by Flynn, Donna
The door opened, and Lucan walked in first, followed closely by Cade and Gregory. “How are you?” he asked, coming to her side and taking her other hand.
“I’m good, a little tired, but other than that I feel fine.” Alec squeezed her hand encouragingly, and she forced herself to smile for her brother’s benefit.
“We are glad you’re alright, but I warn you that it is risky to change without someone knowledgeable close at hand to help.” Gregory told her sternly.
“I didn’t do it on purpose. It just happened.”
“Mercy, I don’t want to lecture you, it’s not my style, but he’s right, many of our young ones die trying to shift on their own. It is always important to have someone who can stop the change or help it go smoother with you,” Cade cautioned.
“I couldn’t get help,” she argued. “I was angry, and it happened so quickly I was lucky to get into the woods before anyone heard or saw me,” she cried out, irritated they thought she had done it on purpose.
“That’s impossible, the first year of a young one’s life the change is always long and drawn out. There is always time to call for help,” Lucan said.
“Well, I am sorry to disappoint you, but it only took a matter of minutes,” she argued, hating that her lack of knowledge about werewolves kept her at a disadvantage.
“Angel, no one is accusing you of anything, we are just concerned for your well being,” Alec said, trying to lighten the tension in the room.
“Well I didn’t plan on it happening, and if I had my way it never would again,” she muttered, regretting her words when she saw the disappointment on Alec’s face.
“Mercy, what were you angry about?” Nina asked from the back of the room.
Mercy looked to Alec but said nothing about him and Amber. As far as she was concerned, that was between them. “It wasn’t anything important,” she replied.
“It is not unusual for a new wolf to shift because of anger,” Lucan reasoned.
“But that does not explain how she shifted so quickly,” Gregory said.
“It’s possible her ability to shift so quickly is one of the characteristics of being a Born Were,” Nina said.
“From now on call to Alec if you feel the need to shift, he will always hear you no matter where he is,” Cade told her.
Mercy nodded, and Alec was ashamed that once again he had let his mate down.
“I am your Alpha. If you call to me mentally I will hear you all the time, that way if my son is otherwise engaged I can come to you.” Gregory gave his son a look that said he wanted answers as to why Alec had not been immediately aware of her shift and he nodded.
“Look, I promise I won’t change again without one of you there to help me if I can help it,” Mercy said, tired of their constant mothering. “I think it’s going to be okay though, my wolf and I seemed to meld nicely tonight,” she explained calmly. “I have to accept I am no longer human and tonight was a big first step.” She looked to Alec and went on, “I’m still scared, but it helped that I was able to bond with her so well tonight.”
“It gets easier,” Alec said with a tight smile.
“I’m sure it does,” she answered, but still doubt lingered.
“You should rest, this must have been trying for you,” Nina said her concern for Mercy easy to see.
“I think that is a good plan,” Lucan said letting go of her hand and kissing her cheek. “You get some sleep. We can discuss this again tomorrow.”
“Alec I will wait downstairs for you,” Gregory said, walking to the door with Lucan.
“We were very worried tonight,” Cade told her, kissing her forehead.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m just glad everything is okay and you weren’t harmed,” he told her, leaving her and Alec alone to say goodnight.
“Mercy, I swear what you saw tonight was nothing more than two friends laughing and having fun. You are the only girl I will ever want in my life.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her tenderly, then laid her back against the pillows and stood to go. “I will see you in the morning.”
Mercy watched him leave, stunned by how much emotion she felt from his kiss. Her fingertip moved over her mouth where the warmth of his lips was still fresh, and she wondered how she could still feel fear when he touched her, when it was so obvious how much she cared for him.
Chapter Six
The next morning Mercy walked into the kitchen surprised to find Marlo waiting for her. She grabbed a glass of orange juice and sat down, knowing that from recent history Marlo would not leave her alone until she had her say.
“So what are we talking about today?” Mercy asked, resigned to their little early- morning chat session.
“How about your feelings for Alec?”
“No, I’m not ready to talk about that yet.”
Mercy began to tap her fingers on the table nervously, and Marlo smiled knowingly. “I think your feelings for Alec have a lot to do with why you shifted yesterday and that’s why I want to talk about it. The longer you deny the feelings you have for him, the harder this is going to be on you both.” She leaned forward and took Mercy’s hand in her own. “I can see you are still afraid despite the fact you are drawn to him.” Mercy shook her head, ready to deny it, but Marlo was not going to let her off the hook as easily as her brothers and Alec did. “Mercy, Alec is your mate, whether you accept that or not. It is natural to be drawn to him, but your fears are acceptable. No one, least of all Alec, expects you to throw yourself into this without reservations. You can talk about your fears with him, and let him help you adjust.”
“You don’t understand. Alec looks so hurt when I pull away or I tense up, and my brothers treat me like a child even after all I have been through.” Tears threatened, but she forced them back. “It’s killing me that I can’t be what they all want, and I’m trying, I really am, but it just isn’t easy to forget that just a short time ago I hated wolves more than anything in the world. Last night for the first time I felt at ease with my wolf, but as soon as I woke this morning the fear was back.”
“That’s okay, your fear is human, and it will not recede because you and your wolf melded once. It will take a lot of time and trust before that can happen.” She patted Mercy’s hand and rose from the table. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, it is an adjustment.”
“What if I never adjust,” she said, finally admitting her worst fear to someone.
“Then we can cross that bridge when we come to it,” Marlo told her, laying her hand on her back offering comfort. “Just remember you are not alone, everyone you love is on your side, and rooting for you.”
“Thank you Marlo.” She rose from the chair feeling better for voicing her worries. “I think I’ll go outside for a while.”
“Be careful,” Marlo warned.
“I will,” Mercy said as she walked out of the door. Since she knew Alec had meetings with his father all morning she decided to walk into the woods and follow the path that her wolf had taken after the shift the night before. She remembered the way easily enough and soon she found herself by the river at the exact spot she had dropped from exhaustion the night before, the spot where Alec had found her.
The moss on the bank was still compressed from where she had lain on it, and the tree branches that had covered her were hastily scattered around the area where Marlo had tossed them. She knelt down on the soft moss running her hand over it as she stared into the clear water seeing her own image reflected back at her. A noise behind her alerted her she was not alone and in the reflection of the calm water, she saw a massive black wolf hanging lazily off a nearby tree branch staring down at her. She pulled her hand back from the moss and stood slowly, knowing if she ran it would give chase, and something in its predatory gaze told her that it would enjoy the hunt. Her options were few; she could act as if she had not seen it and try to walk away, or she could scream for help and pray someone came before the animal tore her apart. Fear consumed her, but of the two options, r
emaining calm and walking away seemed to be the best approach, so she readied herself to go, taking a deep, calming breath.
The wolf, as if sensing her desire to leave, jumped down in front of her, blocking her escape. She took a step backwards, mindful of the water behind her and the slipperiness of the moss she now stood on. The beast stared at her with eyes so red they could have belonged to the devil, and when she tried to sidestep it, the snarl it let out stopped her in her tracks. It whined and slunk towards her, and she took a hasty step back, but lost her balance, slipping on the wet moss and falling backwards into the water with a loud splash.
Her scream as the frigid water hit her fragile human skin bounced off the forest walls, and the wolf howled loudly, edging towards the bank. “Go!” she yelled, swooshing her hands, praying the wolf would just leave if she made enough noise. Instead, it placed a tentative paw in the water, then took a step back with a deafening howl as if it had been burned. Her limbs began to tingle and chills shook her body; she knew she had to get out of the water, but the wolf waited, pacing the edge as if waiting for her to try.
“Mercy!”
She could have cried at the sound of Marlo’s voice calling for her in the distance, distracting the wolf. The animal lifted its ears looking towards the sound with a snarl.
“Mercy,” Marlo yelled again.
“Marlo, help!” Mercy screamed splashing the water around her to make more noise.
Marlo came out of the woods stopping abruptly when she saw the large black wolf standing before the river keeping Mercy from getting out of the water. She quickly noted Mercy’s blue lips, her shaking body, and knew she had to get to her before she froze to death. Werewolves were warm-blooded, but she had no idea how long Mercy had been in the water, and even a werewolf could die from overexposure to the elements. The wolf growled and gnashed its teeth at her, but she stood her ground, ignoring its attempts to scare her off. It eyed Marlo warily until it heard a splash, then turned its gaze to where Mercy was trying to escape from the other side of the river.
With a loud growl, the wolf jumped on a fallen tree that stretched to the other side of the river, but just as Mercy reached the bank she slipped back towards the water. The wolf jumped closer, biting down on her shoulder, digging its teeth into her flesh before attempting to pull her from the water. The pain was immense, but she managed to swing her fist and slam the beast in the side of its head. Shocked by her actions it let her go, and she fell back into the frigid waters, her head slamming into a river rock that knocked her out instantly.
Marlo watched helplessly as Mercy fell back into the water, screaming once as her head hit a jagged rock then falling silent as her lifeless body floated on the surface of the once- tranquil river. The wolf paced the bank frantically, and she knew she had to act quickly to save Mercy before she drowned. With no other option left, she did the only thing she could do and morphed into her true form, hoping the old fears of her kind would be enough to scare the wolf away from the girl. Her jaw elongated slightly, and veins like spider webs formed along her cheeks and eyes, as large claw-like nails, grew from her fingertips. In seconds, she became the thing of werewolf’s nightmares, a vampire, the only real threat to the werewolf community. She crouched down low, ready to attack, hissing loudly, taking advantage of its shock to jump on its back. She began tearing into its fur with her sharp fangs and razor like nails. The wolf howled immediately, responding by tearing into her flesh with its sharp canine teeth, but she ignored the pain and attacked again, locking her teeth on its neck. It howled in agony, trying to buck her off, but she wrapped her long arms around its midsection biting deep, sucking its blood while hanging on for as long as she could to weaken it. After a few minutes, the fight died out of the beast. It collapsed on the ground, its breathing ragged as Marlo pulled her fangs free, content he could not cause her harm. With one great violent choking sound, she purged herself of the creature’s foul blood before it could contaminate her body, then turned to pull Mercy from the water, pressing on her chest as she breathed life-giving air into her mouth.
Mercy groaned, then sputtered, and she turned her on her side to let the water run from her mouth. For a brief moment, Mercy opened her eyes and looked to where Marlo sat next to her. Upon seeing her, she let out an ear-piercing scream.
“Sleep,” Marlo said softly looking deeply into Mercy’s eyes. “There is nothing to fear, I am just a dream, a figment of your imagination. When you wake you will have no memory of seeing me here.” Mercy’s eyes closed, and Marlo sat back on her heels pulling her cell phone from her shirt pocket to call the one person who knew what she was and wouldn’t need explanations about how she had saved the girl on the ground before her.
*****
Gregory ran as fast as he could into the forest to the location Marlo had given him and there on the exact same bank where they had found her the night before lay Mercy. Her clothing was soaked and her skin, almost blue in color, which was extremely worrisome. He knelt next to her noting the large discolored bite on her shoulder and the dried blood that matted the hair over a deep cut on the back of her head and knew he had to get her home quickly. Marlo had briefly told him about the wolf that attacked her, and he knew of none in his pack who met with the description she had given him, which was worrisome. He nodded to Marlo, who stood off in the distance keeping watch over Mercy until he arrived and she fled quickly through the foliage leaving him to handle the girl on the ground.
“Gregory?” Mercy opened her eyes and looked up at him, clearly confused about where she was.
“It’s alright, you’re safe now,” he told her, placing his arm around her, careful to avoid the area of her shoulder that was bitten in the attack.
“What happened?” she asked, coughing violently.
Marlo told him that she had erased her memory, so he wasn’t worried that she would recall a vampire’s presence, which would freak her out more than she already was. “I was hoping you could tell me,” he said, taking his handkerchief and holding it to the back of her head where the gash in her scalp was bleeding profusely.
She grimaced as he patted the wound, trying to recall what had happened, but found it difficult to piece it all together. “There was a wolf in the tree.” She pointed to the large branch that hung over the spot where they sat. “It attacked me… but I don’t remember anything else.”
“Don’t fret over it. I am sure in time you will remember.” He lifted her carefully, cradling her in his arms and walked through the woods as quickly as possible, hoping to avoid his son until they had cleaned her up and assessed the damage, but luck was not on his side. As he cleared the tree line Alec, who had been on his way to visit her, saw them. The panic in his expression was palpable. “Son, she’s alright, remain calm,” he warned, but Alec was already sprinting in their direction.
“What happened?” he asked, taking Mercy from his father’s arms.
“I’m alright,” she said trying to calm him.
“Obviously you are not,” he replied sharply, looking at the piece of cloth in her hand that was soaked with her blood, trying hard to control his wolf that raged inside of him.
“I found her on the bank of the river where she was last night,” Gregory explained, leaving out that Marlo had called him and told him where to find her.
“Damn it, why was she even outside by herself?” he hissed as he carried her up the front steps of her home.
“I wanted to take a walk,” she told him, hating the look of censure she saw cross his face.
“I would have taken you when I got here,” he snarled, his wolf barely under containment.
Mercy sighed, trying to remember he was only trying to keep her safe. “The woods are surrounded by members of the pack. I certainly don’t need a body guard to take a walk, Alec.”
“Lot of good that did,” he muttered.
“What happened?” Lucan asked, opening the door as he saw them walking up the porch stairs.
“We’re not sure. Dad found her
by the river, it looks like she fell in,” Alec told him as he carried her up the stairs heading to her room.
Lucan quickly set about getting her fresh clothes as Alec sat her on the counter in her bathroom grabbing a clean washcloth to wipe away the matted blood on the back of her head, so he could see how severe the damage was. He could see by the jagged line that now graced her scalp that she had hit a rock, but thankfully, the wound was already healing and the blood flow seemed to be slowing down. Satisfied she wouldn’t bleed out, he turned his attention to the wicked bite mark on her shoulder, his wolf reacting violently at the thought of its mate being hurt, but he forced it to calm and cleaned the wound thoroughly before allowing himself to finally breathe normally again.
“Alec, I’m fine. Go in the other room so I can shower,” she told him seeing the discomfort it brought him to see her hurt.
“You shouldn’t be alone,” he argued, crossing his arms as if he was not going to leave, but Lucan cleared his throat, reminding him that they were not alone. He dropped the towel into the sink and walked out, wearing an angry scowl
“A quick shower, please, I want you in bed as soon as possible,” Lucan told her before pulling the door closed behind him.
Mercy turned to face the mirror, grimacing when she saw how pathetic she looked. Her hair was in tangles and matted with blood. Her shoulder sported deep puncture wounds from where the wolf’s sharp teeth had pierced the skin and many shades of blue and black that had begun to appear on the area around it. It was no wonder Alec had been so upset she thought she looked like she had been beaten with a bat and left for dead. With a sigh, she turned and walked to the shower turning on the water and moving under the warm spray, biting her lip to keep from crying out as the water pelted her wounds, because she knew that would bring an onslaught of people into the bathroom. She closed her eyes, and flashes of the attack replayed themselves in her head, but everything was scattered and made no sense, until the moment she woke to find Gregory kneeling next to her. A million questions plagued her mind as she began to wash away the blood and dirt that covered her body, but she had no answers for them and was unsure if she ever would. A loud knock on the door reminded her everyone was in her room waiting, so she dried off quickly, dressed, and prepared herself to face her family and the multitude of questions she knew everyone would have.