Wolf Creek Ghosts (Texas Pack 3) (Wolf Creek Werewolf Shifters)

by Jo Ellen

  Devlin grinned. “I can introduce you to the locals while we have a drink.” What he didn’t say was that he would be staking his claim and warning others off.

  “Okay, scoot. Give me an hour to shower, and I’ll meet you downstairs.” She gave him a little push to the door.

  Devlin was still grinning as he looked over his shoulder. “I’ll be waiting, darlin’.”

  Olivia leaned against the closed door and tapped the back of her head against the wood. This guy was too good looking, too sure of himself. She decided then and there she would try and distance herself. A man like him probably went through women like water through the drain. Grabbing her things, she turned right in the bathroom for a quick shower, not wanting to keep him waiting too long. Tempting as that tub was, she was in a hurry to get downstairs before some teeny, tiny woman tried to hit on him. Yeah, she thought, I’m totally secure with my amazon height and big boobs. Shaking her head, she stepped into the shower.

  * * *

  Devlin thanked Hank for his beer and went to sit at a corner table by himself, shaking off the chill in the air as he sat down. There was that damn smell again, but she wasn’t around. He blew out his breath in frustration.

  She had been talking to someone, but there hadn’t been anyone there, not even a recent scent. Only hers, wrapping around his body and making him want to lie down and roll around in it.

  Maybe she was one of those people that held entire conversations with themselves. He shook his head, trying to come to terms with the conclusion he wanted to deny. She was nuts. She talked to people who weren’t there. And then there was that other scent. Devlin dropped his head on the table, smacking his forehead against the solid oak table and groaning. Could she have multiple personalities that manifested themselves with their own scents?

  No, he decided, he was the one who was nuts. He was making a mountain out of a molehill. He straightened, having an epiphany. Maybe she was magical. There were so many different realms and beings she could be anything. Well, except Fae. He would have known that. Just as he didn’t go around telling everyone he was a wolf shifter, she was probably used to being cautious.

  Sensing her, he looked up and saw her at the bottom of the stairs. He pushed his chair back and stood in awe. She was beautiful with her hair flowing down over her shoulders. He was admiring her long, tan legs in her cute black shorts when she smiled and walked his way. The light colored material of her sleeveless top was almost see-through. He was sure she felt his eyes boring into her chest as he stared at the row of tiny black bows running down her torso, pretending to be buttons.

  Olivia!

  She heard her name called in greeting from the corner where Devlin now stood. Ignoring her new acquaintances, she kept her smile glued to her face.

  Devlin saw her flinch slightly before she regained her composure. Her smile now seemed to be forced. He looked around the bar thinking he’d heard voices call her name, but no one was there.

  “Everything alright?” He kept glancing around, searching for a threat.

  Olivia hooked her arm through his, urging him toward the doors. “Why wouldn’t it be? Come on, I’m ready to see the café you told me about.”

  Devlin let her pull him along, looking forward to learning about her over dinner.

  * * *

  “So, you don’t have a destination in mind?” Devlin was happy to know she had no plans to leave soon. He paused with a lump of mashed potatoes dangling precariously on his fork.

  “Not really. I look for a job wherever I end up and save my money for when I move on. I’m doing the ‘See America’ trip on a budget.” She figured she wasn’t really lying to him as she was taking in all the historical places she found interesting while helping lost souls.

  “I’m not in any hurry either, sometimes I’ve stayed for several months in one place.” Olivia blushed in embarrassment. “Not that I plan on staying here that long, I leave whenever my ‘muse’ tells me to.” Great, if she stayed any length of time here, he’d think she was chasing him.

  Devlin reached across the table and took her hand. “I hope you’ll stay here and get to know me and this town. It’s a great place to live.”

  Olivia tugged her hand from his grasp and reached for her iced tea, gathering her thoughts while taking a sip. “I’ll be blunt. You’re an extremely good-looking man.” Olivia’s expression hardened when he slowly smiled and leaned back in the booth. “And arrogant.”

  Devlin gave a small laugh and tried to look contrite. “There’s a fine line between arrogance and confidence.”

  “And which side do you think you fall on?”

  “I’ll let you decide once you know me better.”

  He picked up his knife and cut a small piece of his chicken fried steak. “Wouldn’t you feel more secure if you worked for your Dad?”

  Olivia had mentioned her parents, and how she had left their family business to work on her own.

  Shrugging. “Sure, I could have continued working for my Dad, but I need to make it on my own.” What she did not say was how useless she felt as the owner’s daughter. Add to the fact that her parents were uncomfortable with her ‘abilities,’ and she felt she needed to move on and stand on her own two feet. “Don’t get me wrong, my parents are wonderful. If they knew I needed money, I’d have it as soon as I called them. I’m twenty-five years old and have been on the gravy train all my life. My parents understand that I need my independence.”

  Olivia was tired of the other employees thinking she was too pretty to be able to think beyond having her hair, and nails done. Yes, she enjoyed having manicures and nice clothes, but she wanted to be more than the boss’s daughter. “Enough about me, what do you do besides trolling the highways for damsels?” She teased him.

  Devlin smiled at their waitress absently when she dropped their ticket on the table and slid from the booth. Reaching for her hand, he pulled Olivia up, grinning when she bumped against him and gave an annoyed grunt. “I do a little bit of everything, but my official job is basically accounting. I take care of my family’s books.”

  “You’re a CPA?” Olivia asked, amazed.

  He snorted as he dropped some money on the checkered tablecloth. “No, I simply enjoy playing around with numbers.” Taking her elbow, he escorted her back to Charlie’s.

  Arriving at the bar, Olivia looked over her shoulder, saying thanks as Devlin reached over her shoulder and pushed the swinging door. Seeing his eyes widen, she gasped as he lifted her bodily out of the way when a man came flying and landed on the pavement beside them.

  Devlin wrapped his arms around her stomach, pulling her up against his body as he looked down to growl at the man on the ground. “Niall?” He could not believe someone had gotten the jump on the fae warrior. “What the hell happened?”

  Niall jumped up and pulled Devlin, along with Olivia to stand against the brick wall, away from the saloon doors. “I dinna ken. Someone or something shoved me through the door. But Devlin, it dinna feel right.” Niall shoved a hand through his long hair, pushing the black strands away from his face in frustration. “The energy was wrong.”

  Olivia stood with her mouth hanging open, staring at the huge, beautiful man. He was the biggest cowboy she had ever seen. With his worn out Wranglers and scuffed boots, he was the quintessential cowboy. His button down shirt was tucked into his jeans with an enormous belt buckle showing a man on a bucking bronco. She barely heard the conversation flowing around her, too entranced by the oxymoron before her. His Scottish accent screamed highlander while his wardrobe said good old Texas boy. She started paying attention when Devlin pulled her towards his pickup, saying she was coming home with him.

  “Excuse me?” He kept moving until she used a sharp fingernail to poke him in the ribs. “I am not going home with you. Some guy gets thrown out of the bar, and you freak out? How many bars have you been in? You got me this job, and I appreciate it, but I’m not going to quit because of a fight.”

  Ignoring Devlin, she tur
ned to speak with Niall. “Are you all right?”

  Raising his eyebrows at Devlin, he turned to speak with Olivia. “I’m fine, lass. Just a wee misunderstanding.” He knew not to say more when Devlin gave a small shake of his head.

  “Olivia, this is my friend, Niall.” Devlin was trying to figure out how he could keep her from going inside without raising any suspicions.

  “Pleasure meeting you, now, if you two will excuse me, I’m going to have a drink.” Olivia walked off before either man could stop her and entered the bar.

  Olivia!

  She groaned as she turned to paste a smile on her face and wave at her ghostly friends sitting in the corner. Only they weren’t smiling back at her. A moment later, Jack appeared directly in front of her.

  “Olivia, there was some bad mojo in this place earlier. He’s gone now, but you need to be aware in case he shows up again.”

  Jack stared at his feet a moment before glancing at her again. “I didn’t get a good look at him, but I think he followed me here. There was a guy named Willie that used to hang around the rodeo pretending to be a cowboy to pick up women. I think he followed the rodeo when he was alive, popping up in different states and abducting his next victim from the locals.”

  Olivia felt tears welling up in her eyes, knowing the outcome before Jack finished his story. Knowing these young women had suffered before their deaths made her sick to her stomach. She had seen the news about this serial killer and knew it had ended with the psycho’s death in a crazy report about being clawed to death.

  The last woman he’d taken had a GPS tracker in her bracelet, compliments of her overprotective parents wanting to make sure she was safe when she went away to college. The young woman had been found in time before he could torture and kill her.

  “I figured he was some wannabe cowboy.” Jack slapped his cowboy hat against his thigh. “If I’d paid more attention, I could have stopped this. Damn, I wish I could remember more of my life.”

  Olivia straightened to her full height, crossing her arms over her chest. “How? You can’t know someone’s a killer just by looking at them. Trust me, there are lot’s of creepy guys out there, but that doesn’t make them all killers.”

  “Killers? Who the hell are you talking to?” Devlin shouted behind her.

  Chapter 2

  Olivia jumped when she heard Devlin shout and turned to face him. Niall stood beside him, staring intently as he waited on her answer. “What? Oh, killer band tonight. Want to dance?” She tried to bluff her way through his question but did not think he would buy it.

  “Just tell this yahoo to back off,” Jack whispered in her ear.

  “Shut up,” Olivia muttered between gritted teeth.

  Devlin was confused; he didn’t know if he should call a doctor or order her to confide in him. Looking at Niall, he nodded to the staircase for him to follow as he lowered his shoulder into Olivia’s stomach and carried her over his back to the stairs.

  “Oomph! What the hell? Put me down!” Olivia pounded his back and tried to squirm around to get him to release her.

  Devlin clamped his forearm across her thighs to keep her from falling. He stopped on the first step when Hank blocked his way. “You know better than to come between me and my mate,” he growled.

  “Mate?” Olivia did her best to lift her head around to where she could see Hank. “Hank, call the police. He’s insane!”

  Hank ignored her and spoke to Devlin with his palms held up. “I’m not stopping you Devlin, but what’s going on? You’re not mated yet, and you know it’s my duty to watch out for the single women who work for me.”

  Devlin had to yell over Olivia’s screaming for help. “I’ll explain later Hank. We’re just going upstairs to talk. I would never hurt her.”

  “Do something you idiots!” Olivia tried to yell over the music. The other patrons simply grinned and lifted their beers in acknowledgement. “You’re all crazy!”

  Hank studied him before stepping aside to speak with Olivia. “I don’t know what has him so riled up, but he will not harm you in any way. I know you don’t know any of us well, but every male here would lay down his life for you.”

  Olivia stopped struggling to stare open mouthed at Hank. Devlin took the opportunity to run up the stairs and stop in front of her door. Turning the knob, he found it locked.

  “Niall?” He silently asked the fae warrior for his help. Niall nodded once, and the door opened silently. Devlin was glad he had Niall with him, or he would have simply kicked the door in, which would have upset Olivia even more.

  He strode over to the daybed and gently sat her on the mattress. When she started to scramble to get away, he held a hand up. “Stay there, we need to talk.”

  “Fuck you!” Olivia pushed off the side of the bed and ran to the door. Niall stood with his arms crossed over his massive chest blocking the door.

  Devlin sighed, grabbing her once again around the waist and pulling her onto his lap as he sat down on the daybed. She was strong, but he was stronger. He clamped his arms around her body, pinning her arms to her sides and locking his legs around hers to keep her still. “Niall is a Fae warrior, and he lives in another realm.”

  Niall ran his hand across his jaw, rubbing his five o’clock shadow while scowling at Devlin. “Thanks fer throwing me under the bus, arsehole.”

  Olivia relaxed, and then threw her head back forcefully.

  “Damn, that hurt!” Devlin exclaimed when her head knocked into his nose.

  “You deserved it and more. Now, let me up. I won’t run. Obviously I can’t get past the big, scary, Fae warrior,” she replied sarcastically.

  Devlin loosened his hold, allowing her to stand up and walk to the kitchen. She moved around the small island, using it as a barrier. Seeing the butcher-block knife holder, she grabbed the biggest knife in the stand and brandished it in warning.

  “Cut the bullshit and tell me why you felt the need to manhandle me.” She waited while each man looked to the other. She watched warily as Devlin strode over to the opposite side, and sat on one of the barstools.

  “Are you druid, witch, fae, brownie, demon, wizard or any of the other magical creatures that live in this realm?” Devlin watched her carefully as she stuttered in disbelief.

  “Oh my God. It’s true. Handsome, but delusional. All that DNA wasted on such a pretty face,” she backed away from the bar and bumped up against the cabinets with her knife held out in front of her body like a shield.

  Devlin sighed and rose from his seat. “Niall, show her, please.”

  “I hate this part; humans have forgotten our existence and canna handle anything that dinna conform to their beliefs.” He disappeared and instantly reappeared next to her, snatching the knife from her hand.

  Devlin leapt over the bar and caught her as her eyes rolled back in her head.

  “Always the same with humans. You’d think just one of them could handle seeing a wee bit of magic.” Shaking his head pitifully, Niall relaxed in her recliner as Devlin carefully laid her down on the bed.

  Brushing the hair back from her eyes, Devlin grimaced as she woke screaming when she saw him bending over her. “It’s alright love, relax.”

  Olivia pushed at his chest, moving away to put her back against the iron railing of the daybed. She saw Jack’s shocked face where he had materialized by the window. She shook her head, denying what she’d seen with her eyes. “That is not possible.” Clutching the throw pillow to her chest, Olivia beseeched Jack for a plausible explanation.

  “I don’t know honey. I’ve never seen anything like that before. There are some strange creatures in this universe, but I never saw anyone disappear and reappear like that when I was living.”

  Niall surged to his feet, his clothes instantly changing to a plaid with his broadsword clutched in his hands.

  Devlin abruptly turned and placed his body in front of Olivia, growling low in his throat. “Who the hell said that?”

  Jack moved away from the window a
nd stood directly in front of Devlin. “You can hear me?”

  Niall and Devlin frantically searched the room with their eyes, yelling at the unseen threat.

  “Stop! Everybody just shut up!” Olivia screamed at the men while Jack stood frozen in amazement, staring at them.

  All three men turned to look at her as she scooted from the bed, and sat on the edge. This was way beyond her experience with ghosts. Trying to wrap her head around what she’d seen was making her head pound. Listening to Devlin growl like an animal was too much. With shaking hands, she pushed off the bed and moved to stand next to Jack when he reappeared next to the window. He was the only person she felt she could trust.

  Devlin raked his hand through his hair, not sure where to begin. “It’s okay love, please sit down before you fall.” He could see how shaky she was, but knew not to go near her at the moment.

  “Stay back.” Olivia boosted herself up to sit on the window seat, keeping an eye on them. “Don’t worry about the voice you heard, although I am surprised you could hear Jack since no one else has.”

  “Jack?” Devlin growled, the menace clear in his voice.

  Olivia stared at Devlin, becoming aware of how tightly he was strung. “He’s a ghost. Long story short. Dead people come to me for help. Messages for families, finding their way, whatever. We’re here to understand why he’s drawn to this place.”

  Pointing at Niall, Olivia swallowed a huge lump in her throat. “Are you an illusionist, like the ones on television? Nobody can do what you just did.” She shook her head in denial, unable to comprehend what she’d seen.

  She watched as Niall’s sword disappeared, and he sat back down on the recliner. “I am Fae. Our home is in another realm, but we have friends here. I’m one of the Queen’s guards, and she sent me here to give Devlin a message, and to guard his back.”