Too close.
I make a plate, grab a pop and my bookbag, and head upstairs to my bedroom. I nudge my door closed, after I enter. I put my bookbag down at the foot of my bed. I move to the side and place my plate on the night stand, before flopping back on my bed. Which hurt slightly because of the bruising. What was I thinking? I’ve known the guys for two days and they distract me so much, that I became unaware of my surroundings. That’s twice, in as many days. There is no way my father would have made it to the front door without me noticing. I hear him pulling in the drive all the time. It’s how I know to try to make myself scarce.
I need to be aware of where he is at all times. It’s easier to avoid him that way. I groan as I sit up. I lean over and pull my bookbag over to me. I take my phone out and check to see who messaged me. Of course, they all do. I smile as I shake my head. These boys will be the death of me.
Lucian helped relieve some of my anxiety about meeting them, when he messaged me last night. I still have some doubts about them suddenly wanting to be my friend. I can’t deny that it isn’t nice to have some for once. To not be alone. I don’t even want to think about the consequences, if my father found out. I shudder. I just have to be careful.
I know I won’t stop being their friend. It’s weird. I sort of feel connected to them from the moment we met. Drawn to them, almost like we were meant to find each other. Maybe it’s because they feel safe and that isn’t something that I’m use to anymore. I hope I’m right, because the consequences could break me.
Chapter 6
The Boys- Maximus
I thought about what Lucian said as I walked home yesterday. I’m not passing up a chance to be with my destined mate. So, what if we are all mated to her. We’re all friends. This happened for a reason. I can’t wait to hear what the Elder Council has to say about this. Plus, now it will be nice to have a reason to turn down the other girls at school. Don’t get me wrong, the girls are pretty, and I’ve dated my fair share of them. But the majority of them are fake. Some of the girls here are no longer worried about finding their destined mates.
What they want is to land a guy to up their social status. For a while they were coming after me and the others, because we each shine in a certain area. Like me, I’m good at agility. I’m fast and can out maneuver everyone. It’s helped me get out of sticky situation, a time or two. What can I say, trouble just seems to find me. Graydon excels at strength. The bear of a man. Honestly, the size of his bear just plain overkill. Lucian can absorb information like a freaking sponge. You know it really irritates me. I have to study my ass off and all Lucian does is read it once and can remember everything. Zeke is excellent at fighting. It’s like he can predetermine his opponents next move. They never stand a chance. It’s unfair really. Well, for whoever his opponent is at any rate.
The shifter females only want to be with us because of the prestige they would gain. In the shifter world that is everything. Being the best in those areas, almost always guarantees you a good job in the community. The better the or higher up the job, the more money you make. Essentially, most shifter females are gold diggers. That is what’s nice about Callyn. She has no idea about any of this and she can get to know us, for us. Not for what we can give her. It would be the same with any human female. The only problem with humans is most have proven to be untrustworthy. It is why we keep our shifter sides a secret from them, and don’t tend to mate with any.
I wonder how Callyn will fit in with us. I smile thinking about her. Which I’m pretty sure my face has been in a constant state of since yesterday. I unlock the front door and make my way to the living room.
“What’s that smile for?” my mom asks.
I have a stay at home mom. One who almost always nags me about getting my hair cut. I would, but I know it annoys her, so I don’t. Plus, the ladies love it. My mother is tall, and in her forties. My mother has black hair and brown eyes, but I get my coloring from my dad. My mom likes to say I’m a mini version of him. She’s not wrong.
I shrug my shoulders before answering, “I met this pretty cool girl at school yesterday.”
“Oh?”
I nod my head. “Yeah. She is new, but the best part is, she is my mate.”
“Excuse me, did you just say you met your mate?”
“I did. The kicker is she is also the mate of Zeke, Lucian, and Graydon. Plus, she’s human. Okay, maybe that was two kickers.”
My mother is speechless for once. She just keeps opening and closing her mouth. Then she gives me this look. You know that mom look. The one that says I know there is more to it than this.
“Is that all?”
“No. Zeke’s mom mentioned something about a true alpha pairing, but thought it was best if we all went to the Elder Council to discuss what is going on. Lucian said he would mention it to his grandfather, to see when they could see us. We believe that there might be some trouble at home for her.”
“I’ll be damned. I have to agree with Zeke’s mother. Do you want me to come with you? You boys shouldn’t be dealing with any of this alone. What do you mean by trouble? Wait, did you just say she is a human?”
“The guys and me, think that Callyn, that’s her name, has an abusive home life. She hasn’t said anything to us, but there are signs. We don’t know when we are meeting with the Council. Lucian hasn’t said yet, and yeah Callyn is human.”
“Are you sure? About all of this? I don’t remember humans ever being able to mate with a shifter before?”
“I know. We are all just as confused by this.”
She just nods her head. Her eyebrows furrow. Clearly whatever she is thinking, isn’t good. While my mother is distracted by her own thoughts, I leave the living room and go to my room. I debate if I should text Callyn. I really want to talk to her but at the same time I don’t want to overwhelm her. I talk myself out of it. I’ll see her in the morning. Instead I put my headphones in and lay on my bed. I browse the internet for a little bit. I need to figure out a birthday present for Lucian, seeing as how it’s next week. After about an hour of looking I give up.
Maybe I can squeeze an idea out of him tomorrow. I pull up my music app. As I am shuffling through songs, I land one that makes me think of Callyn. Before I know it, I have an entire playlist of songs that remind me of her. I groan. I check the clock on my phone. I sigh. I really should get ready for bed. I go through the motions and find myself staring at Callyn’s name. I’ll just send her a quick goodnight text.
Before I can chicken out, that’s exactly what I do. I’m not really expecting a text back, but when my phone dings a few moments later, I can’t help but get excited. My heart even picks up a few beats. The message is a simple goodnight with a smiley face emoji. And damn if I don’t catch myself smiling. I plug my phone in, set the alarm, and put it on my nightstand. I close my eyes knowing that in a few short hours, I get to see her again.
Graydon
I’m grumpy as I walk down the hall. The guys are walking a few feet in front of me. God, I hate waking up early. I hate mornings. I hate people. We had all stopped at our lockers already. Now we’re on our way to Callyns. Lucky for us she is still there. They all say hi, and I’m just hanging back because I don’t want to be rude. Leave it to Callyn to notice though.
“Who peed in your cornflakes this morning?”
I glare at her, not really expecting that to come out of her mouth. I just figured she was going to be shy and soft spoken like the last two days. “No one. I just hate getting up in the mornings.”
“Is that why you’re not talking?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to be rude.”
“That would be a first,” Max states. I look over and glare at him.
“Maybe you need some coffee. It should help wake you up.”
I snort. “Maybe.” I say with a smirk. Callyn smiles back.
“Aww, Graydon. You’re just a big ole’ grumpy teddybear.”
My eyes snap up to hers. She has no idea how right she is about m
e being a bear. I’m definitely not a teddybear. Those ugly balls of fluff. My bear is not cute and cuddly. He’s big and ferocious, like me.
She makes a move like she wants to hug me, but stops. She looks up at me in shock. It’s almost like she didn’t expect that reaction from herself. To make sure she knew it was okay, I open my arms.
“Come on. It’s okay. I promise.”
Callyn hesitates. The look on her face gives away like she is having some sort of internal debate. She looks at the others, then back at me. Finally, after what seems like forever she steps into my embrace. She wraps her arms around my waist. Right before I was going to put my arms around her I hear the softest whisper.
“Please, be easy.”
I frown. “What do you mean by that?” I lightly encircle her.
She pulls back slightly. “Nothing really. I’m just sore.”
“Why are you sore?” I ask as she pulls completely away.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” She waves a hand at me. I knew she wasn’t going to answer me. I look over her shoulder to the guys, as she picks her bookbag up off the ground. They heard. They each have a frown. Right then the morning bell rings.
“Come on, or we’re all going to be late.”
Lucian, Callyn, and Zeke head down one hallway. The rest of us down another. I really hate English. I sit in my seat and take out my phone since the teacher isn’t in the room yet. I pull up Lucians name.
Me: See if you can get out of her why she’s sore.
Lucian: I’ll try.
I put my phone way. It doesn’t take long before I feel my phone vibrate, but can’t take it out because the teacher just walks in. For the next hour, I feel like my phone is burning a hole in my pocket. I just want to check my messages. I don’t even hear half what the teacher is talking about. Finally, the bell rings. I grab my bookbag and high tail it out of there. The second that I’m in the hallway, I check my phone.
Lucian: She won’t answer. She keeps deflecting like she has been the last couple of days.
I growl. Why does she have to be so stubborn? What could be so bad that she won’t tell us? I pull up Max’s name. He can talk to her. He’s pretty good at getting people to talk even when they don’t want to. He’ll probably make some kind of joke and getting her laughing and then ease his way to the topic. She won’t see it coming, until it’s too late.
Me: Can you try and talk to Callyn? Luke tried but she’s being evasive.
Max: I can see, but if she doesn’t want to talk, she won’t.
By lunch, no one has an answer and its irritating. When Callyn sees me walking to our table, she can tell by the look on my face that I’m not happy. It’s not like I’m hiding it. She narrows her eyes. The corner of my mouth tilts up. It’s cute if she thinks that look scares me. I’m as stubborn as they come, I won’t give up on this.
“Callyn.”
“Graydon.”
I sit. “You going to tell me why you’re sore?”
“No, and you need to drop it.”
“I’m not going to until you tell me.”
“And I’m not going to tell you anything.”
“I’ll just keep bugging you until you do.”
“You know what, I don’t have to sit here and listen to you. You promised you wouldn’t push, but that’s exactly what you are doing.” Callyn grabs her bookbag and stands up.
“Where are you going?”
“Somewhere away from you.”
“Sit down.”
“Don’t tell me what to do. I get enough of that at home.”
I look at her, shock written all over my face. “What do you mean by that?”
Her eyes grow wide. She opens and closes her mouth. Next thing I know she runs out of the cafeteria. I look at the others. They are all sitting their speechless. Zeke snaps out of it first.
“I’ll go and find her and make sure she is okay,” he says before he gets up from the table and chases after her. My eyes meet Lucian’s.
“I just fucked up.”
Lucian
Well that was unexpected. She has so much fire when she gets angry. Why doesn’t she carry that all the time? I look over at Graydon. He looks like someone just kicked his puppy. He knows he really put his foot in his mouth this time.
“You shouldn’t have pushed. You know what Zeke’s mom said.”
“I know, but she’s so frustrating. I want to know what’s wrong, so I can help her. It is really that hard to tell us?”
“Look man. She’s just not ready. She has to trust us first. Would you trust a group of people you just met? No. It’s going to take time, and you are going to have to learn patience when it comes to Callyn. I hoped you learned your lesson about pushing her.”
“Yeah,” he says as he rubs his hands down his face.
“Let’s hope Zeke can calm her down. You’re going to see her next period anyway. Just apologize. I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”
He nods his head. The rest of lunch was silent. Zeke and Callyn didn’t return. I didn’t want to text him just in case he got her talking. I doubt it, but I didn’t want to interrupt what was going on, assuming he found her. The bell rings, and we all go our separate ways. I hope for our sake, that Callyn forgives Graydon. He really is a bear to deal with when he’s in a bad mood.
Zeke
I book out of the cafeteria. I look around the hall and just catch a glimpse of Callyn’s red hair going around the corner. I run after her, and that is a first for me. I never chase girls. But Callyn is different. As my mate, she will always be different. I turn the corner and see her a few feet in front of me.
“Callyn, wait.” She turns and looks at me and I see the tears in her eyes. She turns back and starts picking up her pace. “Callyn, please.” She stops so I can catch up to her.
“What do you want Zeke?”
“I just wanted to check on you. See if you are okay?”
“I’m fine.”
I reach out and cup her face in my hands. I use my thumbs to wipe away the tears. “No, sweetheart, you’re not.” She closes her eyes and more tears leak out.
“Why did he have to keep pushing? I told him not to. He promised he wouldn’t. Why doesn’t he just listen?”
“Graydon, just wants to help. He likes to fix things. Graydon is a softy, just as much as he is a hard ass. It’s his way of showing that he cares.” She nods her head. I let go of her face and grab her hand. We start to walk the way to our next class. “He’s not just like this with you. He’s like this with all of us.”
“When I asked him to stop, he should have.”
“I know. And I bet you any money he feels like shit.”
“Good.”
I laugh. “Now, we all heard what you said. Do you want to talk about anything?”
“No. Not yet. I’m just not ready.”
I squeeze her hand. “That’s fine, but when you are ready, just know that all of us are here. Whatever is going on, it might help if you told someone. We will be more than willing to help.”
We end up in front of our class, just as the bell rings. We sit in our seats. A few minutes later Graydon appears in the doorway. He scans the room and spots us. I see his shoulder visibly relax. As he makes his way to us, I see Callyn stiffen. I chuckle. Oh, this girl is going to give poor Graydon a run for his money. And I can’t wait to see it.
Chapter 7
Callyn
I stiffen when Graydon walks into the classroom. He got me so angry that I let something slip. I didn’t want to deal with more questions or answering them, so I left. I knew this was going to happen. I didn’t want to tell them anything. I’m afraid that if I do that they’ll leave. I just got them. Graydon makes his way over and sits in his seat. He lets out a sigh.
“I’m sorry Callyn. I shouldn’t have kept pushing you. I promise to wait until you are ready to let me know from now on.” I look over and see the anguish in his eyes. I sigh.
“I forgive you.” He nods his head. I stand and open my arm
s. He gets up and walks over to me. I wrap my arm around his waist, as he does the same around my shoulders. My head rest just below his shoulder. “My grumpy teddybear,” I whisper. He laughs, like one of those deep belly laughs, and I love the sound.
I pull back and look up to meet his eyes. I like the sparkle that’s there now. I’m glad I’m the one to put it there. We go back to our seats.
“I’ll be your whatever you want sweetheart,” he says with a wink. I blush. Thankfully the teacher picks that moment to enter. It saves me from having to answer. Graydon just flirted with me, and I have no clue what to do about it.
The rest of the school day passes without incident. No one brought up what happened earlier. Some of the tension leaves me. The final bell rings for the day. Everyone goes to everyone’s locker, mine being last.
“So, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“We can give you ride home, so you don’t have to walk,” Zeke says.
“No, that’s okay.” I wave and walk away from them, heading out the front doors of the school. I don’t check to see if any of them follow me. I just pick up my pace. I make it home. A few moments later my phone buzzes.
Max: You make it home okay?
Me: Yeah :)
Max: :)
Max: Hey, there is a football game Friday night. You should come hang out with us. You can watch Zeke play.
I sigh. Me: I don’t think I can make it. Maybe next time.
Max: Awe, okay. Let me know if things change.
Me: I will.
I put my phone away and make dinner. My father still wasn’t home by the time it was done. I make a plate, grab a bottle of water, and my bookbag and lock myself in my room. I don’t know why he’s late coming home. I don’t know if that is good thing. Right now, I’ll take the solitude. Sometimes I wish he was the type of drunk that went to bars every day after work. But then who knows how he would come home every night. I shudder even thinking about it. Let alone what he could potentially do to any other person. Him being home and drunk saves everyone else.
It was later at night when I heard him stumbling into the house. I had left a plate covered on the table for him. Honestly, I don’t know why I care. He wouldn’t think twice about me. But I know the consequences and they just aren’t worth it. I hunker down in my blankets, as I hear him curse. Then it gets quiet. He passed out somewhere. I close my eyes. I found him the next morning, on the kitchen floor, with the plate of food I left, spilled all over the floor.
Royals Page 4
