Zena Wynn - Carol's Mate

He shook his head slowly from side to side in stunned disbelief, appearing to be beyond words. Beginning to feel like a sideshow freak at the circus, Carol crossed over to her favorite seat—the extra-large ottoman—and settled into it with her legs drawn up to her chest.

When the continued silence grated on her nerves, she began to speak in a soft, soothing voice. “We are nothing like television and the movies portray us to be. We weren‟t cursed by gypsies. The same God that created you created me. We aren‟t controlled by the full moon, although it does affect us, as it does every living thing on this planet. I don‟t do that half-man/half-wolf, werewolf thing like you see in the movies.” Carol conveniently left out the fact that their strongest males could maintain a partial shift for extended periods of time when in the grip of a strong emotion like rage.

“My mother and father were wolf-shifters, as were their parents, and so forth and so on. We‟re human, but more. There‟s a little something extra in our DNA that allows us to transform into our beast. I‟m not a werewolf, nor am I an animal, not exactly. The wolf‟s a part of me, but not. It has its own mind, its own ability to reason.” She paused. Having never before put into words exactly what being a shifter meant, she floundered. “Wolf-shifters have a lot in common with wolves.

Because of our beasts, our senses are enhanced. Our vision is sharper, sense of smell stronger, and hearing better. Physically we‟re stronger as well.” She fell silent to give Mark the opportunity to speak, ask questions, do something. He sat with his arms resting on his knees, head hanging down, gazing at the floor between his feet.

After a few uncomfortable minutes in which she couldn‟t tell if he was listening to her or not, she continued. “Like wolves, we mate for life. We‟re territorial and live in social groupings called packs. We take care of our young and protect our old.”

Another deep silence. “When I first met you, even though I was fiercely attracted to you, I turned you down because dating outside of my species is forbidden. For obvious reasons, so is revealing what we are to humans. Falling for you meant I would have to leave my pack and everything familiar to me, hiding who and what I am for the rest of my life if I wanted to be with you.” He stirred at that. His head slowly raised, and his piercing, direct gaze met her wary one. “But you told me. Why?”

Guilt forced her to lower her eyes. “When my guardians came, I was scared they were going to tell me I couldn‟t see you anymore. Surprisingly, Mona was all for me having a little fun as long as I didn‟t let things get too serious. I told her it was already serious. That I love you and want you for my mate. Then I told them how my wolf responded to you.”

She glanced at Mark. He watched her with the intensity of a predator spotting prey. Carol swallowed, then looked away. As a predator herself, she wasn‟t used to feeling like quarry. “Normally, humans and shifters are incompatible.”

“Define incompatible.”

“Can‟t have children together.”

“That explains the lack of birth control,” he murmured. Up until this moment, she hadn‟t realized he knew she wasn‟t taking anything like she‟d originally implied.

“We didn‟t need it. You can‟t impregnate me, and I‟m immune to human diseases,” she explained.

He nodded abruptly. She took that as a signal to continue. “But there are rare cases…sometimes… What I‟m trying to say…”

“Spit it out,” he commanded sharply.

She brought her hands up to her head and held it like they were the only things keeping it from flying apart. “Do you know what a soul mate is?”

“Yes.”

“Well, apparently shifters have an equivalent, only we call them true mates.

It‟s the one person predestined by the Creator to be our mate. Until recently, I believed my true mate, should I be fortunate enough to find him, could only be another wolf-shifter like me. Mona and Tom told me that in rare instances, true mates have been found amongst humans. From what I‟d told them of how we met and everything that followed, all the signs indicate that you are my mate.”

“So,” he mused, “based on this information, they gave their blessings?” He went back to contemplating the ground and didn‟t appear to be as shocked or angry. Maybe it was true what they said. A soft, soothing response did turn away wrath. At least he was listening. That was a good sign, wasn‟t it?

She brought her hands down from her head and crossed them over her chest.

“Sort of. The normal rules don‟t apply to true mates.”

“Why?”

It was beginning to annoy her the way he kept his gaze focused on his feet.

“For one thing, true mates are compatible, so there isn‟t the same concern about not having children. A true mate is considered a gift from God, and highly prized as a result.”

“So what makes me suitable when other human males aren‟t?” He still wasn‟t looking at her, though he was responding, asking questions. He seemed to have recovered from the shock. She tried to sense what he was feeling, but it was like hitting a blank wall, and with his head lowered, she couldn‟t pick up any visual clues to his mood. His hands were loosely linked together, and he appeared to be relaxed, so she continued cautiously. This is where it got tricky. “The alphas said—”

“Alphas?”

“Mona and Tom, my guardians. They‟re also the head of our pack.”

“Hmm.”

“They said the mating fever—the explosive sexual attraction between us that causes us not to be able to keep our hands off each other—serves two purposes. It ensures we stay together long enough for the mating bond to kick in, and we have the ability to procreate.”

“How?”

The question was asked in such a mild tone of voice, a teeny-tiny spark of hope lit inside of her. He hadn‟t stormed out or turned away from her in disgust. If they could just get past this last part…

Maybe if she started by explaining exactly why being able to have children was so important. “We don‟t have a lot of women, or children for that matter. The ratio of male to female is four-to-one. For that reason, there‟s a lot they don‟t tell the females. They don‟t want us looking for mates elsewhere when so many of our men need one.”

She took a deep breath and continued. “My first time learning about human mates was that night the alphas met you. They said”—she swallowed hard and sent up a brief prayer to the Creator that Mark would understand—“that every time we touched, kissed, or made love, with each exchange of body fluid, you were becoming a shifter like me, and that once complete, the process was irreversible. That‟s why they gave me permission; actually, they ordered me to tell you so you‟d have a choice in the matter before it was too late.”

Carol waited for his response. With each minute that passed, the silence became more oppressive. Her nerves strung tighter and tighter. Her beast stirred, sensing a threat but unable to determine the source.

Slowly, oh so very slow, he raised his head, and what she saw in his eyes caused her to suck in a sharp breath. Fury such as she‟d never seen before—and prayed to God never to see again—was directed at her. It consumed her, setting her ablaze where she sat.

Then he spoke. “You conniving, manipulative bitch.” There was more. Much, much more. Mercifully, over the years, time and loving penance by Mark had dulled the memory of all that he‟d said, but nothing would take away the guilt and the residual pain. Each word was like razor-sharp daggers thrust into her soul until she withdrew so deep inside herself she was deaf, dumb, and blind to all around her.