Carmen tossed and turned in her bed, fighting the overwhelming memories of her tryst with Clark. He had tried his best to stop it, and to a point, she couldn’t blame him. It must have been strange for him to be with a woman his own daughter’s age. But it had felt so unbelievably good.
“We can’t do anything like this again,” Clark had told her when she emerged from the bathroom.
“All right,” Carmen had agreed.
She was just glad that Clark had stopped short of taking her virginity. They had been so close to doing something they couldn’t take back. And in a way, she had wanted it more than anything. But Clark was strong and moral and wouldn’t do it. She wished there was a way she could thank him for that.
But how were they going to spend the rest of the summer pretending that nothing had happened between them? Her biggest regret was that it hadn’t happened closer to the end of her stay. Then she could leave and pretend it had never happened.
Unfortunately, she still had another few months to go here, and the memory of their misdeed would hang over their heads and haunt them until she left. Why had she gone and made it so awkward? And how was she going to face Rachel again now that she had all but slept with her dad? Everything had just gotten far more complicated.
Carmen finally fell asleep, memories of the sensual experience with Clark dancing in her head and invading her dreams.
When she woke up, the house was completely quiet. Rachel had stayed out really late with Bobby and had come back early in the morning. She slept soundly in her bedroom.
Carmen crept downstairs, half excited to see Clark and half dreading it. But he wasn’t there. She peeked through the windows and saw that his motorcycle was gone. He must have had plenty of other things to do. That, or facing the night before and seeing Carmen again was just too much for him to handle.
It’s not like she could blame him. Carmen set to work making breakfast and decided to eat it outside on the porch. It was a really nice day, and there was something so peaceful about the shifter communities. Even though she had been harassed by a couple of the shifter men, the natural roots of the shifters brought a sense of serenity to their neighborhoods and homes that was hard to find in the city.
The unexpected rumble of Clark’s engine jolted Carmen’s heart, and she looked up to find him pulling into the driveway and parking his bike. He dismounted and walked to the porch.
“Morning,” he said, pausing on the steps stiffly.
“Good morning,” Carmen said. “Errands to run?”
“Something like that,” Clark said, sighing heavily. “There’s a bunch of clan bullshit going on that I have to deal with.”
“Like what?” Carmen asked, furrowing her brow. She was vaguely familiar with shifter politics, but the history books always left something to be desired. It was clear they were all written by humans.
“There are some outsiders trying to take over the pack,” Clark said, leaning against the railing of the porch and looking darkly in the direction of town. “Most folks around here say it’s my job to stand up to them, but I just got back from speaking to King Lobos and he’s telling me to stand down. I take my orders from him.”
“Why would he say that?” Carmen asked, surprised. She had heard a little bit about the outsiders from Rachel on the train ride home. Apparently, they were bad news. In fact, it had been outsiders that had been harassing them at the train station before Mr. Thomas showed up and saved them.
Clark shrugged. “I don’t think he quite knows what to do yet. But he isn’t making a move, which can sometimes be worse. If he doesn’t figure out something soon, that guy Thames will be after the throne. Believe you me.”
“What do the others want you to do about it?” Carmen asked.
“Well, I’m supposed to be the one keeping the order around here. That’s how most of them are comfortable. But these outsiders are appointing themselves to all of these positions and Lobos is just letting it happen. That means my role is being diminished.”
“Doesn’t that make you angry?”
Clark sighed. “Mostly it makes me tired. I don’t know what’s what right now. If I get involved, the pack could dissolve into madness. The most important thing in shifter communities is structure. If I go against that structure, I’m basically giving everybody the permission to dissolve into chaos. And that can be really dangerous.”
“But what if you don’t go against it and things turn out worse?” Carmen demanded. “It’s not right for you to be kicked out of the way, no matter who thinks they are in charge.”
Clark turned his dark eyes on Carmen, and she suddenly felt overwhelmed by his tremendous power. Just because he held back with her didn’t mean he had to. She shivered in fear as his eyes flashed angrily.
“You don’t know what you’re going on about, human,” Clark said, standing and stalking inside. “You should stay out of affairs that don’t concern you.”
The screen door slammed behind him and Carmen was left feeling crushed and hurt by Clark’s dismissal. Maybe staying there for the rest of the summer was a mistake.
As much as she hated the idea of going back to her parent’s house, especially with her dad back in town, maybe it would be better for everybody if she did. That way, Clark would be able to move on with his life and she wouldn’t get herself mixed up in shifter business she didn’t belong in.
Carmen sighed. That would be the solution. She would call her parents that evening and tell them she was coming. Rachel would be hurt at first, but with her relationship with Bobby continually improving, she would hardly notice Carmen was gone.
But neither of her parents would even be awake at this hour, so she had some time to kill. With Clark angry at her and Rachel sleeping, she decided to take a walk and explore the shifter community on her own before she left. Maybe she would walk to the train station and buy her tickets.
With a firm goal in mind, Carmen set off toward town, shocked by how different the atmosphere felt now with Clark upset and her knowledge of political corruption heavy in her chest.
When she arrived at the train station, the attendant greeted her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“How can I help you today, miss?” he asked, glancing at the attendant beside him. They exchanged looks and Carmen felt instantly ill at ease.
“I’d like to buy a ticket,” she said, suddenly insecure about her plan to travel back home.
“All right. And is your destination in state or out of state?” he asked, typing something quickly on his computer. The question struck her as odd. Didn’t the trains travel all over the country?
“Out of state,” she said. The attendant beside the one who was serving her snickered.
“I see,” the attendant said. His features were sharp and reminded Carmen more of a fox than a wolf. “Where out of state?”
“Iowa. Des Moines.”
“Understood,” he said. The man beside him sniggered again. “And will this be round trip?”
Carmen hesitated. The idea of leaving without ever seeing Clark again suddenly sucked the breath out of her. But he obviously didn’t want her there. In fact, he had called her ‘human’. He probably looked down on her more than ever now. Especially after what had happened between them the night before.
“No,” Carmen said firmly.
“Gotcha.”
The attendant finished setting the ticket up and held it out to Carmen. When she reached her hand up to take it, he snatched it away.
“You have to pay first, human,” he said, grinning. The attendant beside him dissolved into full on laughter.
“Why don’t you two just leave her alone?” someone said from behind Carmen. She turned around quickly and, to her surprise, Greg was standing there. “Your kind are less welcome here than humans are, you know. Maybe you should just clear out.”
“Greg?”
But Greg didn’t acknowledge her.
“Give her the tickets.”
“She seriously needs to pay,” the attendant whined.
Greg thrust money at him and snatched the ticket out of his hand.
“If my mother hadn’t taught me manners, your ass would be mine.”
The attendants said nothing else and Greg handed the ticket to Carmen.
“Come on, let’s get out of here. These guys are assholes.”
“Do you know them?” Carmen asked, following Greg out of the train station.
“Well, they just took my job, so kind of.”
Carmen frowned. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing for you to be concerned about. And besides, I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. I was an asshole to you. I’m sorry.”
Carmen sighed. “You were, but I guess we can call it even for now.”
Greg grinned, and Carmen saw once again just how handsome he was. Even more now that he wasn’t acting like a jerk.
“What are you doing out here by yourself, anyway? Where’s Rachel?”
“Oh, she had a long night with Bobby so she’s sleeping in. I needed a walk…”
“And an escape, apparently,” Greg said, flicking her tickets. Carmen pursed her lips and stuck them in her pocket.
“Well, I don’t want to overstay my welcome. Rachel didn’t even tell her dad I was coming.”
“That’s typical. For being such a hardass, Mr. Thomas is a huge pushover when it comes to his daughter.”
Carmen couldn’t help but laugh. “I noticed that too.”
“Well, the least I could do for treating you like shit is to walk you home. Is that all right? It can be kind of dangerous out here. Especially with these new guys hanging around. Tensions are getting pretty high.”
“All right,” Carmen said, relief flooding over her. It seemed like everywhere she went something was going wrong. She might as well be at her parent’s house. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Greg said, grinning.
Carmen smiled back as they began walking, wondering what it could possibly be like to get involved with a guy closer to her own age. If she was never going to be able to be with Clark again, she was going to have to try it eventually.