Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (9 page)

Lisa was stunned.  Yeah, she remembered feeling that punch in her chest, pulling her towards him
, but
this was crazy.

“
I don’t know what you want me to say.  We just met last night.  I mean, yes, I’m attracted to
you,
but we don’t even know each other.  What exactly are you saying?”

Before he could speak, Colin came back into the kitchen.  He gave Rafe a
stern
look. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but
Steph
wants to talk to you in the living room,” he said pointedly to Lisa. 

Was everyone around here going nuts? 
All of them were
acting so
strangely
.

“Go on
in,
Lisa, I just need to talk to Colin a moment,” he hesitated, “You’ll understand shortly what’s going on.  Just keep an open mind,” Rafe said gently.

Ok
ay
, they were really
weirding
her out.  She turned and marched into the living room.  Stephanie wa
s sitting on the sofa, chewing on her fingernail.

Lisa started ranting.  “What the hell is going on?  Why is everyone
acting so mysterious and crazy?
  Rafe tells me I’m his One,
whatever that means,
supposedly fate has decided that
for me
,” she said sarcastically. 

“Sit down here with me
.
I’ll going to tell you a story.  I want you to just listen and don’t interrupt
till
I’m done.
”

“All right, she paused.
 
“Remember
all those romance novels about
wolf shifters
that
we like to read?  Well, they’re not fiction.”

“What are you talking about?  I’m trying to understand why Rafe sounds like he’s ready to walk down the aisle,
and you’re talking about paranormal romance fiction?  Wait, I’m waiting for s
omeone to cue the woo-woo music.”

“I told you not to
interrupt.  You know me, Lisa.  I’m not making this up.  When I met Colin, I was instantly attracted to him.  You remember how we were constantly together?  Well,
he explained to me that I was his mate. 
Colin is a wolf shifter, same as Rafe.  I’m in
their pack and Rafe is our alpha
.
They know their mates when they meet them.  The strange part was
that
I knew it too.  I could feel him pulling at me. 

“Trust me.  I had a hard time believing it too, until he transformed right in front of me.  Then I sort of just freaked out
and threw my shoe at him
,” Stephanie said grimacing. 

Colin and Rafe walked in
to
the room.  They had been listening from the kitchen
and Rafe
couldn’t stay away any longer.

“It’s
true,
Lisa,
”
said Colin. 
“Our
pack has been here a very long time.
I knew Stephanie was mine as soon as I saw her, just as Rafe knows you are his.”

“What!
  What do you mean
,
his?  Is this some kind of joke?  Pull a stunt on the city girl?  Well, ha
ha
, good one guys.  Can we go back to being normal now?” 

“We’re not playing a joke, Lisa.  I am the Alpha of the Scott pack.  You are my mate.  I’d planned on us getting to know one another and then telling you, but things have changed.  I’ll tell you about that once we’ve
proven that
what we’re saying is true.”

“Oh, ok
ay
, so this is where you turn into
a wolf?” she said scornfully
.
  Lisa was frightened.  It seemed her friends were involved in some cult or something. 

Rafe sat down and started pulling his boots off.

“No, Rafe.  Let me show
her,”
said Stephanie.
“I
think that would be easier on
her,
since she trust
s
me.”

“So you’re a wolf now too?  Wow, all these years and I never knew,
so do you get a ra
bies shot every year?” Lisa said
mockingly.

“
I changed after I mated with Colin.  Just sit there and watch.  It’ll be ok
ay
, Lisa.  Please don’t be scared.”

Rafe turned to look out the front window in respect to Colin.  Nudity was nothing to their wolves, but the males did not want anyone else seeing their mates. 

Stephanie removed her
clothes,
while Lisa sat there with her mouth hanging open
.  She couldn’t believe her friend was stripping right there in front of everyone. 

Stepping back from the sofa, Stephanie’s image sort of just wa
vered and then there was a dark brown
wolf standing by the coffee table.

“
Shit, fuck, holy hell
!”  One part of Lisa’s mind was surprised
that
she had such a potty mouth.  I am losing it, she thought.
  Then she just screamed, on and on.
 

Rafe immediately ran over to take her in his arms.  Her hands were pushing at
him,
trying to get away.  As she pushed herself back into the cushions, Rafe wrapped his arms around her.

“It’
s all right, see
it’s
just Stephanie.  Please Lisa, look at her.  You know she would never hurt you,” said Rafe.

Lisa started crying, as she buried her head in
Rafe’s
chest.
This was not happening.  I must have hit my head,
she thought.  She felt like her heart was going to jump right out of her chest
.
Her mind was trying to rationalize
what
she had
just seen.  Unbelievable.

“Lisa, you’re a strong woman.  You can handle this.  I know we’ve rocked your world, but it will be all right.  You know Stephanie loves
you.
We
all do, you’re perfectly safe here,” said Colin.

While
they had
been talking, the wolf moved closer to Lisa.  She just stared at it.  My Go
d, was that
Steph
in there?  She lifted her
ha
nd
to touch it, but she dropped her hand
instead
. 

“You can
touch her,
” said Rafe.

She reached out again
to touch
its
head.  She couldn’t think of it as
Steph
, her
friend.  The wolf stretched
its
neck out
and licked her hand.

Lisa laughed, almost hysterically.  My best friend is a wolf.

“This is surreal.  I feel like my head is full of cotton and this is just a dream.  Can you change back?  I really, really want to talk to you,” said Lisa. 

Stephanie promptly shifted back.  She ran over to Lisa to hug and reassure her. 

“I’m so sorry I scared you
, but
there’s
just no other way to prove something like this,” she cried.

As Lisa hugged her back tightly she said, “You
know,
I love you too, but um, you really need to put some clothes on.”

Stephanie
blushed,
realizing she’d
grabbed Lisa from
Rafe’s
arms and stood there totally naked. 
She squeaked and ran to put her clothes on.  She was a wolf now, but she still had a lot of her human hang-ups about nudity.

Rafe had politely turned to speak to Colin as Stephanie dressed.

“Thank you both for helping me to tell Lisa.  There was just no easy way to do this,” he stated.

He turned back to Lisa.  She was sitting there with a bemused look on her face.  Rafe knew it would take a while for
it all
to sink in.  He calmly sat back down and put his arm around her.

Colin took Stephanie’s hand and led her from the room.

“We’re
going to take
a
walk and give y’all some privacy.
”
 

“Wait! You’re leaving me alone with him?” Lisa panicked. 

“Rafe needs to explain a few things to you.  He would never harm you in any way.  In fact, he would protect you with his life,” Colin said.

  Stephanie didn’t want to leave her either, but she knew Rafe needed to talk with her alone.  She went over to hug her
again
and
she told
her everything would work out
; that she
was safe with Rafe.

Lisa pulled away from Rafe and moved to the end of the sofa.  She couldn’t think with him holding her.

“I need to explain why I’ve come on so strong.  When we m
eet our mate, we feel it inside
,”
he paused, gathering his thoughts
.

    “It’s like I’m being pulled towards you, like a connection.  My wolf recognizes you as my mate.  You are my other half,” he stated.

Lisa simply stared at him. 

    “What am I supposed to say to that?  I’ll admit I felt a pull towards you also, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to, how would you say it, mate with you
?
”  Now she was getting
all
worked up.
  She stood up to stride around the room.

“So, I don’t get a choice?  I’m just ex
pected to bend over for you
?  Is that it?” she shouted.
  “And then you
bite me so
I
become a wolf too?”

“Calm down.  It doesn’t work that way,” he said firmly.

    “Oh, you did not just tell me to calm down!”

Rafe realize
d
he had
just made a strategic
error
.  He was
used to leading and not having his decisions question
ed
. 
It was time to do something
he had
never done before, grovel.

“
I’m sorry.  I don’t want you to think this is like the movies you’ve seen.  We
’
re nothing like that.  Would you please sit down and let me explain?”

Lisa sat with arms crossed, glaring.

“I’ve explained about knowing you’re mine. Don’t interrupt
.
”
She had
opened her mouth, then
huffed and
just glared
at him.

“When we make love, our sou
ls become permanently connected
.  What you feel i
s your soul calling to mine.”

    She noticed
he had
said
‘
when
’
and n
ot
‘
if.
’
  Fat chance, she thought rebelliously.

“We’ve been given a gift.  Not everyone finds their match.  For shifters, it’s
partly
instinct also.  I’d like
you
to give us a chance.  The universe chose you for
me
and me for you,” he said patiently. 

“I can’t give you an answer right now.  Am I supposed to be instantly in love with you?  Since I’m not,
well, so
sorry.  Like I said, I’m attract
ed to
you,
but I don’t know you,” she told him sarcastically. 

“I’m asking you to get to know me now.  There’s more I want to say, but
it will have to wait.  I can hear Colin and Stephanie coming back.  But know this, you will be coming home w
ith me today,” he said firmly.
             

As Stephanie and Colin entered the house, they could hear Lisa yelling.  They l
ooked at each other, frowning
.  Didn’t sound like things were going to
o
well.

“What!  Are you crazy?  I’m not going anywhere with you.  You just blew it, buster.  I’m staying right here and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it,” she dared him.

“We’re back,” Stephanie said
quietly
.

“Good, you can talk to his highness.  I’m going to shower.”

“Not yet,
”
said Rafe. 
“
There’s more.”