Wolf Creek Enforcer (6 page)

Ian brought two forks over and handed her one. 

“
What kind of magic do you have?  I mean, Lisa is an earth witch, she gets her power from nature.  How is that different from a druid?” he asked.

Melanie sighed as she chewed her food.  After swallowing, she asked Ian for some water so she would have a little time to think about her answer.

“Witches sort of absorb magic and send it back out from themselves.  Druids use whatever the universe provides them with.  We don’t send the magic out from ourselves, we use, umm, I guess you’d say whatever the universe provides us with.”

Thinking about it, she decided to
mention the wizard she’d run into on the road.

“Yesterday, I hid in some rock formations to keep a wizard from finding me.  I communicated my need to them by touch and they responded,” she said.

“What the fuck!  A wizard?  This is bullshit!  No more wandering, I can’t protect you if I’m not with you.  Give me the story, I need to know why he was after you,” Ian’s palms slammed against the counter, making her jump.

Melanie gulped when she saw his claws lengthen while telling him what had happened. 

“I don’t know what he wanted, I just know I’m thankful he took off.  I don’t believe in happenstance, for some reason our paths collided yesterday, and I’m afraid I haven’t seen the last of him,” she stated softly.  

“I
’ll rip his fucking head off if he gets anywhere near you,” Ian snarled.

“It was like he somehow knew where to find me.  I think he’s searching for magical beings.  I heard him say something about the fae.”

“I wish to hell we could reach Robert and warn him.” Ian told her of their families friendship with the fae.     

Quietly she said, “I need to call my parents tomorrow and talk to them. 
The druids have always kept their magical abilities quiet.  I haven’t hidden mine from you since we’re mates, but there are some secrets that my family protects.” 

“Have you told them anything?  Do they know
I’m your mate?” Ian asked.

“I’ve been texting
to let them know I’m fine.  When I speak with them tomorrow, I’ll tell them about you, but I’m not mentioning the wizard.  There’s no need to worry them,” she said.

Ian sat thinking a moment.  “Will they accept a shifter as your mate?”

Melanie smiled.  “They will be absolutely thrilled I’ve met my perfect match.”

“That’s good as I wouldn’t give you up anyway,” Ian said arrogantly. 

Melanie rolled her eyes. Wolf shifters were amazingly egotistical.

Ian took his plate
to the sink and rinsed it off before putting it in the dishwasher.  “Finish eating and I’ll go get our bags.” 

“Yes Master,” she said, simpering.

She heard him laugh a
s he went out the door.  She felt she was making progress in loosening him up.

Melanie was
at the sink when he came back in. 

“If you’re done, follow me and I’ll show you where my room is,” Ian said.

Melanie docilely followed behind him, while muttering about arrogant wolves.

“What was that?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Nothing, just admiring the view,” she said innocently.

Ian turned back to the stairs
, chuckling.

At the top, he pointed out his brother Devlin’s room, saying Rafe and Lisa had moved in to a different wing after they mated. 

“You can choose another wing for us if you’d like.  For some reason, females tend to want some privacy,” he smirked.

“Oh,
well that must be because we make you guys howl,” she said in wide-eyed innocence. 

Shaking his head, Ian
opened his bedroom door and motioned her in. 

Her first impression was that it was a strong, masculine room.  Mahogany seemed to be the prevalent theme.  A beautiful four-poster bed sat in the middle of the room.  Lying across the hardwood floor was a rug with red, brown, and green leaves strewn in a pattern that made it look like the floor of a forest. 
His dresser was across from his bed with a huge mirror attached to it.  Kind of kinky, she thought.

Taking it all in, she watched as he walked over to what she assumed was an en suite bath.  She
saw there was a pair of wingback chairs sitting under the window in a small alcove, with a quilt thrown over the back of one of the chairs.  The bed itself had a comforter in a dark brown with a little green thrown in.  She decided right then that she was going to need some brighter colors added to his ensemble.  All in all, the room looked very comfortable.  She had barely taken in the pictures on the walls when she heard him calling for her.

“You can shower fi
rst.  Towels are in the cabinet, everything you need should be in here.”  He paused.  “Unless you need some girly smelling shampoo or something, you won’t find it in my bathroom,” he said.

Picking up her backpack and placing it on the counter, she told him, “
That’s good.  I’d hate to have to kick some bitches’ ass already.  I have my own stuff in here.”   

She stood there waiting for him to leave.  Ian acted like he wanted to say something. 

Melanie tilted her head, “What?”

“Why didn’t you want your own room?” he asked.

Blowing out a breath, she said, “I want to be near you.  I’m not ready to commit the rest of my life to you, but I need to be with you,” she told him.

Ian growled, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to sleep with you but not mate?”

“I’m sorry, I was being selfish.  If you show me another room, I’ll sleep there,” she said, sadly. 

“No, you’ll stay here.  I want you with me too.”  He grinned then to make he
r feel better.  “I was a marine, I’ll suck it up.”

Melanie groaned, “Okay tough guy, go away so I can shower.  I’m so tired I just want to fall into bed
.  My energy reserves are depleted.” 

“I need to go check in wit
h my guys.  I may be awhile so I’ll try not to wake you when I get back,” he told her.

“Don’t worry, I sleep like the dead.  You won’t bother me.”

“Rafe told me the same thing about Lisa.  What is it with you women?” he joked.

As she shooed him out the door, she said, “Well, we know we’re safe so we can zonk out with no worries.”

With the door closing in his face, Ian realized she had actually just given him a compliment. 

Melanie quickly stripped and tu
rned the water on.  The shower was huge with nozzles both low and high.  If she weren’t so sleepy, she would have just stood under the jets.  The tile was a sandy color with built in places for any necessities.  It felt good to wash the day’s grime away.  She shampooed and conditioned her hair while thinking about Ian. She would tell him of her family’s legacy tomorrow, she decided, after she spoke to her parents.  She may not be in love yet, but she knew she was well on her way to falling.   

Melanie stepped out and wrapped a towel around her head.  After drying her body, she made quick work of applying her lotion.  Next she towel dried her hair and brushed it out.  It would be wavy tomorrow since she didn’t blow-dry it, but she was too tired to care.

Slipping into her pajamas, she pulled the covers back and slid into bed.  She sighed at how good it felt to lie in a nice, comfortable bed again.  Hotels were just not the same as relaxing at home, and this would be her home now, she thought.  She was asleep within moments.

Ian went for a quick
run with some of his enforcers.  He needed the exercise after driving all day.  It was also good to bond with his wolves in the pack.   

Afterwards, he quietly slipped into his bedroom, looking over at Melanie as she slept.  Seeing the lump in the middle of his bed, he smiled.  It felt good having her there.  Obviously she didn’t prefer the right or left side. That was fine with him as he planned to be as close to her as possible wherever she ended up.

Going into his bathroom, he stripped and stepped into the shower.  He found he enjoyed seeing her beauty products in his shower.  That’s where they belong, he thought.  Opening her shampoo, he sniffed.  It was a floral smell and just too feminine for him to use.  He liked smelling it in her hair, but knew he didn’t want to smell like flowers.  He put hers back on the shelf and used his own shampoo and soap.  He could just imagine how the guys would mock him if he smelled like a girl.  Wouldn’t that just go over great with his enforcers? 

Ian laughed quietly as he rinsed and stepped out of the shower. 
Toweling off, he debated wearing anything to bed.  After brushing his teeth, he went to his dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers.

Pulling back the covers, he could see she had on a tiny
tank top with matching shorts.  Ian tilted his head back, stared at the ceiling, and groaned.  Couldn’t she have worn something that covered her from head to toe?  No, that would have just been too easy.

He slid into bed and scooted next to her.  Melanie rolled from her back and snuggled up against his chest, tucking her head under his chin.

Ian put his arm around her, enjoying having his mate close to him.  He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes, hoping he’d fall asleep quickly.  Time to suck it up marine, he thought.

Chapter 4

Ian woke feeling well rested.  Looking over at his alarm clock, he was surprised to see it was after eight in the morning.  He was normally up before sunrise and already patrolling the grounds before anyone else was up.  He let his head drop back to the pillow, too comfortable to get up just yet.

Melanie had turned sometime during the night, and now had her back pressed up against his chest.  Ian’s arm was thrown across her hip, holding her to him.  She belonged to him. 

Before she woke up and felt him
poking her ass, he carefully moved away and put his feet on the floor.  Looking back at her, he stretched and placed a kiss on her shoulder before getting up and heading to his bathroom. 

Going back into his room, he saw she still hadn’t moved.  Remembering how far she must have walked before he found her, he figured she needed her rest.  Ian dressed quietly, pulling on a black t-shirt and jeans.  He couldn’t imagine actually wearing any of the bright colors she normally chose.  The guys would think he’d lost it if he ever showed up in pink. 

Heading downstairs, he passed by Rafe’s office and stuck his head in and found it empty.  Next he went across the hall to Devlin’s and found his baby brother working at his computer.

Devlin looked up, seeing his brother in the doorway.

“Hey, welcome home.  Rafe told me you came home with your mate yesterday evening.  Congratulations!  Sorry I missed meeting her.  I was at Charlie’s last night playing pool with some cougars,” Devlin said.

Devlin stood and pounded Ian on the back in a congratulatory manner. 

“So ‘Cougar Town’ inspired you?” Ian mocked.

Laughing, Devlin
said, “Not that kind of cougar, no.  A few of the females from Chase’s pride showed up.”

Devlin caught Ian up on the news from their cougar friends as they went into the kitchen.  He told Ian that the cougars were somewhat worried about Melissa since they hadn’t heard anything from her in a while.

“Since we both know Robert would never hurt her, I’m sure she’s fine.  You know how time differs between here and Faerie,” Ian said.

“That’s what I told them, but they still can’t help but worry about her.  Since she is their seer, they don’t have anyone else to ‘look’ in on her.  I think if they don’t know something soon, they may come here to the pond
and try to summon Robert.  If they can’t reach him, then they may try one of the other fae guards.  I was thinking about asking Lisa if she could use her witchy powers and see if she could find out anything,” Devlin said.

“That’s probably a good idea. 
Rafe already tried summoning Robert and didn’t get a response.  Are she and Rafe around?  I didn’t see them in his office,” Ian said. 

“They went with Mom and Dad to Dallas.  The folks can’t wait to meet Melanie but I think everyone is trying to give you two some time alone to get to know one another.  I’m about to take off myself
, so you’ll have the whole castle to yourselves for a few hours,” Devlin told him.

“You don’t have to do that.  You know this place is big enough for several families.  It’s not like we’d be tripping over each other,” Ian said.

“I know, but there’s this Harley I’ve been thinking about buying over in Tyler.  Chase is picking me up in case I do buy it today so I can ride it home,” Devlin said.

Ian was pulling bacon and eggs out of the fridge as he spoke.  “Aw man, you know you’re buying it today.  You may say you’re thinking about it, but since you lined up a
ride, I expect to see you popping wheelies in front of the house by this afternoon.”

Laughing, Devlin said, “You know me so well.” 

Hearing a honk outside, Devlin grabbed his wallet, “That must be Chase, see you later.  You can tell your new mate all about me while I’m gone.  I’m sure she’ll be impressed and wish she’d met me first.”