Mate
79
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
Zena Wynn
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
81
survived the gangs in his hood, everything Uncle Sam threw at him, and six years of
79
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
Zena Wynn
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
81
survived the gangs in his hood, everything Uncle Sam threw at him, and six years of
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