Wolf Creek Enforcer (5 page)

Chapter 3

Rafe and Lisa were eating breakfast when his phone signaled a text from Ian.  He quickly read the message and sighed, succinct as usual.

“What’d he say?”  Lisa was practically bouncing in her seat.

“Found woman.  Mate.  Driving home,” Rafe told her.

“That’s it?  I’m going to call him,” Lisa reached for his phone.

Rafe held his phone just out of her reach.  “No.  You know how Ian is.  We’ll just have to be patient and wait until they get here.  He didn’t say there was an emergency, so we’ll not bother him with his new mate.”

“Ohhh, you think they’re ‘busy’?  Lisa asked slyly.

Laughing, Rafe said, “I think they’re driving and he doesn’t want to be bothered by us.”

“I
can’t wait to meet her.  It’ll be nice having another woman in the house.  I miss Anna,” Lisa said.

Anna was the brothers adopted sister.  She had gone t
o Colorado with her newly found brother, Dunstan. 

“We all do.  At least she now knows she has a blood brother.  I hope they find their mother, if she’s still alive,” Rafe said quietly. 

Lisa got up and sat on Rafe’s lap, laying her head on his shoulder.  He hugged her close, knowing she was thinking of Anna’s plight. 

* * *

Ian and Melanie went back to their room and quickly packed their belongings.  After checking out, they were once again on the road.  Ian had told her they would be at his home by late afternoon or evening.

With several hours of driving ahead, they took the opportunity to get to know one another.  They both spoke of their childhoods, reliving happy memories. 

Ian preferred listening to her stories, rather than talking about himself.  Melanie would not let him be so reticent.  He found it easier when speaking of his brothers, and what it was like growing up in a pack. 

“There’s something I’m curious about,” Ian said.  “Why do you accept that you’re my mate when you aren’t a shifter?  Is that part of your magic?”

“Let’s just say, I recognized you.  As druids, we know certain things and have certain gifts.  Some secrets I’m just not ready to share with you yet,” she said.

Ian murmured under his breath, “You’ll know mine much sooner.”

He was assuming since she used magic, she would feel the power of the pond once they arrived at the castle.  He had to trust her, even if she did not trust him.  He’d never known of a mate that betrayed their chosen one.  He hoped he wouldn’t be the first.

“Well, I hope one day soon you can tell me.  Right now, I’m relying on my instincts and they’ve never let me down,” Ian said.

They drove in silence, both thinking about the other. 

* * *

“Sooo, do you only wear black, gray, or navy blue shirts?  Cause I think you’d look really hot in red, bright blue, green, or yellow.  Well, just about any bright color,” she said, smiling.

Ian glanced over at his mate.  “No.  I’m an enforcer.  I don’t do ‘brig
ht’ anything,” he said, growling.

“Hmm, maybe we can change that.  And you can growl all you like, you don’t scare me,” Melanie said as she turned her head to stare out the window. 

“Just because you like to wear blinding colors, doesn’t mean everyone else does.  I prefer to keep a low profile,” Ian stated. 

Melanie crossed her arms and slowly counted to ten in her head. 

“My shirt is not blinding, it’s bright and cheerful.  I wear whatever makes me happy and don’t really care if you like it or not,” Melanie harrumphed. 

“I never said I didn’t like it!  I just meant it’s
not something that I would wear!” he yelled.

“Fine.  If you’re through, I need to meditate so please stop yelling at me,” she said loftily.

Ian gripped the wheel, wondering what the hell had just happened.  They were arguing over fucking clothes!  He breathed deeply, realizing how stupid this was.  So they looked at things differently, they were just learning each other.  As much as he would have to accept her outgoing personality, she would have to accept that he wasn’t going to change from being an introvert. 

Melanie tried centering herself and blocking out the noise from the road.  She wasn’t really angry, just frustrated.  Never hav
ing dealt with someone so stoic, she started plotting on how to handle him.  She understood he’d never be some blustering, over the top personality, and she was fine with that.  She grinned, thinking of all the fun she would have just being herself.  That old adage made sense now, opposites do attract.

Melanie yawned.  Riding made her sleepy so she closed her eyes
and laid her head back against the seat.  They would have plenty of time to get to know one another. 

She
woke when she felt the truck slowing down to exit the interstate.  They turned onto a two-lane highway and were surrounded by trees on both sides of the road.  The pine trees were green, while other trees were changing from bright orange to gold.  She’d never been to East Texas, so she was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful it was.

“
I love seeing the seasons change.  It’s so beautiful here,” she said. 

Ian glanced over, seeing she was awake and staring out the window.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” an understatement.  Clearing his throat, he continued, “Wait until you see the pond in front of our home.  The lilies are changing color now too and reflect off the red sumac near the shoreline.  It’s especially pretty at sunrise or sunset.” 

“Ian!  That was positively poetic,” she grinned. 

Ian growled.  “We’re almost home.”

Smiling, Melanie leaned forward as they turned down a gravel road.  They traveled about half a mile before the woods opened up to reveal a castle.  Her mouth fell open in amazement, and then she found herself laughing.

“It’s like a fairy tale
, how beautiful.  I absolutely love it!” she exclaimed. 

Ian stared at the
place that was simply home to him, trying to see it through her eyes.  Looking at the castle, he stared at the gray and sandy color limestone.  The evening sun made the stones look almost magical.  With the huge oak doors standing closed, he could almost believe he was in another time.  All it needed was an outer wall with a barbican and the picture would be complete. 

He parked his truck in
front of his home and sat quietly staring at it.  Ian felt Melanie’s hand as she lightly ran her hand up and down his arm. 

Glancing at her, he said, “It is, isn’t it?  Beautiful, I mean.  I tend to take it for granted.”

He got out and went around to open her door. 

“It’s huge too.  What in the world would make someone build a castle here?” Melanie asked, smiling as she took
his hand. 

Ian pulled her to him and helped her down from his truck.  He put his arm around her as he stood staring up at his home. 

“That someone would be my Scottish ancestor.  When they came here, they wanted something to remind them of home, it’s actually smaller than the original, if you can believe it,” Ian told her. 

“Come on, my family knows we’re here.  For some reason they’re being polite and not rushing out the front door.  I’ll get our bags later.”

Pushing the huge door open, they entered the foyer, which led into the great room.  Once again, Ian was trying to see his home as someone new would see it.

  Hardwood floors led from the foyer into the great room.  Their overstuffed couches sat in a C pattern with recliners placed at the ends.  On the wall across from the sofas was a gigantic flat screen TV.  The opposite wall held the fireplace, which was large enough for a man to stand in.  They only had a few cold months out of the year that they could use it.  When they did, they would simply rearrange the furniture so they could enjoy the fireplace and the TV. 

“Ian, you’re home!”

Melanie heard a woman exclaim and turned to see a beautiful redhead running towards them.  She grabbed Ian in a tight hug and then turned to Melanie.

“Hi, welcome home.  I’m Lisa, Rafe’s
ma…uh, wife.  It’s so nice to meet you,” Lisa told her. 

Seeing
another man walking towards them with a wry smile, Melanie assumed this was her husband. 

“Glad you made it home safely.  I’m Rafe, Ian’s brother,” he said as he hugged her gently.

Melanie hugged him back, happy to be welcomed by them.  She would have known without being told they were brothers.  They had the same long, dark brown hair and beautiful green eyes.

“This is Melanie, my mate.  You don’t have to censure what you say, she knows about shifters,” Ian told them.

“Thank God!  I was so afraid I’d blurt something out at the wrong time,” Lisa said, nudging Rafe aside so she could hug Melanie too.

Laughing, Melanie said, “Thank you for the warm welcome.  You have such a beautiful home.”

Lisa pulled Melanie towards the kitchen, pointing at a barstool.  “Sit, I’ll get you a drink and you can tell me all about meeting Ian.  I can’t wait to hear your story.”

Lisa grabbed the
chardonnay and two wine glasses.  Sitting on the stool next to Melanie, Lisa poured then turned to her.  “Okay, go.  And don’t leave out any details,” Lisa said.

Laughing, Melanie took a
sip and started telling her about meeting Ian. 

Rafe and Ian had been left standing in the great room.  Ian quietly told him how he’d met Melanie on the road. 

“She’s a druid.  I don’t think I’ve ever met one, so I don’t know a lot about them,” Ian told him. 

Rafe stared at Ian, asking him, “Is there any chance she’s evil?  Calm down,” Rafe said, when Ian growled at him.  “I have to know.  I have my mate, family, and pack to protect.  Not to mention the pond.”

“There’s not an evil bone in her body.  I’d stake my life on it,” Ian said adamantly.

Rafe pounded Ian’s back, telling him without words he trusted his judgment. 

“Come on, let’s go save your mate from Lisa before you have no secrets left.”

Ian groaned as he looked over at the girls.  Melanie was waving her arms around as she
talked.  Whatever she was saying didn’t look good for him.  When they got closer, he realized she was whispering while she gestured wildly so that they couldn’t have listened in.  It almost looked like a form of sign language, he thought. 

“You called him an ass?  Good for you!”  They heard Lisa say as they walked up.

“Lisa,” Rafe sighed.  “Stay out of it.”

Ian actually felt himself
blush as his cheeks warmed. 

Melanie just sat and grinned at him.  She was having too much fun.  She already knew that she and Lisa were going to be great friends.  Changing the subject, she turned back to Lisa.

“So, are you a good witch or a bad witch?” Melanie asked in her best impression of Glenda, the good witch from The Wizard of Oz.

Lisa almost fell off her barstool she was laughing so hard.  Rafe grabbed her and steadied her on the stool.

“Looks like you’ve had enough.  Come on troublemaker, we’ll leave them alone so Ian can show her around,” Rafe said as he pulled her from the room. 

Melanie hopped off her stool and took their glasses over to the sink and rinsed them, while Ian put the wine away. 

“I’m making an omelet.  Are you hungry?” Ian asked her.

“Yes
, I could eat a little, thanks.  Need some help?” she asked. 

“No, I got it.  Just relax,” he told her.

Ian pulled the eggs out of the fridge.  He quickly chopped up some mushroom and bell pepper while he quietly worked.

“Cheese?” he asked.

“Yes please.”

After riding in the truck all day together, they were both being overly polite as if they were strangers.

Clearing his throat, Ian spoke.  “I don’t want to assume anything and piss you off, so do you want your own room or would you rather stay in mine?” he asked as he flipped the omelet. 

Melanie couldn’t help but smile.  He was working
on not being a jerk.

“I want to stay with you,” she said, shocking him. 

“Damn!” Ian yelled as he accidentally burned his hand on the skillet. 

Melanie jumped up and ran to him at the stove.  Taking his hand, she held it palm up and saw the red streak where he was burned.  Melanie leaned over and blew gently on his palm. 

Ian watched in amazement as the redness slowly faded away and the pain was gone.  As a shifter, he healed quickly, but this was an instantaneous healing.

“How’d you do that?” he asked, still staring at his hand.

“It’s one of my many talents,” she told him casually.  “That smells really good.  It is ready?  I think I’m hungrier now than I’d originally thought.”

Melanie took the spatula and placed the omelets on the plates Ian had put on the counter.  She then carried both to the bar and sat down to eat.