Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (14 page)

“You ok
ay
?”

“Yeah, I will be.  Once I get the bomb dropped on me tonight to finish
blowing me apart
.”

Stephanie laughed.  “You couldn’t just be a wolf’s mate
.
You
gott
a
be a fairy princess too.  Hey, see if you can close the
door.
It’d
be so cool to have a best friend doing magical stuff.”

Leave it to Stephanie to bring her back to earth.
She made it seem so commonplace.  No worries about
Steph
looking at her differently.
  With just those
few
words, Lisa felt almost normal again.  Normal enough to freak Stephanie out, if she could.
  She concentrated on closing the door, figuring why not
try
it? 

The door slammed shut with a loud bang.  They almost jumped out of their skin.  Looking at each other wide-eyed, they started laughing hysterically. 

“You just scared the crap out of me,”
Steph
was gasping for air. 

“I scared the crap out me too!” Lisa said. 

The bedroom door burst open.  Rafe, Colin, Ian, Devlin, and Robert ran into the room.

Of course, that started them laughing all over again.  Seeing that the
women were fine
, the men relax
ed,
and asked
what was going on. 

“Lisa closed the door harder than she intended,”
Steph
said innocently. 

“Umm, I kind of closed it with my mind.  Sorry, I didn’t mean to slam it.”

“I knew it!” shouted Robert.

“
Well,
I didn’t.  It just adds one more topping on my sundae from hell.  Now, if you will all just go away, I’m going to sleep and hope for a dreamless night.”

They all traipsed from her room with Rafe lingering behind the others.  “Good night, again.  You know where I am if you need me.”  He quietly closed the door.

She reached over and turned off the bedside lamp.  Curling on her side, she closed her eyes hoping for sleep.  She lay
there
for a
while with her eyes tightly
shut.  Then
she
flipped to her back
and
opened
her eyes to stare at the ceiling.  There was
a small amount of light coming in from the windows.  Sleep just wasn’t going to happen. 

One refrain kept going through her head. I have magic, over and over again.  What am I?  What were my parents?  She found herself going over her life with a microscope.  Breaking down every little thing tha
t
may have been different from the families of her friends. 

Thinking of her dad brought back happy m
emories.  He was
so normal.
There was
just no
way,
he was anything but human, she decided.
 
She was
a
daddy’s
girl and proud of it.  Her father had cherished
both
her and
her
mom. 
She had been blessed with wonderful parents
.

He had
worked for the city planning department, for God’s sake.  Having an analytical mind had been one of his strong points. 
Okay
, I didn’t get this ‘gift’ from
Dad
.
 

Must have been
Mom
, she thought.  She was a stay
-
at
-
home mom by choice.  Lisa was remembering her
mom showing up for every school party or function. 
Usually,
she was the one that planned everything, from snacks to the games the kids would play.   

There was something different about her mom, though.  Lisa had never sat down and thought about it before.  Mom was just
Mom
to her.  Thinking back, she knew who would be coming to visit beforehand.  She predicted the weather
better
than the guy on
TV did
.
  Getting sleepy now, Lisa’s last thought was about
her mom’s
green thumb.  Didn’t everyone talk to plants and sing to them while planting?

Rafe and his brothers were up early the next day.  Their mom was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast.  He kissed her on the cheek while reaching up in the cupboard for a coffee mug. 
Leaning against the counter, he waited while
Robert and one of his guards
came in
. 

“Anyone else want some coffee?”

“Ach no, don’t know how you drink that stuff,” said Robert.

“Don’t
worry.
I made some tea for you and
your
guys.
I remembered you preferred tea
,” said Liz.

“
May the b
lessing
of light be upon you. 
If you weren’t already mated, I’d take you back to Faerie with me.”

“
Flirting with my mate so early in the
day
?  Don’t make me spill
fae
blood first thing in the morning,” Mack
quipped as he walked in.

Rafe grabbed two more mugs for his brothers before he seated himself.  There wasn’t any more talking as the food was put on the table.  Once they all
had their fill, Robert spoke
. 

“I think Lisa
’s mother must have been a witch.”  Mack
and Liz looked at him in surprise, so Rafe explained what had happened last night. 

“I’ve been thinking the same, all night
long,
as a matter of fact. 
Never met one, as far as I know.  Jus
t heard rumors of their powers,” Rafe told them.

“I said I hadn’t seen magic like hers before, but I
’m
thinking I was wrong.  Many, many years
ago,
I met a woman that had an aura similar to Lisa’s. 
It had
been so long,
I had
forgotten about her.  What I do remember is that her power came from nature.  Since Lisa seemed to tap
into
it so easily, I
think she is either
very powerful or the waters
might
be helping her.  I’m just guessing here, but w
e could test her,
”
said Robert.

“Test who?” Colin
asked,
as he came in and grabbed the coffeepot.

Rafe explained to Colin what they had discussed, asking him if he had known Lisa’s parents.

“
Yea
h
, I met them a couple of times
, but
if you’re asking if I noticed anything different about them, then no, I didn’t.  I know that Lisa was the joy of their lives, but they seemed like any other human couple I’d met.”   

“I’ll talk to her about testing her powers.  I don’t want her frightened by this, s
o leave it to me to speak with
her,” Rafe announced.

After clearing the dishes, they went their separate ways. 
Liz told them to send the other guards
in after they were relieved to eat breakfast.

Colin went with Rafe to his office. 
Since it was
Sunday, he didn’t expect any
trouble,
but wanted to call in and speak with his
deputy
to be sure. 

Ian and Robert left to relieve the men
who had
been on patrol all night.  Devlin told Ian
he would
be out later to help patrol, first he
needed to do some research on witches.

Mack came in telling Rafe he would patrol around the cottages at the back of the castle.  They were normally empty, but Ian had moved the families with younger children into them. 

Once everyone went
about their duties, Rafe started working on the co
rrespondence piled on his desk.  He figured he could get some
work done
while he waited for Lisa to wake up
.  Colin had left
,
saying he’d find Stephanie and he
lp get the girls up and dressed.  He and Stephanie were going to take
them riding.  They would
only ride around the perimeter of the castle.  Amy and Sarah were too young for a longer ride.  Colin rued the day the girls would be big enough to ride by themselves.  He didn’t think his heart could take it. 

Lisa woke up with a good feeling.  Falling asleep
while
remembering her parents had given her a good
night’s
sleep.  If she
had
dreamed, she didn’t remember it.  It felt good just lying there in bed.  She was thinking about
magic and
of
what she might be able to do.  It was really kind of empowering, she thought. 

She rose from bed and went to the bathroom, looking pensive.  After brushing her teeth, she stared at herself in the mirror.  She looked the same. 

“That was dumb. What did you expect, sparkly lights around your head or something?” she asked herself. 

Dressed, she went to the kitchen to get some breakfast.  Colin and
Steph
were at the table feeding the girls.  Liz came over and hugged her, telling her to sit while she brought her a plate.  Lisa was thinking it
might
take her a while to get used to these touchy
-
feely wolves. 

“Did you get any rest at all?” asked Stephanie.
  Rafe had come in and sat beside Lisa.

“
Actually,
I had a really good
night’s
sleep.  Thinking about my parents had me remembering how much they loved me.”

Rafe reached over to hold her hand, which was
nice,
but kind of awkward when you were trying to eat. 

Lisa tugged her hand back so she could pick up her fork.  She gave him a little smile
and sighed heavily
when he finally let
her
go. 

“I want to see what I can do.  I always took for granted some of the stuff I did
,
unthinking.  You know, like
the phone
’s
going to ring, that kind of stuff.  I never even realized it was actually paranormal.  I
didn’t know
I could move thing
s
, but then again, I’d never thought to try.”

Lisa went on to explain about her parents.  While talking, Robert and Ian ca
me in, quietly sitting down
. 
 

“Lisa, I believe your mom was probably a witch,” said Robert. 

Lisa started giggling.  She had suddenly pictured her mom with a black pointy hat, holding a broom. 

“I’m sorry, visual meltdown.  All right
, why a witch?”

Robert explained about the woman
that
he had known years ago, telling her he thought her aura had been somewhat like Lisa’s. 

“So I’m a witch? 
Wow, that sounds so weird.  Ok
ay
, I’ll look in to that later.  Right now, I want to see how much I can do.”

The men were surprised. 
They had
expected her to be afraid, or
to
panic when asked to be tested.
 

“
We
e
l
then,
lass, you ready to go outside?  Since you’ll be practicing, I think being outside would be safer,” said Robert.

“Safer?  You think I could hurt someone?  Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” Lisa said worriedly.

“Don’t worry.  I can deflect an object if needed,” said Robert. 

Colin and Stephanie
went out through the kitchen, taking
the
girls
for their ride.  Lisa was glad.  S
he didn’t want the girls anywhere near her while she practiced. 
The rest of them went
out the front, moving further away from the castle. 

Standing near the edge of the pond, Lisa could feel the magic.  It was almost vibrating.  Rafe picked up a rock and skimmed it across the surface.

“Do what Rafe just did.  Only, do it with your mind,” said Robert.

“Um, ok
ay
, but
don’t expect much.”  Lisa looked at a small rock
sticking out of the mud. 
She stared at it,
saying a mantra in her head.  Move, move,
move
.  Nothing.