The Pack Read Free Page A

s arms , looking to the uncooked meat on the counter then to Lucan with censure . “Meat does not cook itself ,” s he scolded then began pulling spices from the closet prepa red to fix dinner herself. “Y ou guys go relax I w ill 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 l ot 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 sho ul ders in glistening waves begging for h is 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, ” C ade argued .
         Alec shook his head. “A female born of the two oldest packs is dest ined to shift, you know the history . N ow that she has…” h e hesitated. “Matured. I don't think she can stay here without some one catching on , but w e 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 le aving now was unbearable. Unfortunately, the trouble her presence w ould 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 anyth ing happens to endanger her , ” Alec said hating the unfairness o f 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 healt hy,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 M ate a nd he found with another male? ” Cade asked.
       Alec had already contemplated such a thing happening , had horrid dreams of such an occurrence. I t was hi s 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 wil l tell her tonight after dinner, ” Lucan told them walking back to the house to help her get dinner on the table.
         “Are y ou staying? ” Cade asked Alec who stood clenching his fists at his sides .
         “I think I had bet ter . T his is going to upset her , and she will need us all to help her adjust .”
     
    *****
         
         T he men sat nervously around the table after dinner knowing the time had come to tell her they were leaving , b ut none of them were willing to broach the subject . No one wanted to be the one who broke her heart.
         S ilence hung heavy as Mercy rejoined them at the table after cle aning up the dishes and s he couldn’t help but feel