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He felt… safe. Is this what Mercy meant when she talked about pack? About how an alpha could help get control? As the last of Adam’s wolves left the house, Mac turned to watch his new leader straighten up the kitchen and lock the door. He made his way back into the living room and flopped down on the couch. He could sleep here. Sleep for ages. For the first time since being attacked by a monster, Mac had peace.
A knock sounded on the door, interrupting his doze. Mac leapt up from the couch, wanting to be helpful and called, “I’ll get it,” back towards the kitchen as his hand reached out to grip the handle.
“Wait!” he heard the alpha cry, but just a fraction too late to stop the door from opening. It was, however, in time for Mac’s new subconscious awareness of Adam’s authority to register danger and slam his body against the wall before the door swung wide.
Pop! Pop! A tranq gun fired twice in quick succession, a sound far too familiar to Mac’s ears. The darts flew across the room, lodging in the couch where Mac had sat only moments before.
Something small and white came flying through the air at an incredible speed, striking the man with the gun and shattering into dozens of pieces. Was that a plate? Mac thought, his mind swirling and trying desperately to take everything in, but mostly he just felt paralyzed and overwhelmed.
“Get upstairs!” Adam growled and Mac’s feet began to carry him away before his brain even registered the command. He dodged behind the couch and then dove through the kitchen door, scrambling up the stairs that he thought led to the family rooms of the house. That realization kicked something else into gear in his brain. Adam’s daughter, Jesse, was here with no one to protect her.
“No!” Mac cried increasing his speed up the steps. Not again, not again! His brain screamed as images of his girlfriend lying dead and bloodied on the street outside a movie theater flashed through this mind.
He didn’t know which room she was in, so he forced himself to stop and breathe for a moment. Mercy could hear cars and smell people from a long way away. Adam had said Mac could, too. He just needed to concentrate and let himself use his senses. As he paused at the top of the stairs he took a deep breath. He thought he could smell the girl, but it was coming from everywhere. That wouldn’t be any help.
Just then, he heard a small shuffling noise from the first door on his left. He quietly made his way to it, ignoring the sounds of crashes coming from the first floor. He leaned his mouth against the crack in the door and whisper shouted, “Jesse? Are you in there? It’s me, Mac.”
The door swung open and Mac felt his arm grasped in a tight grip as he was pulled into the room and the door quietly closed behind him.
“Where’s my dad? Is he okay?” Jesse whispered frantically.
“I don’t know. I think so. He was fighting them off when he told me to come upstairs. Are you okay? We need to get out of here.”
“I can’t leave my dad!”
“Jesse, there’s nothing we can do against these guys! Your dad would want you safe. Please, please we need to go. Can we climb out your window?”
Jesse looked back at her bedroom door and then at Mac, coming to a decision.
“Okay. We can climb out the window and run to Mercy’s. She’ll know what to do.”
Mac nodded and made his way to the window. He climbed out first, but just as he turned to help Jesse through, her bedroom door flew open. She looked at him with wide eyes, before saying “Mercy!” and shoving him hard.
Mac was a werewolf. Even in his untrained state, he shouldn’t have been moved by the shove of a human girl. But he was weak, he was balanced in a squat on a slanted roof, and most importantly, he wasn’t expecting it. He rolled backwards down the slope and crashed to the ground, ripping through bushes on his way that left scratches along his arms and face.
He got to his feet with a groan, looking up at the window. He heard Jesse scream and fear gripped his heart. His instincts wanted him to go back, to protect her, but he knew he’d be useless in a fight. Jesse had told him to get Mercy, so that’s what he’d do.
Mac took off a run to the other side of the house and then down the hill in the direction of the small trailer Adam pointed out to him when they first arrived. He climbed through the barbed wire, uncaring of the further cuts he received in his haste to get help for Adam and Jesse.
So much for safety. He thought with despair. So much for peace. This world he’d been thrust into was one of blood and violence and fear. No alpha could stop that from being true. No one could truly keep him safe.
But as he scrambled up Mercy’s porch and banged on her front door, another thought came to his mind. He may not have found the safety he craved in this new life, but maybe he had found that other thing Adam told him about: pack.
And he was going to do whatever he could to protect his.