Royals

by S. Dalambakis

  “I’ve been waiting for you,” he sneers. “Saw something interesting today when I was out getting my beer earlier. You know what that was? I saw you across the street coming out of the diner. Then I saw four boys follow you out. I watched for a minute. I saw all of you getting in the same car. All those after school activities you said you had, they were all just a cover, weren’t they? You were out gallivanting around the town with those boys. Hmm. You were acting like a little slut for the whole town to see.”

  He stands up and grabs the belt off the table. I take a couple of steps back. He is calm, but I know that is when he is the most dangerous. That’s when the beatings are going to hurt more than normal. When my father is calm, all his anger will come out when he strikes with the belt. He walks over and is standing in front of me. I keep my head down hoping this will help. Oh, how wrong I am.

  “I told you I won’t have no slut living in my house. You’ve been meeting and fucking those boys, haven’t you? You letting them all between your legs? Hmm?” he screams. He moves to stand behind me. “I hope spreading your legs was worth it.”

  I didn’t even try to correct him. He won’t listen to me anyways. The first hit of the belt is always the worst. The sound of the belt hitting my back echo’s in the room. Without a pause in between, the belt hits just above the first hit. I try so hard to keep from screaming. Tears start streaming down my face. I lost count after the fifth hit. I couldn’t take any more. I fall to my knees, but the hits just continue.

  I curl into a ball, trying to make myself smaller. With every hit, I yell out. The back of my arms, legs, back, and butt get hit. I thought he would never stop. I hear the belt hit the ground and a few seconds later a door closes. I lay on the floor to afraid to move, at first. After a little while, I gather what little strength I have left and crawl to my bookbag. I grab my phone. It’s finally time I did something. I can’t keep doing this up. Next time I might not be so lucky. I need help. I can barely move. The pain is unbearable. I hit the screen and pull up the only numbers I have in my phone, and hit the first name on the list.

  Graydon.

  After the second ring, he picks up.

  “Hey, Callie bear.”

  I let out a sob. “Help me.”

  “Guys, we need to go now,” he yells. The last thing I hear before I black out is Graydon saying, “Hang on baby, we’re coming.”

  Chapter 28

  The Boys- Graydon

  My phone starts ringing. I look at the caller ID and smile when I see Callyn’s name. Her dad must not be home. That’s the only time she would risk calling. She wouldn’t be afraid of being heard.

  I answer, “Hey, Callie bear.” I hear her whimper.

  “Help me,” she whispers.

  My heart drops.

  “Guys, we have to go now,” I yell. “Hang on baby. We’re coming.”

  I don’t hang up. I want to hear in case something else happens. Plus, I need to keep Callyn on the line. I am checking my pockets for my keys when Zeke, Luke, and Max come rushing into the room.

  “What’s wrong?” Luke asks.

  “It’s Callyn. She’s on the phone. Something is wrong. She just asked for help. We have to go.”

  The look on their faces was shock, but every one of us run out the door, and across the street toward my SUV. My SUV has the most space. We hop in. I need Callyn to tell me what is happening.

  “Sweetheart.” No answer. “Callie bear.” Still no answer. “Callyn,” I yell. Nothing. “No, no, no.” She has to be okay. I look over at Zeke. “She’s not answering.”

  “Go, Graydon. We need to get to her.”

  I nod, turn on the SUV, and go as fast as I dare to get to Callyn’s house. We don’t even bother knocking. All of us rush in, I am floored by the sight of Callyn laying on the floor. I rush over to her. My hands are shaking so bad. I place two fingers at the pulse point on her neck. I sigh in relief when I feel a steady rhythm beneath my fingers. I look to the others, who are all staring at me.

  “She’s breathing.”

  Lucian comes over and kneels beside her. He moves her hair from her face.

  “Callyn, come on baby, open your big, brown eyes. Please, baby,” his voice barely a whisper.

  Max and Zeke come over and kneel next to her. All our hands hovering over her, afraid to touch her. After a few moments, we hear a groan. Everyone visibly relaxes. Her eyes flutter open.

  “Luke?”

  “I’m here baby,” he says.

  “So am I, Callie bear,” I say.

  “We’re here too sweetheart,” Zeke says.

  She breaks down and starts sobbing and it guts me.

  “Baby, can you tell me what’s wrong? What happened? I’m afraid to move or touch you?”

  “He beat me. It hurts so much,” she says through the crying.

  “Where baby?”

  “My back hurts the most.”

  “Do you care if we look?” She shakes her head. Max who is the at her back, slowly moves her shirt up. Callyn lets out a whimper, the same time Max sucks in his breath.

  “Oh angel,” he says. He looks up at us and you can see the tears welling up in his eyes. It must be bad. The rest of us shift to look. I gasp. You can see the old bruises in some areas, but the ones. The new ones are horrendous. Some are so bad that they started to bleed. Her whole back is covered. We need to get her to the hospital.

  “Baby, do you know why your father did this?”

  She nods. I swear to all things holy that I will beat the fuck out of her father. How could anyone do this, especially to his own daughter. This beautiful, smart, wonderful, girl.

  “Why, Callie bear,” I say as soft as I can, as I try to control my anger. She clinches her eyes.

  “He knows,” she whispers.

  “What does he know?”

  “About you guys,” she states as she starts crying even more.

  “We need to get her to hospital. Once she gets looked at, we can figure this out,” Zeke exclaims. Everyone nods. He moves closer. “I’m going to pick you up sweetheart.”

  All Callyn does is nod. He scoops her up and she lets out this ear-piercing scream before falling silent. My heart is breaking after hearing that sound. My bear is restless, wanting revenge for the harm done to our mate. I can’t blame him, I want it too. I move closer to check on her. She passed out. Zeke cradles her to his chest, as we all stand. I hear a door being opened from down the hall. A man stumbles out, clearly drunk. Her father. It must be. I clinch my fist fighting every instinct to go and beat the shit out of him. My bear is roaring at me. He likes that idea. Her father deserves to get back everything he did to her and more. This asshole touched my girl. Hurt her. For years.

  “So, you’re the friends. What, is she screwing all of you? Acting like the whore she is,” he slurs.

  OH. HELL. NO.

  Lucian

  Graydon makes a move to go after Callyn’s father but I grab onto his arms. He looks at me and I shake my head.

  “I’m not going to stand here and listen to him talk to and about her like that,” he growls.

  “We’re not. We’re going to take Callyn to get the help she needs and make sure she never has to set foot in this house again. Go help Zeke get her in the car. Max and I will make sure he doesn’t come after her.”

  He lets out a ragged breath, letting me know how wound up he really is. Graydon looks back at her father before turning to me and nodding his head. He moves ahead of Zeke to grab the door.

  I turn to look at her father. “If you ever come after her like that again, I won’t stop him from coming after you. He won’t be the only one,” I say menacingly.

  “You dare threaten me in my own home boy?” He takes a step toward me. I take one towards him. I won’t back down. He stops. He knows I’m not intimated by him. I’m not a small, defenseless girl.

  “Threaten? No. Warning? Yes. Unlike Callyn, you don’t scare me. Lay one hand on me, my friends, or her and I promise it’ll be the last thing
you ever do.” I turn and look at Max. We head out to Graydon’s SUV.

  Zeke and Graydon are in the backseat with Callyn laying across their laps. I take the driver side and Max the passenger. The keys are already in the ignition. I glance back. Her eyes are still closed. I don’t know if that is a good or a bad thing. A part of me wants her to sleep so she doesn’t feel the pain. The other part of me needs to see her eyes. To reassure her that she will be alright, and we will be there with her every step of the way.

  Turning back, I start the SUV and head to the hospital. I’m constantly looking in the rearview mirror to check on her. At one point, I see Graydon rubbing circles on her ankle, and Zeke rubbing circles on her shoulder. I don’t think they are even aware they are doing it. They both are staring out their windows, lost in their own thoughts.

  This brave girl. We knew. She fucking told us, but she down played everything. Now, I’m wondering how many times he has done this to her over the last couple of months. Not anymore. No way my girl is going to go through this again.

  The Council cannot let this continue. Human or not. Callyn could have every well lost her life. The fact that they abhor she is our mate, she is still a person. They must help now. There is no way they can let this continue. I won’t, no we won’t let this continue. If I must stand up to the Council and my grandfather, I will face each and every one of them down. From this moment forward, I will protect my mate, no matter the cost.

  Maximus

  We are quiet on the drive to the hospital. That silence has extended to the waiting room. We all called our parents, to let them know what’s going on. All of them rushed here. So, now all our parents are here waiting to hear any scrap of news on how Callyn is doing. It’s been hours. I’m going out of my mind. I’m not the only one. Graydon keeps getting up and pacing. He’ll do that until his father tells him to sit down. Then a few minutes later he’s up and doing it again. Lucian keeps running his hands through his hair. Zeke is staring off into space bouncing his knee. I keep running my hands down my thighs, not knowing what to do with my hands.

  I can’t take the silence any more. “Guys.” They all stop and look at me, even our parents. “What are we going to do? She can’t go back there.”

  “First, we make sure she reports this to the police. That asshole isn’t going to get away with this,” Graydon states.

  “Graydon, you need to calm down,” his father injects.

  “I can’t. Not until I can see her. But I’m serious dad. He can’t get away with this.”

  “And I’m not saying he should. You are right. She needs to talk to the police. She must be the one to do it though. You can’t force her,” he says.

  We all nod. “What are the chances of her having to go into foster care? She’ll be eighteen in a few months. I don’t know if I can take not seeing her anymore. I don’t want her to leave. She can’t leave. We just found her,” Lucian says. His voice thick with emotion.

  “How about we worry about all this after we can see her. I don’t care about that right now. I just need her to be okay. I need to see her eyes open. I need to hear her voice,” Zeke growls.

  We all fall quiet. I have to agree with him. I need all that so much. I didn’t even know how much until then. My girl is laying in a hospital bed, who knows how broken. All I want to do is make sure I’m there to help her piece herself back together. Better and stronger than before. I listen to what I’m saying. Holy shit. I like her. I mean I knew that, but it really just hit exactly how much. I take a deep breath.

  I can’t… we can’t, hide our feelings about Callyn anymore. Not to each other, and especially not to Callyn. She has a long road ahead of her. She is going to need all the love and support she can get. I know three other guys willing to do whatever it takes to help her through this. By the looks of it, our families will be there helping us along the way.

  Zeke

  I can’t believe I just said that shit out loud. I’ve been thinking about this for a while. If I’m honest, she had me hooked from that first day. My wolf from the moment we smelled her scent. The man, not soon after. The more time we spent together, the more I started to like everything about her. She is kind, sweet, and sexy. I can sit for hours and listen to her talk. As every day passes, I fall a little more. Now, I’m sitting in a hospital waiting room trying not to breakdown, because I can’t be back there with her.

  My sweet Callyn. My brave, yet timid girl. I hear a sound and see the doctor coming through the doors. All of us stand, but the me and the guys move closer to the doctor.

  “She’s awake. A couple of you can go back and see her. I can’t tell you anything about her injuries since none of you are her legal guardian. However, I can’t stop her from telling you.” We all nod. “I’ll take a few of you back to her room. Who’s coming?”

  “I am,” all four of us say at the same time.

  “Alright, then. Follow me.”

  The doctor leads us down the hall and turns right. He stops at a door on the left half way down the hall. “Now, she might be a little loopy. We gave her some medicine to help with the pain.” He turns and walks away.

  All of us just stand there looking at each other. I take a deep breath. Screw this I’m going in, they can follow or not, but I’m not waiting another second to see my girl. I push open the door. Callyn is laying on her side. I just want to hold her. I move over to her bedside and hear the shuffling of footsteps behind me. Graydon, Max, and Lucian come to stand around her bed. We basically form a protective wall. Good. We’ll make sure nothing ever hurts her again.

  “Callyn,” I whisper. She moves slightly looking up meeting my eyes. She quickly glances around and sees the rest of us are there too. Her eyes light up like a Christmas tree. The smile she gives us, almost brings me to my knees. I want to grab her face and kiss the shit out of her. And I know right there, I’m a goner. Stick a fork in me done. Callyn owns me heart and soul.

  Chapter 29

  Callyn

  “Callyn.” It was nothing more than a whisper, but I would know that voice anywhere. Zeke. My Zeke. I look up and meet his eyes. Those beautiful hazel eyes look at me like he can see into my soul. I look around and see that all my guys are here. I smile. Nothing has made me happier than seeing them. Lucian moves his hand like he wants to touch me but decides not to and pull his hand back. I look at him. My brown eyes meeting his.

  “It’s okay Luke. I won’t break.”

  “Oh, baby how can you say that? You’re lying in a hospital bed. God knows how seriously you’re hurt,” he exclaims.

  “Because Lucian, I’m still here. My father may have beaten me, and I may be bruised, bloody, and scarred, but I refuse to let him break me. I will heal from this. My spirit may be slightly broken, but I’m hoping to have you, all of you help me along the way.”

  “Like you could get rid of us,” Graydon says.

  “Yeah, we’re not going away that easy,” Max says smiling.

  “Good.” Tears start to well up in my eyes. I need them, all of them. They came for me. They helped me, will help me.

  “Why the tears sweetheart?” Zeke asks as he gently touches the side of my face.

  “Because you care. Because you’re here.”

  “There is nowhere we would rather be.” He leans down and places a quick kiss to my forehead. “We were so worried. Still am if I honest. Can you tell us what happened?”

  I nod. I ask if they could help me sit up. Zeke is the closest, so he does. I sit without resting my back on anything. They all sit gingerly on the bed, not wanting to hurt me, each placing a hand on my legs. It feels nice to have them comfort me. I don’t think I can get through this without each of them. I tell them how when I got home, how my father was waiting for me. He saw us in town. I was supposed to be at the library, and I wasn’t. Then when he paid more attention he realized I was with four guys. That set him off even more. I told them how he hit me, and I started crying. Reliving it again. They each start to rub a circle pattern on my legs. It
helped me tell the rest of the story.

  Of how I called them the second he walked away. The doctor said my back is bad. I will have some scars from where the belt cut me. It will take weeks for the bruising to fade. I have to clean the cuts, so they don’t get infected. I have blood blisters everywhere. They are giving me some cream and muscle relaxers to help with the pain. There will also be some low dose pain reliever as well. I was told to only take if needed.

  My back will be tender for a while and that he wouldn’t suggest laying down on it. My back will probably get stiff because the slightest movement will hurt for a few days and it will make me not want to move, but I have too. When I get cleared to go back to school, I’m not allowed to carry by bookbag. Once the blisters, cuts, and the bruising start to fade, I’ll be able to do everything normally. I am to take it easy. Light to no lifting for a week. After that I can do small things but nothing too strenuous.

  I have a follow up appointment in two weeks to check the healing process. He gave me a number for a therapist. He suggested that I call. The doctor said he was waiting for me to wake up so that he could call the police. He asked if I wanted to press charges and I told them I did. They all let out a sigh of relief. I can’t live like this anymore. Who is to say that next time he won’t go further. He could kill me. I’m probably lucky that he didn’t already. I go to reach for the water cup on the stand next to my bed, but the twist motion sends a radiating pain through my back. I suck in a breath. Max rushes over to help.

  “I’ll get it. Next time just ask. We’ll help you,” Max says as he hands me the cup.

  “Thank you.” I take a sip. “When the cops do finally get here, I’m going to tell them everything. And I’m scared. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me.”

  “Whatever does happen we are going to be here with you every step of the way,” Lucian states. I look around me and see every one of my guys are nodding their heads in agreement.

  I love them. I don’t know if I could do this without them. I need them. All of them. I just didn’t know how much until now. When my father was coming after me, they were the first thoughts I had. I had to get to them. I needed them to come and help. And they did. They came and rescued me. There is not one doubt in my mind that they will be here to help. I don’t deserve them, but damn I’m going to be selfish.