Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1)

by Ellen, Jo

  “What’s her name?” he murmured, as he settled the kitten. It almost sounded like he was purring to it.

  Lisa grinned and said, “Seattie, emphasis on the A.”

  Chase looked puzzled for a moment.

  “You named your kitten C A T? He laughed. So, when you have children, if it’s a girl then will you name her K T? And for a boy, wait, give me a minute, I’m thinking.”

  Rafe spoke up, “O P for a boy,” he said with a straight face.

  “Opie? That is so wrong,” Lisa said with a chuckle.

  “I haven’t really decided on a name yet, I’m still working on it.”

  Enjoying their company and the silly conversation, Lisa covered a yawn with her hand. She was winding down and ready to get some sleep.

  Of course, Rafe noticed and offered to take them home. Stephanie let him know she was just about to call Colin when he walked in the door.

  “Good timing, honey. I think both of us are ready to go now.”

  Rafe nodded toward the office for Colin to come and speak privately with him.

  “Give me a second, babe, I want to speak with Rafe,” he said.

  The men excused themselves and went into the office.

  “Lisa’s mine, said Rafe. Keep her safe. If she wasn’t human, I’d take her home with me tonight.”

  “What? She’s the one, really? I’m glad it’s Lisa, because she’s always been a good friend to Steph. The pack will be happy their alpha will be settling down. I wish you the best, Rafe. I remember telling Steph about what we are, and I don’t envy you that,” Colin said smiling.

  “You’re going to have to tell me how you did it sometime soon. We’d better go back, they’re waiting,”

  “I’ll protect her with my life,” Colin said seriously.

  They saw the ladies standing by the door and could tell by their expressions that Chase had been flirting with them.

  “I’ve come to save you from this tomcat,” said Colin.

  “What can I say, I am what I am,” Chase said without apology.

  Stephanie burst out laughing while Rafe sighed. He was used to the feline.

  As Lisa turned to go, Rafe bent down and kissed her gently on her lips. He did not want to let her go. He had to fight his instincts not to grab her and take her with him.

  She surprised herself by not turning away. After all, she had just met the man. His jaw had a light shadowing of stubble and up close, his eyes looked even greener. With his high cheekbones and firm jaw, he seemed to have some American Indian in his blood. His lips were surprisingly soft, and the kiss ended way too quickly.

  As Rafe turned to find his brothers, Lisa glanced over her shoulder to watch him walk away. Nice ass too, she thought.

  Chapter 5

  Chase followed the Tahoe on his motorcycle. As the forest flew by in his peripheral vision, he couldn’t help but think about how lucky Rafe was to find his mate.

  All shifters knew they had someone out there, but he couldn’t help but wonder when he would find his.

  Rafe drove while explaining to his brothers what Chase had told him. Ian immediately called his second in command and ordered more enforcers to patrol the area. He let him know they were on their way and they would fill him in as soon as they got there.

  “Once Robert gets here, we’ll inform the rest of the pack, so everyone will be more vigilant. I want to know if any in the seelie court have heard any whispers in Faerie,” Rafe said.”

  “I also have some good news to tell you both. I found my mate at Charlie’s tonight,” he stated calmly.

  Rafe enjoyed their shocked expressions. Then he grinned and started whistling along with the song on the radio.

  He waited while his brothers looked at him in total silence. Then the guys erupted with yells and good wishes. It was always something to celebrate when you found your mate.

  “She’s Stephanie’s friend, Lisa. She’s only here for two weeks, so I’m going to have to work fast and convince her to stay. Also, the really fun part of telling her we’re wolves.”

  “So she’s human. Can I be there when you tell her? I’ll strip down and shift so she’ll believe you,” Dev snickered.

  Rafe looked at Ian. “You know I’m going to beat the crap out of him when we get home, right? Your job is to keep me from killing him,” he said.

  “I intend to help you. I could use a good training session right now,” Ian said dryly.

  Arriving at the house, they all went into the den. Rafe thought it would be a good idea to have his parents to join the meeting.

  Mack and Elizabeth entered the room looking worried. They were both around two hundred years old, yet looked to be in their middle forties. Rafe did not normally call them on a Friday night for a meeting. Settling in on the overstuffed sofa, Mack could tell that something was wrong.

  Rafe nodded to Chase for him to start filling them in on the feline seer’s premonition. It didn’t take long for Mack to stand up and start pacing. He had guarded the pond all his life and had never had any dealings with the unseelie.

  “I assume you’re contacting the Queen?” asked Mack.

  “My intentions are to contact Robert and see if they’ve heard anything in Faerie. We’ve already added more patrols to the grounds and extra enforcers are stationed at the pond,” Rafe stated.

  Mack nodded. He had confidence in Rafe’s ability to lead. He did exactly what I would have done, he thought.

  “I do have some more news to tell you. We went to play pool at Charlie’s. I lost to Devlin.”

  “Okay,” Mack said slowly. “That’s not really news, son.”

  “No, but this is. I met my mate tonight,” Rafe said with a smile.

  His parents burst into big smiles. As his mom jumped up to hug him, his dad pounded him on his back. Rafe started speaking and told what little he knew of Lisa.

  While Rafe was talking, Ian went to tell several of their enforcers about the prediction. He then told them to pass the word amongst the pack and to stay on alert. Ian knew he could count on the men to protect and defend the pond and their kinsmen.

  They left through the front doors to go to the pond. Ian caught up with Rafe to let him know he had put the word out for everyone to be on guard.

  Rafe just nodded. No need for more, he knew Ian would have taken care of passing along the information. He hoped after talking with Robert that they would have some answers.

  Standing near the ponds edge, Rafe stood with eyes closed and concentrated on an image of Robert. The others stood behind him, waiting silently. As he focused on Robert’s image, he sent a mental request for him to come to the pond, urgently. They could all feel a slight change in the air as Robert appeared suddenly before them.

  “Do you have any idea what I was doing? I was just about to…” he stopped suddenly when he realized there were others there.

  He looked disheveled and they could all tell he’d just gotten out of bed. He had a kilt thrown on with his sword strapped to his back, and nothing else.

  “Ahem, well. You called for me? Something urgent you say?” Robert asked.

  “Looks like what you were doing is more urgent.” Devlin snickered, along with Chase.

  Mack cuffed Devlin on the back of the head, rolling his eyes. “Grow up,” he said.

  “Hey, I’m over a hundred years old!” Dev cried.

  “Not in wolf years, you’re still a cub,” said Mack.

  “Come up to the house. We need to talk,” Rafe said grimly.

  Going back to the house, Rafe, Robert and Ian led the way. As all of them settled into the den, Rafe asked Chase to explain what his seer had told him.

  “And those were her exact words, ‘Darkness surrounds the animal spirit’s path to the waters?” asked Robert.

  “Yes. I did try to get more information from her, but you know how seers are. She told me that was all she saw, but she would tell me immediately if she had more visions,” Chase answered.

  “We’ve heard no rumblings in Fa
erie. The dark fae have not entered our realm as far as we know. They cannot break through the veil. Entering the mortal realm would be more logical,” Robert stated.

  “I believe they are coming here, since the seer specifically said ‘animal spirit’ in her prophecy. If it were another area, my guess is that Chase’s seer would not have seen it. They must know of the pond and will try to use its magic,” said Rafe.

  “I’m afraid you may be right, the problem is figuring out what they want to use the magic for,” Robert said.

  “Until we know more, we’re all just speculating at this point,” said Rafe.

  “I’m going back to Faerie. I need to inform the Queen and bring back some warriors to help watch for any unseelie showing up here. I assume you’ll have room for my men? I will probably have two or three warriors with me.”

  “Of course, they can stay here. Tell the Queen I would appreciate any help from her,” Rafe stated.

  The two men headed back to the pond to look around before Robert left. The forest was dark with the moon reflecting off the water. It was hard to imagine a war starting in this peaceful place.

  “I hope to be back by midmorning, but you know how time differs there. Also, I see you’ve found yer mate, although you’ve not yet connected. Not my business, but I know you wolves. If you don’t claim her soon, you’ll be hell to live with,” Robert said gravely.

  “I’m working on it. She’s human and has no idea about us. She’ll be coming here on Sunday, if not sooner, so tell your men. I don’t know what she’d think about seeing you guys walking through the woods in kilts carrying swords,” Rafe said drolly.

  Robert laughed, “She would probably think yer woods are haunted. You know how humans are. They believe in ghosts, but not other ‘supernatural beings.’ Anyway, I wish you and yer new mate well.”

  As he faded away, Rafe heard chuckling, “knocked you on yer arse, didn’t she…”

  Indeed, she did, he thought. Rafe decided he needed to run. He stripped down and set his wolf free. Between one moment and the next, the man was gone and a dark brown wolf appeared. It was not a transformation like in the movies. No stretching or bones reshaping. This was magic. Simply put, one form changed into another.

  Chapter 6

  Rafe returned to where he’d left his clothes by the pond. Running as a wolf always gave him a sense of freedom he didn’t find anywhere else. He still had his sense of self as a wolf, but didn’t have all the worries of the human world.

  As he dressed, he made the decision to move up his time frame to get Lisa to stay with him. Not knowing what was to come made his wolf nervous. If he could keep her close to him, he could protect her. Having her in his home would not be possible without full disclosure.

  She was a smart woman and he knew she would wonder why there was so much activity near the pond. He also couldn’t be sure of the warriors that Robert would bring back. They were not used to restraining their magic. Robert had visited the mortal realm many times and he knew to hide what he was.

  The fae could see the connections between mates. It was a magical knowing. Fearing that any fae could see that Lisa was forming a bond, but not yet attached worried him. She would be a benefit to one if she were taken. The fae knew any shifter would do anything to protect their mate.

  The human mated ones could protect themselves once they were changed. Being stronger and faster gave them the ability to battle the unseelie. Another advantage was being able to speak to their mate telepathically. Either one would then know if the other were in danger.

  Rafe entered the house and went straight to the kitchen. Ian, Chase and Devlin were at the table eating sandwiches.

  “Dad said to let him know if you need any help, and Mom said she couldn’t wait to meet Lisa,” said Ian.

  Rafe rubbed his hand over his face. He was tired and just wanted to shower and to go to sleep. With so much on his mind, he was afraid sleep would be a long time coming.

  “I’m going to talk to Colin tomorrow, so he doesn’t get any wrong information through the grapevine. Also, when I pick Lisa up Sunday, I’m not taking her back to their house,” said Rafe.

  Both men sat silently just looking at him.

  Ian spoke first, “Are you sure that’s wise? I know you want to keep her safe, but she knows nothing about us. How are you going to convince her to stay?”

  For once, Devlin did not make a joke. He knew how serious this was for his brother and alpha.

  “I’m not giving her a choice,” he stated grimly.

  “I think you should ask Stephanie to talk to her when you go to see Colin tomorrow. She could break the ice for you so that she’ll have a friend there when she freaks out. Giving Stephanie permission to tell her about Colin, I believe, would help ease her into our world,” Devlin said seriously.

  Rafe thought about it. “I’ll ask Stephanie to talk to her about shifters, but I’ll tell her that this is a request and not an order. I’ll not ask as her alpha to explain her mating with Colin.”

  “Yeah, that’d be too much like wimping out if Steph explained everything,” Dev was back to his usual joking self.

  “I’m not asking her to do it alone. I plan on being in the room to reassure Lisa. This will be difficult enough for her to comprehend, that what she thought of as a myth, is real,” said Rafe.

  Ian told Rafe he thought that was the best way to break it to her. “I’ll call if Robert gets back before you do tomorrow.”

  “Don’t forget my offer to shift,” grinned Dev.

  Rafe ignored him as he left the room to shower. Leaning his head forward under the showerhead, he moaned at how good the hot water felt. He washed quickly. His bed was calling to him.

  He reflected on whether he should tell Lisa that he was a wolf. Also that she was his mate, and that he wouldn’t let her go, even with the fae warriors coming, and a possible evil fae attack. It was just too much to think about.

  He also had to consider the fact that she would probably hate him and be afraid of him. I just don’t know her well enough to predict how she will react, he thought.

  Colin drove home while thinking about Lisa. He had been through this before and did not envy his friend and alpha. He could sense Stephanie was worried too.

  “It’ll all work out, babe,” he murmured to Stephanie as she settled under his arm.

  “I know. It’s just so hard to learn…” she trailed off, not wanting to say anything more with Lisa in the back seat.

  Colin spoke in her mind. ‘I know you’re worried, but she’ll be fine. At least she has you to help her.’

  She closed her eyes and rested against him for the ride home. She would just have to pray that it would all work out.

  Lisa wasn’t paying attention to her friends talking quietly. Thinking about Rafe was occupying all of her thoughts. How could she be attracted to someone so fast? Yeah, he was hot and all, but she had dated good-looking men before. I feel like I should be with him right now. This is just crazy. Maybe after a good night’s sleep, I’ll feel differently. After driving, shopping, and then dancing, I’m just tired.

  “How about we go to the craft fair in Cheyenne,” asked Stephanie the next morning. “It’s not that far and they have some really good stuff. I know you love handmade quilts and I’ve seen some beautiful ones there.”

  “Yeah, that would be great! You know I love how distinctive homemade quilts are. What about the girls? Should we get them from Colin’s parents?” asked Lisa.

  Stephanie laughed, “Oh, God no! Knowing us, we’ll spend an hour looking before we buy our first item. There’s just so much to choose from. My girls don’t have that much patience yet. Trust me; they’ll be much happier at their grandparent’s house.”

  “I wasn’t thinking,” Lisa said. “We’ll have to plan something that they like to do while I’m here.”

  Arriving back at the house, Lisa got ready for bed, while still thinking about Rafe. However, once her head hit the pillow, she was out.

  The
next morning, Stephanie asked Colin if he wanted to join them. Knowing Lisa would be safe with Stephanie, Colin was adamant in his refusal. He figured he could get some outside work done around the house with everyone gone.

  Before leaving, Lisa searched the house for her kitten. She found her curled up on her bed sleeping. She did not want another repeat of last night. She put everything the kitten would need in her room and closed the door firmly.

  It was only about a thirty-minute drive to the craft fair. Lisa saw they had tents set up in rows so that you could stroll up and down the aisles. There were so many handcrafted items to look at. From jewelry to furniture, they had a little bit of everything.

  Stephanie bought some silver earrings from a young woman who had some unique pieces. They were drop earrings with a turquoise stone hanging at the bottom.

  “I love these!” she exclaimed.

  “They’re beautiful. Come on, I see a quilt I like over there.”

  Lisa found her favorite quilt pattern, the well-known double wedding ring. They had others, but this one was perfect. It had a white background with the rings done in pastels. She loved it! Even knowing she might be out of a job soon, she couldn’t resist. The price was reasonable considering it was handmade. They continued looking at several more booths, admiring the artist work. It was getting pretty warm when they decided it was time for lunch.

  “There’s a good Mom and Pop place over on Main Street. Normally, Colin and I would eat their chicken fried steak, but I think today, I’ll just have a salad.”

  “Me too. It’s just too hot to eat anything that heavy,” Lisa laughed.

  They walked over to Main Street, enjoying the small town ambiance. The restaurant wasn’t far, but they were miserably hot by the time they got there. By noon, the temperature was hovering around ninety-nine degrees.

  Casually, Lisa looked at her surroundings as she walked. Strange, she almost felt as if someone was watching her, but when she looked around, she didn’t notice anyone in particular looking at her. Must be the heat, she thought.