Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (15 page)

“Don’t try so
hard.  Close your eyes and picture it lifting
, and then
skim it across the water,” Rafe said.

Easy for you to say, she thought.
I can do this.  She closed her eyes, mentally seeing the rock move up from the mud.  Then she
thr
ew
out
her arm, opening her eye
s and seeing
the rock fly.  Really, really, fast.  It churned
the top of the
water and
bounced off a tree on the other side.

“Oops.”

“You’re hired,” said Ian.

They all started laughing
and she
felt her tension slipping away. 

“Now
that we know you can move things
, it’s just a matter of control.  I think being near the water
makes you more po
werful.  Do you feel like
yer
feeding off
of
it?” asked Robert. 

“You know, I think you’re right.  I can feel the magic going through me.  It felt like I pulled it in, and sort of directed it.”

“Very good, lass.  That’s exactly how it works.  Part
of being a witch is getting
yer
energy from nature.  That’s the difference between
fae
and witch.  Best way to explain it is that we power up before we leave
Faeiry
, while witche
s power up in the mortal world.”

That made sense.  In the back of her mind, she wondered why her mom had never told her what they
were.  Why hadn’t her mom given her some kind of training?  Only thing she could think of was
that,
for some reason
,
her mom had hidden what they were. 
This led to the next question.
  Why hide?

“Try again, only this time
,
try to control the rock more.  Imagine it moving slowly across the pond.  See if you can stop it on
the other side and let it sink,” Robert said.

Lisa focused her attention back on her training.
  She tuned out everyone and everything around her.  Choosing a small stone, she concentrated.  Watching the stone, she moved it slowly up,
and then
managed to skip it across the pond. 

“I skipped it.  I know you said to stop it and let it sink, sorry.”

“
Yer
doing fine.  You had much more control that time.  Try once
more,
lass.”

Lisa did not like to fail.  She decided she was going to do exactly what he said this time.  The first time
she had
thrown her arm out.  The second time was just fun.  This
time
,
she chose a stone, moved it up
and across
,
and then
simply dropped it.

“I did it!” Lisa jumped up and did a jig.  Holding her hand up, she ran around the group high-fiving everyone.  They couldn’t help but laugh at her exuberant performance.

“I’m going to check in with the patrols.  Let me kn
ow if Miss Missile projects anything my way
,” Ian left smiling.

They worked another hour on her control.  Robert could tell she was getting frustrated with moving rocks around.  Rafe sat relaxing on the edge of the pond.  He was enjoying just watching Lisa.  She is so beautiful, he thought.  Looking at her now, he could see her brow furrowed in concentration as Robert explained a new exercise to try.  Now it was getting interesting. 

“You want me to hold you in place?   I don’t think I can do that.”

“Picture stopping me from moving any closer as I walk towards you.  I wan
t to see if you can protect
yer
self
from someone wanting to hurt you.
  If you can stop m
e, you can stop a dark
fae
also, unless they’re very powerful.
”

Robert ran a few paces further away.  Lisa watched him as he turned to start walking up to her.  She couldn’t concentrate while staring at him, so she closed her eyes to get a mental picture.  Opening her eyes, she saw he was a lot closer.  She threw up a mental wall, and saw him pause slightly before walking right up to her.

“I didn’t stop you,” she said annoyed.

“But you did slow me down.  I felt it.  Now do it again, only try and use more power.  Remember, if dealing with a
fae
, you’ll need to be strong.  If a human
attacks
you, tone it down.”

Once
again,
he jogged further away.  All right
, more power.  She watched him without looking away.  As he came closer this time,
she mentally threw up a hard wall as she flung out her arm with palm turned up. 
Immediately,
Robert flew ten feet
back,
sliding on his
butt to the base of a tree.
  Rafe rolled over onto his back, la
ughing so
hard,
his body was shaking.

Lisa ran over to Robert, afraid she’d really hurt him.  He was leaning against the tree with his eyes closed.

“Oh shit!  Robert, wake up!  Stop
laughing,
Rafe!  I think he’s hurt,” she reached down, touching his face and checking his breathing.

Rafe growled as he rose to walk over to them.
“He’s
fine.
You
can take your hands off him.  Quit
faking,
Robert, you’re scaring Lisa.”

Robert grinned and opened his eyes.  “But the lass has such soft hands.  I needed help waking up,” he said winking.

“Argh, I’m going to
kill you both,” Lisa
said,
walking away from them.

“I’m
sorry,
lass.  J
ust having a wee bit of fun.  Come on, give us a smile.”

Lisa turned back to look at him.  It was like dealing with a couple of
five-year-old
boys.  They both stood there smiling, looking so innocent. 

“Come on, we’ll
go back to the house.  We can discuss things inside.  I’m afraid Lisa is starting to get sunburned,” Rafe said.  He
walked over and
ran a finger
across the tip of her nose.  “You’re l
ooking a little
pink;
let’s go get a cold drink.”

Lisa opted for iced tea.  I
t was better than soda when wanting to cool down.  Settling into the great room, Ian and Devlin came in to find out how the rest of her lessons went. 
After catching Devlin up on the rock inc
ident, Robert went on telling
them about her stopping him.

“She is powerful.  I didn’t use any
shields,
because I wanted to see how strong she was.  Lisa, a
fae
resisting you would be harder to stop.  Also, we think the pond increases
yer
power.  So if you run in to any trouble away from here, keep that in mind.”

“If she is away from here, I’ll be there to protect her,” Rafe stated firmly.

Lisa just rolled her eyes. Men.  “I
’
ve been able to take care of myself in the past.  I doubt you’ll be glued to my side the rest of my life.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” said Rafe.  “In the past, you didn’t have an evil
fae
after you.”

“And I may not have one now.  You got the warning before you even met me.
  So, moving on, why wouldn’t my mom have trained me or told me what we are?”

Rafe spoke first.  “We’re guessing here
,
but we think she may have wanted to keep you hidden.  You are a powerful witch and witches don’t go around broadcasting their existence. 
There is evil out there that would try to use you to their benefit.”

Sadly,
Lisa asked, “Why didn’t she save herself and
Dad
?”

Rafe put his arm around her and pulled her closer, wanting to comfort her as he spoke.

“She may not have been as strong as you
, or
she simply may not have had the time to do anything.  Also,
no matter how strong or powerful we think we are, we cannot change fate
.”

They all sat quietly, contemplating.  Devlin spoke first. “So, my new sister is a super hero,” he said seriously. 

That got them smiling again.  “Yeah, so you’d better watch out.  Who knows what I can do to you,” Lisa said evilly.

Rafe noticed she hadn’t corrected Devlin calling her his sister. 

“I think we should go somewhere further away and see how you do,” said Robert.

“After lunch, if Lisa feels up to it.”  Going into the kitchen, Rafe pulled food from the fridge to make sandwich
es.  Lisa got the bread and some plates out and put them on the table.  Devlin went and grabbed the chips while everyone started making their sandwich.
  Conversation flowed around Lisa.  She wasn’t paying
close
attention, lost in her own thoughts. 
She spoke
during a break.

“I want to go into town, wait,
and just
listen.  That man I saw, and dream
ed about,” she paused, gathering her thoughts
, “he
needs m
y help.  If I don’t find him, he’ll come looking for me.  I’m afraid of what your men
will
do to him.  It’s better if I
go to him on neutral ground.”

They all exploded.  She heard, no way, you’re not going, it’s too dangerous.  She waited for them to get it all out.  Rafe was the loudest of them all.

“You are not meeting this man!  For all we know, he could have used magic to make you think he needs you.  No, not happening,” he said vehemently.  

“Are you done? 
First
, I’m not stupid.  Second, I can
do
anything I want.  Y
ou are not my keeper. 
Third, he’s not using magic on me, and don’t ask how
I know
, I can just tell.  Fourth, I wouldn’t go alone,” said Lisa.

Rafe interrupted, murmuring, “Damn straight you won’t go anywhere alone.”
  Rafe stood, staring grimly down at her.

He is so hot.  Lisa blushed realizing she had drifted while staring back at him.  It should be illegal to have
that much charisma.  Hoping he didn’t notice her red cheeks, she casually glanced around before looking back at him.  Crap.  He noticed, she could tell by that
shit-eating
grin.  She pulled her eyes from his to address the rest of them. 

“As I was saying, fourth, you can all go with me.  I don’t care if you come
along
.
My
point is that I am going, with or without you guys.”

“We need to have a plan in place, just in case something goes wrong,” said Ian, always the strategist. 

Every one
of them said they were going with her.
  Great, nothing like having four hunks following her around.  Then again, who was she to complain? 

“When and where were you planning on going?  How are you going to locate this guy?” asked Ian.

Sheepishly,
Lisa said, “Well, I haven’t a clue where to find him.  I thought I’d go to that restaurant
Steph
and I went to and sort of hang around.  And as far as when, how about tonight?”

“It’s a date.  We can leave around five,” said Rafe, daring her to contradict him. 

“Cool,
I’ve never been on a date with four men at once,” she said smirking.

Chuckling, the men put the food away t
hen moved on to the great room.  Rafe pulled Lisa up and whispered to her.

“You are a bad, bad girl.  I look forward to dealing with you later, in private.”

“Whatever,”
she said bravely.

They joined the others, with Rafe crowding her on the couch, again. 
Listening to their master plan
,
she leaned back, waiting to hear the
final
outcome. 

“
Okay,
Lisa, here’s the plan.  Rafe will be with you, of course.  Devlin and I will be sitting at another table, watching.  Robert will be across the street,
shielding himself from view with his glamour,” said Ian.

“You can do that?  Can you teach me?” asked Lisa.

“
Sorry,
lass, it’s a
fae
thing,” Robert said smiling. 

“If I feel any threat, I’m taking him down.  I’ll not chance him hurting you in any way,” Rafe said gravely.  “I expect all of you to protect her with your life.”