Mercy For The Alpha (Formerly 'A Ray Of Mercy')

CHAPTER 6 - STRANGER

"Can you please slow down? I have little legs." I snapped at him, snatching my hand away from him and walking at my own pace. Thaddeus slowed down and fell in step with me.

"Want me to carry you?" his lips perked up in a mischievous smirk. I frowned at him. I was in no mood for all this, I had to find Allura. I kept reminding myself.

"No, thanks. Please stop touching me, it's getting on my nerves." I sneered at him. He lifted his arms up in surrender.

"Yes, ma'am. Although, you need to get used to it, and soon." he informed, the smirk was long gone. I knew he was serious.

"What do you mean? I am not getting used to anything, I am going to get out of here the first chance I get." I increased my pace, not knowing where exactly the hallway led.

"You're not going anywhere, Mercy. Your place is here with me, by my side. That's the sole reason you're here. Turn left, in that room. Allura is with Mia and her son." He said while guiding me to the dining room, his hand again at the small of my back. I felt the small jolt again.

Ugh! Not again, Mercy. Not now.

"Oh, you're finally up. Lura, baby, look. Mercy's here!" Mia exclaimed. She hugged me and led me to Allura.

Allura was sitting next to a boy, who was talking to her and handing her crayons, while she coloured a picture of a scenery. She climbed out of the chair as soon as she saw me and tackled me into a bear hug, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and went back to colouring the picture. She looked unscathed; I was grateful for that.

"Hope you had a good night's sleep, Mercy. I am Erik Hansen." The guy got up from his seat and introduced himself. I shook his hand and smiled at him.

"I slept well." I smiled. "Thanks for keeping Allura company, I am sorry you had to babysit her, while I was passed out. " I scratch my neck, giving him a sheepish smile. He chuckled and shook his head, indicating it was no big deal.

"Erik is your age, Mercy. I think you can be great friends." Mia chimed in. I suppose we can, no harm in having friend's, right? Plus, Erik looked like he was great with Allura. He wasn't too bad to look at either, blue eyes, tan skin, his hair fell to his shoulders in soft waves.

I could feel Thaddeus' hand move from my lower back to my hips. He was quick to pull me to his side, my cheek collided with his shoulder. He buried his nose in my hair and sniffed. He sniffed! He just sniffed my hair.

"What are you doing?" I turn to look at him, my eyes wide open in surprise.

"I like the way you smell." Thaddeus smiled at me, like basking in someone's scent was the most normal thing in the world.

"You're one weird dude." I pushed him away and turned to Erik. "I hope you don't do weird shit like this." I pointed at Thaddeus, making Erik chuckle again.

"You haven't told her yet." Erik asked Thaddeus. I could see from the side of my eye, Mia and Allura were looking at us with all of their attention now. Gloria, Tristan and Michael had also joined us in the dining room.

What in the ninja world? How did I not notice any of them coming in?

"She literally just woke up, Erik. I was giving her some time." Thaddeus replied, rolling his eyes, clearly provoked by whatever Erik wanted him to be provoked by.

"Hmm... Maybe I should tell her." Erik was poking and prodding, purposely trying to get on Thaddeus' nerves, and it was working. Thaddeus frowned at him, grabbing my hip again, his other hand was balled up in a fist.

"Erik, you're young. Let's not do this. I can and will rip you apart if you rub me off the wrong way." Thaddeus said. The tension was thick. Gloria was about to say something, but Tristan held her back. All of them looked worried.

"Like you ripped them apart for your gain?" Erik taunted. Okay, now it was clear that all this was about Allura and I.

"Hi, excuse me. If you look around, you might notice that the person you are talking about is right here. Care to enlighten me?" I said, trying to grab their attention. They didn't budge, glaring at each other. I even tried to flail my hands in front of them. They stood there like statues, jaws and fists clenched.

"Okay, enough of the pissing contest. Is anyone going to tell me what is going on?" I let out an exasperated sigh. I looked at Gloria and Tristan for answers.

"It's better if Thad tells you in his own time, Mercy." Tristan replied in a calm and collected tone. I rolled my eyes at him and turned to look at them again.

Thaddeus grabbed my hand again and started to leave the room, trying to control his temper. I knew better than to provoke an already angry man by asking more questions. I knew the consequences; Steve had taught me that provoking an angry man only resulted in welts at a very young age. So, I decided to let it go for now and just followed him. We were almost out of the door, when Erik spoke again.

"Tell her now, Thaddeus. If you don't, I will." he said. Before Thaddeus could turn and respond, Allura spoke.

"Erik and his family are vampires and the Ulf's are werewolves." Allura spoke like it was a fact and it was normal.

"You. You are what? They are what?" I asked, my whole body shook with shock and fear. I tried to get out of Thaddeus' grip and inch closer to Allura.

"Yeah, Cici. Isn't that cool? He can turn into a wolf." Allura's eyes twinkled.

"No, no baby. It is not cool. It is dangerous. Who told you this?" I hugged her, making sure she was safe.

"Erik did and Thaddeus showed me his wolf too. He is so big and fluffy. We went on a ride in the forest this morning. I sat on his back. He's super-fast Cici." she giggled.

I started laughing uncontrollably as realization settled in. I threw my head back and clutched my stomach, a fit of laughter taking over me.

"Oh my God, Lulu." I said in between breaths. " I finally understand, we're in a dream. Jesus, I was worried for a minute there. How long have I been asleep, Lulu baby?" Allura shook her head.

"It's real, Cici. See, I can pinch you to prove it." and she didn't hesitate at all, taking hold of a little skin on my upper arm and twisting it until I groaned in pain. This kid was ruthless.

"Oh boy, I finally lost my mind." I said out loud and embraced the darkness that caught my fall.

Steve must've really done a number on me this time.