The Pack (45 page)

    
Her eyes filled with tears and a sharp cry of disbelief escaped her lips. The hideous sight of her injuries
revolted her
and sh
e shoved the shirt back down unwilling to look upon them anymore. Her body shook and loud sobs escaped her throa
t as she closed her eyes trying to accept what had happened without falling to pieces
.

     Th
e door opened suddenly and Alec quickly
walked in looking a little worse
for wear, but alive. It was the best sight she could have hoped for and
her sobs grew louder.

    
“Angel don’t.” He came
to her side, swiping away the tears that fell down her cheek trying not
to be hurt
when she flinched
away from his hand
.

     “So we both made it,” she said softly closing her eyes to avoid seeing the hurt on his face
she knew was there
.

     “It seems that way, although the last week has b
een an uncertainty where you were concerned.”
His first impulse was to hug her close, but with her injuries and the obvious fact she was now uncomfortable around him he held himself in check.
“You should have healed yourself first, then worried about me,” he chastised.

     “It doesn’t matter
my life is
over
now anyway,
” she told him
, clenching her hands on the sheet
nervously
.

     “Your life is not over. It will be different now, but I know you will learn to embrace what you are in time, you’re not a quitter.” He reached for her hand, but thought the better of it and pulled it back.

     “
I am a monster
,
the ve
ry thing that killed my parents. H
ow can I get past that
,
” she argued noting the slight tick
of aggravation
in his cheek as she spoke.

     “W
e are not monsters
were
just…”

    
She
placed her hand up to stop him
.
“I’m glad you’re alive Alec. I really am, but I can’t do this right now, just leave me alone. Please.” 

     “Don’t do this Angel, I care about you so much. I want to help you through this.” He took her hand in his own ignoring her attempts to pull it away. “Let me help
you
,” he begged.

     “I think you and
my brothers have helped enough.” She succeeded in getting her hand from his
and tucked it under the blanket
. “I love you all, but I can’t forgive you for the
lies and deceit. I wouldn’t have been happy to know what I was,
but
I might have understood and come to terms with it.
From now
on,
I want to know
everything about what I am and
I
will need help with that,
but it does not mean I have forgiven any of you.”

     “What about us?” he aske
d
.

     “I can’t think about th
at right now, in all honesty I’m
not sure
there will ever be an us
. I don’t know if I can live with this.
” She
m
et his gaze, her
eyes filled with tears and her hands shook
under the blanket
. “I need
time and I need to know
if I will ever again
be able to
trust you.”

    
He had expected her anger,
knew he deserved it for the lies he had taken part in
,
but her words still cut him deep.
“Take all the time you need, I will wait and I will help you learn that what you are is a wonderful thing when you embrace it.” He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her
trembling
lips tasting the sa
lt of her tears
. “Never doubt I did everything
I could
to protect you
,
without you my own life wouldn’t be worth living.”

     “I know,” she whispered.

     “Alec can we have a minute with Mercy,”
Lucan asked from the doorway
.

    “Of course.
” He looked down on Mercy
and frowned.
“
I will give you time, but do not ask me to stay away, I could not bear that.”

     He walked away dejectedly and Me
rcy turned her head away hoping to hide the tears that slid down her cheeks.

     For a few
moments,
Lucan busied himself chec
king the IV, pushing the medication
button
a few times
before turning to face her.

    
“So I suppose this is where you make our lives hell u
ntil we have paid for our sins,”
Cade said solemnly
.

     “I don’t intend to make anyone pay.”

    
They both
stared confused by her calm state
.

    
“I want to know what I am and how to control it
,
to do that I will need your
help
.” They both looked
relived. “Of course this does not mean I forgive either you
for lying to me,
even if you thought it was for the right reasons.
”

     “Mercy we…”

     She cut off Lucan’s apology with a loud sigh.
“It doesn’t change anything that you’re sorry. I am still angry and hurt
,
give me time like I asked Alec
to do.  N
o amount of apologizing is going to change
how I feel
right now
.” Their hurt was easy to read, so
she softened her words. “I love you both
,
you’re the only family I have, but this is a lot to absorb and honestly right now I can’t handle anything else.
Apologies
will have to wait. I need to find myself, the real me, not the on
e who has been hiding for so long
.
”

     “Of course,”
Lucan said leaning over to place a kiss on her forehead. “You rest I will bring you something to eat
in a little while.” He turned and walked out leaving her alone with Cade.

     “Kid you are going to be
the death of us,
” Cade
said coming to sit by her side.

     “Yeah, well
isn’t that what having kids is all about
” s
he joked,
grimacing whe
n her rib protested
.

     “Relax. Think of it this way, now you’re almost invincible.
” He brushed his hand down her cheek and smiled. “Never in my life have I been
as worried as the mo
ment I saw you on this bed so battered and torn
.” He looked so sad she reached out for his hand and clenched
it
in her own. “Don’t ever leave us, I can’t imagine not having my little sister around.”

    “I don’t plan on going anywhere
,
besides
else
who would want me
now
?
” she whispered
laying her head back against
t
he pillows and closing her eyes as the pain medicine began to take effect.

     Cade
looked to the doo
rway where Alec stood watching them worriedly
. “Oh I’m sure there’s someone out there,” he murmered, but when he looked down she was fast asleep.

     “Lucan must have dumped a l
ot of pain medicine into her,” h
e
said
stopping in front of Alec
as he left the room
.

 
   “It’s probably a good thing, she nee
ds rest
.
”

     “Go
sit with her, she needs you now whether she knows it or not.” Cade patted his shoulder and walked away leaving him to watch over his mate
.

     Alec walked to Mercy’s
bedside a
nd looked down her pale face,
happy she was alive eve
n if it mea
nt she now hated him
.
He took her hand in his and sat on the edge of the bed his love for her shinning in his eyes.
“For now M
y Angel I will do as you ask. I will
help you
learn to be
pack
,
be your friend
,
and
give you the time you asked for,
but later….”
He
looked out
of the window where the sun sho
ne brightly imagining their future now that she was finally part of the pack.

The End