The Pack (22 page)

     “I’m sorry I didn’
t mean to go so fast,” h
e said
apologetically
misunderstanding her hesitation
.

     “No I
…”
She bit her lip unsure how to explain
without hurting him
, but
the sound of footsteps on the stairs
sa
ved her
from answering
. At least that’s what she thought,
until Alec glanced
their way
his eyes filled with anger
as he stared at her perched on Kirks lap
,
her arms around his neck
,
and her
lips swollen from his kiss
.

   
“Alec.” She jumped to her feet,
fidge
ting
nervously
,
uncer
tain why she was so flustered about
him finding them together.
Kirk moved
behind her placing
his hand on her b
ack stopping her movements
and she blushed
. “What brings you here?”

     “You
r brothers invited me to dinner,” h
e said sharply
, his eyes
riveted
on Kirks hand,
wrapped aroun
d her waist pulling
her back against him
.

     “Oh.” She looked to K
irk embarrassed she
never thought to ask him to dinner
. “Would you like to stay
,
we always make plenty
?”

     “If there would be no
imposition
,” h
e answered smiling
down on her
,
aware her invitation had upset Alec.

     “No proble
m at all
,” s
he responded forcing herself to
smile
despite how uncomfortable she was
.

*****

     It was
defiantly
a problem
,
she thought
,
a half hour later
as she sat between them
staring at her plate of
un
eaten food. They had been
civil to one another
,
she
was
the one
having a hard
time dealing with the two of them
in the same room
so close to her
. On one side sat Kirk
a g
uy who adored her, o
n the other
Alec who stirred feelings in her that were frightening.

    
Throughout
dinner,
she couldn’t
seem to stop herself
from comparing them even though she knew it was wrong
.
Kirk
was sweet
a
nd made her feel cherished
and w
hen he kissed her sh
e felt warm and cared for
.
Alec
commanded the
attention of everyone
who surrounded him
and
threatened to sweep
her away
.
He
was
danger
ous
and s
he usually
avoided danger
of any kind
,
but for some reason when he held her clos
e
,
she
see
med t
o forget all of that
.

     “So Kirk
how’s the footba
ll team this year?” Cade asked breaking the silence of the room.

     “Good
,
we haven’t lost a game
yet,
” h
e answered proudly.

     “I hear you are quite the quarterba
ck,” Lucan said making
small talk,
aware Mercy
stopped eating and was staring off into space
.

     “I try
, but football
’
s a team sport. W
it
hout the rest of my team
I could not be e
ffective
,” h
e answered diplomatic
ally
before
turning
to
Mercy
who
was
staring at her plate
,
her expression
unreadable.
H
e reached out and took her hand bringing her attention
back to the conversation ignoring
the
displeasure on Alec’s face. “Mercy here is the real story
. S
he has taken the cheerleaders and turned them into champions in just a few months.”

    
T
he note of pride in his voice
was hard to miss an
d Cade laid a restraining hand on Al
ec’s arm sensin
g his control slipping
.
“Alec if
you
’
r
e
done
, I need
help in
the garage.” He fixed
Alec
with
a hard stare
that meant he wasn’t giving him an option
. 

     Alec
stood
fighting back every instinct that roared through him to
rip Kirks hand from her
and beat the snot out of him
.

     “S
ince you have company
tonight
I will wash the dishes,
” Lucan said
rising from the table to begin
gath
ering the empty plates
placing
himself between the two you
ng me
n just in case Alec went for Kirks throat
.

     “No sir
,
my mother taught me better
,
you go and relax
,
I will wash the dishes
if Mercy will direct me where they go once clean
.”
Kirk rose
from his seat to begin clearing dishes
leaving Lucan little choice
, but to allow them to handle it
.

    
“Go
Lucan
,
we got this
.”
Mercy said
as she walked to the sink and deposited the first load of dishes
, Kirk close
behind her
. He
whisper
ed
in her ear
as
he reached around her and sat the dishes in the sink. S
he laughed softl
y turning ar
ound to face him with a smile and he
placed his arms on either side of her restin
g them
on the counter
as he spoke softly to her
.

     “
I won’t turn that
of
fer down,
” Lucan
said pushing Alec towards the door
,
aware h
e was very close to losing control
.
“Let’s go,” he ordered
shoving him outside
where Cade stood waiting.

     “Shake it off man
, she won’t
appr
eciate your fighting with him
,
that
will only make her angry
with you
,” Cade cautioned
.

  
  “You think I don’t know,
” Alec said slamming his fist on the porch rail ignoring the
snap of the wood
the impact
caused
.

     “I know this is hard,
” Lucan said next t
o him placing his hand on his
shoulder.

    
“I’m sorry, but no you don’t
know,”
he answered lifting his amber eyes to meet Lucan’s the desperation there clearly visible.
“She’s mine an
d he has
his hands all over her
.” He batted the hand off his shoulder and tur
ned to the door
ready to confront Kirk
,
but
his father
appeared in front of him
blocking him
from going in
.

     “Son
work it off bef
ore you do something you will reg
ret,” he ordered.

    
Mercy’s soft laughter floated
from the kitchen,
he
looked torn
,
b
ut Gregory snarled and Alec
turned away run
ning for the woods.

    
“Cade
will you
go with
him
, please. Make sure he stays safe
.
”

     Cad
e launched
himself
towards the
wood line
changing forms gracefu
lly as he pursued Alec
.

     “
This is not going to be easy,
”
t
he
Alpha,
said worry
for his son
stretched across his face
. Never had anything pushed Alec’s
control
,
but when a mate was
involved,
even the strongest of their kind
could change
from their normal
easygoing
nature to the beast that lived inside of them
.

     “Nothi
ng worth having ever comes easy,
” Lucan
,
answered listenin
g to the
mournful
howls
coming
from deep in the forest.

*****

    
Mercy,
completely unaware of what was happening outside
,
continued
washing dishes with Kirk
.
They
talked about
school and their friends unaware
of the passing
time until
they were on the last pot.

    
T
he
remaining
foam in the
sink caught Mercy’s eye and
she took a handful
of the bubbles then blew them
at him
. One second she laughed loudly
a
s he wiped the suds from his cheek, the next,
she
was
in h
is arms pressed against the counter
as he kissed
her
heatedly
,
all playfulness forgotten
.

     “Excuse me,
” Ale
c snarled
as
he walked into the kitchen to fi
nd them wrapped in each other’s arms
. It tool great
control not to attack
the other male
,
but the run through the woods had helped stave off some of his earlier anger
and he now managed
more control
.

     
“Did you need something
?” Mercy
asked
nervously, pulling out of
Kirks arms
.

      “
I
came to say to
good night
,
b
ut I can see you’re
bu
sy, so
I’ll just go
.” He turned and walked out leaving her puzzled by his
odd
behavior. Kirk had been nothing
,
but
respectful and kind to her and
as her friend
,
she thought
Alec would appreciate that
,
but instead he seemed rude a
nd almost jealous
of the new guy in her life
.

     “I should get
going
too
,
we
do have
school tomorrow.” Kirk placed a kiss on the end of her nose
and hugged her
close
. “Will you be coming
tomorrow
?”