lips apart
,
but still he hes
itated
. “I thought this what you wanted.” She
stroked his cheek
,
but still he
denied her.
“I’
m sorry I guess I misunderstood.” Her voice trembled
as she
be
gan to climb off his lap,
hurt and rejected
. Had she misread him? Did she let her own feelings push her to believe he really wanted her?

H
e grasped her hips in his hands and turned
her back to face him.
“I can’t lose you Mercy
,
it would kill me
.
I need to be sure you are ready for this and right
now you are confused.”

S
he brushed her hand over his cheek
murmuring softly
as she settled back in his
lap to listen
.

“Take your time
.
D
o not let me or Kirk pu
sh you into anything.” It killed him to say it,
but he knew it was the right thing to do.

“Are you sure
?
I don’t want you to be angry anymore
,
it makes me sad.”

Tears glistened in her eyes and he knew it was hurting her as much as him
,
so he nodded. H
e anticipated her gratitude,
expected her to hug him
,
but instead she wound her fingers in his hair and pulled his head close kissing hi
m as he had always dreamed she would.

Her kiss was demanding and
he had no pro
blem returning her passion
,
but
all too
soon
he found himself on top of her pressing her do
wn on
the bench s
eat
as his hand crept under
her t-shirt
,
her soft
skin under his fingers.
“No!” he snarled
pulling his hand
away.
H
e respected her too much to take advantage of her
scattered
emotions.

H
e sat up and backed away ignoring the desire in her eyes and the tempting amount of skin that showed
where her t-shirt had crept up over her belly. She had no idea how close she had come to being seduced int
o a choice she would be stuck with forever.
He slammed his fist down on the
dashboard
hating that life was so complicated for them. In th
e normal
world,
he could kiss
and cuddle
her
with h
e
r without fear
,
but until she was ready to claim
him,
it would never be safe.

“Stop!” S
he reached for his hand
,
but he pulled it away quickly and she stared at him shocked by his reaction.
“Did I do something wrong?” s
he whispered straightening her shirt and sitting up in the seat.

“Oh god no Angel you didn’t
,
it’s just…” He turned to face her
, holding
his hand to his sides afraid one touch would be too much temptation. “You’re not there yet and I don’t want to rush you.”

“Your right.
” She let out the breath she had been holding and forced herself to smile. “I need to think about this and I need to talk to Kirk
,
it is not fair to lead him on wh
en I have feelings for you
I do not have for him.”

H
e was stunned
to hear her
admit it at last
,
a gift he had not expected
,
but her next words cast a shadow over his happiness.

“I do need time and
answers
though
,
because I cannot help but feel that you are hiding something from me and until I know
what that is you and I can never have a real relationship
.”

He had not expected
she would make such a demand
,
but could not blame her
for wantin
g the truth. “Your right
,
there is so much you need to learn and I promise I will work to ensure you know everything as soon as possible.” His
cell phone rang and
quickly
noting the number
, he answered
. “Hey dad what’s up?”

“Ge
t the hell out of the pack is following is a wolf in
your location and its closing in fast. Get home now!”

Alec looked around sensing
for the first time,
the stillness
of the area around them
and knew they had to get away quickly
.
“Get your seatbelt on,” he screamed at Mercy, starting
the
car,
slamming
his foot on the gas
pedal
,
and
turning
the vehicle around
so he could go back the way had come
.

“Alec what’s going on?” Mercy screamed as she hurriedly buckled her seat belt.

A
dark
fury
shape shot out of the woods barreling
towards them
and he hit the gas hoping to avoid it all together
, but it was too late
.

“W
atch out!” Mercy screamed as a
large wolf launched
itself at the
windshield. One large paw broke through the glass
,
its razor sharp claw
s slicing into her
neck and
dow
n
the front of her chest.

Alec
heard her terrified screams and
hit
the brakes. The wolf’s body
flew off the hood
and he turned to Mercy horrified to see blood seeping from the gauges left behind
.
Mercy
looked
down at her
tattered t-shirt wh
ere blood rand freely
down her chest to her lap with shock
.
Alec
,
seeing how dazed she was
pressed his hand to her n
eck where the blood was gushing
,
hit the gas
,
and high t
ailed
it out of there.

The wolf
got unsteadily to its feet and
gave
chase, but the old car made for speed
outdistanced the
injured
wolf easily.

Sensing her detachment from all that was happening Alec knew he
had to take charge
.
“Mercy listen to me
,
place your hand over mine.” She
did as he asked and he pulled his hand fr
ee then
ripped his shirt off
with his free hand
wh
ile driving at break neck speed. “Good angel
,
now slide closer so I can help you.” She managed to get closer and he pressed the soft cotton to her thr
oat
trying to staunch th
e flow of blood
.

Her eyes shuttered, then
closed, which
he knew was a bad sign.
“Stay awake damn it!” he shouted
.
S
he
opened her eyes
and stared blankly
as if unsure why he was shouting. “Mercy listen to me
!
I need you to help
,
place your hand on the t-shirt and press as hard as you can s
o I can drive
faster.”

Again,
she followed his
directions laying
her head on his shoulder to keep upright
,
giving him the chance to hit speeds he never would have with her in the car on any normal day.

“It hurts,” she cried out her voice barely audible
.

“Angle listen to me
,
it’s going
to be alright
.
I swear I won’t
let anything happen to you.” He flew down the road to
wards
her house
ignoring all traffic laws
,
barreling into the driveway and slamming the bra
k
es before
bounding over the hood
in one leap, lifting
her into his arms
and running to
ward
the house
.

“Stay awake!” he screamed
a
s he ran
to where Lucan and Nina waited on the porch.

“Get her upstairs
, I need to work quickly,” Nina instructed following behind
as he rushed past
a startled
Kirk towards her room.

Once there he
laid her on the bed where
Nina went to work placing her hands over the wound and closing her eyes. Blood flowed freely over
her f
ingers making an eerie red puddle
on the white
comforter under Mercy and
Alec watched with grow
ing horror as the crimson stain
widened
. His body shook
with fear
,
he felt his
entire life slipping away and all
he could do was watch helplessly.