Chapter 5: The Brothers Are Coming

 

Mercy’s POV

My hand stopped. I cleared my throat awkwardly. My cheeks burned crimson. 

I couldn’t believe Reece had just said that. I knew my children wanted a daddy. They told me all the time. But this man was a complete stranger to them!

“Reece, love,” I said, my voice high and tight. “We’ve talked about this before. You can’t keep asking strange men to be your daddy..”

“Why not?” Reece said with a mock pout. “You don’t have a husband. And this man is very handsome."

“Handsome,” Riley corrected her for a second time.

The irony wasn’t lost on me. I’d been bound to this man once. We’d spent a torrid night of passion in bed together. There was the very strong possibility that he was already their father. 

He didn’t know that  though. Everyone believed I was dead. Including Storm. He was blind now, so he couldn’t see me.  

I’d spent the past five years hiding from the Crimson Rose pack. I was safe here, with the Orchid Pack. But even so, I had nightmares sometimes about being discovered. In those nightmares, the elders tracked me down. They took my babies away. They killed them. 

Now, as I stared at Storm’s face, the horror of the day I escaped flooded through my mind. The crippling pain of the broken bond. Me on my knees in the dirt. The silver glint of the ceremonial knife. Lily’s derisive face.

I’d barely escaped the first time. If not for Zira, I wouldn’t have. I couldn’t let the pack find out where I was. 

Storm needed to leave, as soon as possible.

“Will you stay, Mister?” Reece asked Storm. “And be our new daddy?”

“Reece,” I said, my tone chastising. “This man is very badly injured. He doesn’t need your silly questions right now..”

To my surprise though, Storm chuckled.

“How old are you?” he asked the children.

“We’re five,” Ryder said. He was the oldest by a few minutes, and as such, he assumed the big brother role.

Storm’s face twisted into a wistful smile. “Five,” he repeated. 

His entire face changed. He looked sad. “That’s the same age my child would be. If my child hadn’t…” His smile dropped. His voice trailed off.

“Hadn’t what?” Reece asked, leaning in.

“Hadn’t died,” Storm said. A shadow crossed his face. He looked remorseful, like the thought of his child hurt him. 

My heart twinged. 

Why did he look so sad? He’d refused to claim the baby. 

When I’d told the brothers I was pregnant, they’d done nothing to stop the abortion. On the contrary, they’d basically handed me over to the elders. They’d broken their bond to me. They’d caused me great pain and humiliation.

Granted, they’d been in a difficult position. I’d been wolfless at the time, and I was an Omega. They were under a lot of pressure from the elders to marry Lily.

But still.

Storm lowered his head. His shoulders slumped forward. 

“I wonder if it would have been a boy, or a girl,” he said, his voice low. “I would have been a good father. Losing my baby was…devastating.”

“How did your baby die?” Ryder asked. 

“The baby’s mother died,” he replied. “It was so sad. She fell off a cliff.” 

“That is sad,” Reece said. All three of my children looked at Storm with sympathetic faces. Reece walked over and patted his hand. “It’s okay,” she soothed him. “Maybe you can have another baby.”

“Maybe,” he said. He flashed her a weak smile. “But I still think about her.The baby’s mother. She was…I cared for her very deeply.” His voice cracked. 

His words stunned me. But then he said the words that stunned me even more. 

“I would do anything to get her back.”

My eyes widened. It had been five years. I’d built a life for myself. A life without the brothers. I was successful and happy. I assumed they’d done the same. 

But there was so much regret in his voice. It threw me for a loop.  

Storm lifted his head suddenly then. His expression changed. “Listen to me,” he said, chuckling in a self-deprecating way. “Talking about my past to perfect strangers. I’m sorry. I’ve already taken up too much of your time. How can I repay you for your kindness?” His head turned in my general direction.

“That’s not necessary,” I told him. “My job is rewarding enough. I don’t need payment.”

“Please,” he said, shaking his head. “I insist. There has to be some way I can repay you.”

“Mercy?”

Just then, a male voice came from the doorway. 

Brune walked in and his large frame immediately filled the small space. His emerald green eyes flicked from me to the man on the table. He smiled.

Brun was from a Southern Pack. I’d treated him for a wolf bite in the stomach a few weeks ago. He’d been hanging around ever since while he regained his strength. The children were quite fond of him. 

Truth be told, so was I. 

Brun was very easy to talk to. I found myself sitting outside with him most nights, sipping tea, telling him about my day and the patients I’d treated.  

Despite his large size and authoritative position as an alpha of a Southern pack, he was actually quite sweet and playful with the children. Their faces lit up when they saw him.

It was nice having him around. I’d been all alone since I left the Crimson Rose Pack. WIth Brun, I felt a little less alone. I wasn’t looking forward to the day Brun had to leave and return to his own pack. I’d come to rely on him more than I wanted to admit.

“Another war injury?” he said, motioning toward the Storm.

“Afraid so,” Storm said. “I took a bite to the leg. Right after I walked into a poison fog. Hence the eyes.” He waved his hand over his eyes.

Poison fog. He hadn’t told me that. 

So he wasn’t permanently blind. If the blindness was caused by a poison fog, it was temporary. Storm would get his sight back. And when he did, he would recognize me. 

That was all the more reason to get him out of here. 

“Luckily, someone from this pack found me in the forest and led me here,” Storm continued.

Brun furrowed his brows and looked at Storm. His expression shifted and his jaw became tight. 

“I was just telling the doctor that I’d like to repay her kindness. She’s very modest though. But as an alpha of the Crimson Rose Pack, I’d like to pay for my treatment here.”

Brun tensed beside me.

“The Crimson Rose pack?” Brun asked. “That’s a Northern Pack, is it not?”

“It is,” Storm nodded. “My brothers will be so happy to hear that I’m okay. They’ll want to meet the she-wolf that saved my life.” 

He smiled in my direction.

Brothers?

No no no. A lump formed in my throat. Devlin and Filo? Panicking, I took a step backwards.

“Well you can tell them yourself. When you go back to your pack,” Brun said dryly. 

“I can’t make it back to my pack,” Storm said. “Not on my own. I can’t see. Which is why I asked my brothers to come here.”

“You did what?” I whispered. 

Storm chuckled. 

“I told them I’m with the Orchid Pack. They’re already on their way.”