Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (6 page)

Rafe just nodded.  No need for mor
e, he knew Ian would have taken
care
of
passing along the information.
He hoped after talking with Robert
that
they would have some answers. 

Standing near the ponds edge, Rafe stood with eyes closed and concentrated
on an image of Robert.  The others stood
behind him, waiting
silently
.  As he focused on Robert’s image, he sent a mental request for him to come to the pond, urgen
tly.  They could all feel a slight change in the
air
as Robert appeared suddenly before them.

“Do you have any idea what I was doin
g?  I was just about to
…”
he stopped suddenly when he real
ized there were others there
.

He looked disheveled and they could all tell he’d just gotten out of bed.  He had a kilt thrown on with
his sword strapped to his back
,
and
nothing else. 

“A
hem
,
well.  Y
ou called fo
r me?  Something urgent you say
?”  Robert asked.

“
Looks like what
you were doing is more urgent
.”  Devlin snickered,
along with Chas
e.

Mack cuffed Devlin o
n the back of the
head, rolling his eyes.  “Grow up,” he said.

   “Hey, I’m over a hundred years old!” Dev cried.

“Not in wolf years, you’re still a cub,” said Mack.

“Come up to
the house.  We need to talk,” Rafe said grimly. 

Going
back to the house,
Rafe
, Robert and Ian led
the way.
  As
all of them
settle
d into the den, Rafe asked Chas
e to explain what his seer had told him.

“And those were her exact words, ‘Darkness surrounds the animal
spirit’s
path
to the waters
?” asked Robert.

“Yes.  I did try to get more information from her
,
but you know how seers are. 
She told me that was all she
saw,
but
she
would tell me immediately
if she had more visions,” Chas
e answered. 

“We’ve heard no rumblings in Faerie.  The dark
fae
have not enter
ed
our realm as far as we know.  They cannot
break through the veil
. 
Entering the mortal realm would be more logical,” Robert stated.

“I believe they
are coming
here, since the seer specifically said ‘animal spirit’ in her prophecy
.
  If it were another area, my guess is
that Chas
e’s seer would not have seen it.
They must know of the pond and will try to use
its
magic,” said Rafe. 

“I’m afraid you may be right,
the problem is figuring
out
what they want to use the magic for,
” Robert said.

“
Until we
know more, we’re all just speculating
at this point,” said Rafe.
 
 

“I’m going back to
Faerie.  I need to inform the Q
ueen and
bring back some
warriors to
help watch for any
unseelie
showing up here
.  I assume you
’ll
have room for my men?
  I
will probably have
two or three
warriors with me.
”

“Of course
,
they
can
stay here.  Tell the Q
ueen I would appreciate any help from her,” Rafe stated.

The two men headed back to the pond
to look around before Robert left.  The forest was dark with the moon reflecting off the water.  It was hard to imagine a war starting in this peaceful place.

“I hope to be back by
mid
morning
, but you know how time differs there
.  Also, I see you’ve found
yer
mate, although you’ve not yet connected.  Not my business, but I know you wolves.  If you don’t claim her soon, you’ll be hell to live with,” Robert said gravely. 

“I’m working on it.  She’s human and has no idea about us.  She’ll be coming here on Sunday
,
if not sooner,
so
tell your men
.  I don’t kno
w what she’d think about seeing you guys
walking through the woods in
kilts carrying swords,
”
Rafe said
drolly.

Robert laughed
, “She would probably think
yer
woods are haunted.  You know how humans are.  They believe in ghosts, but not other ‘supernatural being
s.’  Anyway, I wish you and
yer
new mate well.”

As he faded away, Rafe heard
chuckling, “knocked you on
yer
arse
, didn’t she…”

Indeed,
she did, he thought.
Rafe decided he needed to run.  He stripped down and set his wolf free.  Between one moment and the next, the man was gone and a dark br
own wolf appeared.  It was not a
transformation
like in the movies.  No stretching or bones reshaping.  This w
as magic.  Simply put, one form
changed into another.

Rafe returned to where he’d left his clothes by the pond.  Running as a wolf always gave him a sense of freedom he didn’t find anywhere else.  He still had his sense of self as a wolf, but didn’t have all the worries of the human world. 

As he dressed, he made the decision to move up h
is time frame to get Lisa to stay with
him.  Not knowing what was to come made his wolf nervous.  If he could keep her close to him, he could protect her.
  Having her in his home would not be possible without full disclos
ure
.

She was a smart
woman and he knew she would wonder why there was so much activity near the pond.  He also couldn’t be sure of the warriors that Robert would bring back.  They were not used to restraining their magic.  Robert had visited the mortal realm many times and
he
knew to hide what he was.

The
fae
could see the connections between mates.  It was
a magical knowing
. 
Fearing
that
any
fae
could see
that Lisa was
forming a bond, but not yet attached
worried him.
  She would be a benefit
to one
if she were taken.  The
fae
knew any shifter would
do
anything to protect their mate.

The
human
mated ones could protect themselves once they were changed.  Being stro
nger and faster gave them the ability to battle the
unseelie
.   Another advantage was being able to speak to their mate telepathically.  Either one
would then know if the other were
in danger.
 

Rafe entered
the house and
went straight to
the kitchen.  Ian
, Chase
and Devlin were at the table eating sandwiches. 

“
Dad said to let him know if you need any help
,
and Mom said she couldn’t wait to meet Lisa,” said Ian.

Rafe rubbed his hand over his face.  He was tired and just wanted to shower and
to
go to sleep.  With so much on his mind, he was afraid sleep would be a long time coming.

“I’m going to talk to Colin tomorrow
,
so he doesn’t get
any
wrong information through the grapevine.  Also, when I pick Lisa up Sunday, I’m not taking her back to their house,” said Rafe.  

Both men sat silently just looking at him.

Ian spoke first, “Are you sure that’s wise? I know you want to keep her safe, but she knows nothing about us
.  How are you going to convince her to stay?”

For once, Devlin did not make a joke.  He knew how serious this was for his brother and alpha.

“I’m not giving her a choice,” he stated grimly.
 

“I think you should ask Stephanie to talk to her when you go to see Colin tomorrow.  S
he could break the ice for you so that
she’ll have a friend there when she freaks out
.  Giving
Stephanie permission to tell
her about Colin, I believe,
would help ease he
r into our world,” Devlin said seriously.
 

Rafe thought about it.  “I
’
ll ask Stephanie to talk to her about shifters, but I
’
ll tell her that
this
is a request
and not an order.  I
’
ll
not ask
as her al
pha to explain her mating with Colin.”

“Yeah, that’d
be too much like wimping out if
Steph
explained everything,” Dev was back to his usual joking self.

“I’m not asking her to do it alone.  I plan on being in the room to reassure Lisa.  This will be diff
icult enough for her to comprehend
,
that what s
he thought of as a myth, is real
,” said Rafe.

Ian told Rafe he thought that was the best way to break it to her.  “I
’
ll call if Robert gets back before you do
tomorrow
.”

“Don’t forget my offer to shift,” grinned Dev.

Rafe ignored him as he left the room to shower.  Leaning his head forward under the showerhead, he moaned at how good the hot water felt.  He
washed quickly
.
H
is bed was calling to him.

He reflected on whether he should tell
Lisa that
he was a wolf
. Also
that
she was his mate,
and that
he wouldn’t let her go
, even with the
fae
warriors coming,
and a possible evil
fae
attack
. It
was just too much to think about. 

He also had to
consider the
fact that she would probably hate him and be afraid of him.  I just don’t know her well enough to predict how she will react, he thought.

Colin drove
home
while thinking about Lisa. 
He had
been through this before and did not envy his friend and alpha. 
He could sense Stephanie was worried too. 

“It’ll all work out, babe,” he murmured to Stephanie as she settled under his arm.

“I know
. It’s
just so hard to learn…” she trailed off, not wanting to say anything more with Lisa in the back seat.

Colin spoke in her mind. 
‘
I know you’re worried, but she’ll be fine.  At least she has you to help her.
’

She closed her eyes and rested against him for the ride home.  She would just have to pray that it would all work out.

Lisa wasn’t paying attentio
n to her friends talking quietly
.  Thinking about Rafe was occupying all
of
her thoughts.
  How could she be attracted to someone so fast?  Yeah, he was hot and all
,
but
she had
dated good-looking men before.
  I feel like I should be with him right now.  This is just crazy.  Maybe after a good
night’s
sleep, I’ll feel differently.  After driving
,
shopping,
and
then dancing, I’m just tired.

   
“How about we go to the
craft fair in Cheyenne
,” asked Stephanie
the next morning
.  “It’s not that far and they have
some really good stuff.  I know you love handmade quilts and I’ve seen some beautiful ones there.”