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 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.
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?”
“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!
Knew this thing between us was too good to be true.” He swung around. “What is it?
You‟re married, engaged?”
“What? No!”
Those hands landed back on his hips, and he tilted his head sideways, a scowl on his face. “You have some sort of disease? Herpes, AIDS, HIV? Do I need to go get checked out?”
The ridiculousness of his guesses pushed her past fear into outrage. “None of the above. You think I would have hid something like that from you? What type of woman do you take me for?”
“I thought I knew until I walked up to find you rubbing yourself all over some dude and letting him do the same to you. You‟ve been acting strange ever since your parents were here. What did they do? Threaten to tell homeboy you were making it with someone else while he wasn‟t around? That‟s it, isn‟t it? That‟s why you didn‟t call me when they left. Why you‟ve been giving me one lame excuse after another about why I shouldn‟t come over.”
“You‟ve been here every night,” she protested vehemently.
“That‟s ‟cause I came over anyway. You want to talk? Talk. Give it to me. Let‟s hear what you have to say.”
“Fine.” She‟d give it to him all right. She‟d let him have it with both barrels.
“I‟m not human. I‟m a shape-shifter, a wolf-shifter to be more precise.”
He stared at her for a moment in complete silence. She met his gaze, waiting for his reaction. The tension, already high, built to explosive proportions. Mark took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His fists, hanging by his sides, tightened and relaxed in a steady rhythm as he struggled with powerful emotions. Face to the ceiling, he swallowed hard enough to make his Adam‟s apple bob. She could see, smell—hell, almost taste—his mounting fury.
“This is a bunch of bullshit!” He spun on his heel and strode to the couch, snatching up his jacket in one fluid motion. “If you don‟t want to be with me, fine.
But don‟t hand me some asinine shit about not being human. You must think I‟m some sort of…”
Carol, who‟d stripped while his eyes were closed, waited until Mark‟s attention fell on her. Then she shifted to wolf. No warning. No explanation. She knew what he saw. One minute a woman. The next a larger-than-average brown wolf with gold-tipped fur. She stood on all fours, leaning slightly forward with her mouth open so he caught a glimpse of fang.