Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (18 page)

Quietly,
Lisa answered.  “No, I never really thought about it.  I
supposed
she grew up here, although she never really talked about her childhood.  You hav
e to understand.  M
y parents were so close and in love.  I lived in this perfect world where nothing bad happened.  I had my grandparents on my father’s side, but
Mom
had
told me hers had
passed away before I was born.”

Devlin moved over to the
couch to sit on her other side, taking her hand. 

“She didn’t lie to you.  Her parents had her later in life.  From what I read, you
did have two terrific parents.”

Smiling, “Thank
you,
Dev.  Ok
ay
, I’ve calmed down.  What did you learn about my mom and her magic?”

He glanced over at Rafe, continuing when his brother nodded.

“Your mother came from a powerful line of witches.  It looks like it skipped your grandmother, but your mom was gifted with a small amount.  Somehow, when you were born, you inherited more than just your mom’s hair color,” he said smiling.  

“Did you find out why she didn’t tell Lisa?” asked Rafe.

“It’s still supposition.  I think she realized how powerful you were and was afraid someone would try to use you.  Just that little demonstration you gave this
morning was a hell of lot more than your everyday witch could do.”

“Thank you for telling me.  I didn’t mean to intrude.  I originally came in to ask about
Rafe’s
call to Dunstan.”

“It’s all right.  We would have been repeating it all to you tomorrow anyway. 
Well, I’m for a shower and bed.  I’ll make sure to be here at ten tomorrow for the show,” he said grinning as he left. 

Lisa rose to leave also.  “Again, sorry.  I think I’ll go on up to bed too.  Goodnight.”

“I’ll walk you to your door.  Just like a real date, only it’s not your front door,” he said smiling.

Arriving at her bedroom door, she turned.  “This seems to be a habit
; you
walking me upstairs to my door.”

“
Hopefully,
it won’t be happening much longer.  Leaving you at your door, I mean.”

Lisa hesitated, “Would you like to come in?” If that wasn’t obvious, I don’t know what is, she thought.

“I will, but I won’t stay.  We need to talk,” he stated.

Well that certainly sounds ominous.  Looks like I need to work on my seducing skills.

Rafe came in and sat on the edge of her bed.  He patted the comforter for her to sit beside him. 
She casually walked over to sit down.

“I won’t make love to you until you’re certain this is what you want.  I haven’t explained the mating well enough for you to know.”

“
Okaaay
, I’m listening.”

“When we join, our souls, our entire being will be combined.  There will never be another, for you or for me.  It’s permanent and forever.  Our connection will enable us to speak to each other telepathically.  You’ll have to accept
me,
as I am, a shifter and alpha of this pack.  My people will always need me.  I just want to make sure you understand all of this,” he said seriously.

“Back up.  Telepathically?  Will you be able to read my thoughts?” she asked, horrified.

Laughing, “No, don’t worry.  Although I am curious now
,
as to what you are thinking.  That reaction is
intriguing.  I will be able to send you thoughts, and vice versa.”

It was a lot to think about.  Was she ready to settle down with him? 
It was still too soon.  Although time
-
wise, it was only days, they had spent more time together than just going on a normal date.  It was
as if
weeks
were
crammed into days. 

Rafe rose, going to the door.  “Think about it.  This would be a huge change for you.  It would be up to you to accept or reject the gift of the waters,” he said closing the door.

Crap!  She’d forgotten about that.  Do I want to be a witch slash wolf?  I wonder what it would be like?  She found it more intriguing than scary
.  Looks like she needed to have
a long talk with Stephanie.
  Gee,
thanks,
Rafe, no pressure.

Dunstan parked his jeep, staring.  Incredible, it really was a castle.  Looking around, he saw several men watching him.  Counting, he saw six were wolves and three were
fae
. 
Shaking his head, he should have known.  Climbing out, he noticed one of the men coming over.  Wolf, he saw. 

“I’m Ian.  Pack Enforcer.  Do anything I don’t like, I’ll rip your balls off,” he said nastily.

“I’m kind of fond of them, so rest easy,” Dunstan said dryly. 

Ian motioned him ahead, towards the huge front doors.  They ope
ned to show Rafe, waving him inside.  Looking around, he saw Lisa sitting on the sofa beside the woman he’d learned was Stephanie.
 

“
Hi,
Dunstan.  Glad you made it past the garrison,” said Lisa.

“
Hello,
Lisa.  Thanks for agreeing to see me.”

Dunstan moved over to stand by the large windows.  The other warriors had followed him in and now stood
strategically around the room.
  Rafe went to stand next to where Lisa was sitting. 

“Umm, what now?” asked Lisa.

The
fae
that
Dunstan remembered as Robert
,
stepped forward.  He came over to Dunstan and stared into his eyes.  Dunstan stared right back, refusing to be intimidated.

“Lisa is going to try and reach
into
your mind and see if she can figure out why she dreamed of you.  She’s new at this so we’ll go slowly
.  I’ll be instructing Lisa.  If I sense any harm to her, we stop immediately,” Robert stated
.

Dunstan nodded, agreeing with him.
Robert directed him to go sit on the couch beside Lisa.  He could tell Rafe was uncomfortable with this, but he kept quiet. 

“
Now,
lass, take his hands and look
into his eyes,” said Robert.” 

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to
stare into his eyes,” she said.

Chuckling soft
ly
, Robert answered
her.  “It’s all right.  I can break his hold if needed.  Dunstan, I want you to open up to her.  She needs to see inside you, if she can.”

Dunstan already knew she was a witch.  He saw it when she came into the restaurant.  He’d realized then that she had the power he needed. 

“Lisa, concentrate.  He wants to find his mother.  Focus in on that thought.”

Staring into his eyes, she felt kind of silly.  Especially when she
saw,
he had a small smile forming on his lips.  Her thoughts drifted off, thinking how cute he was.  Yeah, Rafe was a hunk, but this guy was just as stunning.

“Focus!” Robert demanded.

Lisa’s cheeks burned,
she had
forgotten other people were watching them. 
She could almost feel Rafe bristling beside her. 

Zeroing back in, she stared deep into his eyes.  She felt him pulling her in.  Closing her eyes, she let go of his hands and leaned back against the sofa. 

She saw him hugging a beautiful blonde woman.  She heard him saying he would come back for her.  She was shaking her head,
insisting he never return.  As sh
e faded away, she felt herself moving forward, through time.  Now the woman was running, pulling a small child behind her down a dark corridor.  She saw them shimmer
, and
then disappear.  They were gone.  Lisa looked around and saw no one, only fog so thick she couldn’t see through it.  She started screaming, where are you?  Not realizing she was crying at the same time.

She opened her eyes to see Rafe staring at her worriedly.  He was holding her shoulders, calling her name.  She saw Dunstan standing, with the men surrounding him.
  Robert was in front, blocking him.
 

“I’m all right.  Please, let Dunstan sit back down.  He didn’t hurt me.  I promise.”

The men all looked to Rafe, waiting for his decision.

“First, tell me what happened.  Why are you crying?” Rafe asked.

Lisa looked over again at Dunstan.
  “I saw his mother.  Let him pass
. 
Dunstan, please come sit with me.”

Rafe told the men to step back.  Dunstan slowly made his way back over to Lisa.  His face was stoic.  She could tell he was expecting to hear his mother was dead.

Taking his hand, Lisa started to tell of what
she had
seen. 

“
I saw you speaking with a beautiful blonde woman
.
I’
m guessing
she
is your mother
.  I believe
it was when she was making you leave.  Once you’d disappeared, it felt like I flew forward in time.
” 

Squeezing his hand, she told him of the woman and child.
  Telling him how she saw them both disappear. 

“I don’t know where they went.  I’m sorry.  I can’t tell you if she’s alive or dead.  But there is something you should know.  You
r mother looked familiar to me.”

Releasing his hand, Lisa turned to Rafe.  “I think Anna is his sister,” she said calmly.

“What?” the brothers shouted, almost simultaneously.

“Now it makes sense,” Robert said
.

They were all stunned, and didn’t k
now what to think. 

Lisa spoke.  “She’s their housekeeper.  Dunstan, when I saw your mother, I saw the resemblance to Anna.  I think your mother got her away to safety.”

“But that would make her half dark
fae
, assuming Ciar is her father
,” Rafe said.  “Robert, you would have seen that, wouldn’t you?”

“
At dinner,
when I saw her, I knew.  I could see
fae
and wolf.  I was going to wait to say something after I investigated her further.  She must have stayed away whenever I visited over the years,” Robert told them.

“Wow, she’s good.  All these
years,
she’s managed to not be seen by
Robert,” Devlin said.

“She was hiding!  I never even realized.  She was always so quiet. I assumed she was afraid of Robert because he’s
fae
.  I’d thought maybe something had happened that made her fear them.  She was afraid, but
not of him in particular.  She knew he would recognize her as part
dark
fae
,” Rafe said in disgust with himself.

“She always
went to
her cabin.  I never put it together either.  Damn, we should have questioned her more.  To think
,
all these years she’s been hiding in fear.  No wonder she never ventured far from here.  It was the safest place for her to be,” Ian said thoughtfully. 

Dunstan sat there, amazed.  He had a sister. 
At least, he thought he did.  They were all jumping to conclusions.  Just because she looked like his mother, didn’t mean she was.  He would know for
sure,
when he saw her, he decided. 

“I don’t understand.  If both Dunstan and Anna are dark
fae
, why aren’
t they evil?
” Lisa said apologetically, looking at Dunstan. 

Robert spoke for him.  “Just like humans, there are good and bad.  It’s just that the
unseelie
realm is cold and unforg
iving.  Evil is in the ve
ry air.  B
eing devious is how they build their status
and position
. 
I believe
both Dunstan and Anna were influenced by their
mother
and
their
w
olf half.”  He looked questionably over at Dunstan. 

“That’s true.  Mainly though
,
I would sa
y our mother.  Also, since Anna was
young
when
Lisa saw her, then she would have gotten away from our father’
s influe
nce.  Does anyone know where Anna
is now?” asked Dunstan. 

“I think she’s probably in her cabin.  We need to decide how we’re going to proceed.  I don’t want her scared by this revelation
or to think we would make her leave
.  If she ran, I don’t know that we would ever find her,” said Ian.