The Pack (29 page)

     “For all his faults as a father Mather
has a so
lid pack and treats them better than he treated
his own sons
,
but I do not think that is why he is
really
here,” Cade told them.

     “Why
then
?”
Alec asked.

     “
I don’t know
,
but the sooner we find ou
t the better.” Lucan rose from the table and looked
to h
is brother.
“Keep an eye on Mercy I am going to do a little recon work.”
He headed out of the d
oor and the air changed becoming charged with energy as he shifted and took off after his father.

     “Go with him son
,
it will do you good to work
off some of the tension in you, but do not confront him or any of his pack.
”
Gregory said to Alec who was tightly strung and in need of a run to calm down
.

     Alec needed no more direction
. H
e
took off into the night transforming seamlessly then venturing into the woods in pursuit of Lucan his mentor, his friend
,
and the brother of the woman that would
one-day
stand by his side as he ruled his pack.

  
“When are you going to tell Lucan that you’re leaving?” Gregory asked Cade
after the other
s
had left
.

     “I’m not leaving
for good
,
it’s just a quick trip while father is gone
.
Lucan will understand
,
he only wants what’s bes
t for me.” Cade felt
like a betrayer for even thinking about leaving his family
when they were in crisis
,
but he had word his
Bond M
ate was thinking of bonding
with
another
,
something he could not allow to happen. 

     “I never doubt your brother’s feelings for you
,
but he will now be solely responsible for Me
rcy’s care
.”

     “Come on Gregory
,
I have never been more than a
n indulgent older brother to Mercy
,
he i
s her father
,
he will be the one she will turn to when she needs help.”

 
   “Do you really believe that
?” Gregory asked.
He knew
Mercy depended upon both of her brothers
,
but Cade never saw the contribution he made to her life. It pained him to think how wrong he was, but with his mate in jeopardy of bonding with another, he was not thinking clearly.

     “I know she loves me too
,
but let’s face it I am more fun and games
,
he is the serious one.”

     “You have so much still to learn.
Mercy needs balance and between the tw
o of you
.
” H
e shook his head and laughed as he
walked to the door. “
Lucan may be her guardian on paper
,
but it has always been a partnership between the two of you.
Good luck a
nd keep me updated.
” He called
out leaving him
alone
to ponder his
words.

     Cade’s
cell
phone rang
and
h
e checked the number
before
answering
eagerly
. “Yeah what’s going on
?” He listened as his spy
told him of his mate’s plans
with a calmness that was eerie for the
usually
temperamental wolf
then
hung up the phone and went to his room to pack.
Gregory had been right
,
he was making excuses to make his departure easier
,
but how could anyone fault him when his future depended upon the outcome of the journey he was about to take.

    
With his bag
packed,
h
e walked to Mercy’s room
.
R
eassured by
her even breathing
that
she was a
sleep
, h
e placed his bag in th
e hall and
crept to her side. H
er long Tahitian hair hung
off one side o
f the pillow. H
er pale face
was
illuminated by the
bright
moonlight and she had a
small-satisfied
smile that played at the corner of
her mo
uth
indicating her dreams were pleasant
.

    
He
made habit of checking in on her every night s
ince she came to live with them
and
was shocked
she still looked so innocent
despite everything that was going on around her
.
T
he
scared, heartbroken
six
year old they had taken in was now almost an adult. She had two
Alpha
’s fighting fo
r her affections, and was becoming more independent with each year that passed. Soon she would make her choice and they would have to let her go.

    
    Mercy shifted in her sleep bringing him from his thoughts and he leaned down to place a kiss on h
er cheek. “I will be back
,
take
care of yourself until I return,” h
e
whispered
tu
cking
the blanket around her,
then
walked
out of
the room, grabbed
his bag
,
and went to the kitchen to await his brother
’s return
.

*****

    
Lucan and Alec ran
throu
gh the night following Mather’s scent
until they reached the only hotel in town. It
was easy to trace
the man who had sired him
,
but Lucan
stopped short of following it to his rooms since he could smell the presenc
e of other pack members
along with his
. He
came to a halt
behind a trash collection
container
  and
Alec paced by
his side
keeping downwind so the others
would not catch their scent
,
but
close enough they could still hear the
conversation
.

     “Father it is not wise for you to go somewhere without us near to protec
t you,
”
an angry
male voice said.

     It was dark, but Lucan
easily tagged the man
speaking
a
s his o
lder brother Trevor. He was the
heir apparent
of their pack
and
one of the
main
reasons Lucan and Ca
de had left.
He
had a mean
streak a mile wide and anyone who cau
ght him in a bad mood paid dearly
for displeasing him.

    
He peeked around the corner
and saw
Trevor’s
jaw twitch
as
he stared at their father barely concealing his rage. T
he long jagged scar
that
graced one of his
cheek
s
slithered
l
ike a serpent
and
Lucan could not help
,
but
feel
satisfaction
. H
e
’d been responsible for placing
the
mar
k upon his brother
so long ago
when he had come across him puni
shing one of the pack
,
forcing the young one
to shift
so he could
h
unt
him
.

    
Lucan
had seen red
and attacked
instantly
. Both wolves had been
strong and
had
torn into
each other without hesitation
,
years of hate
making it a battle
neither was willing to lose.
Trevor
though
had
underestimat
ed his younger brother and
he found himself on the ground
whimpering,
bleeding
profusely
,
unable to move
,
shocked
,
that Lucan had defeated him
.

    
Their father had appeared startled to find his heir apparent on the ground in front of the son he had never bothered to get to know.
He could still recall the pride in his father’s voice as he addr
essed them,
the only time he ever felt his father’s favor
.
“
I may have been mistaken to ass
ume Trevor is the only
Alpha
in our p
ack.” He had patted Lucan’s arm
smiling proudly
. “Well son
,
you did the damage to him now carry him back to the compound
so he can
be
heal
ed
.” 

     He
left
leaving Lucan no choice
,
but to change forms and lift
his snarling brother
in his arms
. It had been the longest walk of his life and he was unprepared when the en
t
ire pack
stopped
what they were doing
to watch him carrying Tr
evor towards their
healer’s
house
.
From that
day on
,
Trevor never missed a chance to aggravate Lucan
,
even going so far as to threaten Cade who Lucan loved more than any other.

    
The final insult came though when Lucan
asked out a you
ng girl in the local town
. S
he had said yes with a smile that had lightened his heart and he had anticipated the date with
the
eagerness
all teenage boys possessed
.
On the night of the
date
,
he
drove to town to pick her up
excited about getting a chance to spend time alone with her.
He made it to town where p
olice
cars blocked part of the road
an
d
waited patiently in his car until
they pulled
a ravaged body from
the woods.

    
O
ne lo
ok at the long blonde strands
of
hair on
the young girl they
f
ound and he knew who she was
.
He
ran
to wher
e they had laid her on the grass
,
falling
to his knees
to stare
at
her mangled body
picking up a
familiar scent
that told him
exactly
who her killer was.

    
He wanted to scream the name
, to let them know that his brother had done the horrible deed
,
but to do so would put all of his pack at risk of exposure
. H
e could not allow
that
to happen
,
even if it meant protecting the brother he hated
.