by Donna Flynn
“There is news that might create a problem…” was all Lucan managed to get out before Mercy flew through the door of the kitchen and into the arms of the young man cutting him off.
The teen’s large arms enveloped her small frame immediately pulling her against him. “Hey angel it’s good to see you,” he said taking a deep whiff of her intoxicating scent. Something he missed sorely in the year he had been away.
He first met Mercy when she came to live with her brothers after her parent’s tragic deaths. She had been on the front porch when he had come to visit Lucan, her eyes swollen with tears, her fragile little body shaking with great big sobs. He offered her a sympathetic ear and the comfort of a friend, but from the moment, he held her tiny hand in his he knew they were destined for one another. He did not share the information though, for fear, her brothers might not let him near her as she grew up.
“I’m so glad you home, I missed you so much,” she murmured against his chest.
“I missed you too,” he replied hugging tighter.
“Yeah I bet. How many girls were chasing you while you were away?” she chided.
“None prettier than you,” he answered kissing her forehead.
“Letch,” she teased moving from his arms, looking to the uncooked meat on the counter then to Lucan with censure. “Meat does not cook itself ,” she scolded then began pulling spices from the closet prepared to fix dinner herself. “You guys go relax I will get everything ready in no time.”
Instead of arguing, he gave Alec a pointed look. “You heard the lady let’s go outside there is a lot to catch up on.”
Alec held the door open for them, his hungry gaze devouring Mercy. Nothing could have prepared him for the curvaceous teen that stood in front of him in her jean cutoffs as she washed the salad greens for their dinner. When his father sent him away to experience life in another pack, he hadn’t given much thought to how much she would change, but now he couldn’t take his eyes of her. Her long Tahitian hair fell over her shoulders in glistening waves begging for his touch and her once flat boyish body, was now curvy and perectly porportioned. She was beautiful, and he was standing there drooling like a lovesick fool over her, which was very unsettling.
“Are you coming?” Cade said impatiently.
“Uh, yeah.” Mercy continued working on dinner unaware of his attentions or the heated look he gave her before he closed the door and turned to face her brothers. “This is a problem. She's grown so much, I am sure other males must have noticed too.”
He clenched his fist tightly wondering if any of them had approached her during his absence. “Does anyone suspect what she is?”
“None we know,” Lucan told him.
“There are no signs maybe we are wrong about all of this,” Cade argued.
Alec shook his head. “A female born of the two oldest packs is destined to shift, you know the history. Now that she has…” he hesitated. “Matured. I don't think she can stay here without someone catching on, but we planned for this contingency. Are you both prepared to move to keep her safe?” Cade and Lucan were like brothers to him and the idea of Mercy leaving now was unbearable. Unfortunately, the trouble her presence would bring if anyone discovered what she was, made it too dangerous to keep her there for his own selfish gain.
“We can leave by the end of the week,” Lucan replied confident Mercy was not going to take the news well.
“We need to get her out of here before anything happens to endanger her,” Alec said hating the unfairness of it all.
“God she’s going to hate us.” Cade looked through the window as she assembled the salad she insisted they eat to remain healthy,unaware the steak had all they needed to survive and frowned.
“Better for her to hate us, than to be claimed by the first male who recognizes her for what she is,” Alec said next to him.
“Can you imagine if she had a Bond Mate and he found with another male?” Cade asked.
Alec had already contemplated such a thing happening, had horrid dreams of such an occurrence. It was his right as her destined mate to claim her, but he planned to hold off as long as possible. He wanted her to have the chance to learn about them, before taking such a life-altering step.
“We will tell her tonight after dinner,” Lucan told them walking back to the house to help her get dinner on the table.
“Are you staying?” Cade asked Alec who stood clenching his fists at his sides.
“I think I had better. This is going to upset her, and she will need us all to help her adjust.”
*****
The men sat nervously around the table after dinner knowing the time had come to tell her they were leaving, but none of them were willing to broach the subject. No one wanted to be the one who broke her heart.
Silence hung heavy as Mercy rejoined them at the table after cleaning up the dishes and she couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. Conversation throughout dinner had been strained and lacking substance, very unlike their usual boisterous meals. It was oddly unsettling and she looked at them all suspiciously sensing something was wrong. “So what’s up?” she asked deciding to get it over with.
Lucan took her hand in his and lifted his brown eyes to hers hating himself for the pain he was about to inflict upon her. “We are moving.”
“What?” Her voice came out a mere whisper and her small hand trembled in his larger one.
“My father needs your brothers to take care of businesses in another state, they must to go immediately,” Alec said, giving her the excuse they had all agreed upon using.
“No… I can’t go. What about school and my friends.” She pulled her hand away from Lucan’s, shoved her chair back and stood, staring at them defiantly. “This is my home, the only place I have felt safe since my parents died!” Tears welled in her eyes, but she brushed them away.
“We have no choice,” Lucan said his own heart breaking for her.
“There is always a choice!” she screamed. “I’m not leaving, you can’t make me.”
She ran out of the back door and into the woods seeking solace from the surrounding trees and wildlife there, letting the forest camouflage her from her brothers who she knew would soon follow. The dreaded words repeated over and over in her mind as she flew through the evergreen filled acres that surrounded their home.
Leaving! They wanted to take her away from her home, from everything she knew. How could they even think about it? How could they destroy her life after all she had already suffered?
Chapter Two
Mercy was racing towards the heart of forest when the sound of someone or something pursuing her broke through her melancholy. A musky scent, foreign to her senses, brought an immediate sense of panic. Something primal, deep inside of her screamed at her to get out of there. Before she could change course though a lean young man dressed in hunting fatigues, his straggly brown hair hanging over one side of his face, jumped down from a tree branch next to her. She tried to step around him, but he blocked her, she tried again, but this time he growled, a low deep sounding noise that had her gasping in surprise. His nostrils flared as he began circling her, his dark eyes taking in everything about her and she stood frozen in place afraid to move.
“Please,” she whispered her voice trembling uncontrollably.
His hand snaked out connecting with the back of her neck pulling her face within an inch of his own. “Where have they been hiding you?” he snarled his other hand down moving up the side of her hip pulling her firmly against him. She struggled, but he tightened his grip, leaning closer, pressing his nose against her neck as he moaned low and deep.
“Don’t hurt me,” she begged.
“Hurt you?” he murmured his lips trailing over her collarbone. “I am trying to make you mine. I won’t hurt you unless you force me too.” His lips fell on hers roughly, his tongue pushing between her clenched lips.
Mercy gagged choking on the vomit that rose in her throat.
Her attacker pulled back and stared h
er then moaned again burying his face in her hair, as he tightened his arms around her.
“Release her,” Alec commanded from across the clearing, having just arrived to find the most horrible scene he could have imagined before him. The rage he felt for the young wolf in front of him daring to touch Mercy, threatened every lesson in calm reasoning he had ever learned from his father. His every muscle was taunt, ready to fight, only the idea of Mercy getting in the middle, kept him from attacking.
The young male growled, turning towards Alec, knocking Mercy carelessly to the ground, crouching low before her ready to defend his find.
Two giant wolves moved into the clearing behind him, their eyes locked on Mercy, but the fear the young might attack kept them from trying to save her.
Mercy whimpered, her eyes wide with terror clutching the front of her shirt together with one hand while staring at the young male before her in horror.
“She’s mine!” the male screamed his face distending and reshaping as his wolf began to take over.
“She is under my protection. I will not allow you to hurt her.” Alec inched forward mindful of the young man’s lack of control now that he thought to defend the female he had come across.
“I don’t want to hurt her,” he cried out, his body stiffening as the shift came over him. “I found her first, she’s mine,” he panted his eyes morphing from brown to yellow.
His body hunched over suddenly to accommodate the change of his bone structure from human to wolf and he let out scream of terror.
“She’s not yours!” Alec denied. “This is not our way. We do not just take females against their will.” He tried to remain calm, reminding himself that the young one was not to blame. Mercy’s uncommon DNA was what made her so attractive to him. Her anger and upset had triggered a pheromone that he had obviously picked up on and now he was fighting to posses her without really understanding why.
No one, other than her brothers, himself, his father, and a few select trusted individuals were aware that Mercy carried the blood of two of the oldest and most powerful packs of their kind. The mix of those bloodlines had created an anomaly within her, which made her one of the rarest females of their kind, a Born Were. Usually, females of their packs shifted only after a male Were male bit them, but Mercy was the exception to the rule. Her bloodline ensured that she had been born Werewolf, something that none of their kind aside from the oldest of their ancestors had ever heard about.
She was such a rarity no one knew what to expect. It had been hundreds of years since the last Born Were had walked the earth so there was not much information left for them to analyze. All of their healers and experts agreed she would shift and become like the rest of them, but none of them were aware when it might happen or how the shift would affect her.
“Do not come any closer,” the young male gasped as the shift progressed.
His spine moved under his shirt, hunching him over until he fell to the ground pain racking his body as sinew and bone contorted and began restructuring. He let out a gutteral cry, fighting the change, unable to control the coming shift.
Alec reacted swiftly knowing if the boy did not calm down the shift would make him irate and unmanageable once he had transformed. To prevent him from hurting himself or Mercy, Alec had to guide him through it, make him calmer and more accepting of the changes going on with his body.
“Look at me!” Alec demanded forcing his power on the young man who lifted his gaze slowly to meet his own. “Shift,” he whispered keeping their gazes connected as he melded with his own wolf using its power to keep the young one under control.
“Don’t!” the boy cried out, falling to the ground, his body twisting in ways a human would have never been able to survive. His bones popped reshaping themselves to their canine form. Fur sprouted from under his skin like tiny needles, covering each inch of bare skin as the shift progressed and his body began to take the shape of his wolf.
He seemed calm and accepting of Alec’s help until Mercy, coming out of her daze let out an ear-piercing scream upon seeing him shift. The young wolf tensed and turned her way, his long muzzle and bared teeth only inches from her face as it howled in discontent. Mercy screamed again and the young one began to fight the shift, forcing Alec to refocus his attentions to calming him. He hated he could not give Mercy the reassurance she needed, but knew to look away from the startled creature might create a situation worse than the one they were already engaged in.
The loud baying of other males in the area alerted him time was running out. Mercy’s screams had led others to their location and her brothers began to pace nervously looking to Alec for their cue. He called Lucan back to his human state so he could grab his sister at the first opportunity that presented itself, but left Cade in wolf form ready to fight if needed.
Mercy horrified by the sight of the half wolf half-human before her hadn’t noticed her brother’s presence. She began to scramble toward Alec trying to escape, but the young wolf reached out his half-formed hand and clasped her leg. His long sharp claws raked down her tender flesh as he frantically pulled her back towards him, leaving behind long puckered wounds that bleed profusely.
Her loud screams of agony rent the air tormenting Alec as he tried to remain focused on controlling the now frantic changeling before him.
“Alec, please help me,” Mercy begged reaching for him.
Lucan searched for a way to get to her, but fear the changing wolf might kill her accidently if he came too close, stopped him from making a grab.
Cade growled and pawed the ground pacing back and forth awaiting the moment he might have to step in and kill the young Were to save his sister.
Filled with fear and adrenaline, Mercy found the strength to kick her assailant in the nose, which only added to his already aggravated state. He launched his now fur covered body over her biting into her leg, trying to maintain dominance over her. His aggression met with a high-pitched screech and a punch to the side of his head from Mercy who fought for her life. Her blood curdling screams as his teeth tore at her tender skin were joined by the loud howls of the other wolves that had sensed the disturbance and were drawing closer.
The young wolf tore himself away from her to turn and defend his find from those who were steadily advancing on them.
Mercy in shock and unable to comprehend what was happening, stared down at her mangled leg in horror. Blood ran fluidly from the deep gauges soaking through her jeans and pooling on the leaves below her. Her eyes lifted to meet Alec’s, tears sliding down her cheeks, just before her eyes rolled back in her head and she lost consciousness.
The wolf beside her grew still as the final stages of the transformation came upon him.
The howls surrounding them reached a crescendo as the other wolves came closer watching from the woods, waiting for the chance to take her from the vulnerable young male.
“It’s too late,” Lucan, cried out as the first wolf cleared the tree line.
The wolf’s nose lifted, as he breathed in the heady aroma of her scent, an aphrodisiac to all other unmated males in the area. Others began filling the area, far too many to fight off, even with Alec and his brother by his side and he knew the situation had become dire.
“I can save her,” Alec shouted, moving to where Mercy lay on the ground still and barely breathing.
He growled possessively at the approaching males as he knelt down next to her to survey her injuries. The amount of blood seeping down her leg let him know it was more than just a mere puncture wound. He guessed the young wolf mistakenly hit an artery, which was causing major blood loss.
If she was going to survive, he needed to get her out as soon as possible. Despite his reservations, he knew the only way that was going to happen was if he took the next step in thier bonding. Decision made he ripped off his t-shirt, tied the material around the wound trying to staunch the flow of blood, and turned to face Lucan. “I am the only one who can take her out of here now. I am Alpha none here will challenge me i
f I claim her. Do you give me permission?”
“I can’t let you do this.” Lucan reached for his sister, unprepared for the low growl of displeasure from Alec’s throat that met his action.
“Do not! They will see you as a challenge to my authority. If we want this to end well, that can’t happen.” His hand was wet with her blood and the fear she would die made him extremely aggressive. “I can do this with or without your permission. I won’t let her die and no other is going to claim her as long as I am able to stop them, but I would like your consent.”
The odds had grown worse during their short exchange. Many wolves had made it into the clearing and now watched them with predatory eyes, calculating how they might be able to garner such a treasure.
Both men understood time was up, but still Lucan hesitated, which infuriated Alec. “Lucan,” he bit out angrily.
“Yes, I give my permission!” Lucan yelled as the wolves began pressing closer, all wanting the young female as much as the male on the ground who had now transformed and was growling furiously at Alec.
Alec kicked the young wolf hard enough that he let out an ear-piercing yelp of pain before slinking back out of the way looking uncertain.
The howls among the others grew louder as the scent of Mercy’s blood filled the air and fighting erupted between them. The yelps of two males tearing into each other interrupted the packs progress and he took advantage of their distraction.
Without further hesitation, Alec stepped back allowing the Alpha wolf that had been struggling inside of him free. His shift took mere seconds to happen and the power of his wolf, unleashed brought a ripple effect of obedience from the hostile males surrounding him. All fighting stopped and they turned towards him expectantly unable to resist his powerful presence.
He placed his oversized paw on Mercy’s chest and growled fiercely warning them all he was staking his claim. No one moved. None dared to challenge him, so he bent down and bit her right shoulder releasing a small bit of his own saliva into her body marking her as his to all of his pack. It wouldn’t make her completely safe, but it brought the time he needed to get her out of there.