Wolf Creek Ghosts (Texas Pack 3) (Wolf Creek Werewolf Shifters) (16 page)
Josiah spoke up, “It was his doppelganger.”
The look of confusion around the table caused Jack to give a small snort as he chuckled.
“Olivia, all those times I was with you? Well, I was actually asleep,” Jack said.
Olivia gasped, “So you were never dead or injured?”
“No, just sleeping,” Jack dropped his head, feeling stupid.
“Hey man, no shame there. Obviously you’re dedicated to your work,” Rafe assured him.
Jack shrugged, “When I woke, I’d get small bits and pieces of my visits with Olivia. I thought it was all a dream and pretty much ignored it. The problem was that even after Willie had been killed, I kept dreaming about the case. I finally dug into what info I could remember and started learning that the people I’d met in my dreams actually existed.” He shook his head again. “Imagine my shock. There really was a town named Wolf Creek with all these people I’d only dreamed about living here.”
“Wow, you’re a traveller and didn’t know it,” Melanie said.
Rafe sat staring at Jack, wondering if he realized he was in a room full of shifters and they did not want that secret to get out.
“Jack? I need to talk to you, alone,” Rafe said, nodding toward the back.
Jack waved him off. “My brother knows, Rafe.” He barked out a laugh. “He knows more about shifters than I do, he’s in enforcement also. Fish and game, wildlife protection, he goes after the poachers and protects shifters.”
Josiah nodded to Rafe. “I learned about shifters several years ago when I helped a woman get out of an illegal trap. We’re married, and trust me when I say, I’d never tell anyone. The thought of someone dissecting my wife or experimenting on her makes me sick.”
Jack lightened the air with his laugh. “I never knew and I’m his brother. Not until I started telling him about these weird dreams I’d been having about werewolves.”
They all chuckled at that.
“He’s the one that convinced me my dreams were real,” Jack said.
They sat in silence for a moment before Olivia spoke and squeezed Jack’s hand. “I’m so glad you looked us up and that you’re not dead.”
Jack snorted, “Me too.”
“I don’t understand something,” Olivia said. “You hung out with me during the daytime, a lot. So you were actually asleep all those times?”
“Yup, I don’t have normal hours like a nine to five job. I try and catch a nap during the day whenever I can since I do a lot of my investigating at all hours of the day and night. So whenever I would just disappear on you, that was when I’d woken up. I have to say it was really strange trying to put the fragments of my dreams together to make any sense.”
“You know, I’ve heard of people leaving their bodies and going to different places. It’s called astral projection,” Melanie said.
“Well, I don’t know if it was because this case had left me exhausted or something else, but it sure has been interesting,” Jack said.
Devlin snorted as he slapped Jack on the back. “Welcome to our world.”
Olivia was moving the droplets of water around with her finger on the wooden table where her glass had left a wet circle. She stared down at the design she made as she asked, “Is it true that Willie was killed by an animal? The newspapers didn’t give a lot of the details, but I remember hearing about his unusual death.”
The table was silent for a moment.
“I didn’t follow the story closely while it was happening, but I can tell you that it wasn’t us,” Rafe informed her. “My wolves had no reason to go after him while he was alive.”
“But my cougars did.” Olivia looked to the tall man that had silently moved to stand at their table. He had to be a friend, she thought, since she knew the men would not have allowed him to get so close otherwise.
Rafe stood to welcome and introduce the man as he pointed to a chair. “You’re among friends here Chase, speak freely.”
“Remember when Melissa got back after helping y’all deal with Braeden?” He waited as they nodded, except for Olivia, Jack and Josiah who looked on in confusion.
“I’ll explain later,” Devlin whispered to her.
“The ‘bad feeling’ she had was because one of our pride was in trouble. That last girl that Willie abducted was ours,” Chase finished, grimly.
“When her parents weren’t able to reach her that evening, they asked me to go look for her, thinking she was probably out partying and didn’t want her parents showing up to check on her. Using the coordinates last transmitted from her GPS bracelet, I tracked her to the parking lot near her school. Her bracelet had stopped transmitting and I didn’t know it at the time, but Willie had taken it and crushed it. I tracked her by scent and found an old camper out in the woods, not far from her school.” Chase stopped and shook his head.
“That son of a bitch had her chained to a bed. He’d drilled holes through the floor to secure the cuffs to a steel pole. I ripped that fucker out of the ground and managed to break the chains holding her captive. Thank God he hadn’t abused her beyond using a Taser on her. She told me it was because he had a ride coming up in the rodeo so he’d had to leave, but not before telling her what he was going to do to her.” Chase raked his hands through his hair.
Looking around the table, he locked eyes on each person for a second before continuing. “By then, I knew he was the serial killer that had been torturing and killing women.”
“So to answer your question Olivia, he got what he deserved. Ripped apart by an animal like the animal he was.” Chase tipped his beer back and finished the bottle.
Olivia laid a gentle hand on Chase’s arm. “You did the right thing. There’s no telling how many women you saved by stopping that monster.”
The men all murmured their agreement.
Melanie clapped her hands together to get their attention.
“Enough of this, I want to dance. We’re celebrating a mating and I want to see happy, smiling faces,” she declared.
She managed to lift their moods from the dark atmosphere and get their minds back into a lighter one. They gave Chase a pat on the back as they went by on the way to the dance floor.
“Fuck this shit,” Chase said, pushing his chair back. He nodded to the ones still sitting there. “I want to dance too.” He looked around for a partner when he saw Melissa come through the door.
“Hey Melissa, want to dance?” Chase asked.
“No! I’m looking for Robert, have you seen him?” She growled.
He started shaking his head in denial when he saw Robert walk in behind her.
Melissa felt Robert’s presence and whirled around to see him smiling at her with his arms wide open. She marched up to him and slapped him hard on his right cheek.
“I’m pregnant, you son of a bitch!” Melissa heard the gasp from the ones nearest to her.
The room fell silent as they watched Robert stand their gaping with his mouth hanging open.
“How?” Robert asked, dumbfounded.
“Did you see his face? I finally understand the word gobsmacked,” Olivia said.
The family gathered in the great room to go over the night’s revelations. Jack and his brother had gone home with promises to visit in the future.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Robert move so fast,” Devlin said.
“Sooo, pregnant. You know, there are ways to prevent that,” Lisa said. “Damn, I wish he hadn’t scooped her out of there so fast. I have questions!”
“Maybe we should go down to the pond and try to summon him. He pretty much kidnapped her right under our noses,” Melanie said, worrying her bottom lip.
Lisa stood up with hands resting on her hips. “Come on ladies, we need to rescue Melissa.”
Rafe stood to stop his mate from doing anything stupid. “We are not getting involved, Lisa. This is not our business.”
“I don’t know, Rafe,” Olivia said. “He looked pretty mad.”
“Robert would never hurt her, or any woman for that matter,” Ian said.
“But he looked so angry.” Olivia did not know the Fae warrior well enough to trust her own judgment.
Devlin reassured his mate, “She’ll be fine, my love. Trust me.”
Lisa wasn’t giving in yet. “Couldn’t we just go to the pond and see if Niall comes through? At least then we could maybe find out what’s going on.”
Niall had gone back to Faery after receiving a summons from his Queen.
“Let it be, Lisa. Their business is their own and they don’t need us sticking our nose in it,” Rafe said.
Lisa sat back down, shoulders drooping. “I guess I’ll have to wait until Melissa comes back to get the scoop.”
Olivia stuck her hand up and waved it around, getting their attention. “I know I’m the newbie in this family, but does somebody want to tell me the back story on those two?”
The End
Wolf Creek Alpha
Wolf Creek Enforcer
