Carol's Mate (8 page)

There was no way Mark would ever agree to give up his humanity to be with her. She‟d have to hold on to every moment, every memory they created, and pray that it was enough to sustain her into old age. She‟d never love another the way she loved him. Eventually, hopefully, when enough time had passed and the pain wasn‟t so fresh, she‟d find a male she and her wolf could tolerate. Maybe one who‟d lost his mate as well and was only looking for companionship.

She closed her bedroom door behind her, stripped, curled up on the bed, burying her nose in the mattress that held their combined scents, and allowed herself to grieve.

* * *

After a leisurely breakfast, the alphas left around noon to return to Refuge.

Carol got into her car and drove to a nearby state park. She strolled one of the lesser-used wooded paths until she reached a remote area. Testing the air, she assured herself that she was alone before taking off her clothes and hiding them behind a tree. Then she gave over to her wolf and lost herself in the joy of running.

She hunted a few rabbits, squirrels, and raccoons that came out of their dens, more for the fun of the chase than for any desire to eat. Later, she lay on a fallen log near a small, icy stream and basked in the sun. As the sun sank in the west, she slowly made her way back to where she‟d stashed her clothing, shifted, and dressed.

Shivering a bit in the dropping temperatures, she picked up the pace to get her blood pumping since she wasn‟t dressed for the weather. As a shifter, she could 54

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tolerate the cold better than humans, but without her fur, even she could feel the cold if not properly attired.

Upon arriving home, she found Mark planted on the stoop of her doorway like he‟d been there for hours and was prepared to linger for several more. She opened the car door, and he was there.

“You didn‟t call,” he growled.

Everything in her came to a boiling point. The feelings she‟d spent the day attempting to outrun erupted in a conflagration of desire based in desperation, and she launched herself at him. Mark caught her midair. Carol fused her mouth to his as she wrapped her arms and legs around him like an anaconda.

Carol didn‟t know how they made it into the house. When she came back to herself, they were on the wooden floor of the foyer. What clothing hadn‟t been ripped to pieces was shoved out of the way.

Mark sprawled on top of her, panting. “Damn, baby, if being around your people makes you respond like this, they need to come more often.” Carol closed her eyes and gently ran her hands over his scalp in a tender caress. “I missed you last night.” Inside, her conscience was screaming,
Tell him
!

She swallowed hard.

He ran his hand down her side from breast to hip, displacing the few scraps of clothing that remained. “I stayed up late, waiting for your call.”

“I…we sat up late talking.”

He raised his head and looked at her. “Everything all right? You seem disturbed.”

She forced her eyes to open and gave him a smile that was strained around the edges. “A bit. The news they came to give me was…surprising.”
Mind-blowing was
more like it
. “I‟m still trying to process.”

“Bad news?” She could feel waves of concern emanating from him. “No one‟s sick, are they?”

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She shook her head. “Nothing like that.” She racked her brain for something she could tell him that was close to the truth without revealing everything. “They announced they‟re retiring, well, stepping down from the organization they run. I wasn‟t expecting it. Not this soon.”

“Oh.”

She could see he was wondering why that particular news would be so upsetting to her. Before he could ask more questions, she told him, “Why are we laying on the floor when we could be upstairs in bed?” Diverted, a sexy grin crossed his face, and he rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. “Now you‟re talking. Go on up. I‟ll get my stuff and lock up. It‟s late. Have you eaten?”

She gave him a smoldering look. “The only thing I want to eat is you.” He groaned, and for a second, she could have sworn his eyes glowed gold. The sight of it made her blood run cold. Mark tugged his jeans up on his hips and cupped his crotch. “I‟ll give you all of this you can handle, as soon as I get into the room.”

She smiled, but her heart clutched in fear. She was remembering the alphas‟

words. “
With each exchange of body fluid, your DNA is changing him into a wolf-shifter like us… He has a right to know…before it’s too late
.” As she jogged up the stairs, love and her innate sense of fair play and honesty compelled her to tell him the truth, now, before this thing between them went any further. Fear held her back. One more night, she bargained. Let me have one more night with him, and then I‟ll tell him. One night to hold me for the rest of my life.

But one night became two, and two rolled into three. Before she knew it, a week had passed…

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Chapter Six

Carol startled when her arm was jostled. Sometime during the last few minutes, her chair had been joined by others, and now she sat in the middle of a rather rowdy cheering section. She looked to the right to see Lulu, one of the pack‟s elders, settling into a seat.

“Lulu, glad you could make it.”

“And miss a chance to say howdy to the alphas? Now you know better than that.”

Carol allowed a rueful smile to cross her face. Indeed she did know better.

Lulu, Tom, and Mona were great friends. Of course she wouldn‟t let this opportunity to see them pass when they‟d been gone for almost two years now.

“How you feeling?” Lulu asked. “It‟s not like you to sit.”

“Wonderful, but my mate doesn‟t want me overdoing,” she stated with a roll of the eyes.

“I hear you, child,” Lulu said on a chuckle. “A little
setting
never hurt anyone.

You listen to that man of yours. He has your best interest at heart.”

“I know. That‟s why I‟m here and not out there.” She indicated the game in progress; then she glanced around. “Ms. Emma didn‟t come?” Lulu and Ms. Emma were thick as thieves, and since being widowed, you rarely saw one without the other.

Lulu frowned and shook her head sorrowfully. “I tried, but since Ned died…

I‟m scared for her,” she admitted.

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Ms. Emma‟s arrival had proved that Carol and Mark‟s mating wasn‟t a fluke.

She and Mr. Ned had met on an Alaskan cruise, and he‟d known instantly that she was his true mate, despite her being human. By the end of the fourteen-day trip, the two were married. Like she‟d told Carol, at her advanced age she‟d known a good thing when she saw it and was too old to play games. Ms. Emma went home to pack up her house and, with her mate by her side, moved to Refuge. They‟d been together ever since, right up until the moment Ned was killed by some hunters that had mistaken him for a wolf.

“It still burns me that we never caught his killer,” Carol stated. “I wish he‟d come to us when he noticed signs of someone being on his land instead of trying to handle it himself.”

“Dang fool poachers. Must have come up from Colby way. Everyone knows these here are protected lands. No hunting allowed, with signs posted everywhere.

There was no way Ned could have known things would turn violent.” Carol let out a low, sorrowful moan. “And now Ms. Emma‟s grieving herself to death. Is there anything we can do?”

Lulu shook her head. “Maybe if her girls came to visit, she might perk up, but that would only be a temporary fix. Without her mate, she‟s lost the will to live.”

“You know, that‟s the only downside to this true mate business,” Carol griped, unable to imagine her life without Mark in it.

“It doesn‟t have to be. A body can survive the loss of a mate, if the will is strong enough. It helps when there are young to see to,” Lulu stated, and Carol knew she was speaking from experience. Lulu had lost her mate while her pups were still fairly young. With the support of the pack and the knowledge that her children were depending on her, she‟d managed to survive. “It‟s not easy, and you never forget, but it can be done,” she added.

Action on the street caught Carol‟s attention. Trey, Ms. Lulu‟s grandson, made a play that had Carol up on her feet, clapping and cheering and chanting his name, much to her mate‟s disgust.

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“Where‟s the love?” Mark shouted. “What happened to standing by your man?” She laughed and called back, “You know I love you, baby, and I‟ll still love you after my team finishes stomping yours into the ground.” Everyone burst into laughter. She turned to Lulu and said, “I‟d better make sure we have enough food and drinks set out. The guys are working up quite an appetite.”

Lulu waved her off. As Carol headed into the house, she remembered how Trey had been the catalyst in her revealing all to Mark…

* * *

Once again she was walking across the crowded campus green. A homecoming pregame pep rally had just ended, and everyone was dispersing. Carol was lost in her own little world, worrying about the problem of what to do about Mark. Last night she‟d wasted yet another opportunity to tell him what she was and how her DNA was changing him.

Almost three weeks had passed since she‟d found out about true mates. Mona called daily now to see if she‟d done the deed, and the alpha was threatening to come and tell Mark himself. She knew they were right. If only she could break free of the paralyzing fear that seized her tongue whenever she tried to force herself to speak of it.

The scent of pack and home hit her senses seconds before a pair of wiry arms hugged her from behind. “Carol,” a welcoming voice exclaimed.

“Trey!” She turned and gave him a big hug, nuzzling his cheek affectionately.

“What are you doing here?”

Trey was five years her junior and one of the younger members of the pack she‟d babysat on various occasions. Whenever the pack met, the older youths were put in charge of watching the younger ones. With his grandmother being an elder and his parents strong betas, she and Trey had spent a lot of time together over the True Mates: Carol’s Mate

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years. Additionally, Trey was so fun loving and good-natured, he was one of her favorites.

“Me and some of the guys came for the game,” he told her.

He‟d changed since she‟d seen him last. Still tall and gangly, his chest had broadened, giving hint to the strong male shifter he‟d mature to be. Even his face was losing its boyishness. He appeared older than the eighteen he actually was.

“It‟s so good to see you,” she said on a happy sigh. “Tell me about home.” They were standing close, deeply engrossed in conversation as Trey caught her up on all the pack news, when a deep, angry voice snarled, “Who the hell is this, and why is he touching you?”

Sheer startlement had them springing apart. Their reactions must have made them look guilty as hell. It‟s hard to sneak up on a wolf. Yet somehow, Mark had managed to catch both of them unawares.

Trey took another step back, lowered his gaze, and bared his neck. “Sorry, sir.

I was so happy to see her I didn‟t realize she was mated. May I extend my congratulations to the two of you?” To Carol, he said, “What pack is he from? Will he be joining the Ravens, or are you going back to his territory?” A deep sense of foreboding filled Carol as she processed Trey‟s rapid-fire speech. He thought Mark was a shifter.

“What the hell is he babbling about? Pack, Ravens, territory? Carol?” It was a demand for information.

Trey‟s scent changed from embarrassment of overstepping his bounds to confusion.

“Trey, it was good seeing you again. Tell everyone at home I said hi and hopefully I‟ll see them soon.”

Recognizing a dismissal when he heard it, Trey left after one last puzzled glance at the two of them.

“Carol…” The scent of Mark‟s anger agitated her beast.

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She sighed deeply, knowing she couldn‟t put it off any longer. “Come to the house. I‟ll explain everything.”

“I thought you had to study tonight.”

“I do, but this is more important.” She turned on her heel and hurried off before he could ask more questions.

* * *

She was pacing the living room floor when she heard the purr of a motorcycle engine throttling down. “That can‟t be…”

It was. Mark coasted into the driveway and parked the bike next to her car.

She went to the door and opened it. “You brought the bike? I thought it was too cold, that you‟d garaged it until spring?”

He placed his helmet on the seat and strode determinedly toward her while unzipping his leather jacket and tugging off gloves, both black, of course. Mark brushed her question off with a brief, “Feels good to me.” He pushed past her into the town house. “Now what was that all about? Who the hell was that guy, and why was he touching you? Why did you allow it?”

Carol closed the door and turned to watch him, still trying to come up with the necessary words to explain what she was and what he was fast becoming.

Tossing his jacket on the couch, he faced her with hands on his hips, one leg thrust aggressively forward, and pinned her with a stare. “Let‟s get something straight. You‟re my woman, and I don‟t share. This is an exclusive arrangement.

Got it?”

The arrogance in his tone alternately thrilled and dismayed her. Thrilled because he was as possessive about her as she was about him, but dismayed because he sounded like a typical male shifter. Apparently she took too long to answer, because he stalked over and stood directly in front of her, crowding her against the solid door. “Understood?”

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“We need to talk,” she quietly stated, nibbling her lower lip as her gaze darted away from him.

“About what?” His voice was dangerously low, and the hairs on the nape of her neck lifted in primal response to the hint of danger inherent in his tone.

“There‟s something I need to tell you about myself. Something that affects you.”

His fists hit the door beside her head, and she instinctively flinched. Mark didn‟t even notice. He‟d already walked off, hands on his head. “Damn it, I knew it!