Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (36 page)

Robert stepped
forward, “We’ll take everyone in order as we’ve already decided.  It will only be a few seconds and
then
we’ll be back.  As soon as we appear in the dungeon, we
’
ll instantly come back for the rest of you.  I don’t want to mess with the time
differences,
because of the different realms, so be ready.  It will happen fast.”

They all nodded in understanding.  Robert, Niall and
Jem
stood waiting for the first ones to take hold of their arms.  In a blink, they were gone.
  The ladies stood silently, waiting their turn.

With
Dunstan
holding one arm and Rafe
holding
the other, Robert transported them to
Ciar’s
dungeon.  He saw Niall appear with Ian and Devlin,
and
then
Jem
with Mack and Anna. 
Instantly,
Robert disappeared and
reappeared with Lisa and Melissa. 

Lisa stumbled slightly and Rafe was soon by her side to steady her. 

Quietly,
Lisa said, “Whoa, what a head rush!  I want to do that again.”

Rafe shook his head, “Great, my mate is an adrenalin junkie.”

They all stood looking around the dungeon.  It was not a pleasant place.  Seeing the restraints on the wall and knowing Ciar had held people here was disturbing. 

Dunstan motioned for them to follow him.  They lined up in the formation they had already worked out.  Lisa made sure her head was covered.  Besides wanting Ciar not to know her, she figured it would keep any webs out of her hair. 

The ladies followed last, with Rafe and Niall behind them. 

Dunstan had moved from what Lisa lovingly thought of as the torture room.  Not.  He passed by some cells to come to the end of a corridor.  Reaching up over his head, he pulled on a ring hanging from the wall.  Lisa was glad to see there were no prisoners in any of the cells.

She looked ahead and saw an opening appear in the wall.  She realized then that it wasn’t a case of
a
stone moving like a door, it was magic. 

Following behind Anna, she saw that there were no bugs of any kind.  No sound of rats scurrying away.  It wasn’t dark either.  As they walked along, wall sconces lit the path for them. 

Lisa had a bad feeling.  It felt almost like they were being welcomed.  She wished she could ask Dunstan if this was normal.  Maybe since he played here as a child, the magic was always there for anyone moving through the walls.  She hoped that’s what it was. 

Glancing behind her, she saw Melissa was looking at the lighting also.  Raising her brow in question, Melissa just shrugged her shoulders.  Great, she was clueless too. 

The walls were just wide enough for even a large man to walk through without scraping the sides.  The girls could probably have walked two by
two,
but they stayed single file all the way. 
This gave them all more room to maneuver if they needed to.

The path wound around and Lisa knew she could never find her way out if she were alone.  She had seen Dunstan reach up several more times to open different passages for them to go through.  Lucky he played here as a kid, she thought.

No one was saying a word.  It was surprisingly quiet.  She knew wolves and cats moved silently, but the
fae
guys were just as quiet.  She realized she was the only one making a sound a
s
she walked.  She concentrated on trying to move more quietly like the others.

Suddenly,
they stopped.  Looking up ahead, she saw Dunstan hold up his hand.  They must be near the throne room, she thought. 

Dunstan looked back to Rafe and Niall, giving them a nod. 
They moved past the ladies, going to the front with Robert.  Rafe had squeezed Lisa’s shoulder as he passed. 

Lisa nerves were on edge.  She kept repeating the spell in her head, over and over.  Her biggest fear was messing up the wording and the spell not working. 

The ladies moved to stand together in the passageway.  It was a tight fit for
the
three of them, but they felt better holding hands. 

Both Anna and Melissa were determined to protect Lisa.  She was powerful as a witch, but they knew they were powerful as predators. 

They saw Dunstan reach up and pull on another ring.  Instantly, all the men rushed into the room.  The ladies hurried behind them, looking around for Ciar.

The room was empty.  Glancing around, not a soul stirred in the room.  The men moved around, looking
behind chairs, sofas, tables, anywhere they thought someone could hide.

“Son of a bitch.  He’s not here,” Dunstan growled.

“He’s here,” Robert said. 

Rafe rushed over and stood in front of Lisa while the others did the same. 

“I can feel
you,
Ciar.  What?  Are we playing a game of hide and seek?” Robert asked. 
“Come out, come out, wherever you are
,” he
said in a singsong voice.

Lisa saw a quick flash, and b
efore her
eyes,
the room filled
.
  Ciar appeared sitting on his throne.  At the same moment, guards surrounded the room.

Rafe turned to her, “
Now,
Lisa.”

Lisa opened her mouth to say the spell.  Before she could speak, she saw a guard swing a sword at Rafe.

Looking over his shoulder, he
saw her eyes
widen
with fear.  Rafe shifted instantly, locking on to the
guard’s
arm and bringing the sword down. 

She saw wolves fighting the guards all around the room.  Then she noticed one that wasn’t a wolf.  A
beautiful cougar was stalking a guard from behind that was about to attack Robert.  She leapt on the
guard’s
back, bringing him down quickly. 

Robert, Niall and
Jem
were fighting with
their
swords.  They hadn’t been carrying them when they left, she thought.  Everything was ha
ppening so fast.  She saw torn
clothing around the room and was confused for a moment.  Then she understood.  When they
shifted, they had shredded their
clothes.

Lisa looked over to Ciar.  He was staring at her and ignoring all the fighting around him.  She looked down to see him rubbing Dunstan’s dirk.  She knew she only had a moment to act now.

“Hold her and cover her mouth,” Ciar said.

She raised her arms and started to speak the spell.  Lisa was grabbed from behind.  Someone wrapped their arms around her, pinning her arms to her
sides,
while covering her mouth with their palm. 

She struggled, trying to loosen their hold. 
He was too strong.  She looked down to see bulging muscles holding
her in place.  She couldn’t even head smack his nose.  He was too tall.  If she thr
ew
her head back, all she would manage to hit would be his chest.

“Don’t struggle.  I won’t let him hurt you,” the guard whispered.

Huh?  Now she was really confused.  Was he just saying that so she wouldn’t try her magic on him?  She didn’t know what to do now.

Shit, she thought. 
He knew we were coming. 
Somehow,
he had just been lying in wait for them.  She l
ooked around, hoping there was someone
close to help.  They were all fighting. 

Lisa almost cried realizing Ciar was toying with them.  He knew he could stop this at any mo
ment and yet he just watched the fighting
. 

She felt herself stiffen in anger.  That son of a bitch.  She had to do
something.  She remembered a television
show where a witch could call items to her.  Yeah, it wasn’t real, but what the hell.  She could try it. 

Lisa
stared
at the dirk in his hand.  Concentrating, she felt the magic move up inside her.  She screamed in her head for the dirk. 
In an instant, the dirk appeared in her hand. 

Now she tur
ned her attention to the man
holding her. 
Before she could think, Ciar stood up and roared. 

“No, that’s mine!  Bring her over here.”

The fighting
stopped,
as everyone looked at Ciar. 

Rafe tried to move to Lisa, but was blocked by two guards waiting for him with swords pointed at her.

They all shifted back, pulling on torn jeans to cover themselves.  Anna and Melissa put their cloaks back on to
o
. 

She had to do something.  They kept saying how powerful she was, but now she felt helpless.  Before the guard
could move
, Dunstan spoke to his father.

“Don’t you have enough power already?  Why must you crave more and more?” he asked.

Lisa kn
ew he was trying to distract Ciar
to give her more time.  Problem was, she didn’t know what to do.

“Ah, you can never have too much
power,
boy.  Didn’t I teach you anything?  And look, my daughter has come to visit me.  I’ve missed
you,
my dear,” Ciar said.

“I don’t consider you my father.  My mother took me away and gave me a much better life than you ever could.  I bet that pissed you off, didn’t
it,
Daddy?” Anna said sarcastically.

Anna felt good confronting her past
.  This had been her goal.  Seeing him in person, she felt nothing.  Finally, she knew she was free.  To think she had feared him all these years.  No matter what he did to them now, she knew emotionally she had no attachment to this man. 

Ciar looked furious.  Ignoring her, he spoke to Lisa.  “I hear you’ve gotten a powerful spell from the Queen.”  Seeing their shocked looks, he grinned evilly at them, continuing
,
“Yes, I do have ways of knowing things.  See what power does for you?”

He turned to the others.  “I will have the spell from her.  I suggest you all stay put.  I’d hate to order her killed and lose such
a powerful
spell.  I understand you
can control anyone with this spell.  Just the kind of thing I like. 
Thank you so much for bringing her to me.”
 

As he spoke, Lisa felt the guard holding her stiffen.  She wondered what that was about.  Maybe if she licked his hand he would release her.  Worth a try, she thought.

Sticking her tongue out, she slowly licked his palm.  He stiffened even more.  Quietly he whispered in her ear, “What are you doing?”

Lisa shrugged, not being able to answer him.  He leaned down and spoke again.

“Can you really control him with a spell?  I’ve never met anyone as powerful as him,” he said urgently.

Lisa slowly nodded her head.  She felt him remove his hand from her mouth.  His arms let go of their tight hold around her body.

“I’ve been under his control all my life.  If you can take his power, do it now,” he whispered quietly.

Lisa spoke loudly.  “I take your power
into
me, as I set your people free,” she said simply. 

She felt her magic well up inside her.  It wrapped around Ciar and pulled
his magic
from him.  She heard him shouting a
s his power
left him.  He fell to the floor,
impotent
and weak.

“No,” he moaned.  Pushing himself up, he grabbed on
e of the guard’s
swords, going towards Lisa.

Rafe tensed, prepared to shift
again,
when Lisa simply held up her hand.  Ciar immediately stopped.  To them all, it looked like he ran into a wall.

The other guards looked at one another and dropped their swords.  They shouted in joy when they realized they were finally free of him. 

Robert looked around, seeing the stunned look on their faces.  Had that guard not released Lisa to speak the spell, he didn’t know what would have happened.

    He walked over to the guard and stuck out his hand
.  The guard looked at him and
slowly shook his hand.

“Thank you.  With
yer
help, we have defeated him,” Robert said.

Rafe reached out and pulled Lisa into his arms. 
He kissed her
hard;
relieved
to know she was safe.

Dunstan came over to thank the guard also.  He looked familiar.  “Blake?”

The guard nodded.  This was his childhood friend.  He was another victim of his father.  Dunstan reached over and hugged him.  Giving him man slaps on his back.