Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (5 page)

Lisa heard a rumble, which sounded like it came from
Rafe’s
chest. 
What the heck, she thought
, did he just growl?
 
She saw he was glaring
daggers
at Chas
e.
 

“What?  I like shiny things,”
Chas
e
said
,
grinning
as he leaned back into his chair.

Rafe was still glaring at Chas
e
,
while
mentally,
he was picturing ripping the cat apart.
He turned back to Lisa as she spoke.

Lisa did not know what was going on between the two men
, so she
decided
just
to ignore their byplay. 

“So, what did you have in mind
?” she asked
Rafe
.

“Do you ride?  I thought I’d take you to our
family’s
property and show you around.  I’ll bring some food and we ca
n make a day of it
,
” Rafe said. 

He refused to use the word picnic
, because it would make
him sound like a
wuss
, he thought.

“I’ve ridden ponies at the carnival. 
That’s
the extent of my riding abilities,” she laughed. 

“We have some horses with good temperaments.  I’ll choose one with a mild disposition for you.
Do you have cowboy boots?  If not, a shoe with a heel works.
Just don’t wear tennis shoes. 
Your
foot would slip right out of the stirrup
s
,”
Rafe said. 
 

Stephanie spoke
up and said that
Lisa could wea
r her boots
,
since
they
both
wore
the same size.
Lisa never had a need for them,
so
she had never bought cowboy boots.  Designer boots, yes
, but
she didn’t think those would work and she hadn’t brought them with her anyway.

“Dance with me,” Rafe demanded
.

Normally
,
Lisa would have laid in to anyone ordering her to do anything
, but he
had
a
commanding presence
that
she found difficult to resist.
  Instead, she found herself rising and taking his hand
, feeling
a tingle wher
e his hand touched hers.  Strange
.  She’d never experienced anything like
that
.
She felt safe and comfortable in his arms.  Almost
like,
they were meant to be.  Yeah, right.  I must be getting drunk
, she thought
.  No more beers for me tonight.

They didn’t talk while dancing.  They both enjoyed just moving
in sync aroun
d the floor, holding each other.
Lisa couldn’t understand why she was so relaxed with him.  She could not remember ever having an instant connection to anyone like
that
before.

Rafe
was happy just holding her
.  He had enough to think about late
r
,
so he decided to just revel in
the moment, and worry about his problems later.
  Trying to figure out all the variables to this situation and then figuring in the problem th
ey may soon have at the pond
was just frustrating him. 

He really needed to go talk to his brothers
who were still playing pool
.  As he led Lisa back to her table, he decided informing his brothers could wait.  He wanted to enjoy a little more time wi
th her
.

Lisa could hear her kitten meowing loudly as she sat down again. 
She lifted the kitten from her purse and cuddled her in her arms.
  She was still mewling
,
so Chas
e asked if he could hold
it,
saying he had a way with cats, while looking smug.
  The
kitten started hissing as Chas
e reached for it.
 

“What’s her name?
” he murmured, as he settled the kitten.  It almost sounded like he was purring to it.

Lisa grinned and said, “
Seattie
, emphasis on the A.”

Chas
e looked puzzled for a moment. 

“You named your kitten C A T? H
e laughed. 
So,
when you have children, if it’s a girl then will you name her K T?  And for a boy, wait, give me a minute, I’m thinking.”

Rafe spoke up, “O P for a boy,” he said with a straight face. 

“Opie?  That is so wrong,” Lisa said with a chuckle.
 

“I haven’t really decided on a name yet, I’
m still working on it.”
 
 

Enjoying their company and the silly conversation, Lisa covered a yawn with her hand.  She was winding down and ready to get some sleep. 

Of course,
Rafe noticed and offered
to take them
home.  Stephanie let him know she was just about to call Colin when he walked in the door. 

“Good timing
,
honey
.
I think both of us are ready to go now.”

Rafe nodded toward the office for Colin to come and speak privately with him. 

“Give me a second
,
babe, I want
to speak with Rafe,” he said.

The men excused themselves and
went in
to the office.

“Lisa
’s mine, said Rafe.  Keep her safe
.
  If she wasn’t human, I’d take her home with me tonight.”

“
What? 
She’s the one
, really
? 
I’m glad it’s Lisa
, because she’s
always been a good friend to
Steph
. 
The
pack will b
e happy their alpha will be settling down
.
I wish you the best, Rafe.
  I remember
telling
Steph
about what we
are, and I don’t envy you that,” Colin said smiling.

“You’re going to have to tell
me
how you did it sometime
soon
.  We’d better go ba
ck, they’re waiting,”

“I’ll protect her with my life,” Colin said seriously.

They saw the ladies standing by the door and could tell
by their expressions that Chas
e had been flirting with them.

“I’ve come to save you from this tomcat,” said Colin.

“
What can I say, I am what I am,
” Chas
e said without apology.

Stephanie burst o
ut laughing while Rafe sighed
.
 
He was used to the feline.

As Lisa
turned to go, Rafe bent down and kissed her gently
on her lips
.  He
did not want to let
her go.  He had to fight his instincts not to grab her and take her with him.

She surprised herself by not turning away.  After all,
she had
just met the man.  His jaw had a light shadowing of stubble and up
close,
his eyes looked even greener.
  With his high cheekbones and firm jaw, he seemed to have some American Indian in his blood. 
His lips were surprisingly soft, and the kiss ended way too quickly.

As Rafe turned to find his brothers, Lisa glanced over her shoulder to watch him walk a
way.  Nice ass too, she thought
.

Chas
e followed the
Tahoe
on his motorcycle.
  As the forest flew by in his peripheral vision, he couldn’t help but think about how lucky Rafe was to find his mate. 

All shifters knew they had someone out there, but he couldn’t help but wonder when he would find his.
 
 

Rafe drove while expla
ining to his brothers what Chas
e had told him.  Ian immediately called his second in command and ordered more enforcers to patrol the area.  He let him know they were on
their
way and
they
would fill him in as soon as they got there. 

“Once Robert gets here, we’ll inform the
rest of the
pack,
so everyone will
be more vigil
ant.  I want to kno
w if any in the
seelie
court
have
heard any whispers
in Faerie,” Rafe said.
”
 

“
I also have some good news to tell you both
.   I found my mate at Charlie’s tonight
,
” he stated calmly.
 

Rafe enjoyed their shocked expressions.  Then he grinned and started whistling along with the song on the radio.

He waited while his b
rothers looked at him in total
silence.  Then the guys erupted with yells and good wishes.  It was always something to celebrate when you found your mate. 

“She’s Stephanie’s friend, Lisa.  She’s only here for two weeks, so I’m going to have to work fast and convince her to stay.  Also, the really fun part of telling her we’re wolves.”

“So she’s human.  Can I be there when you tell her?  I’ll strip down
and shift so she’ll believe you,” Dev snickered. 

Rafe looked at Ian.  “You know I’m going to beat the crap out of him when we get home, right? 
Your
job is to keep me from killing him,” he said.

“I intend to help you.  I could use a good training session right now,” Ian said dryly.

Arriving at the house, they all went into the den.  Rafe thought it would b
e a good idea to have his parents
to
join the meeting. 

Mack and Elizabeth
entered the room
looking worried.
  They were both around two
hundred years old, yet looked to be in their
middle
forties
.  Rafe did not normally call them
on a Friday night for a meeting.  Settling i
n on the overstuffed sofa, Mack could tell that something was wrong.

Rafe nodded to Chas
e for him to start filling them in on the feline
seer’s
premonition.  It didn’t take long for Mack to stand up and start paci
ng.  He had guarded the pond
all
his life and had never had any dealings
with the
unseelie
.

“I assume you’re contacting the Queen?” asked Mack.

“My intentions are to contact Robert and see if they’ve heard anything in Faerie.  We’ve already added more patrols to the grounds and extra enforce
rs are stationed at the pond
,” Rafe stated.

Mack nodded
.
He
had confidence in
Rafe’s
ability to lead. 
He did exactly what I would have done, he thought.

“I do have some more news to tell you.  We went to play pool at Charlie’s.  I lost to Devlin.”

“Ok
ay
,” Mack said slowly.  “That’s not really news, son.”

“No, but this is.  I met my mate tonight,” Rafe said with a smile. 

His parents burst into big smiles.  As his mom jumped up to hug him, his dad pounded him on his back. 
Rafe started speaking
and told what little he knew of Lisa
.

While Rafe was talking, Ian went t
o tell several of their enforcers
about the prediction.  He then told them to pass the word amongst the pack and to stay on alert.  Ian knew he could count on the men to protect and defend the pond and their kinsmen.

They left through
the front doors
to go
to the pond.  Ian caught up with Rafe to let him know he had put the w
ord
out for everyone to be on
guard.