Free The Pack by Donna Flynn

. I was afraid if I asked to go you would say no and I wanted to go out with Kirk , I like him . ” She bit her lip silently waiting for his reply.
        Lucan realized she had a point , t hey couldn’t keep her l ocked a way forever. “W e were both wrong in this , me for keeping you locked up and you for not coming to me and giving me a chance to do the right thing . Fo r the next week you are grounded for lying to us , but after that you can see Kirk if you let us know where you are going and who will be there .”
         “But…” He laid his finger on her lips and s miled stopping her objection.
         “Take it or leave it,” h e told her laughing when she nipped his finger playfully.
         “I’ll ta ke it and I promise I won’t ever lie to you again.” She hugged him then reached for Cade who swept her against him in a bear hug, leaving her gasping for air . “By the way, you were right. Lying brings nothing , but trouble .”
         Everyone grew silent , but she was to o happy to notice the discomfort her words caused to the three males in the room .
         “H ow about some breakfast?” Lucan asked as he rose from the chair, t urning away before she saw the regret in his expression . They kept what they were from her for all the right reasons , but he wondered if she would understand that once she found out .
         “Let ’s go sit out front until breakfast is r eady, ” Alec said taking her hand and pulling her out of the door before she noted Lucan’s unhappiness .
         “We did this for h er , do not second guess the past now, ” Cade said from the table . H e too had plenty of regret for all of the lies they had told , but how did one tell a six year old her parents w ere killed by we rewolves and they kept her hidden so others , including her own family, wouldn't harm her?
         “We’ve done the best we can, her father should be protecting her, and he should have been the one she turned to when her mother died.”
         “W hat kind of a life would she have had then?” Cade asked striding angrily to his side . “ Father would not give her the attention she needs and our br other would exploit what she is for his own gain . That is why Linda kept her hidden, why she made us promise that if anything ever happened to he r we would care for her and te ll no one in our family of her existence. ”
         The hate he held for the man who sired them made his blood bo il and he sensed his wolf awaken . His father was old school, h e believed in fighting for your place within th e pack, a philosophy that forced Linda to leave. He refused to change and she c ould not fathom the idea of her child being raised in suc h a primitive environment. She tried to take Lucan and Cade with her , but their father forba d e it so she left before he found out ab out the baby she carried . Somehow, though she had, keep tabs them , and when they le ft the pack, she sought them out and begged them to protect Mercy if something happened to her .
         His body tingled and his spine moved under his skin as he thought of all the pain his father had caused in their lives . He was the reason they had left, and he was the one responsible for their brother’s reign of terror over them as children.
         “Enough ! He has no impact on our lives now .” Lucan placed his hand on his broth er ’ s arm and squeezed . After years of having, only ea ch other to depend on they read each other well , anticipated each other’s thoughts and moves with startling regularity. He sensed Cade becoming very close to allowing the shift overtake him .
         Cade responded to his brother ’ s touch easily , the cal ming influence of Lucan’s wolf commanded his to rest and soon he leaned against the counter, breathing heav il y, as his wolf slunk back into its hiding place deep inside of his human form .
         “Cade what’s wrong?” Mercy cried out rushing inside to his side