She could hear Mona moving around in the kitchen as she fixed their usual after-dinner pot of coffee. The alpha came up the stairs to deposit their bags in the room, and though the two bedrooms were separated by a long hallway that spanned the length of two full-size bathrooms, a hall closet, and the HVAC unit, his nostrils still twitched and the look he shot her showed his displeasure. Carol flushed guiltily and ran down the stairs to join Mona. When the alpha arrived, the conversation picked up where it had left off.
“We‟re not just dumping the pack on your laps,” Mona stated. “Tom and I will be there to assist and offer advice when needed. We simply want them to get used to coming to you.”
“We‟ll ease you and Alex into it,” the alpha added. “Slowly turn more and more of the responsibilities over to you until you‟re running the whole pack. We think that will allow everyone time to adjust to the changes. Besides, with both you and Alex still trying to get established in your respective careers, and the medical clinic we‟re trying to get up and running, there‟s no way you could do all of that and handle the pack too.”
“And then there‟s the fact that neither one of you are mated,” Mona said.
“Which brings us to our next item of discussion,” Thomas said as he settled on the couch with his coffee. “Mark.”
On the oversize ottoman, Carol drew her legs up to her chest in an unconsciously protective movement. “I already know the pack won‟t accept a human as my mate, even if I could tell Mark what I am and he accepted me.”
“At this point, you have no choice but to tell him what you are if he is what we suspect,” Mona told her.
“I don‟t understand,” Carol stated after a few moments of quiet.
“What we‟re about to tell you, while not exactly a secret, has occurred so rarely that most shifters believe it to be a myth.”
“We teach the males about it during the course of their training because frankly, with the growing lack of available mates, they need the small bit of hope it provides. But rarely, if ever, do we mention it to the females, with good reason,” the alpha said.
With each word they spoke, Carol was more and more confused.
“Do you remember what I taught you about mates?” Mona asked.
“That mating is forever, so be very careful in my selection. Find a male that‟s strong, one that will be a good protector and provider for me and my cubs, who will treat me well. Not only do I have to accept him, but for there to be peace and harmony in our household, my wolf must respect him as well. You also stated that if the Creator smiled on me, I‟d find my true mate, my one, and I would recognize him by his scent. We‟d be drawn to each other, and when we mated, it would be like two halves of one soul, separated in eternity, reconnecting here on earth.” Carol had never forgotten those words. In fact, she‟d longed for and prayed to the Creator that she‟d find her other half ever since Mona had told her about it.
“What we didn‟t tell you was that on rare occasions—”
“Extremely rare,” the alpha interjected.
“True mates have been found among humans,” Mona finished.
“A human mate?” Carol‟s forehead wrinkled as she tried to digest this new concept.
“Yes. The historians speak of it, though I‟ve never known it to happen in my lifetime or even my parents‟ time,” the alpha stated.
“But…but…” Bewildered, Carol searched for words. “I thought mating with humans was forbidden.”
“Not forbidden, discouraged,” Mona corrected.
“For good reason. With our increasingly low birthrates and more males than females being born, mating with humans would only speed us toward extinction as a species. However, there are always exceptions to every rule. This is one of them.” The alpha took a sip of his coffee.
Mona drained her cup, leaned across the alpha to set it on the table, and settled back against his side before continuing. “Human true mates are compatible with our species. Let me clarify: a human true mate is only compatible with their shifter mate. Legend says there are certain indicators, signs that will enable a shifter to recognize one. The first one is scent. You stated Mark‟s scent caught your attention, correct?”
Carol slowly nodded. “I smelled him before I saw him.”
“And his scent caught the interest of your beast?”
“Yes.”
“The second marker is that of taste. I‟m going to assume that the kiss you and Mark first shared was a passionate one, involving the mating of tongues. After which, your wolf tried to break free,” Mona continued.
Another slow nod on Carol‟s part.
“The third and final indicator is what we call the mating fever. That‟s the part where you two can‟t keep your hands off each other for any length of time. From the smell of this place, I don‟t have to ask if that part of the legend is true.” Carol felt her face flush and hurried into speech before Mona could speak any more on the subject of sex between her and Mark. “So you‟re saying Mark is my mate?”
“Yes and no,” Mona answered.
Once again Carol was confused.
The alpha took pity on her and explained, “You began the mating process when you marked him. For the bond to become complete, Mark has to accept you as his mate and mark you in return.”
“That‟s why you said I have to reveal to him what I am?” Carol asked.
Mona shook her head. “It‟s part of the reason. The main reason you must do so is because with each exchange of body fluid, your DNA is changing him into a wolf-shifter like us. He has a right to know what‟s happening to him and make an informed decision before it‟s too late. Once done, the process can‟t be reversed.” Carol was floored. If they said anything else, she didn‟t hear it. Her mind was racing. Mark, a shifter? Dear God, she breathed, not sure if she was praying or what. Vaguely she felt Mona rub her cheek with a soft hand and the alpha pat her on top of the head before leaving the room.
How was she supposed to tell Mark? More importantly, how would he react?
Carol felt sick to her stomach. She could only imagine how she‟d feel if someone told her she‟d never be able to shift again. Never feel the wind in her fur or her voice raised in a chorus of howls during a full moon. Never feel the strength of her beast inside or scent the wind and identify with startling accuracy what she smelled.
She loved Mark desperately, but did she love him enough to give up her very identity, what made her who and what she was? She didn‟t know but was very afraid the answer to that question was no. Could she expect Mark to feel any different?
Some undetermined length of time later, Carol rose stiffly from her chair, turned off the lights, and headed upstairs. She could hear the soft sounds of lovemaking coming from the alphas‟ room, and it brought a bittersweet smile to her mouth. She‟d grown up around such loving devotion. First with her parents, and later the alphas. She‟d looked forward to having the same with her mate. Now she knew she never would.
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.