The Healing Souls

Returning Carmen

When we reached the border of the pack lands, two warriors seemed to melt out of the woods. They blocked the road and I stopped for them. I hadn’t done this before, but it seemed like the thing to do.

“Can we help you find something?” the taller one with blond hair asked.

“Doug, this is my friend, Rock, he’s bringing me home,” Carmen said from behind me.

The men looked startled and one moved to the side while the other stood in front of me. The blond one frowned.

“Carmen! What are you doing on that thing? You could fall off and get hurt.” He scowled at me as he scolded her like a child.

“She’s not a child,” I told him in a stern voice. “Don’t treat her like that.”

He took a step toward me and sniffed, then glared at me. Doug didn’t seem to like being challenged. It wasn’t his place to tell my Carmen what to do.

“What the hell are you? You don’t smell human and you don’t smell like wolf.”

“I’m a troll,” I said, making him take a step back. “Carmen is a grown woman. Treat her with the respect she deserves as an adult wolf in this pack.”

“Please, don’t fight!” Carmen called out from behind me. “Just let us through. I have to help set up the birthday party for the Beta.”

“I’ll link someone to come get you in a car. That thing isn’t safe.” Doug insisted.

She huffed at him. “It’s safe. This isn’t the first time I’ve ridden on the back of a motorcycle, Doug. Let us pass.”

I managed to hide my smile. The first time was last night, but she acted as if it was a common occurrence for her. Doug looked at the other man, who shrugged. They moved off to the side of the road.

Carmen was a dominant wolf. If she wasn’t one, then she wouldn’t be able to order the warriors. They would have contacted someone and made us stay there. I grinned and nodded to the men before I drove off into the pack land.

For a while, I wondered how I’d figure out where the packhouse was, but once I cleared the forest around the pack, it was fairly obvious. It was the mansion overlooking the whole town. They weren’t subtle about where to find the people in charge.

Fae would never do something so obvious. You couldn’t tell the difference between the queen’s house and all of the others on that street. It was for security as much as anything else.

When we reached the packhouse, there were six people waiting out front. An older couple was standing next to two younger couples. The older ones had to be Carmen’s parents. She looked like her mom but had her dad’s eyes. One of the other men must be her brother. He looked enough like her that I could tell and had those same icy blue eyes.

“There’s trouble.” I sighed and turned off the motorcycle.

I got off and helped Carmen off before removing the helmet. She was a little messy, but I smoothed down her hair as she sniffed the air and groaned. I almost laughed.

“No matter what, I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself today. I’m sorry you weren’t able to keep this a secret,” I whispered.

“I don’t care who knows. I just know they’re going to embarrass me,” she said quietly.

She couldn’t see me smile, but I was smiling. She really didn’t seem to care at all. What a strange wolf.

Carmen turned toward the other wolves. Her mother looked like she was nervous, but her father looked angry. The others were just curious.

The taller, darker man stepped forward. The one who wasn’t related to Carmen. He put his hand to his chest and slightly bowed his head.

“I’m Alpha Trent Padua. Thank you for brining Carmen home. My patrol says you’re a troll. We appreciate the help of the fae community.”

I raised an eyebrow. I was wearing my glamour and had been since we left my house. It was a habit for most of my life. A lot of younger fae put on their glamour before leaving their homes. We still weren’t used to it.

“No problem,” I replied. “She said she had to get home and I promised to bring her back. You know how fae are about promises.”

“You were supposed to be staying at Ashley’s house, Carmen. You told me that was your plan for after the club,” her mom said. “And what on earth are you wearing?!”

I could see the other women and the Alpha making the connection between what she said and what obviously happened last night. My lips twitched a little. It looked like big brother, like the parents, hadn’t made that connection. They didn’t see her as a woman with needs and desires.

“My plan changed. I’m not a pup, mom.” Carmen sighed. “I didn’t have a change of clothes with me, but Ash is bringing them here so I don’t have to go all the way home. Can we please go inside and let Rock head home? I’m sure he doesn’t want to get involved in a family argument.”

“Don’t use that attitude with your mother, Carmen. She was worried about you,” her dad scolded.

His arrogance pissed me off. She was exhausted by being babied. Even I could see that. Even if I hadn’t slept with her last night and heard her admit this morning that people doubted her ability to do the most basic of things, I would have seen it.

“She didn’t use an attitude. She explained what was going on, she tried to be respectful of a guest’s needs, and she is just really fuсking tired of all of you treating her like a child.” I growled.

“I don’t need a troll telling me how to raise my daughter,” he replied with a growl of his own.

He had no idea who or what he was really talking to. In my human form, I looked like I was tall but mostly harmless. I was anything but.

“She’s already been raised and is an adult! She’s old enough to have a mate and a family of her own, if that fuсking wolf hadn’t rejected her!” I shouted. “And why did he reject her? Because all of you treat her like a child and he couldn’t see that she was an amazing woman!”

The angry expression on his face melted. Everyone else froze and stared at Carmen. I could see her mother’s eyes filling with tears. Her brother snarled a little. I didn’t think he was mad at me, though.

I looked at Carmen. She was covering her mouth and closing her eyes. I didn’t realize I messed up until that moment. Her shoulders were hunched and she stiffened.

“Oh, Carmen,” the women all said at once.

“They didn’t know I was rejected, Rock. I didn’t tell them,” Carmen whispered.

Damn it. I fuсked up.

“Ѕhit, I’m sorry, little wolf. I just got so angry. It’s a troll thing.”

I put my hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. That seemed to tell the women we probably hadn’t slept together. They regarded me with a soft, tearful look. I was a friend, not a fornicator.

“Who was it? I’ll kill him,” her brother growled.

The Alpha put his hand on his shoulder and shook his head at him. Carmen didn’t see that, though.

“He’s already dead. Leave him alone. His chosen mate doesn’t deserve to have to deal with people trying to blame her. He didn’t pick her until a year after he rejected me. No one will care about that, they’ll just care about poor blind Carmen. I don’t need that. I have a second chance mate. I know I do. I’d rather focus on that.” She smiled. “And your birthday party, Mike.”

“Why didn’t you tell us, sweetheart?”

“Because I didn’t want more pity, I have enough. I’m full up on pity. Can we please get on with our lives?”

Her dad sighed; he looked defeated. “I don’t know why she felt more comfortable telling a troll about this than she did her own family, but thank you. I’m guessing her friends left her behind again. I’m glad you were there to take care of her. Maybe we should start treating her more like an adult.”

Maybe he meant it, but I wasn’t going to trust someone who was still reacting to an emotional revelation. Carmen wanted to come to my coming-of-age party and I wanted to make sure she was okay after all of this.

“No problem, sir. I better get going. Carmen promised to be at my coming-of-age party next weekend. I hope she can come to the fae lands, you know how we are about promises. I’m getting a special privilege for her so she can find her way without getting lost.”

“I have a ride,” Carmen said cheerfully, stopping any objections. A promise to a fae in front of their Alpha. There was no way they could take it back now. “I can go with Sean and Rosario. I met them at the club and they told me they’d be there.”

“Rosario is the future king of the fae in the region,” Trent told the older man when he opened his mouth to object. “I know both boys. They’ll take care of her.”

Our princes made sure to get familiar with the other species quickly. It had only been a few months since the curse was broken. I was impressed.

“I’ll see Rock off, and then I’ll come in.” Carmen smiled.

They didn’t seem to want to leave her, but they did just say they were going to start treating her like an adult. They had to go, and they turned to leave. She waited for a while before turning to me.

I put my glamour up, to make it look like we were talking. If she did something to make them think we were sleeping together, then they would try to worm out of the party. I didn’t want the punishment to fall on Carmen if they did.

“Are they all gone?” she whispered.

“Yep.”

“Will I see you next weekend at all?”

Though I knew the odds of her being put in the drawing were high, the room was pitch black. When shackled with iron, I wouldn’t be able to use my dark sight. I wouldn’t see anything and I knew she wouldn’t see me because she couldn’t see anyone.

“Probably not.” I chuckled. “I’ll be chained in a dark room, remember?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “Anything I should remember so I can stay safe at the party?”

I thought about it for a few minutes. It didn’t matter if she made the other trolls like her. They would put her in the room with me. I only hoped she wouldn’t hate me after the mean things I would say to her, not knowing it was her.

“Make sure they know they can only touch the skin that is showing, that they can only use their hands and nothing else, and do that feeling faces thing for anyone who wants it. No one wants to touch trolls. Especially not softies like you. They’ll love it,” I told her.

“I gave you that kiss before I left the house because I knew I’d want one more, but now I want another.” She sighed again.

“Let me expand my glamour,” I said, not wanting her to know I already did it.

“You can do that?”

“Everyone will just see you and me talking,” I replied. “There. Now come here my little wolf ѕlut.”

She giggled. “Yes, Alpha.”

It thrilled me that she would call me ‘Alpha’ on her pack lands. Maybe she was made bold by everything that just happened. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her a final goodbye.

This really felt like goodbye. I didn’t think I would see her again and, if I did, she would hate me. All I had was this weekend and hope to find out if she was doing better next weekend. I wished I could keep her.

When we pulled our lips apart, I pressed my forehead to hers. My little wolf. Now that I knew what she was going home to, I knew people who loved her would watch out for her. She needed that more than whatever I could offer before I found my mate.

“I’m going to miss doing that,” I whispered.

“Me, too,” she replied. “Drive safely. I’d rather go to your party than your funeral.”

Carmen sounded like she didn’t want me to go, either. Why did we have to meet like this? It felt like the goddess was playing some sort of cruel joke on me. I had a true mate. A true mate I could meet in a week from now. But this sweet little wolf had been dropped into my lap and made me wish for the opposite of everything I’d wished for in the past.

“As you command,” I murmured and let her go.

She took a step backward and I pulled in my glamour. I would miss Carmen, but I had dinner to get ready for. We were going over the final guest list for the party. There was a lot to do. I would never forget this weekend and what Carmen meant to me, even if it was for a little while.