Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (4 page)

Rolling her eyes, Lisa
grabbed her bag as Colin pulled
up to give them a ride.  He was dropping them off at the bar so they wouldn’t have to drive.  It didn’t take long to arrive at Charlie’s. 

“
Ya’ll
have fun.  Wish I could go too,
just to keep the dirty-
minded cowboys
in line
.
  You make sure they keep their hands to themselves
,
Stephanie.”

“What fun is there in that?”
she said as she winked at him
. 

He grabbed her
and kissed her hard. 

“
Behave,
little girl, I’ll get even later,” he said.

Lisa sighed, “Come on guys, single here, remember?”

They climbed from his SUV
,
waving as they went through the door.

“Call me when you’re ready to come home
,”
he yelled
as he pulled away.  He was on his way to patrol by the high school.  Friday nights were notorious for the kids to race along the strip near the school.

Entering the bar, they looked around for a table. 
Luckily,
there was one available in the back. 
After they settled in, a
waitress came over for
their drink
orders. 

“
Hi,
Cindy, this is my friend Lisa
.
She’s
staying with us for a couple of week
s
.  Lisa
,
this is Cindy.”

“Nice to meet you.  You’ll love our little town.  We all look out for each other
.”
 

“Good to know
,
Cindy, thanks.  I’ll just have whatever’s on tap
.”

As Lisa reached into her purse for her wallet, she t
ouched something furry.  Oh no
, her kitten was sleeping in the bottom of the bag tucked into her t-shirt.

“Um
,
Steph
, I have a pr
oblem.  My kitten
has stowed away in my purse.”

Stephanie sputtered,
laughing.

“You can be just like those famous people.  Instead of a little dog, you carry a cat.”

They started giggling
,
picturing Lisa on the cover of some magazine with her cat.  Since the kitten was fine, they thought they would just leave her there.

Trying to be heard over the music,
Steph
asked
Lisa how her job was going.  Since Lisa was an elementary school teacher,
Steph
was concerned with all the layoffs
that
she had
been hearing about lately. 

“You know
,
I love it.  Kids
that
young are still sweet and just want to please you.  I am worried
about my job though.  Since I’m
one of the lower ones on the seniority list, I wouldn’t be surprised
if I
get my marching orders.”

“Have you made any plans, looked at another district?
” asked Stephanie.

“Not yet,
I do have
a little money in savings
.
I’m just waiting to hear
of
any announcements before I start looking.”

“Hey, think about applying here
, or
in
one of the towns close by
.  I really think you would like small town life and I would love having you closer.” 

“I’ve never really thought about it. 
Since,
I’ve always lived in Dallas, I just hadn’t considered it be
fore
, but
maybe
I will.”

A couple of guys
that
Stephanie knew came over and asked them to dance.  They were soon out on
the
floor
,
two
-
stepping
across the room.  There was never a shortage of dance partners. 
After they
had been dancing
for
a
while
,
Lisa
decided it was time for a break.
On the way to the ladies room, she
went
by
the table to grab her bag.

In the hallway
,
where
the
restrooms were located
, she saw two very handsome
men
coming
out of a door labeled office
.  They were both
over six feet
tall
an
d the one in front had
long dark
brown hair with amazing
green eyes
. 
The guy following was golden blond and looked like he should be on a beach
in California
. 
Wow, Lisa thought.
I
like
this town.
She almost asked if they were football players
, since
both of them were built like linebackers.  Yum, she thought, nice eye candy.

They were both
wear
ing blue jeans with t-
shirts
and
they
filled them out
very
nicely
.  She noticed the guy in front had nice bulging biceps.  She was a sucker for
big,
strong arms. 

As Rafe went through the door, he saw a beautiful redhead going towards the ladies room.  He immediately felt a pull.  It was like a rope from his chest stretching to her.  Finally,
he thought
, a
fter all these years he’d found his connection. 
He couldn’t believe it.
The one woman in the world
meant
for him.
He
’d
never expected to
find her a
t Charlie’s
,
of all places
.
Rafe
came to a sudden stop and Chas
e ran into his back.   

“Oomph, what the hell?” Chas
e said.

At that moment, they heard
mewling
sounds
coming
fr
om the
beautiful
redhead’s
bag. 

“Ma’am
,
your
purse is meowing
,”
Chas
e said with a straight face. 

Rafe was still
standing there stunned as Chas
e moved around
from behind
him.

Lisa was afraid they would kick her o
ut, since
they must work there as
they came
from the
office.

“It’s my ringtone.  I like cats
,
so I thought it’d be cool, you know, to have this ringtone
,
” Lisa
rambled.  They had rattled her
.  I sound like an idiot, she thought. 

Rafe had gathered himself together now and moved forward to introduce h
imself
,
just as a kitten came climbing out of her bag.

“Um
, your ringtone is
about to escape,” Rafe said.

Lisa’s face burned with embarrassment. 

“She climbed in my bag and I didn’t know she was there. 
I came with Stephanie
, the sheriff’s wife, you know
,
Colin? 
I’ll just call
him and take her home,” she babbled. 

“No,”
Rafe yelled, startling her.

“
No,
”
he said
again, softly. 
“
It’s fine.  I’m one of the owners
here
,
so don’t worry about it.
I’m R
afe and this is my friend, Chas
e.”

“Umm, Lisa
,
and it’s
a pleasure to meet you both. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I was just…” she trailed
off,
poin
ting at the ladies room door.

She entered the ladies room and went straight to the sink to wet a napkin and cool down her cheeks.  That was so
embarrassing and strange, she was thinking.
  It almost felt like she was being pulled to
wards the one named Rafe
.
  Lisa decided to hang in the bathroom
for
a
while.  She wanted to make sure they weren’
t
there when she
went
out.
 

“Man, you are just so smooth.  I wish I had your way with the ladies.  She barely noticed me.
  I think I must be losing my touch,”
Chas
e said
sadly
. 

“She’s my mate
,
” Rafe said in a quiet voice.  He had a million th
oughts
going through his head.  His wolf
side
wante
d to claim her now
, so he
decided he would wait here for her to come o
ut.

“Congratulatio
ns
,
Rafe, you are one lucky SOB.  Let’s go find
Stephanie,
so you can pick her brains.”

“No, I’m staying here,” Rafe stated adamantly. 

“You’r
e not thinking
straight,
man.  If you lurk
outside the ladies room, she’s going to think
you’re
weird
, or maybe
a stalker.” 

Rafe didn’t want to leave without her
,
but realized Chas
e was right.  Lord, he thought, this is really messing with my head. 
He was fighting the need to protect and defend her.

They both went into the bar area and saw Stephanie sitting alone at a table.  Sitting down with her, Rafe promptly started asking about Lisa.

“Whoa, what’s going on?  Happy to see you guys too
,
” she said sarcastically. 

“Lisa is
my mate
,
” Rafe said starkly.

Stephanie
looked shocked,
and then
her face lit with pleasure.

“That’s wonderful!  She’s my best friend.  It will be so great having her close.  I am just so happy for you both.” 

Stephanie told R
afe as much as she could before Lisa came back
. 
Since she loved her like a sister, it
was easy to talk about her
. 

“I really don’t know how she’ll react when you tell her, you know. 
Personally, I freaked when Colin changed.  He had to shift
,
since I thought I was dealing with a psycho.  If you want me to be there to help Lisa, you know I will.” 

When Lisa returned
, she saw the men sitting with Stephanie.  She paused
,
then strolled forward and sat in the chair between Ra
fe and Chas
e.  She wondered why the conversation stopped as she sat down
.
‘
I’m getting paranoid, thinking they’re talking about me
,
’ she
thought.

“Steph
anie
tells me
that
you’re here for two wee
ks.  Have any plans for Sunday
?”  Rafe asked.

    “Well
,
you certainly don’t waste any time.  Sorry,
but I just got here today and I’m
here
to visit with Stephanie
.”

Stephanie jumped in to say they had
plenty of time to visit
,
so she
sho
uld go on with Rafe
and enjoy herself.  Lisa just looked at her strangely.  She sure seemed to be pushing her towards Rafe.  Oh well, if
Steph
trusted him and seemed ok
ay
with
it, then Lisa thought, why not
.

Chas
e leaned closer to Lisa and started playing with her
earring
, making it swing.