The clinic was scheduled to open in a few months and was where Carol had been planning on doing her internship until this situation with Mark had come up.
Now she didn‟t know what to do. She was so conflicted. The pack and her guardians had invested a great deal of money into her training—for the benefit of the pack.
Yes, she‟d earned good grades in school and received several scholarships and grants because of them, but they didn‟t cover everything. Even the town house she was living in had been purchased by the pack, specifically for her use, at the alphas‟
direction. Something she didn‟t think they‟d done for any other Raven pack member.
So how was she supposed to tell them she‟d changed her mind, that she wanted to follow her mate instead? She couldn‟t. The small amount of food she‟d managed to consume turned to rocks in her belly.
Chapter Five
“Your love life is not what we came to discuss,” Mona said later in the meal.
“The reason Thomas and I decided to drop in on you unannounced is to tell you that we‟re stepping down from our position as alphas of the Raven pack.” Carol almost choked on the lemonade she was drinking. “What? Stepping down? But…are you sure Alex is ready? He‟s only a little over thirty.” It was well-known within the pack that Alex was being groomed to take over. Most alphas were older. A lot older. Like in their midforties. “Does Alex know?”
“Yes. Had you come home for Christmas, we‟d have discussed this with you then, when we broke the news to him,” Mona said.
Her own problems forgotten, Carol tried to wrap her mind around this coming change. “But he‟s not mated. How‟s he supposed to deal with everything on his own?” Having lived with the alphas, Carol was well aware of all that was involved in leading the pack.
“That‟s where you come into the picture,” Mona told her.
“Me?” her voice squeaked.
“Yes, you. We‟re making you his second. The elders have already approved our decision,” Mona calmly informed her.
“But…but…” Carol was speechless.
“We‟ll still be around to help and to give counsel, but for all intents and purposes, you and Alex will lead the Raven pack,” Mona continued.
Carol shook her head, completely bewildered. “I don‟t understand. I‟m not an alpha like Alex, only a beta. Don‟t you want someone stronger?”
The alpha spoke. “No. This wasn‟t a sudden decision. He isn‟t the only one we‟ve been grooming for this day. You have a heart for the pack. You proved it when you gave up your dreams of being an ob-gyn and pursued nursing instead because it‟s what the pack needed.”
It was true she‟d wanted to be an obstetrician, but she was still in the medical field. She didn‟t feel that she‟d made a sacrifice, simply traded one degree for another. She would have the best of both worlds. She could give the pack what they needed and still satisfy her desire to deliver healthy babies into the world by training to be a licensed midwife. Since the alphas were working on a deal with the local state university to have the clinic set up as an adjunct training facility, she wouldn‟t have to be away from the pack as long to complete her studies.
“And despite your many disagreements, you and Alex work well together. He won‟t have to worry about you overstepping your boundaries or trying to take the pack away from him,” Mona added.
It was true she and Alex fought a lot, but it was more in the nature of siblings than anything else, not that she‟d admit that to him. He was already too cocky for his own good. It was her duty to knock him down a peg or two whenever the opportunity presented itself, something she relished.
“And you said the elders have already agreed?”
“Yes. Why wouldn‟t they?” Mona asked. “It‟s not like this is a surprise to them.
They‟ve known our intentions since you were young.”
“But I‟m not blood,” Carol argued. Yes, it was traditional that whenever possible, the alphas‟ eldest offspring led the pack after the demise or retirement of the current alphas. Also, in large packs like theirs, it wasn‟t unheard of for the responsibility to be split among siblings, as long as a clear leader was established.
“You‟re the daughter of our heart and in the eyes of the pack, therefore every bit as much our child as Alex, so I‟ll hear no more on that subject, young lady,” the alpha said sternly.
“Yes, sir,” she said, suitably cowed.
Mona reached out and took Carol‟s hand in hers. “Carol, you can do this. We have every confidence in you. We know it; the elders know it; now you need to realize it.”
“What does Alex have to say about all of this?”
“My son wisely stated that he wouldn‟t have anyone else but you as his second.” Thomas‟s pride in both of them was evident.
The waiter returned to the table, which gave Carol time to digest all that had been said. She was going to be the Raven pack‟s second in command, in line to lead if anything happened to Alex. It was a lot to take in, and something she‟d never even dreamed of, let alone considered might happen.
As second, her choice of mate was of paramount importance to the pack, as he would share her position and ranking. Her heart throbbed and she rubbed her chest, but the pain was emotional. The pack would never accept a human male as her mate. Not now. She had to let Mark go.
Everything in her cried out against it, but it had to be done.
“Carol, did you want dessert?” Mona asked.
“No, ma‟am.” From the concerned look Mona shot her, she knew Mona could smell her pain. Before she could misunderstand its cause and think her ungrateful, Carol sighed and said, “I‟d hoped that somehow, someway, Mark and I could be together in spite of our differences, but the pack would never accept him. Not now.”
“Never say never,” the alpha stated cryptically. “If you ladies are ready, we can leave.”
Carol tried to puzzle out what his statement meant the whole way home. Was he saying there was a chance she and Mark could be together? But how? Even if the pack would accept a human as her mate, she was forbidden to reveal to him what she was. Not only that, but Mark had big city dreams. She couldn‟t ask him to follow her to Refuge, where the population was small and the job opportunities few, and she couldn‟t betray the confidence the alpha and elders were placing in her. If that wasn‟t enough, Alex needed her. There was no way she‟d leave him to handle things alone.
They were silent on the drive, each busy with their own thoughts.
When they arrived at the town house, Carol went upstairs to put fresh sheets on the bed in the master room while Tom removed their bags from the vehicle. This wasn‟t the first time her guardians, as well as other members of the pack, had come to visit. It‟s one of the reasons she didn‟t have a roommate. Well, that and the whole being-a-shifter thing.
Once finished, she opened the window in her room and closed the bedroom door, hoping it would lessen some of the smell of sex. Mark‟s scent permeated the room, sending a surge of lust and longing through her. No matter how understanding Mona might seem about her having an “adult” relationship, there was no way she could call Mark over to spend the night. Not while they were here.
Besides, she might as well get used to sleeping alone again since that‟s what she‟d be for the foreseeable future—alone.