The Pack (7 page)

     “Of cours
e you did, look at him he’s
so
hot.
” She
checked
Kurt out
with a knowing smile
then turned her attention back to Mercy
. “For once don’t think
,
just do!”

     Mercy
bit
her lip hating
to
disappoint her friend once again.
Gina had a point.
Kirk was
pretty close to perfect. I
f she spent more tim
e with him, maybe she would
find they were a good fit for each other
.
“All right, I'll go.”

     “Good
,
now all we
have to do is find a way
to the bonfire
. W
e can
’t
ask my mother she would call Lucan
immediately to make sure you had his permission
.”
She rolled her eyes well aware her mother
and Mercy’s brother
s agreed
far too often on matters that concerned them
.

     “What if your mom asks where
we are going?”Mercy asked worriedly
.

     “S
he is going on a
d
ate to
nig
ht, she won’t be home till late and I already told her one of the other
girls is taking us to the game,
” s
he answered
looking pleased with herself
.

     “You have been
busy planning
this,
”
Mercy said
shaking her head
.
Unlike Mercy who hated
lying,
Gina had no trouble bending the truth to suit her needs
when called for. She
just
hoped this time it wouldn’t get them both in trouble
.

     “Mercy
wait up,
” Kirk c
alled out behind them
.

     Mercy
waited for him to run across th
e field,
suddenly
nervous
now
she had decided to attend the bonfire
.
The idea of Kirk wanting to spend time
alone with her made her anxious
.
She had no real experience with dating. The only guy, aside from her brothers, that she had ever been around was Alec and she couldn’t allow herself to think of him that way.
She refused to go down that road again. I
t hurt too much every time
he turned up with another girl on his arm.

     Gina slammed her elbow into her stomach and swished her hand in Kirk’s direction. “Stop day dreaming he’s almost here.

     Mercy watched as
he ca
me
closer,
her emotions
conflicted
about the quarterback who had been pursuing her
.
Even c
overe
d in dir
t and sweat Kirk
was
still one of the
hot
test guys at school
,
but that was
only part of his appeal.
He
was sweet,
caring
,
and
seemed to understand her reluctance to date
,
but she realized
even as nice as he was,
he had to be
growing tired of waiting for her to be more receptive to the idea
.
If she didn’t
act,
soon she was going to lose any chance with him and she desperately wanted him to be the guy that made her forget Alec and the
secret
feelings she
always held
for him.

     “Hey what’s up?
”
Gina asked
as he stopped next them
.

     “I wondered
if I could give you a lift toni
ght,” h
e asked
Mercy.
“I mean to the game and the lake, if you
decided to come
.” 

    
“G
reat,
Mercy’s
staying at my house,
”
Gina answered
for them both
giving Mercy no
time to back out.
“17 East Monroe
Street, the big yellow house with the white picket fence
.”

    “
I’ll
pick you up
at six
.
See you later,” h
e
sa
id smiling shyly at Mercy before running
off to join the rest of team
who were quick to tease him about finally getting a date with her
.

     “He
is love struck
,
” Gina said fanning herself
. “Maybe I should date
a
good
guy
instead
of
the losers I always choose
.”

     “Oh please
,
they
would boor you,
” Mercy tease
d
.
Gina
had the heart
of
a rebel an
d
had a
definite
thing for the bad boys. So
far, though
she hadn’t found one willing to be faithful or completely honest, go figure.

     “If I had
more sense
I might find prince charming
witho
ut having to kiss so many frogs,” s
he sighed.
“
Sometimes I wish things were
easy
,
like in the movies or those romance books my mom
reads.
The kind
where someone is predestined
to love
you, a
strong handsome muscula
r werewolf w
ho thought me his world, who wanted
nothing more than to make me happy
.
”
S
he sighed
and held her hand over her heart
smiling dreamily
,
lost in her fantasy
.

     “H
ow many times are we going to discuss this
?” Mercy snapped
immediately ruffled by her friends comment
.
“
W
erewolves are not real and if th
ey
we
re we would be running for our lives
not falling in love
with
them
.”

     “Jeez calm down it
doesn’t
hur
t to fantasize,
”
Gina,
said playfully swatting
her arm
,
dismissing her sudden outburst
.
Mercy had
a
well-based
fears of wolves
and
she had
unthinkingly,
hit a sore spot
with her thoughtless comment, but still she pushed
.
“Y
ou could do with a
big tall handsome werewolf
.
Y
ou’re
far too serious where guys
are concerned
and he might be able to show you all wolves aren’t to be feared
.”

   
“
Not
hing w
ould ever convince me they are anything
,
but monsters
,
”
Mercy
argued
her mind drifting to the past.
Visions of the wolf att
ack the year before flooded her
mind
and
sh
e became lost in the memory
. Most of the attack was nothing but a blur,
but
one clear i
mage
of the wolf
as it hovered over her
plagued her
consistently
.
She closed her eyes and saw its predator’s eyes
as it pounced on her
. A
s if she were
there again
in that moment
, s
he experienced
the pain, t
he bur
ning of her flesh,
as the animals long dea
dly claws raked
down her legs
.

    
With a
moan,
she
knelt
to the ground as a familiar dizziness
overtook
h
er threatening to knock her off her feet
.
No matter
how many times she saw the beast,
she never got past the horror, never understood why the wolf had attacked in the first place.
Her broth
ers,
refused to talk about it saying they didn’t think she needed to know anymore than she remembered, but she disagreed.  She thought knowing might be the key to moving on and getting past her fears
,
but when she pushed
her memory for more
, it only caused
pain and frustration.

     “Mercy
it’s alright I am here
,
”
Gina cried out next to her.

    
Gina’s voic
e became
the
focal point Mercy
used to pull
herself
out of her
terrifying
memories
. S
he con
centrated on her friends words
separating herself
from
the visions of the past
that paralyzed her with fear
. Within
a few minutes
she was able to breathe normally again and 
her eyes opened to
the
bright sunshine and blue skies
of the present
,
so different from the dark and scary memory she had been reliving
.

    
Gina
knelt
next to her holding
her hand tightly her face filled with
alarm
.
“I’m sorry
I did not mean to upset you.” She helped
her from the ground
, waving frantically to
Cade
for help
.

     “I’m fine,” Mercy
,
stammered
not wanting her brother to know the past still had the power to disable her
.
They had spent so much time and money getting her help to deal with the at
tack and they
thought she was doing better. The t
ruth was
though,
she just grew tired of seeing one quack after another
and had lied about feeling better, so she wouldn’t have to go again
.
    

    
“Mercy,” Cade
called out slamming the door of his car then running
to her side,
placing his arm aroun
d her sh
oulders
for support
. “What’s wrong?”
he asked leading her to the car
.

     “
Nothing
,
I’m fine I just tripped,
”
s
he lied
.

     “But…” Gina protested.

    
Mercy gave her
a que
lling look and she
shut her mouth
.
“I said I’m fine.”

     “Gina?” Cade
asked looking
suspiciously
between th
em
.

    
Gina glanced
over her shoul
der where her mother honked
the horn of their minivan
thankful for the excuse to get away
. “
I have to go
my mom’s here. S
ee you later
.”

  
  “Yeah later,” Mercy said
getting
in
to the car
as her brother held the door open
for her
.
He closed her door once she was settled and got in the driver’s side, starting the car and backing out while she buckled her seat belt and stowed her bags at her feet.