Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (24 page)

“You certainly found them quick
l
y,” Rafe said.

“We’re lucky they live in a
relatively
small town.
  Had it been a big city, we’d still be looking,” Robert said. 

Robert told him about her family connections in Scotland
and Utah
.  When he said he’d be leaving
immediately to search for her, Dunstan stood to say he was going with him.

“I’m going alone.  Wait, listen a moment.  I’m going to be trying to find a woman in hiding, with a bunch of wolves that won’t be cooperative if you’re there.  The Stewart family was different.  They knew about you and it was a small group of wolves.  Now we know what we’re up against.  It will be a much larger den in Scotland. 
They may know of you also, if she is there.  But if not, I don’t want them to clam up thinking they’re protecting her,” Robert said.

“He’s right,” said Rafe.  “Besides, you’d be better off here protecting Anna.  After tonight’s revelations, she’s going to need all of us to get through this.”

Dunstan wanted to go, but understood why he should stay there.  Robert disappeared again before he could argue anymore. 

Rafe and Dunstan sat and talked for a while.  It helped Dunstan to talk about what
he had
learned.  He was getting a picture of his father
he had
never
imagined. 
They both went to bed,
hoping to get some sleep after all
they had
learned. 

Lisa woke up to a kitten biting her fingers. 
Boy,
they sure have sharp teeth and claws, she thought.  She jumped in the shower, looking forward to meeting the seer, Melissa.

Stephanie, Amy and Sarah were in the dining room eating breakfast when she arrived.

“Good
morning,
ladies,” she said smiling.

“You’re in a good mood today.  Nice dreams?” asked Stephanie. 

“Don’t remember them.  I just woke with a good feeling.  Where is everybody?” asked Lisa. 

“Let see.  Colin’s at work, of course.  Ian is patrolling the grounds, looking for bad guys.  Devlin is probably holed up in his office.
  Haven’t seen Anna yet.  Guess that’s everyone.”

Lisa narrowed her eyes, “You are so delightful to be around.  Where’s Rafe, you little instigator.”

“Right here,” he said from behind her.

He moved in to kiss her good morning while Stephanie smirked.  The girls started giggling asking for a kiss from uncle Rafe. 
He went over to Sarah first, playfully pulling her pigtail while kissing her cheek.  Moving to Amy, he blew raspberries on the back of her hand.

Lisa grabbed a banana from the counter to eat for breakfast.  She never was a big eater early in the morning.

“Is that all you’re having?  Give me a minute and I’ll make you some eggs,” said Rafe.

“No thanks, t
his is fine.  What time is Chas
e coming with the seer?” she asked.

Rafe pulled ingredients together to make
an omelet.  “Sometime around one
.  After helping Anna last night, are you up to this today?”

“I’m fine.  In fact, I want to try a little experiment.  If you two are open to it, I’d like for you to think about something and see if I can pick it up.  But only if you
guys are comfortable with me being in your heads,” Lisa said. 

“Pick me, pick me,” Stephanie had her hand raised in the air like she was in school, waving it around.

“I guess
Steph
is going first,” Lisa said dryly.

Stephanie
squinted
her eyes closed tightly.  Lisa almost laughed out loud looking at her face. 

“Um, you don’t have to think so hard,
Steph
.  Just relax.”

Stephanie opened her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Lisa.  She closed her eyes again, looking more relaxed. 

Rafe slid an omelet in front of Lisa while she wasn’t paying attention.  Lisa absently lifted the fork to her mouth, watching Stephanie. 

After swallowing her mouthful
,
Lisa calmly said,
“Row, row, row your boat.”

Amazed, Stephanie told her
she had
been singing that song in her head.  Then she told Lisa to see if she could send her thoughts to her.  Concentrating on her kitten, Lisa tried sending this to Stephanie.

“I got nothing,” Stephanie said disappointed.

“That’s okay, now I know a little more than I did before.  Hey Rafe, this
omelet is good, thank you.  I didn’t think I was that hungry,
” Lisa said smiling apologetically. 

Rafe nodded while finishing up cooking his omelet.  He sat at the table, telling Lisa to read him now.  He casually stared eating, while Lisa stared at him.

Lisa gasped, glancing away from him.  Her cheeks were bright red.  Looking back at him, she saw he was grinning. 

“Aw come on, none of that.  Little ears you know,” Stephanie complained.  “I’ll expect a detailed report later.”

Taking a sip of her juice, Lisa informed Stephanie there was nothing to tell.  “I didn’t see anything,” she lied defiantly. 

Rafe sat eating, not saying a word.  Lisa decided she would get even. 
She closed her eyes, concentrating. 
Hoping it would work on him, she sent him a mental
picture of her in the shower.  She slowly ran the soap up her arms, lifting her face to the spray
.  Then she picked up her
loofah
, running it gently across her stomach. 

She heard Rafe choke on his breakfast and opened her eyes, smirking at him. 

“I sure wish I
could hear
this conversation,”
Stephanie said as she lifted Amy from her highchair. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Lisa.

Lisa picked Sarah up and took her to the sink to help get her cleaned up.

Rafe cleared his throat, his eyes smoldering.
  “It worked.  Lisa can send her thoughts to me.  That’s all I’m saying.”

Stephanie looked from one to the other.  “That’s so cute, young love.”

“
Oh,
shut up,” Rafe and Lisa said together.

Laughing, Stephanie asked Lisa if she wanted to come outside
for some finger-
painting with the
girls.  They gathe
red up the paint and paper, moving
outside to the patio table.

Lisa
thought this would be a good activity for her kindergarten class
. 
She’d have to check in to getting some smocks for all the kids though. 
They were a colorful mess by the time they were done. 
Placing all their ‘art’ on the table,
using
small rocks to hold them in place.  Stephanie guided the girls inside, being careful not to touch anything.  She decided the best way to clean them was to put them both in the bathtub together. 

After washing up, Lisa stopped by her bedroom to get one of her paperbacks.  Settling
in
on
one of
the couch
es
in the great room, she was absorbed in her book when Rafe and Ian came in. 

They were discussing Dunstan’s mother.  Lisa waited for them to finish, then asked what had happened after Robert and Dunstan left.  Rafe told her what he’d learned, also letting her know Robert had left to see if he could track her down in Scotland
or Utah
.
  Stephanie had come in after putting the girls down for their nap and listened in.

“So we still don’t know if she’s alive,” Lisa sad sadly. 

“I think she is.  She went to a lot of trouble to get her children away, and from what Anna’
s adopted mother
says, I don’t believe he
’d
hurt her,” said Rafe.

Hearing a car door slam, Ian went to look out the window.

“Fuck!” he said succinctly. 

Rafe got up to see what had pissed Ian off.  “Shit! What’s she doing here?”

Of course, Lisa and Stephanie had to go and se
e for themselves.  She saw Chas
e and a beautiful woman standing beside the car.  There was also a pretty young
blonde
woman leaning against the hood, looking exasperated. 

“That’s Cindy,” Stephanie whispered. 

Oh, so this was the she cat Rafe had dated.  Lisa was instantly on her guard.  There were some bad vibes coming off this woman, she thought.  Trying to look at her objectively, she could see why any man would want her.  She was tall and thin of course.  Were those real?
Nah, th
ose boobs were just too perfect, she thought snidely. 
 

Rafe and Ian had gone outside, so Stephanie and Lisa ran to catch up. 

“Rafe!” Cindy threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Okay, this bitch is going down, Lisa thought.  She stepped forward, intending to rip her way from Rafe.  Before she could, Stephanie grabbed her arm, shaking her head. 

“Stay back, she’s a cougar.  She could claw you before we could stop her,” Stephanie said quietly.

“I’d like to see her try,” said Lisa angrily. 

While they’d been talking, Rafe had firmly grasped Cindy and put her away from him.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

Ignoring Rafe, Cindy looked over to Ian, winking.

“
Hey,
Ian, miss me?”

“Not in a million years,” Ian said. 

Rafe looked over at Chas
e.  “Why is she here?”

Chas
e apologetically answered, “She said she wanted to see Robert and begged me to bring her with us.”

Rafe knew Chas
e had a hard time saying no to any woman.  What a mess. 
Now he had to figure out what to do with her.

“Robert isn’t here and I don’t
know when he’ll be back.  Chas
e and Melissa are here for a meeting, so you can stroll
on
the grounds or wait in my office,” Rafe said
uncaring. 

Cindy’s eyes narrowed.  She finally noticed the two women standing there.  “Maybe I’ll just hang around with Stephanie until Robert returns,” she said to Rafe. 

“Sorry, I have plans,” Stephanie said, snubbing her.

“Who is this?” she demanded, looking at Lisa.

Stephanie answered before anyone else could.  “This is Lisa, my best friend and
Rafe’s
mate,” she said looking maliciously at her. 

Cindy looked shocked.  Then she demanded, “Mate? I don’t see any mark on her,” she sniffed disdainfully. 

“What does she mean by mark?  Someone forget to tell me something?” Lisa asked. 

“If you were his mate, you’d have his mark on your neck.
”  Looking Lisa up and down, she said “Couldn’t get him to mark you?  I can see why, a little on the hefty side, aren’t we,” Cindy said sweetly. 

“Why you
scrawny little ass licker!” Lisa yelled trying to get around Rafe.  He had moved to block her from attacking Cindy.

Lisa struggled as Rafe clamped an arm around her waist. 

“Chas
e, get her out of here, now.  No one insults my mate.  Cindy, don’t show your face on my property again.  Be glad I don’t let her go, she’d kick your ass,” Rafe stated.

While Chas
e grabbed Cindy, forcing her back into the car,
as
Lisa continued to struggle and shout at her.

“I hope you choke on a
fur ball
, you litter box slut!” Lisa yelled.

Chas
e yelled at Melissa to call him whenever she was ready to go back.

Rafe finally released her as the car pulled away.  She turned around and punched
him,
since he was laughing so hard.  Both Ian and Stephanie had joined in, while Melissa had gone to sit on the porch.

“Litter box slut?” asked Melissa.  “I don’t think I’ve heard that one before,” she said grinning.

“It’s all I could think of on short notice,” she mumbled.   Turning to Rafe, she demanded, “You dated that bitch in heat?”

“
Technically,
she’s not a bitch, you know, since she’s a cat shifter,” Stephanie said helpfully.

“Stephanie,” Rafe commanded.  “Not now.
  Please excu
se us for a moment.  Ian,
take Melissa inside.  We’ll be in shortly.
  Let’s go for a walk.”

“No thanks, I’ll go inside with the others,” Lisa said fuming.

Rafe ignored her statement and taking her hand, pulled her along.  Lisa huffed beside him, just to make sure he knew she was pissed.