Clark leapt away from the door and rushed downstairs before the girls emerged. He hadn’t been able to help himself. Carmen was so reasonable and pure when it came to men and their intentions. It was admirable, really. It was completely unlike his own daughter, who had been a little bit boy crazy from the time she was three-years-old.
He had always assumed that Rachel and Bobby were fated to be together, but he couldn’t push these things. They would happen as they were meant to happen. Still, he was glad to hear that she had been swayed to give Bobby the time of day. He could remember how difficult it had been to date Rachel’s mother. He felt like he couldn’t make a move until everything was perfect, and by the time they were, it had almost been too late.
“Dad, we’re going out!” Rachel called.
“All right,” he said. “Be safe.”
“Duh,” Rachel said with a laugh.
He grinned and shook his head. Although she had shifter blood in her veins, she still hadn’t ever fully shifted into wolf form. He partly blamed himself for Rachel being a late bloomer. He had always stepped in when things got rough, and now she found it hard to be angry enough to tap into her shifting potential. Her mother had been a powerful shifter, but that was what had gotten her killed. Maybe, in a way, he had been far too overprotective because he didn’t want her to die the same way her mother had.
Clark sighed heavily and shook the thought away. He couldn’t think about his wife. Not now. Especially not when he had just deemed himself the biggest creep in history for stopping dead in his tracks when it was revealed, through his daughter’s bedroom door, that Carmen was a virgin.
The thrill that had electrified his body had been too delicious to refuse, and he allowed himself to be drawn into the conversation. He had never eavesdropped or spied on his daughter before, at least not intentionally, but for some reason, with Carmen in her bedroom, he hadn’t been able to help himself. What kind of sick asshole was he?
Clark was just going to have to keep himself busy, that was all. If hooking up with Missy hadn’t been the solution to his problem, then he would just have to find something better to do to keep himself busy.
As if by miracle, the phone on the wall rang shrilly and he jumped up to answer it.
“Clark!”
It was David, and he sounded more distressed than he had ever heard him. Something was wrong.
“What is it?”
“It’s worse than I thought. You need to come to Town Square. Now.”
David hung up and Clark scowled. It took all he had not to shift into his wolf form and bound to the center of the town, but the townspeople had stressed the importance of remaining decent. Shifting into your wolf form meant that shifting back would leave you standing in your birthday suit, and it was seen as lewd and dishonorable the further humanity reached into the modern times. Although it was obnoxious, it was a rule he respected.
Instead, Clark jumped onto his motorcycle and sped off as quickly as his bike would let him, and tore into Town Square, his wheels blazing. There was a crowd gathered, and a dark man elevated on a shoddy wooden stage peering out over the townspeople.
“Over here!” David’s voice boomed. Clark spotted him immediately and gave him a quick nod, then joined his friend in the crowd.
“I understand that this comes as difficult news,” the man was saying. His voice grated on Clark deeply. There was something very wrong with this man. “But I assure you, it is for the best.”
“What’s going on?” Clark demanded as the crowd jeered at the stage. A sickening smile spread across the gaunt man’s face, and he remained quiet as the townspeople voiced their protests. It was almost as if he relished in the anger he was stirring up.
“This guy says that King Lobos just appointed him as head of security.”
“But he’s one of the outsiders,” Clark said in disbelief. “He doesn’t belong in a position of power.”
“Actually, Alexander was out here before any of this was announced. He said he was doing research into the royal’s family tree. Apparently, this guy is more closely related to Balthazar than Lobos is.”
“That’s impossible!”
“No, Alexander showed everyone in black and white. He even printed pamphlets.”
David thrust his wadded up pamphlet at Clark and Clark snatched it up, his eyes scanning it in disbelief. According to Alexander, Lobos and Balthazar were distant cousins, while this man standing on the stage, labeled as Thames in the pamphlet, was distantly related to Balthazar’s brother, making him a distant nephew.
“This is horse shit,” Clark growled, silencing the crowd.
“Do we have a problem?” Thames asked, his dark eyes dancing.
“Yeah, there’s a problem,” Clark said. He felt all eyes turning on him, as it tended to happen whenever he got angry on behalf of his pack. They were always looking to him for guidance. It was his job to protect them. “I’m the rightful head of security!”
“I’m afraid not,” Thames said, his infuriating smile widening. “It’s all right there in black and white.”
“Challenge him!” an old woman whispered to Clark. But it had been King Lobos himself who had made the decision. How could he go against the word of the king? The town would descend into chaos.
“I see,” Clark said carefully. He would have to handle this situation with caution, otherwise they would have a riot on their hands. And in the case of a riot, there would be hell to pay. Most casualties were innocent women and children, not the people who were causing the mess in the first place. He would have to play it smart. “So you wouldn’t mind if I spoke to the king myself?”
“Of course not, if you can gain an audience,” Thames said, mirth shining in his beady eyes. It took everything Clark had not to put him in his place right then and there. But the documents looked legitimate enough. In fact, he was lucky that Thames wasn’t making a play for the crown. At least, not yet.
“Wonderful, thank you,” Clark said, doing his best to keep his voice steady. It wasn’t for his sake, though. It was always easier to keep his temper when he was acting on behalf of the innocents in his pack. It’s what had made him such a good single father.
“Of course,” Thames said, condescension dripping in his voice. “Don’t mention it. Now if that will be all, I have to undergo some training for my new position. It was all very unexpected…” he trailed off, flashing the crowd a sinister smile before exiting the stage.
He was surrounded by a circle of bulky men, bodyguards, and escorted into a black vehicle with tinted windows. Clark shook his head in disbelief as one of the bulky men climbed into the driver’s seat and Thames and his crew sped off toward the underground palace.
This wasn’t good.