Besides, he didn‟t trust himself around her. Every time he saw her, she was with some guy, or a group of them. The thing inside of him didn‟t like their close proximity to his woman. It didn‟t know, nor did it care to know who they were. It simply wanted them gone. The man in him was in total agreement. He hadn‟t decided if he still wanted her yet, but he damn sure knew he didn‟t want her with anyone else until he‟d made up his mind.
Finally he realized that this thing inside of him wasn‟t going away.
Swallowing his pride, he went to Carol to find out what he needed to know to deal with it, only to be thrown out. At least he knew who one of the guys with her was: Alex, her brother. That explained a lot. Unfortunately the incident at her house pissed him off all over again and messed up his head more than it already was.
It took one of his professors confronting him about his dropping grades to make him realize he‟d better get his head back in the game. He‟d come too close to achieving his goals to flunk out now.
The next few weeks he spent catching up on missing assignments and bringing up his grades. When he surfaced for air, Carol was gone.
He never thought she‟d leave. He assumed that when
he
was ready, they‟d work things out. After all, he was the one who‟d been wronged. Why the hell had she left? The semester wasn‟t finished. In another two weeks, they‟d be taking final exams.
If that‟s the way she wanted to be, then screw her. He didn‟t need this shit.
There were plenty of women out there. He‟d eventually find one that didn‟t make his skin crawl.
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Mark made it through final exams. Not the best work he‟d ever done, but he passed. At this point, that was all that really mattered. Deciding to take the summer off to get his head together, he focused on work. His internship began in the fall, and he needed to rebuild his savings since he‟d be working without pay.
To make sure he didn‟t have time to think, he worked two full-time jobs. When not working, he exercised. He ate enough to keep moving but didn‟t find any pleasure in it. Sleep only came when exhaustion overtook him.
He‟d been doing that for about month when a knock came at the apartment door. It was one of his rare days off, so he was home. Mark finished tying his shoelace on his athletic shoe, grabbed his gym bag, and headed for the door, not in the mood to entertain.
Snatching open the door, he came to an abrupt stop. “What are you doing here?
I got the message from your son. Your precious daughter is off-limits. I get that.” Thomas Wolfe raised one eyebrow and examined him. Something about his manner made Mark swallow and look away. Maybe it was his focused gaze with those weird eyes. This man wasn‟t someone to toy with.
“My daughter is grieving for you, pup. If you love her and want her back, I can teach you what you need to know to claim her. If you‟re not interested…” He made to turn away.
“Wait!” The word leaped out of his mouth.
Tom paused. “Yes?”
“I love her,” Mark choked out the words. Like a dam bursting, it came pouring out of him. “I can‟t sleep. I can‟t eat. I feel like I‟m losing my mind. On top of that, there‟s this…this
thing
inside of me. It‟s making me crazy.” The look Tom gave him was full of sympathy and approval. “That‟s all I needed to hear.”
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Chapter Eight
The next eight weeks put his time in the military to shame. He thought he‟d worked hard for Uncle Sam. The government had nothing on the training Thomas Wolfe put him through.
The first order of business was to declare his allegiance to the Raven pack and Tom Wolfe as alpha. Next, he quit his jobs, packed his belongings, and moved in the dark of night to a small hunting cabin deep in the mountains of what he was told was Raven pack territory.
His new alpha taught him everything he needed to know about being a wolf-shifter. His lessons included how to hunt, track, and fight in wolf form. For the first three weeks, the only food he was allowed was what he managed to catch. Any aversion he might have had to eating raw meat was quickly lost when the hunger of his beast kicked in.
Next Tom taught him how to tap into the power of the wolf while in human form, using its advanced senses to his greatest advantage. Once Mark learn how to control the shift and change in an instant, the alpha taught him how not to lose himself in his beast while in shifted form. He taught him how to control his emotions, and therefore control his wolf rather than let it control him. Most importantly, he taught Mark how to think like a man while in the body of his wolf.
And that was just the beginning.
He called in the pack‟s historian, a little Chinese man named Hiram. From Hiram, Mark learned the history of the Raven pack specifically and wolf-shifters in general. He learned who the Ravens had alliances with, those they maintained an uneasy peace with, and those he needed to avoid at all costs. He learned which 80
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packs and species ruled what territories, and what size and type of packs or groups they were. The complexities of interpack/intraspecies relations made NATO seem juvenile by comparison.
From Ms. Lulu, a large, elderly African American woman who reminded him of his paternal grandmother, the first thing he learned was that with shifters, neither race, color, nor ethnicity mattered. Shifters didn‟t see in terms of color but species and strength. A person was either human, shifter, or vampire. Among shifters, there were wolves, cats, foxes, coyotes, hyenas, bears, and so much more. Vampires were the strongest of all the supernaturals and generally distrusted.
She also taught him wolf-shifter etiquette, which varied from pack to pack but had common rules governing them all. Mark likened it to being in the armed forces, dealing with the different branches. For instance, the army did things one way, the navy another, but they were all part of the United States Department of Defense and therefore governed by the same laws. Like the military, each person within the pack had their own rank and file, from the highest to the lowest, and there were rules governing the way each rank was to be treated.
From Mona he learned how to treat the females of the pack and, more specifically, how to claim and treat his mate after the mating. Lessons were given in how to care for the young and the proper respect given to the elderly. The young and elderly were to be protected above all. Mates were to be treated with love and respect. She taught him how to dominate his mate without being domineering.
After eight weeks of intensive training, the alphas deemed him ready to be introduced to the pack. They called a special, surprise gathering of all the Ravens.
Mark stood downwind in the shadows, watching as they poured in—by car, on two feet, and four legs—until the clearing was full to capacity. They stood around talking in small groups, their curiosity palpable.
Mark kept his gaze focused on the object of his desire, his reason for suffering through shifter boot camp hell, wondering now that the moment was at hand, did he have what it took to succeed? Then his natural arrogance kicked in. He‟d True Mates: Carol’s Mate
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survived the gangs in his hood, everything Uncle Sam threw at him, and six years of college. He could do this too.
Standing on a natural rise were Tom and Mona. Flanking them were Carol and Alex. To either side of them were Lulu, Hiram, and the other four pack elders.
They faced a crowd of almost three hundred men, women, and children. As had been explained to him, the women, children, and elderly were placed in the center, surrounded on three sides by all the men of the pack who were of age. Mark moved until he was slightly behind and to the left of the pack, almost hidden by the trees, waiting for his moment.
Thomas raised his hands, calling the gathering to order. “Tonight I‟d like to introduce you to the newest member of the Raven pack.” That was his cue. As the crowd murmured and looked around, he shifted into a large gray wolf with black markings and stepped forward. As his presence was noticed, they parted like water, allowing him to make his way to the front.
“His name is Mark Johnson, and he‟s already given his allegiance to the pack,” Tom continued.
Carol gasped and took a step back. Alex and a few others immediately began to growl. As Mark neared the center of the clearing, a blur came flying at him from the right. A challenge for position, to determine his ranking within the pack. If he wanted to stand by Carol‟s side as her mate and cobeta of the pack, it started here.
With no hesitation, he called on all the training he‟d received and fought off his opponent, and the next, and the next, until he lost count. Good thing his instructors had warned him his induction into the pack wouldn‟t be easy, and the hardest part was yet to come.
Bloody, bruised, but not cowed, Mark continued toward his goal: Carol, his mate.
Three more wolves stepped out of the crowd to bar his way. From the smell of them, Mark knew these were the jokers that had shadowed Carol around campus before she left, and the guys that had held her back the night he came to the house.
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He let out a snarl and charged forward, anger and justice on his side. He and his wolf united as one. Every obstacle would be defeated. Nothing would keep them from their mate.
The fight was vicious and bloody. In the end, Mark proved to be more determined, and the other wolves gave way, allowing him to pass. Less than six feet away from his goal, he was brought up short. A huge, snarling gray wolf with black tipped fur and golden eyes stepped forward, barring his way. Alex.
For the first time, the alpha intervened. “No.” Alex swung his muzzle around and growled at his father.
Thomas narrowed his eyes at him, and when he spoke again, his voice was entrenched with power, reminding Alex who was alpha. “You want to fight? Fight as men.”
Mark was shifting to human before the last word was completely out of his alpha‟s mouth. “Gladly.”
Alex changed as well, and the grin on his face would have scared a lesser man.
Mark raised both hands and motioned for Alex to bring it on.
Alex came forward, and the first punch snapped Mark‟s head backward. Mark gave his head a brief shake and rotated his jaw to loosen it. “That‟s your free one,” he told Alex. “I owe Carol that much.”
Then the fighting began in earnest.
The two were fairly evenly matched in terms of size and strength, though Alex stood about a head taller. Alex drew on his shifter reflexes and strength, but he didn‟t have the same edge that Mark did. Mark had grown up on the streets of Philly and knew how to fight dirty. What he hadn‟t learned growing up, the military had taught him, giving his already prominent fighting abilities a lethal sharpness.
They fought until the alpha called a halt. “Enough!” Alex sank to his knees, sucking in deep gulps of air. Mark had the satisfaction of still being on his feet, even if he was bent over at the waist, his hands braced on True Mates: Carol’s Mate
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his knees the only things keeping him upright. He panted, trying to catch his breath. Alex packed a hell of a punch for a civilian.
The alpha was announcing to the pack that Mark, until recently, had been human. That he‟d spent the last few weeks learning what it meant to be a shifter, all with the goal of claiming his mate—his true mate—Carol.
While the alpha was speaking, Mark regained his equilibrium. As soon as he finished, Mark pinned Carol with a look. “Carol…” She looked uncertain at first; then her jaw firmed. “Yes?”
“Run.”
Her eyes grew big, and she glanced around at her parents, Alex, and the rest of the crowd. Maybe seeing if anyone would stop him?
Not a chance in hell, sweetheart.
“Now,” he added gently.
She took one step back, and then another, before turning on her heel and sprinting off into the woods. Mark slowly straightened from his position. He rolled his shoulders backward a few times and shook his arms to loosen them. Then he bent his neck from side to side, grunting in approval as it gave a satisfying crack.
“If you‟ll excuse me,” he said to the alphas, “I have a mate to claim.” With those words, he shifted to wolf and took off after his mate…
* * *
Remembering how he‟d caught and claimed her, first as a wolf and then as a man, reminded him of his promise this morning to make it worth her while if Carol took it easy today and didn‟t overdo it. As his cock rose to attention, he figured now was as good a time as any.
Striding into the room, he walked over to his mate, grabbed her by the forearm, and pulled her to her feet. “It‟s time for all good little mommies-to-be to call it a night. Tell everyone good night, Carol,” he instructed as he towed her behind him.
“Mark,” she scolded, sounding scandalized.
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“Night, everyone,” he called over his shoulder. “Feel free to stay as long as you like. Lock up on your way out.”
A chorus of good nights and a few suggestive remarks greeted his announcement. He grinned, knowing they, as well as his mate, could smell his lust.
Just as he could smell her embarrassment and growing excitement.
“You have until the count of five to get naked and onto the bed before I rip the clothes right off your body,” he told her as he closed and locked the bedroom door.
“Five seconds? That‟s not a lot of time,” she argued, hands on her hips.
“Four,” he counted down as his shirt hit the floor.
“What about a bath? Don‟t you think after the day we‟ve had, we need to take a shower?”
“Three.” His pants dropped to the floor. “You‟ll just get sweaty again.”
“What about our guests? You know they can hear us in here,” she protested, but she was fighting back a grin, and he could smell the cream oozing from her sheath.
“Two.” He stepped out of the white boxers he wore.
“You‟re not really getting ready to tear my clothes, are you? I like this outfit, and it‟s new, purchased for today.”
“One.” He held his hands out and watched his fingernails grow into claws.