∞∞∞
The rest of the week passes in a simpler fashion. I would hang out with the boys at school. They would offer me a ride home, but I would decline. They all make it a point to tell me how much they didn’t like it. I’m just not ready yet. I’ve only know them a week. But they haven’t pushed since the one time with Graydon. Taking our friendship at my pace. And I’ve never been more thankful. I would go home and one of them, if not all, would text me. I start to love our nightly text. It helps me in getting to know them better one on one. My father is starting to come home later and later. I wake up in the mornings and find him passed out in various places around the house. I even had to start waking him up, to make sure he gets to work.
Its Friday and all the football players are wearing their jerseys, including Zeke. And I must say he does look good in it. Every time I turn around someone was bumping his fist, smacking him on the back. The cheerleaders were all trying to get his attention, but he just brushes them off. It was at the end of the school day and we were standing in front of my locker.
“Last chance Callyn. Come out with us tonight?” Max practically begs.
“You know I can’t.” As much as I wanted too. I almost changed my mind, with my father coming home plastered. I still don’t want to chance it though. I sling my bookbag over my shoulder, and walk up to Zeke. “Good luck tonight.” I give him a quick hug. “Bye guys.”
Over the last couple of days, I have been trying to get be more open. There isn’t much to tell. I don’t talk about anything serious. The topic of my father and home life is completely off limits. I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop. With the boys. With my father. I can’t wait until I don’t have to constantly worry. Once I leave, I won’t care about what happens to him. I won’t ever have to take care of him again.
∞∞∞
I’m sitting on my bed working on my homework when a wave of text come in.
Max: This would be more fun with you here.
Lucian: Wish you were here.
Graydon: Zeke looks good tonight. We’re winning 24-10.
I start smiling when I see a couple of pictures of them together. One they’re serious, another goofing off. Though Graydon is serious in all of them. There are a couple of Zeke on the field. He looks good in that royal blue and gold uniform. I save all of the pictures. I’m going to have to find a way to take some with them. I need to figure out a way to be able to hang out.
Me: I wish I was there too.
Me: Looks like you’ll are having fun.
I pull up my camera and flip it to front facing. I hesitate for a moment. Just do it. I take a picture of myself smiling. But I don’t like it. I decide to do one pouting. That’s more accurate. I really do wish I could be there with them. I send them the pouting picture.
Max: Awe, angel. Don’t look so sad.
Lucian: You’ll be here next time. Keep your calendar open for it.
Graydon: You’re breaking my heart.
I smile. Zeke is right. Graydon is a total teddybear under that gruff exterior. We text a little bit more. We ended up winning the game. I hear my father walking down the hall. I shove my phone under my pillow. I hold my breath and wait until he walks by my room. This past week, it almost feels like he forgotten about me. Can’t say that I’m mad about that. I know all good things come to an end. After he walks by I release the breath I’m holding. I get up and make sure my door is locked. My father has never abused me sexually, but in the back of my mind it’s there, for me it’s always a possibility.
I decide to get ready for bed. I change into some pajamas and then grab my phone from under my pillow. I plug it into my charger and get into bed. I wait for the guys to text. They always tell me goodnight and I find it sweet.
Lucian: Goodnight.
Max: Night.
Graydon: Night.
Zeke: Goodnight, sweetheart.
I send them all a text back, but I add congratulations on the win to Zeke’s. He immediately replies with a thank you and a smiley face. I smile and place my phone on my night stand. I close my eyes and think about the boys as a drift off to sleep.
Chapter 8
The Boys- Maximus
I hung out with guys over the weekend, but it felt weird without Callyn. I saw it was the same for them. We all messaged her to see if she could hang out, but she said she was busy. I don’t know. It felt off. I can’t wait to see her today. The guys meet at my locker and we are all walking over to Callyns. I grin when I see her standing at her locker.
“Hey.” She jumps and spins toward me. I don’t like her reaction. I frown.
“Jesus, you scared me,” she said as she placed her hand over her heart.
“Clearly. You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just give me a little warning.” Callyn ducks her head and her hair falls in her face. I reach my hand out to push a lock of her hair behind her ear. She flinches away from my touch. I look over to the others and they all saw. None of them look happy. Besides that, and the first day with us, she has never shied away from our touch. We’re careful. She even started to give us quick hugs.
I clear my throat. “So, what did you do this weekend?”
“Oh, you know, the usual boring family stuff. The stuff that you can’t get out of.”
I don’t buy that for a second.
“Do you want to hang out with us this weekend? It’s Lucian birthday.”
Callyn looks up shocked. Then looks over at Lucian.
“Why didn’t you tell me your birthday was coming up?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “My grandma is going to bake cake and make dinner. That’s usually all I do. The guys come over. I don’t go out or anything. I would like if you could come over and hang out with us. Maybe we can watch a movie or play video games.”
Is he blushing? Oh, he is. I try so hard not to laugh. It’s cute. I smile.
“I would love too, but I would need a way to get out of the house. And I don’t see that as being an option,” she says.
“What do you mean?” Graydon questions.
Callyn sighs. “Look, there are some things that I’m not ready to tell you yet. But I will say, I would need a really good reason to leave the house.”
Graydon frowns, then says, “Fine, we have all week to figure out a reason.”
The bell rings and we all scatter to make sure we aren’t late for class. I pull out my phone to message the guys, but I don’t get the chance. I just have to wait for third period and I can talk to her.
∞∞∞
The second the bell rings to signal the end of class, I high tail it out of here. I reach English in record time. I take my seat and watch the door, waiting for Callyn. She strolls in a few moments later. The second she sits down, I pounce.
“Okay, so does this excuse need to be for one weekend or more?”
She just stares and blinks.
“Um. Can this wait until lunch?”
“Well, I guess, but…” I get cut off because the teacher walks in.
I sit back and cross my arms over my chest. I’m just frustrated. All I need is a few minutes to get my idea out. It probably should wait until all of us are together. I see Callyn peeking at me from the corner of my eye. I look over meeting her eyes. You okay, she mouths. Nodding my head yes, I give her a smirk. Then she goes and does the one thing I’d least except from her. She winks.
I get it. A wink might not seem like much, but it’s coming from Callyn. And damn if it isn’t the sexiest thing I’ve seen.
Lucian
Max is practically jumping out of his seat by the time I get to our lunch table. I have to tell the guys that we are meeting with the Elder Council tonight. My grandfather texted me a little bit ago with the news.
“Dude, do you need a downer?”
“No, but I think I have an idea about how to get Callyn to out of her house.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to her about it earlier, but the teacher walked in
and honestly she didn’t seem like she wanted to talk about it.” He shrugs. “But it might be better with everyone here. You guys can tell me if the idea is bullshit. Even if everyone likes it, Callyn needs to be on board.”
“Do you think that will hard?”
“What do you think will be hard?” Zeke says as he sits down. No sooner after Zeke sits down Callyn and Graydon join us.
“Max has an idea on how to help Callyn.” Everyone turns to look at Max. He’s just sitting there nodding like a crazy person.
“I do. But first I need to know if this is just for this weekend or will it need to be longer?”
“Longer would be ideal,” Callyn states.
“Okay, the plan is simple. You have group projects. For a month, it can be an English project. Then the next, chemistry. We switch what class every month.”
“Don’t you think her parents will catch on. Who would have a group project due every month.”
Callyn clears her throat. “About that, it’s only my dad and me. But, this could work. My father…let’s just say my father indulges himself and probably wouldn’t even remember.”
I look around to the others. I raise my eyebrows. They all shrug their shoulders. Indulges himself? In exactly what way? Sex? Drugs? Alcohol? Gambling? I wish I knew what was going on. That’s too many variables I don’t like.
“Are you sure? We don’t need to make matters worse for you,” exclaims Zeke.
“We can test it this weekend. See how it goes. Besides, I’m not missing Luke’s birthday.”
She looks over and gives me this smile. I can’t help but smile back. This girl.
Graydon
We talk about the plan a little bit more. Everyone seems to be okay with it, but me. I don’t like the idea of putting her in danger. She clearly already is, so why risk it. I’m out numbered. Callyn said she was comfortable with the idea. She would know better than any of us. I guess we’ll see. The bell rings signaling the end of lunch.
“Oh, guys before I forget, my grandfather messaged me, we have that meeting tonight,” Lucian says before taking off.
“What meeting?” Callyn questions.
“Oh, it’s just about some information we were looking for,” states Zeke.
Callyn, Zeke, and me are walking down the hall when some girl purposely bumps into Callyn. The girl whispers something to her, and whatever it is was, it was surprising to Callyn by the shocked expression on her face. The girl leaves just as fast as she comes.
I lightly touch Callyn’s elbow. “What did she say?” She begins to shake her head like she isn’t going to tell me. Oh, no. We aren’t doing that. She can keep her home life private. For now. But I’m not doing that here. “Tell me Callie.” She looks up at me at the nickname.
She releases a breath. “She called me a slut and told me to pick one already.” She shrugs her shoulders. “I was more shocked that she called me slut. I don’t even know her. And I have no idea what she was talking about. Pick what?”
“I don’t know, but we need to get going before that tardy bell rings.”
“So, Callie, huh?” she teases.
“I won’t call you that if you don’t like it?”
“I do. I haven’t had a nickname in a long time.”
“Why?”
She looks down at the floor before answering. “My mother was the only one who called me Callie. She died of cancer seven years ago. It’s nice being called that again.”
She looks at me and I can see the unshed tears in her eyes. I open my arms.
“Come here, Callie bear.” She giggles. “What? If I’m your grumpy teddybear, you’re going to be my Callie bear.” She nods and steps into my embrace.
I just want to protect her. She looks so small in my arms. I want to take away all her pain. I look up and see Zeke smiling and shaking his head at me, before he gives me a thumbs up gesture. The tardy bell rings. Shit. I release Callyn and grab her hand and drag her behind me, as we all run to class.
Zeke
Before I know it, it’s the end of the school day and we are all piled in my car heading to the meeting that we have with the Elder Council. I’m nervous. The Elder Council have been in affect for almost 200 years. If there is an issue in the shifter community, they are the ones to hand down punishments and rulings. I pull up in front of the office space, that the Council uses as headquarters. It’s unassuming from the outside. It looks like your everyday run of the mill offices. But unless you are a shifter, you wouldn’t know the difference.
We all get out and enter the front door. We each take a seat in the waiting area. I catch myself rubbing the back of my neck. I usually do that when I’m nervous. I look to the others. Max is running his hands through his hair. Graydon is bouncing his knee, and Lucian is looking everywhere but at us. Safe to say that we are all nervous. We wait for what seems like forever, but was probably only ten minutes, before Elder Harris, Lucians grandfather, summons us. We enter through a door on the right.
It leads us to what I like to call the judgement room. We pass by a couple rows of pews, before coming to a stop in front of a long table that has five huge chairs behind it. In those chairs sit, Elders Harris, Caine, Sander, Hastings, and Greaves. It was decided many years ago, that there would be five members on the Council, so when they voted on anything there would always be a tie breaker.
“What could be so urgent, that four teenagers would request a meeting with the Council?” Elder Hastings voice pulls me from my thoughts.
Lucian bows. “Elder Hastings, the reason for the meeting is because the four us have found our mate. One female is the destined mate to all of us. She is also a human.” Thank god for Lucian.
“Are you certain?” questions Elder Caine.
“Yes.”
“This is preposterous. Humans cannot mate with shifters. Humans have no business mating with shifters. Creating filthy half breeds,” boisters Elder Greaves.
How dare Elder Greaves talk about my mate this way. My hands clinch into fist. Callyn didn’t have a choice in her parentage. No halfling does. The bigoted idiot. Honestly, maybe the council shouldn’t be filled with such aging, balding, stuffy, old men. They all look similar, with their receding hair lines. The only difference is their eye colors, height, and weights. They even wear the same style robes and in the same color.
“That’s enough Greaves. There is clearly a meaning to this. Why would a human be mated to not one but four shifters? There has been so such case of any shifter being mated to not just one but four of us, not since the Alpha Queen,” Elder Harris interjects.
“You can’t possibly mean what I think you do.” Elder Sanders says as he turns in his chair to look at Elder Harris.
“No, but I believe this warrants further investigation. The girl they are claiming to the mates to, is new to our town. I say we look in our records and see if perhaps she is a shifter, but doesn’t know it. The shifter gene in her could be diluted to the point she shows no signs.” Elder Harris looks at us. “What is this girls name?”
“Callyn Silvers,” Lucian answers.
“We shall have a look and see if we can trace any lineage. But for now, you don’t speak a word of this to her. We need answers first. Once we have something we will contact you. Don’t be surprised if we don’t find anything. I may need to see her and ask her questions myself. This could help us out in the long run.”
“Yes, Elder Harris.”
“Good. Continue how you boys have been with her. Don’t let her know anything is going on. Also, Lucian, be sure to invite her over some time. I would like to meet her. Give us time to do some research and maybe we’ll have answer.” Lucian nods. “You may go.”
We do, without another word.
Graydon waits until we are on the road going home before he speaks.
“Are you going to do what they said? Not tell her anything.”
“They didn’t give us much choice,” Lucian states.
“It fills wrong,” I interject.
&
nbsp; “I know. I don’t like it either, but I don’t see another option right now. Callyn doesn’t know anything about this world. Maybe we shouldn’t say thing to her, until we have all answers and the facts.”
Maybe, but it still doesn’t feel right.
∞∞∞
The rest of the school week flies by. There hasn’t been any word from the Elder Council yet. I’m not sure if that is a good thing. We haven’t really talked about anything since the meeting. Until we know more, there really isn’t anything we can do. We talked briefly about the possibility of Callie being a shifter, but none of us believe that she is. If she was this would be easier. Like girls leaving her alone because they would know she was ours.
Callyns had a couple of incidents with some girls over the week. You can tell she is trying not to let it bother her, but it does. Today, is the first time Callyn is coming to hang out. I know she’s been nervous. She said the conversation she had with her father didn’t go well, but in the end, she convinced him. An argument happened between Callyn and Graydon after that about someone coming and picking her up.
Needless to say, she refused. Stating that she was more than capable of walking, just like she does to and from school every day. Well, that sparked another argument. One that they eventually compromised on. Callyn said she would let us start giving her a ride home, only after she saw how this weekend, next week, and next weekend went. Then and only then would she let us start taking her home. Graydon tried to throw in picking her up too, but she said they would already be going out if there way taking her home that she didn’t want them to do that going to school as well.
Sometimes those two are like oil and water. But then after everything is said and done they makeup by hugging and calling each other by their nicknames. They are seriously entertaining. Graydon isn’t used to someone defying him. Callyn gives him a run for his money. Now, we are all sitting here at Lucians waiting for Callyn to show up when there is a knock on the door. Speak of the cute little devil.
Royals Page 5
