Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (2 page)

Sit
ting about a hundred
feet in front of
the house was
the pond. 
The Queen had gifted them with this magical water
.
  It was a beautif
ul place with flowers growing around
the sides.
You could feel the magic
in the air circling
the po
nd and especially in the waters.

These
waters were situated in different places around
the world
, with other
shifter families
protecting them
.  The Scott’s were the supreme
family for the East Texas shifters.
 

Thei
r parents had moved into a smaller house on
the property when Rafe
had taken over the job
as alpha.  His father felt
that,
by his
not
being
in the castle, the pack would begin to
look to
Rafe as their leader
.
It had
worked out well.  The pack knew they could go to Rafe with any problems.

He was
also intelligent and fair
w
hen dealing with the
day-to-day
running
of
a large pack
.  The
family had led
the
pack for many, many years
.  Being able to consult
with other shifters and maintain friendly relations was something
of which they took pride
.

Their housekeeper, Anna
,
had been with the family
for about twenty
years
.  She quietly went about her duties taking care of the home.  She had never mated and they all assumed she had not met her One.  She still looked to be in her late twenties, but never socialized with
any
men. 
Sometimes, she
had an aura of sadness surrounding her when she thought she was unobserved.  As she would never talk about her past, they all tried to make her feel like part of the family.

Anna had joined the
pack while
Ma
ck was still
the
alpha.  He had found her working in a hotel
as a maid
.  Scenting
she was a wolf, they had
talked and
he’d
been able to convince her to join his pack.  He could tell she
was not happy on her own, as wolves needed that family connection.

She fit in very well with the Scott family.  The brothers welcomed
her,
but didn’t try to get romantically involved.
 
Something
about her demeanor
told them
that
she was
not interested. 
She was no
w like a younger sister to them.

Since everyone knew it would be horrible,
Anna did not cook for the brothers.  Her attempts were
usually burned beyond repair.  Having a heavy hand with seasoning did not make her dishes any better either.  Ian would tease
her,
saying she was a wolf with no palate. 

They hoped one day
that
she would tell them her story.  Wondering about which pack she came from, they would
throw out different
regions,
hoping to get a reaction.  Anna always remained stoic.
  She didn’t live in the castle, as
s
he preferred her privacy. 
They had
offered her a place in one of the
cabins behind the main house and
she had
jumped at the opportunity to have
her own place.  When Rafe became
the
alpha,
he had
asked if there
were another job,
she would prefer to do in the pack instead of being their housekeeper.
 
She had
refused, saying she was happy doing what she did.  Rafe left her
,
letting her know if at any time she wanted to do
something else, he would support her wishes
.

All shifters knew fighting amongst themselves would only bring attention from humans. 
If they hadn’t learned to make peace, wars
would
have been
bloody with feuds going on for centuries
.
With property divided up amongst them long ago, they all had their own territory.
 
Either scent or magic from each race clearly marked their boundaries.
 

             
The
pack
property was not fenced
,
but they did have signs posted
, which warned that
no trespassing
was allowed
.  With regular
patrols,
they would find any hunters that had wandered onto their property.  Only occasionally had a deer hunting bubba crossed onto
their estate
.  The fear was that some
hunter would mistake a wolf for a deer.  Most hunters were responsible
,
so they rarely had a run in.  An enforcer would politely escort them off the property
,
with the warning not to trespass again.
Hunters got the message the first time and did not come back. 

The Queen of the
seelie
court had blessed the waters for the shifters
to use as needed
in the protection of
the human world from the dark
fae
.  The
unseelie
would wreak havoc on the hu
mans if they were left
without
warriors to protect them
. 
The waters had
many powers, some even
un
known to the shifters.

The Q
ueen also gave a gift to the
shifter’s
fated mate.  She did not want them to lose their
other half
to the short life
span
that
humans had.  Once their m
ating
was consummated, the human
would be brough
t to the pond to immerse themselves
in the waters
. 
That person
would be magically transformed
in
to the
shifter
race of their mate. 

The Scott family protected the pond
and the people in
this area.
They had come over from
Scotland long ago, leav
ing behind their native land
, but keeping their customs
.
  Humans had
no idea they were being kept safe
from the
unseelie
.

Rafe had never fought
one of the
dark
fae
. 
Although, he
had heard stories from his ancestors, none had come in his lifet
ime, as far as he knew.
 

The indigenous peoples in the area knew the shifters were there and had left them alone.  They had their own stories of thes
e beings and unde
rstood that they were guardians
.  They
didn’t know
the
power
or magic
of the
waters, just that there
were guardian shifters in
the area
, who were
protecting them. 

The feline shifters were to the south of the wolves.  It was important to remain in good standing with one another
,
just in case they had to call on them.  Rafe was friends
with their leader, Chase. 
Even though
cats were
basically
loners
,
their human side
still
enjoyed the company of others
.

Most of the pack had homes on the property
, so
only
the brothers
were
now
living in the castle.  It wasn’t as big as the original
castle
in Scotland, but big enough to serve the family and the
pack’s
needs.

They kept rooms ready for guest
s
, but
closed off the rest of the house
.  It had been home to many of the pack in the past.  Modern families today did not want or need to live together under one roof.
  Most couples preferred building their own houses to
suit
their
individual
taste
s
.
There were also cabins behind the castle, further away to give families their privacy. 
 

Lisa loved driving in the country
, because
there
was beautiful scenery without a lot of traffic. 
She was on her way to stay with her best friend for two weeks
.

She was thinking how it was a shame she hadn’t visited Stephanie’s home before
in Wolf Creek
.  They saw each other whenever Colin and Stephanie came to Dallas with the
ir
girls
.

Thinking about it, she realized that every time she made plans to visit, something always came up.  Either her car would break down or plumbing problems seemed to pop up unexpectedly.  If she didn’t know better, she’d think something was keeping her from
visiting, she thought laughing.  Lisa was not a superstitious person.

Sometimes,
she
knew when the phone would ring, or what someone was about to say.  She always thought that was coincidence.  Just good intuition, picking up clues from someone beforehand, she thought.  The phone thing
,
she couldn’t explain.

Her thoughts wandered to the memory of
how the couple had met
.
Stephanie had been working for the police department as an emergency dispatcher. 
When
Colin had come for a seminar the department was giving
, he had taken
one look at Stephanie and they had been together ever since.  Lisa was still shocked at how fast the two of them had
connected
.
 

A month after they met,
Stephanie had married Col
in
,
who
was the sheriff in Wolf Creek
.
At the time, Lisa
had
thought they were nuts. 
“
You don’t marry someone after only knowing them a month!
”
 
However,
she was happy to admit she was wrong
; those
two were fated to be together.  Some people just got lucky
.

Stephanie and Colin
had two beautiful little girls. Amy was still a toddler at a year and a half
and
S
arah was a precocious three year
old.

I should have turned down some jobs and made time for them, she thought.  Teaching and then
taking on proof reading jobs kept her busy both day and evenings.  Visiting via computer or phone just wasn’t the same.
She had been trying
to stay busy after her
parent’s
death, but she still thought of them often.
 
It made her realize
that
she felt alone even with friends in the city.

Her parents had been on their way home from dinner when a drunk driver had crossed the median and hit them head on. 
So much for intuition
,
she thought. 
She was told they had died instantly. 
Somehow,
that was supposed to be a comfort to her.
In a way, maybe
it was
,
but
it was difficult finding
good news
during such a time of grief and devastation.

Lisa missed the advice from her mom and just
hanging
around
with
her dad.  They had always b
een there for her
,
so it was hard to adjust to life without them.  Staying busy seemed the best option
to keep herself from missing them.