Devin's Mercy [Shifters of Mystery 4] (5 page)

he approached them. Devin watched the man carefully. He didn’t

know this guy and trusted him even less than the men from his pack

who lived here.

“No, William. I have it. But you can ask Monterey if I can use that

cot he has in his room. Devin needs a bed to sleep on.”

“Got it,” William said as he raced up the steps, a small Chihuahua

running behind him. Devin wasn’t sure why, but jealousy reared its

ugly head. William was a nice-looking guy. Had Mercy found

someone when he left the pack? Did William belong to Mercy? That

thought hurt like a sledgehammer to his gut.

Devin’s Mercy

31

Devin had been the one running behind Mercy for years. He was

the one that cared about Mercy the most, not that scrawny man. Devin

wanted to stake his claim, but kept quiet. Who was he to demand that

Mercy not have a lover? Just the thought of anyone touching Devin

made his skin crawl, so why would he want Mercy to want him?

“He’s taking it to your room,” William called from the top of the

steps, the dog barking as if confirming William’s statement. Devin

was sleeping in Mercy’s room?

“Thanks,” Mercy said less loudly as he began to climb the steps

leading to the upstairs. Devin hesitated as he glanced at a few men

gathering in the hallway and then followed behind Mercy, watching

the guy to make sure he didn’t crumble down the steps. The man was

unsteady on his feet, and too big to fall on Devin.

Devin waited patiently as Mercy made slow progress. He

remembered when the man had walked through the town, his

predatory gait drawing Devin’s eye every single damn time. Devin

knew he didn’t stand a chance with Mercy, but he had held on to a

small sliver of hope that Mercy would notice him. The werewolf was

always polite whenever Devin made a pest of himself, but never

looked at Devin the way Devin wanted him to.

Sexually.

Mercy had treated Devin more like a kid brother, and that had

irritated the shit out of him. He knew Mercy was older, but age didn’t

matter to Devin. For fuck’s sake, he was twenty-five and old enough

to know what he wanted.

That was until Sage and his friends were gone from the pack and

Martin went even madder. Those were frightening times, and still

were. Devin had tried his best to avoid the alpha at all costs, but the

man had zeroed his sights in on Devin for some unknown reason.

Soon Devin found himself on the receiving end of Martin’s anger.

And not every time was a blow from a fist.

32

Lynn Hagen

Devin felt the tears welling up at the memory, but gritted his teeth

as he pushed those thoughts away. He never wanted to think about

them again.

“Devin.”

Devin glanced up to see Mercy standing at the top of the steps,

staring at him curiously. Devin cleared his throat of tears and hurried

up the steps, keeping his head low so no one would see the lingering

tears left behind that he fought hard not to let go. He knew his face

was an open book right now, and Devin refused to let anyone in, so

there was no use in anyone knowing his pain.

He walked behind Mercy until they were standing inside a

bedroom. Devin glanced around and saw a cot open and lying on the

other side of the room. Whoever put it there must have known Devin

wanted to be as far away from Mercy as possible. He just wasn’t sure

how they knew this.

“Would you mind pulling the covers back?” Mercy asked as he

rested his hand on the nightstand, sweat and pain mixed together on

his face. Devin quickly pulled the covers back, and watched as Mercy

struggled to get back into bed. He reached out to help, but then let his

hand fall short.

Touching anyone right now was not an appealing thought to

Devin.

Mercy let out a grunt and then a painful sigh as he settled back.

Devin spread the cover over his immense body and then stepped back,

looking around, wondering what he should do now.

“Close the bedroom door and get some sleep.”

Devin walked slowly to the door and closed it, resting his hand on

the door for a moment as he steeled his nerves. He was closed in now

with Mercy. The man was injured, but Mercy was a powerful guy.

“Relax, Devin,” Mercy said as Devin heard the blankets rustling.

“You’re safe in here.”

Devin’s Mercy

33

How Devin wished he could believe that. He nodded, though, and

then crossed the room and slid onto the cot, pulling the blankets over

his body and tucking them under his chin.

“Thanks for helping me, Devin.”

“You’re welcome,” he whispered as he closed his eyes, praying

the feeling of Charles’s hands clawing at his skin would soon fade.

* * * *

Mercy felt like shit. His mouth resembled something fuzzy and his

body was sore, but thankfully not as sore as yesterday. He couldn’t

believe he had slept the day away, and the night as well.

He knew only time would help the wound on his chest, but damn

if he didn’t want to rip the pain from his body. He hated feeling less

than one hundred percent. Mercy didn’t like lying around helpless.

Devin.

Mercy glanced over at the cot to see Devin fast asleep. The man

was balled up so tight he wasn’t sure his extremities were getting

enough circulation. He looked like a ball, all limbs tucked in tight.

Turning carefully, Mercy studied Devin. He remembered standing

at the top of the steps yesterday, looking at Devin and seeing such

pain in the man’s eyes that Mercy had wanted to walk back down the

steps and shield Devin from everyone’s stare. He wasn’t sure what

had happened to Devin, but Mercy had an overwhelming feeling to

protect the man and chase away his pain.

The little wolf had tugged at Mercy’s protective strings, but he

was also making him hard as hell. Mercy was a big man, and had

always gone for the more pocket-sized kind of guys. There was just

something about them that made Mercy feel ten feet tall and

protective, and Devin was about as pocket-sized as they came.

The man wasn’t any taller than five foot three inches tall, and that

turned Mercy on. But he had always kept his distance, knowing how

much older he was than Devin. He wasn’t even sure why he was lying

34

Lynn Hagen

here entertaining the thought of getting to know the man a hell of a lot

better.

Tossing the covers back, Mercy made his way to the bathroom.

Thankfully this morning it wasn’t as much of a struggle as yesterday.

He wasn’t breaking out in a sweat, and that was a start.

When Mercy walked back into the bedroom, he noticed Devin

awake and watching him from his cot. His blue-grey eyes were

assessing, measuring Mercy up. For what? He wasn’t sure.

“Morning,” Mercy said as he walked to his dresser and grabbed

some clothes. He needed a damn shower. His skin was crawling to get

clean. He also grabbed some clothes that he knew couldn’t fit Devin,

and set them on his bed. Devin may swim in the leisure pants and T-

shirt, but at least he wouldn’t be naked. “You can change into these

when you shower.”

“Am I going to have a guard at the door?”

“No,” Mercy said as he grabbed a pair of socks. “You don’t need

one. I trust you to come back here.”

Devin looked surprised. What was he expecting, for Mercy to

stand outside the shower and time him? As much as he hated the

thought, if Devin snuck out and ran, there wasn’t too much Mercy

could do about that. He wasn’t going to force the man to stay

somewhere he didn’t want to be.

But he didn’t want Devin running. He wanted him safe and

protected and somewhere Mercy could keep an eye on him.

“You can shower first,” Mercy said. “I need to rest for a minute.”

Devin pushed the covers back, getting to his feet and grabbing the

clothes from the bed. There was a gleam of interest in his eyes, as if

wondering why Mercy would trust him, and then he was gone from

the room.

“Because I care about you,” Mercy mumbled to himself, and was

a bit surprised to find that his confession was more than true. It was

growing deeper than just caring. But Mercy knew it was more than

the age factoring into his distance from Devin. Mercy was basically a

Devin’s Mercy

35

loner. He liked it that way. He was rough and grumpy and Devin

didn’t deserve someone as antisocial as Mercy was.

What would they talk about? What would they have in common

besides sex? It just didn’t seem possible to have a relationship with

the small man. Maybe it was better that way. Mercy cared about his

friends, but had no one he was responsible for.

He glanced up when Devin hurried back into the bedroom,

quickly closing the door behind him.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

Devin shook his head as he placed his neatly folded clothes on the

cot, and then began to fold his blanket. “I just like it better in here.”

Someplace small and safe
was what Mercy read from Devin’s

statement.

“I’m going to take a shower. Would you mind making my bed for

me?” He could see that Devin was looking a little lost, and giving him

something to do would put the small man more at ease.

“I can do that,” Devin said as he sat down on his cot. Mercy

walked from the room, knowing Devin was waiting to be alone before

handling the task given to him. He closed the door tightly and then

walked to the bathroom.

“I brought some breakfast up,” Pat said as he headed toward

Mercy’s bedroom door. Mercy quickly caught up with Pat.

“Knock before you enter and just leave it on the dresser.” Mercy

didn’t want Devin feeling trapped with Pat in the room. He was in a

safe little bubble right now by himself, and Mercy didn’t want that

bubble to pop.

“Whatever,” Pat grumbled.

Mercy was five seconds away from going after Sherriff Sam

Reese and knocking some sense into the man. He didn’t like seeing

Pat so sour. The werewolf had been full of life and laughter before

Sam tore Pat’s heart out.

Mercy’s stomach growled as he smelled the food in Pat’s hand.

Maybe a shower could wait. He did love to eat after all, and he was

36

Lynn Hagen

starving. Mercy entered the bedroom and stood by the door, watching

as Devin made the bed, pretending that Pat wasn’t in the room.

“He used to be so nice,” Pat whispered to Mercy as he walked

past him.

“So did you.”

Pat glared at Mercy as he walked out of the room. “Try having

your heart ripped out and see how Mary Sunshine you act, asshole.”

“Love you, too, Pat.”

Devin glanced up, his face stricken before he masked it and

finished making Mercy’s bed. Mercy felt his heart flutter in his chest

at the pained look on Devin’s face. So the guy still had feelings for

him.
Interesting.

“You should eat. Pat’s a pretty good cook.”

“I remember,” Devin stated. “I used to go over his house once in a

while and eat.”

“I think everyone did.” Mercy set his clothes on the chair and then

closed the bedroom door, heading toward the dresser. “But I would

suggest you eat, Devin. I have a hell of an appetite and will eat mine

and yours if you’re too slow.” Mercy grinned slightly when Devin

hurried over toward the dresser and grabbed one of the plates on the

tray.

The man sat on his cot, eating his breakfast so quickly that Mercy

was amazed the guy took his time to chew. Mercy grabbed his plate,

taking a seat in the chair, feeling an awkward silence settle over them.

He wasn’t much of a conversationalist and wasn’t sure what to say.

“This is good,” Devin commented.

“He is good,” Mercy replied. “I think I like his steaks on the grill

the best.”

“I used to love his pasta.”

The silence fell between them again. At least Mercy knew what to

ask Pat to cook tonight. He just wasn’t sure what kind of pasta Devin

liked. Pat was famous for his lasagna. But Mercy knew that took

forever to make.

Devin’s Mercy

37

He just didn’t know how to get past the awkward silence. Devin

seemed so lost, so alone, that Mercy wanted to reach out to the man,

but didn’t know how.

He stood when there was a knock on his door. Setting his plate

aside, Mercy opened it to see Sage standing on the other side. Mercy

caught the tension that tightened Devin’s body. “What’s up?”