Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (23 page)

“Yes, it was Altus
,
Oklahoma.  She took me to a family of wolf shifters.  I don’t think they were her family, just
friends of hers.  Guess it would have been stupid if she’d taken me to her family.  Ciar would probably
have known where her relatives were. 
Their name was, um,
Stewart,
I think.  Bob and Eva!  They had two boys, Sean and David. 
I can’t believe I’d forgotten all this.
  They were
like
brothers to me,
”
Anna had started to cry. 

She was remembering this family.  Her family.  They had taken her in and raised her as one of their own.

“How could I have forgotten them?” she said sadly.  “They raised me, treated me like their daughter.”

“
It sounds to me like someone blocked
your memories.  That would have taken some magic,” said Rafe.

“I agree.  Something must have happened for
her to have
her memories hidden
.  We won’t know unless we can find that family,” said Robert. 

“I’ll leave tomorrow,” stated Dunstan.

Robert told him
he would
go with him, just in case he ran in to any trouble.  Anna told them she was worn out and going to bed.

“One more thing,” said Rafe.  “How did you end up at that hotel where my dad found you?”

“I don’t know.  I have the early memories now of my second family, but I don’t remember leaving them.  My last mem
ory is of working at that hotel until your dad found me.”

After Anna left, Robert asked Dunstan if he had the ability to shift through space.

“No, I’ve never been able to do that. 
I can shimmer so no one can see me, but not travel. 
Maybe you have to be full
fae
to do that,” Dunstan answered.

“Maybe, but if you want, we can leave right now.  I can shift us both,” said Robert.

“Rather you than me,” Rafe muttered. 

His brothers laughed, they knew how much he hated traveling like that. 

“What’s he talking about?” Lisa asked.

“I’ll tell you in a minute
.
You two need to be discreet.  A
wolf
pack isn’t going to welcome an unknown wolf
asking questions,
even though you’ll have a light
fae
with you,
” Rafe stated.

“No shit,” said Dunstan. 

Robert stepped over to Dunstan and took his arm.  Lisa saw a shimmer and then they were gone.  She was amazed.

“That is so cool!  How’d he do that?  What’s it like?”

“The
fae
can travel through space and time with a thought is how it was explained to me.  It’s a freaky way to travel.  You’re going faster than the speed of light.  Not a pleasant way to travel,” Rafe told her, shuddering.

“Just because you’re a wimp, doesn’t mean everyone else is.  She may like it,” said Ian. 

Laughing, Lisa told them she wanted to try it sometime.  Rafe just shook his head, telling her she was crazy.

Dunsta
n and Robert appeared at the end of an
alley,
in the
quaint
town of Altus.  Dunstan shook his head, feeling slightly dizzy. 

“
That always leaves me off balance.  Like my DNA just got scrambled,” Dunstan said. 

“
It did
.  I just always hope I get
it
put back together correctly,”
Robert said, joking
. 

Robert had deposited
them near a pub
, thinking that would be the best place to start their search.
  Entering, they went up to the bar, ordering two beers.  Casually looking around,
they saw that most of the patrons looked to be locals.  No tourist here.

With both of them being able to ‘see’ wolves, it didn’t take long to notice the two guys playing pool. 
They ambled over to the men with Robert asking if he could play the winner.

The men knew what they were, and were not happy seeing that Dunstan was dark
fae
.  All wolves were friendly with the light
fae
, but were suspicious of the dark.

“Why are you hanging around with him?” One of the men asked.

“He’s not your enemy.  His wolf overcomes his other half,” Robert told them.

Dunstan could tell they were surprised.  He’d forgotten he had his wolf part hidden.  He was so used to hiding his wolf, he’d done it unconsciously.  Now he removed his shimmer so they could see his wolf. 

“I’ve never met a half
fae
, half wolf before.  Although I did know a woman…
” he
stopped talking.

Dunstan knew they were talking about his mother.  It was time to let his defenses down and tell them who they were.  He didn’t have time to dance around the bush. 

“My name is Dunstan.  I have a sister named Anna, whom I’ve just found.  Our father is Ciar. 
From what we’ve learned, my mother escaped with Anna and left her with your family,”

“I’m Robert,
Queens’s
guard and protector.  I can vouch for this man.  He only wants to find his mother and make sure she’s safe.”

The men looked at each other.  Dunstan was sure these were the two brothers Anna had told them about.

“Anna told us she was raised by the Stewart family and they treated her like a daughter.  Also, there were two brothers, Sean and David.  Is that who you are?” asked Dunstan.

Robert thought it looked like the brothers were speaking to each other telepathically. 
Seeing they were twins, Robert figured that was probably how they were able to do that. 
He hadn’t heard of families being able to do this, but he knew mates could.  Interesting.

“I’m David and this is Sean.  You’
re lucky the
Queen’s
guard
is with you, otherwise we would have ripped you open on sight.”

“Nice,
yeah,
I’m used to
that reaction from other wolves,” said Dunstan.

“Is there somewhere private we can talk?” asked Robert.

“We’ll go out to the house.  You two can follow us,” David stated.

“We don’t have a car.  We traveled here kind of fast, if you know what I mean,” smiled Robert.

Sean told them they could ride with them.  Going to the parking lot, they all climbed into his pickup. 
Sean informed
them
that
they had a cattle ranch a few miles outside of town.

“Isn’t that difficult, being wolves and all?  I’d think you couldn’t get near them,” said Dunstan.

David explained they had an aunt that could cover their scent.  She was part witch, he explained.

Robert and Dunstan glanced at each other.  Now they knew who had probably concealed Anna’s memories. 

They pulled up in front of
a
ranch style house with a l
ong porch.  Robert saw there
were
a man and woman in rocking chairs relaxing on the porch. 

“Wait here.  I need to tell my dad who you are.  He’s liable to attack first and ask questions later,” Sean said to Dunstan.

    Dunstan
just sighed.  Wolves.
 
But he understood. H
is wolf wasn’t too happy being in another’s territory. 
He sat in the truck while the others went up to the porch.  Watching them, he saw the older man glance his way,
and
then motion for him to get out.

Walking up to them, he paused warily as the man eyed him up and down.  It wouldn’t do
to
have a fight with his sisters adopted family.

Causally, the older man stuck out his hand.  “I’m Bob and this is my mate, Eva.  We knew your mother.”

Dunstan was floored.  He hadn’t expected it to be this easy.  Now he didn’t know where to start.  Bob invited them in, going to sit in a big recliner.

Sean went and got everyone a beer, while they all sat waiting.

“You’re looking for your mother.  I knew you’d come
wanting answers
someday
.  She told me about you.  She
said she made you leave and promise to never go back,” said Bob.

“I broke my promise.  I had to go back to see if she was okay.  She wasn’t there and I was afraid he’d killed her.  I just found my sister.  I never knew she’d had a baby.
”

“So now you want to know why she came to us,” Bob said looking at Eva.

“She was my best friend,” said Eva.  “We grew up in the same pack in Utah.  I left my pack when I met Bob and moved here with him. 
We always kept in touch,
even though we didn’t see each other
anymore
.
  It wasn’t easy.
”
 

Eva paused, taking a sip of her beer.  She wasn’t looking forward to explaining to Dunstan his mother
’
s fascination with Ciar.  She hadn’t understood
it
at the time either.

“
Your
mother met Ciar in Scotland.  She was on a trip to visit relatives there.  I personally think he must have somehow hidden his dark side.  You know of course, us
wolves can see whether a
fae
is dark or light.  He fascinated
her.  He had
some kind of charisma
thing
going
on
, and she fell hard. He is not her mate, but she didn’t care.
”
 

“
Maybe
he used
some kind of compulsion on her, I don’t know.
  Wolves wait their
entire lives to
find
the One, and she wasn’t any different. 
Once she agreed to go to
his castle, that was it, they disappeared
.  It was a long time before I heard from her again.  I think he did care for her, or
maybe he
had some kind of obsession.  I’m not sure which it was.”

Dunstan felt sorry for his mother.  It sounded like she’d been cheated out of the life she should have had. 

“She called me when she was able.  He allowed her
the
freedom to go see her family
, but only after you were born
.  H
e did this while keeping you with him.  He knew she would come back for you. 
That’s how I knew who you were.  She’s very proud of you.  I’d like to believe she escaped when she brought Anna to us.  I’m
sorry, I can’t help you with your mom’s
whereabouts
,
she wouldn’t tell us where she was going.  It was her way to keep Anna safe.”

He couldn’t help thinking about how Anna was conceived.  Had his father forced her?  He sat there burning with anger.  He would kill him if he could.

“I can tell by your expression what you’re thinking,” Eva said.  “No, she wasn’t raped. 
I think in his own way, he loved her and she him.  But it was all consuming with him.  There was no space left for you or Anna.  You saw their relationship from a child’s perspective.  It was complicated.  Even though she cared for him, her children were more important to her.  I’ve hoped she found her mate in the time since she left Anna here,” Eva said quietly.   

While Dunstan thought about all he
’d
learned, Robert asked for informatio
n on her family in Scotland.  Robert
realized then that he’d never heard their mother’s name.

“What was
yer
mother’s name, lad?” asked Robert.

“
Ena
,
Ena
O’Connell,” Dunstan answered.

Robert got the name of
the town where
Ena
had family
in Scotland
. 
They also got the address for the Utah pack.  She probably never went back there, but they would need to check and see. 
He decided he would travel there on his own, after he took Dunstan back to the castle.  He would get more cooperation from any wolves he met if Dunstan weren’
t around
. 

They thanked the Stewart family, letting Eva know
that
if they found
Ena
, they would
tell her
.  Taking hold of Dunstan’s arm, he transported them back to the great room.

Rafe came out of his office, hearing them arrive.  Sitting once again, Robert told him all they had learned from the family.