Chapter One: Mercy.

Mercy.

I was already getting tired of having so many people over. Not that what I wanted mattered though, but still.

I came out of the kitchen after pouring myself some juice and tried to be as discreet as possible as I went back into my room.

My sister sat with some of her friends, laughing about something I didn't hear, and I frankly wasn't interested in.

  "Hey Marcy, isn't that your sister?"

Oh boy. That must have been Julius, the red head boy.

  "Hey you! Come and sit and talk to us." One of them said.

I smiled and shook my head slowly. I definitely wasn't interested in holding one of their "conversations". They'd ask me annoying, mean questions and nudge me and sometimes hit me.

They would then say that they were being playful. They just don't like me. None of them in the pack do, and I still don't know the reason.

  "Why won't you speak to us?"

  "Yeah, we know you can talk."

I won't speak to you because you all are bullies. I said in my head.

  "Let's leave her alone guys. It's not so fun to taunt her anymore, and Eke is on his way here." Marcy said.

To say that I was surprised was an understatement.  She was standing up for me for the first time. Even if it was because of something else, it still felt nice.

I felt like I was supposed to say a 'thank you', but I decided against it and left before the could try something else and my sister would change her mind.

I love Eminem. It's like he fuels the rage that I hide all the time. Killer was playing when I got into my room and with my back on my bed, I imagined myself ending the lives of each of Marcy's friends with a sharp stick.

It wasn't that I was stupid, or a pushover. It's jus that the greatest form of strength will always be physical strength, and that is something that I lack.

Besides, when you've been physically and mentally bullied for as long as you can remember, the will to do anything like that vanishes. I know that it's ironic, but that's just how it is.

For me, at least.

There's this wonderful scent I smell around my sister. I don't know who has it, but it's wonderful. Smells like the river. I know that it belongs to one of her friends, I just don't know which one.

Why am I mentioning this?

It's because I can smell it, again. And something is pushing me to go back downstairs. That doesn't make any sense, I mean what would I do?

Am I expected to go down, find the source and start snuffing like a deranged pup?

Although,  if their smell is always wrapped around Marcy, then I probably won't be able to go close.

But I can go down and look...

-

I should not have come down to look.

I went downstairs, and Eke and I caught each other's gaze. And I felt a strong tug in his direction.  I knew that I had just seen my mate, if the books were correct.

I smiled at Eke. He didn't smile back. I knew that Eke was a little less meaner to me than the rest of the Marcy's friends. And from the knlsing look in his eyes, I guessed that he had found out about the mate thing too, and he did not look very happy.

I wasn't stupid. He was probably embarrassed to be mated to me. But I had to know why.

I decided to go outside the house to wait for him. Most of the time that Marcy had her friends over, they'd end up going out together.

It seemed that Eke had decided to go too, as he excused himself.

That, or he saw me walking towards him and decided to make a run for it. Like I said, I'm not stupid.

  "Come here, you." One of Marcy's friends held my shoulder and moved me back.

Eke slammed the door.

  "Leave me alone." I mumbled angrily and ran after him.

  "Bitch." I heard one of them say. How original.

I got to Eke and caught him as he tried to open the door of his car.

  "So," I said, slightly out of breath when I got to him. "what do we do now?"

He frowned at me. "What are you talking about?"

  "We are mates. I know you felt the bond."

  "I have only just seen you for the first time today. And you are very—" He dragged the last syllable and stopped, looking confused.

I thought about what he had just said. That was true. I had seen Eke a lot of times, but it was usually from afar, or from pictures my sister posted on I*******m. And he had never seen me before.

  "I'm Mercy. Hi." I stretched out my hand.

  "Marcy's twin sister. You have the same face, but somehow, the both of you look different." He said.

  "So, what do we do now?" I asked him.

  "Do about what?"

Did he not remember why I had run to meet him in the first place?

  "The fact that we're mates." I said, eyeing him. He was attractive. I always knew that. And his scent. I could live in it.

He looked away, scratching his neck. "I don't know. I just want to be away from you right now."

He visibly winced. Probably the mate bond punishing him for saying something so terrible.

  "What?"

  "We cannot be mates, Mercy." He sighed, holding his head, as if in pain. Which I think he was, because his words were hurting me too.

  "It's not you, it's me, right? That's what you want to say, right?"

  "What?"

  "I don't know man, they say that in movies a lot, and it just slipped out." I shrugged. "But, you're joking, right?"

  "I'm your sister's boyfriend."

I felt a flash of white hot anger across my chest for a split second after he said that.

  "So that's why Marcy always gets home smelling like—"

  "Well, that should not be a problem. She's only your girlfriend, but I'm your mate." I said bluntly. "You can't tell me that you love her. That is impossible."

Marcy had always put herself first. Nothing wrong with me taking what was mine. 

  "She did call you selfish. And she told me other things about you. How do you want me to break this to her?"

  "How do I— it's your responsibility to make things right. You're the one in a relationship, not me."

His expression hardened. "I can see why."

  "Don't talk to me like that."

  "Honestly, I'd have enjoyed a sibling rivalry, but there's nothing to compete with here. I know that your sister is cunning. And a cunning mind is a sharp mind, so she's smart. I know that she's active in the pack games and mock wars, and I've seen her perform. She's strong." He sighed and shook his head.

  "You, on the other hand, who I have never seen at the pack games, or heard about. What exactly can you do? Better than your sister, at least?"

My chest was hurting even more. Marcy was a better athlete and fighter. But we both had brains. And I could run a little, both forms.

  "I'm smart, and I can run. Are you seriously trying to get me to convince you to pick me over my sister?" My voice was calm. The angry kind of calm.

My hands were balled into fists by my side.

  "Yes. I'm going to be the alpha someday, and I'll need a capable Luna to take care of the pack. Can you take care of yourself?"

He continued. "And let's not forget that your sister is so beautiful that—"

A tear slipped from my eye.

  "My sister and I have the same face."

  "And somehow, the both of you look so different. You're not so beautiful. You look like the lite version of your sister. Not that I'm calling you ugly, that would be very un-future alpha of me. It's just like comparing a nice teddy bear to a poorly sewn ragdoll."

I wiped my face with my sleeve. "I hate you. You and Marcy, both."

  "I, Eke Wolves,"

No, no.

  "You're rushing into a big decision. You shouldn't do this."

  "reject you, Mercy King as my mate. You are not fit to be by the side of an alpha. An Omega would be more fitting."

He was holding his chest as he held to his car for support. But his face still held so much anger.

Was I so horrible that someone who had only met me for the first time rejected me as his mate?

I did not want to give this were the satisfaction of seeing me cry, or fall in pain. I was in excruciating pain.

  "Fine then." I spar out and turned back to go into my house, only to see my sister and her friends.

They had watched Eke humiliate me, and they were snickering. I turned to Marcy.

  "I hate you."

  "Shut up." One of her girlfriends dragged me by my hair. I remained passive.

  "You're also jealous of me." She added. "Leave her alone, let her go upstairs and cry."

I heard a car honk.

  "Eke, baby! We're coming now!" My sister yelled and then they left me.

I didn't have the strength to get myself upstairs, so after they drove off, I fell to the ground and started to cry.