Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (13 page)

“I need to be brave to visit my father,
”
he said sarcastical
ly. 
“
What have you done with my mother
?”

“How sweet.  Such a mama’s boy.  As you saw, she’s not here.  I threw he
r and that whelp she had
out.”

Ciar was too arrogant to let anyone think she may have escaped.  Throwing her out would appeal more to his ego. 

“Whelp? What the hell are you talking about?” Dunstan asked angrily. 

“Had you cared to visit
your
family, you would have known.  I have more important things to see to.” 

With that, Ciar waved his hand and Dunstan was immediately thrown into the dungeon.  Before he could react, his body was pinned and shackled to the wall.

“Where is she,” he screamed.

Dunstan was stunned.  So many questions swirled through his
head.  Had his mother escaped, or had his father really kicked her out?  Where would she go, what realm would she feel the safest in?  Was she even alive? 

Then he remembered
Ciar’s
words.  He had a sibling.  Unless he was lying.  Dunstan knew he could not trust anything Ciar told him. 
Still
, he couldn’t help wondering.  Maybe he had a brother, or sister.  He spent days, weeks, months, contemplating what his father
said.  He lost track of time.  Being part
fae
, he knew he wouldn’t die in that dungeon.  Unless
,
his head was chopped off.  Somehow he doubted even his father could be that evil. 

He sent his mind outwards, searching.  Physically restrained,
but
mentally he traveled wherever he wanted to go. 
He kept feeling a pull to the mortal world.  He didn’t know what to believe.  Was it his mother? Sibling?  He spent many hours planning.  Someday he would escape.  He would find his family and never return to
h
is
father’s
place again.

So here he was, in a
small east Te
xas town.  Why that redhead? 
He was not his father’s
son.  He w
ould not kidnap her and force her to help him. 
He thought it i
ronic
being
summoned to this
place
.
  Maybe there
was universal
awareness. 
Maybe this was how fate or destiny worked.  He just didn’t know.
  He had felt a pull here while stu
ck in that dungeon
, mentally traveling
. 
Maybe his family was here, he thought. 
Was that redhead his sister?  No, he’d felt no darkness in her.  Not in the dark
haired woman either.
 

Maybe
,
somehow related to his mother then?  No, the redhead wasn’t a wolf.  He sighed, disgusted.  He could go round and round trying to figure this out. 

He had to figure out a way to talk to her before she was mated.  He knew once
she was, there was no way he could get close to her.  The wolves were merciless when protecting what was theirs. 
She must have some knowledge of his mother, he decided.  Otherwise, why would she call to him?

Rafe and Mack went into the great room, followed by Ian and Devlin.  Once everyone was seated, they looked to Robert to begin.

“Sorry it took longer than I’d thought to get back.  I had to search f
urther than I’d imagined looking for
these two
.  Not all my men were working on their sword skills,” he said sardonically. 

“Really?  What’s more important than
using your sword skillfully?” Devlin asked innocently. 

Robert
laughed,
as once again, Mack slapped the back of Devlin’s head.

Turning serious, Robert began his report.  “We have heard nothing in the
seelie
courts.  My men have
been asking around,
but
no one has had any news from the
dark court.  If anyone there were
planning something, they’
ve managed to keep it quiet.  When I spoke with the
Queen, she said we were at
yer
service as
long as you need us.  We are under
yer
command
.
”

“Convey my thanks to t
he Queen when you see her next.
  I would like one man to stay in the area of the pond.  The other
one,
I need to patrol the woods with my wolves.  My pack knows everyone allowed on the property.  They will be able to tell you if a trespasser is a stranger.  Robert, I expect, will roam as he pleases, going wherever necessary,” Rafe said.

Chas
e had come in when the mee
ting had started.  “I need to go
back to my house.  We’ll be patrolling our area too.  If we hear or see anything, I’ll let you know.”

Chas
e said his goodbyes as the meeting broke up.  The guards left to patrol their areas.  As Mack left to go to the kitchen, Robert turned to speak with Rafe.

“You do know we can see magic in some people, right?”  When Rafe nodded, Robert continued.  “I see magic in your mate.”
  Robert did not mention what he’d
also
seen in Anna.  He needed time to think.

Rafe was shocked.  As far as he could tell, she was human. 

“What do you mean what kind of magic?  Is she
fae
?”

“I don’t know.  I can see something in her aura.  It’s not like any magic I’ve seen in
seelie
or
unseelie
.  Do you know anything about her family?”

Rafe realized
that
he didn’t know much.  After learning her parents had been killed in an accident, he hadn’t probed any further. 

“No, other than the loss of her parents, I don’t know anything about family.  But, we only met twenty-four hours ago.  She planned to visit with Stephanie for
two weeks.  We’re using that ti
me to get to know one another.  She had no idea there was magic in the world.  Much less that she had any abilities.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences.  I find it strange that there is this dark premonition,
and then
you find your mate who happens to be magical,” stated Robert.

R
afe shot off t
he sofa,
challenging Robert.

“You
think Lisa is
involved in this
?”
he growled
. 

“Involved in what?” Lisa asked as she and the other women joined the men. 

“Calm
down,
Rafe.  I’m not accusing her of anything.  I’m just putting the pieces together,” Robert said.

Rafe went over to Lisa and led her to the sofa.  As everyone got settled,
Rafe calmed down enough to fill them
in
on the meeting.
  Rafe nodded to Robert, signaling to him to tell Lisa about what he’d seen.

“Lisa, I understand you’ve recently learned of my people.  Well, one of our abilities is being able to see magic.  To put it bluntly, I see magic in your aura.”

Lisa was shocked, again.  I have entered a world of crazy people, she thought. 

“I don’t have any magic.  I can’t even do any tricks,” she said
half-jokingly
. 

“
Yes,
you do, lass.  Think about it.  Have you ever known things in advance?  Been able to open a door by thinking about it?  There are
different abilities.
I’m just mentioning a c
ouple.  Your magic is different.
I’ve not seen the same before.  Think about your family.  Does anything come to mind, maybe parents or grandparents
were a little different
?”

Lisa sat contemplating.  She thought of happier days when her parents were still alive.  That brought a smile to her face.  Remembering how her mom would always know when she needed her.  Then her dad, how he would hug her and say she was his little fairy princess.

   “
Oh,
my God!
”
She exclaimed. 
“
My mom, she always knew things.  And my dad, he called me his fairy princess.”

She was stunned.  Her pare
nts were just
Mom
and
Dad
.  She was used to them
, never thinking any deeper.
  Her parents were normal to her, nothing different from other families.
 
No,
they were wrong.  There was nothing special about her.  She
was getting caught up in their delirium. 

Lisa looked around the room, noticing everyone was staring at her.  They think I’m the cause of all this.  What a load of crap!  She had absolutely nothing to do with all this paranormal bullshit.

“Look, I am not a fairy, or
fae
, whatever.  My mom was just intuitive, and every father calls
his
little girl a princess.  I am not responsible for
that prophesy thi
ng.  Nor
am I dark or evil,” she said angrily.

Rafe laid his hand on her thigh, thinking to calm her.

“We don’t think you’re evil, and we aren’t blaming you for any of this. 
You’ve had a lot thrown at you in a
short amount of time, but I don’t believe in coincidences either. 
Adding to the problem is this man
that was watching you
.
I think he is part of it
”

“What man?  What haven’t you told me?” asked Robert.

“I hadn’t gotten around to it yet,” said Rafe.

As Lisa repeated her story,
she insisted that the man wasn’t the threat.  She explained how she felt he needed her help, and wasn’t sent to harm her.

“Do you hear what you’re saying, lass?  You feel he needs help and that he won’t hurt you.  Please, trust me.  I
’
m not lying about seeing your magic.  Has he come to you in dreams?” asked Robert. 

Lisa whispered, “How did you know?”

The room erupted with everyone throwing questions at her. 

Ian put his fingers in his mouth and whistled, loudly.  The wolves in the room cringed at the shrill noise, but it got their attention. 

“Everyone
, be quiet and let
her speak.  Lisa, would you tell us about the dreams?
”

After describing them, they sat trying to understand how this affected the
prophesy
.  Lisa was coming to terms with
everything
she had
learned.  With Robert insisting she had magic, she started examining herself and her life in a new light. 
She looked up at Rafe, beseeching
ly
.  She needed to get out of here, away from
everyone,
so she could think. 

Rafe stood, pulling Lisa up as he did.  “There’s nothing more to do tonight.  We can discuss this more tomorrow, after we all get a good
night’s
sleep.”

Devlin came over and hugged her while tell
ing her everything would be fine.  As they all wished her goodnight, she understood then that they were supporting her and not blaming her.  Liz kissed her cheek, reassuring her that things would look better in the morning.  Lisa felt her eyes water, remembering how her mom used to say the same thing. 

Arriving at her room, Rafe asked if she wanted him to come in.  “Just to sit with you, no nefarious intentions, I promise,”
he smiled.

Lisa laughe
d softly.  H
e was good at cheering her up.  “Thanks, but no.  I have a lot of thinking and processing to do.”
  He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.  Expecting a kiss goodnight, she was surprised when he just held her tighter,
and then
said goodnight. 

Watching him go back downstairs, she sighed and closed her door.  She peeled her clothes off as she walked to the bathroom.  I’ll pick them up later, she thought.  After adjusting the temperature for her shower,
she stepped in under the spray.  She took a quick shower, wanting to put her soft nightshirt on and fall into bed. 
Pulling the comforter back, she climbed into bed, enjoying how soft the bed was. 
Hearing a soft knock on the door, she knew it was Stephanie.  Nothing psychic.  She just knew
Steph
would want to make sure she was ok
ay
.  After
bidding her to
come in,
Steph
opened
the door and came to sit by
her, leaning against the headboard.