Claimed by the Beast Bundle

by Dawn Michelle

  They moved down the hall past a couple of bays with curtains pulled to offer a semblance of privacy. Liz took them to an actual room with a bed in it and motioned for them to head in. She shut the door behind them and turned back around to face them.

  Liz opened one of the cupboard doors and pulled out a folded blue hospital gown. “Honey, we have to get you into a hospital robe. Is that going to be okay?”

  Beth stared at her. She hugged her hands tighter and looked up at Crystal.

  “It’s okay, I won’t leave,” Crystal tried to reassure her.

  Beth shook her head and fresh tears fell down her cheeks. “So stupid,” Beth whispered.

  “No, no, you weren’t,” Crystal said through the hitch in her voice. “You’re going to be okay. I promise, you’ll be fine. Just let the nurse help you.”

  “No!” Beth said with more force. She shook her head. “Just you.”

  Crystal hesitated and then nodded. She turned to Liz and Hank. “Can you wait outside?”

  Hank nodded and stepped out. Liz followed behind him, glancing back at Beth and Crystal before she pulled the door shut. Crystal turned to Beth and knelt in front of the chair. “I’m so sorry you got caught up in this. This is all my fault.”

  Beth shook her head. “I fucked up,” she whispered. “I wanted to help. Thought I could stop him or something.”

  Crystal leaned into her friend and hugged her. She didn’t know what to say; instead, she just held her friend and felt her hot tears against her skin. After Beth began to calm and the tears dried, Crystal backed away. “He didn’t bite you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Did you hurt him? Cut him or scratch him?”

  “No.”

  Crystal smiled. “You’re going to be okay then. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “Crys, he—he raped me,” she whispered and shot her eyes to the door. “And he just kept doing it!”

  Crystal nodded. “Don’t worry. They’ll take care of you. We have to get you changed in to a robe, though. Can you stand?”

  Beth sucked on her lip and winced. It was split in two places and the movement caused fresh blood to well up in one of the rips. “I think so,” she whispered.

  Crystal slipped her hands under Beth’s arms and helped her stand up. Beth gasped, making Crystal freeze in place. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

  “No. Well, a little,” she admitted. “You’re so strong. You didn’t used to be. Is that, um, what happened to you?”

  Crystal felt her cheeks tighten. “I don’t know, maybe,” she said. “Don’t worry about that.”

  “I wish I could be like you,” Beth mumbled.

  Crystal shook her head. “No you don’t. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

  Beth snorted, but she was standing steady on her feet. Crystal helped her slip the ruined shirt off and then held her steady while they pulled her pants back off. Kneeling beside her, Crystal couldn’t help but breathe in the overwhelming scent of the brutality Chad had done to her. She snarled and wrinkled her nose. She marked Chad’s scent and knew she’d never forget it. Against her better judgment, she turned her head and stared past the dark curls between Beth’s legs. She tilted her head, surprised. She looked nothing like she had before.

  “Beth, are you sure he didn’t get any blood on you?”

  “What? Yes, why?”

  “You, um…” Crystal hesitated. She wasn’t sure how to say what she needed to. “You looked worse, down here, before.”

  “Stephanie,” Beth said, her breath whistling through her lips. “She helped clean me up. Said it might help if I could get as much out of me as possible.”

  Crystal stared up at her friend’s flaming red face. “She did what?”

  Beth nodded. “Is that bad?”

  Crystal shook her head. The cheerleader might have had a point. Still, it bothered Crystal. Especially after how Steph had offered to help her clean up earlier! “She didn’t, um, lick you anywhere, did she?”

  “What are you talking about? Lick me? No!” Crystal and Beth shared a shiver. “Steph’s nice. She’s a good friend. She really cares about us.”

  Crystal nodded and didn’t say anything. Beth was right, but she didn’t know the half of it. She stood up and helped Beth into the gown. She tied it in the back and held her hands while she moved to sit and then lay on the hospital bed.

  “Hey, I’m going to let them in and call your folks, okay?”

  Beth sucked on her lip and nodded. “Just the nurse?”

  “Hank’s only here to help protect you,” Crystal said.

  “I—I know,” Beth stammered. “But still, um, if you’re not here…”

  Crystal nodded. “It’s okay, I understand. I’ll keep him with me.”

  “Thanks.”

  Crystal leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “You’re going to be fine.”

  Beth offered her a weak smile and watched her as Crystal went to the door and opened it.

  Chapter 8

  A knock on Beth’s door preceded the nurse opening it and stepping out of the way. Brett and Marian Stenger, Beth’s parents, rushed in and nearly knocked Crystal over. Brett pulled up short and had to crane his neck up to look at Hank.

  “Who are you?” he demanded while his wife all but fell onto Beth’s bed as she hugged and kissed her.

  Hank raised a dark eyebrow. “I’m Hank,” he said.

  “Mr. Stenger.” Crystal rushed to her boyfriend’s defense. “Hank was with me. He scared away the guy who was hurting her.”

  Brett glanced at Crystal and his shoulders dropped. He turned back to Hank and stuck out his hand. Hank took it. “Thank you, Hank. Thank you so much. I—I don’t even know what to say.”

  “You don’t need to say anything,” Hank offered. “I didn’t do anything that someone else wouldn't have done.”

  Brett shook his head and cleared his throat. “Well, thank you for being in the right place at the right time then.”

  Hank smiled. “Glad I could be.”

  Beth’s dad stepped around him and moved to the other side of Beth’s bed. He gave her a hug and then glanced away, blinking rapidly to clear the moisture from his eyes. Crystal felt her own throat tighten. She reached down to capture Hank’s hand in hers. She gave it a tug and nodded at the door.

  “We’re going to give you guys some time with her, okay?” Crystal said.

  She was ignored as Beth’s parents fawned over the injured girl.

  Crystal pulled Hank outside with her, walking past two police officers who were headed the opposite direction. She glanced at them and frowned. Had the hospital called the police? It made sense; a major crime had been committed. The thought of getting cops involved seemed dangerous to her. If they found out what was really going on, there was a lot more at risk than just a family name.

  Once they were outside the hospital and standing alone, Crystal turned to her boyfriend. “What the hell is going on?” she asked. His eyes widened but before he could respond, she pushed on. “Why would Guntar just let them go? They had guns, sure, but we outnumbered them.”

  “You want to get shot?” Hank asked.

  “Of course not!” she snapped. “But I’ve been hurt pretty bad lately and I’m fine now. It might hurt, but I would recover.”

  “What if it was a bullet through your heart or your head? Think you’d still heal?”

  Crystal frowned. “Maybe? I don’t know. I hit my head pretty hard when I fell off Ember’s bike.”

  “Hit it hard,” he stressed, “but you didn’t spread it across the ground. And that was before, when you still had the Beast in you. You healed a lot faster then. Faster than any of us. Think you still do?”

  Crystal glanced at her belly where her scars were covered by her dress. She hadn’t managed to hurt herself since her time with Clover and she wasn’t in a hurry to try. “I don’t know. Probably not, that’s what I was told.”

  “Right,” Hank said. “And if they had belladon
na with them, they probably had silver bullets too.”

  “Silver? Like that necklace Stephanie gave Beth?”

  “What?”

  “She did,” Crystal said. “She gave it to me but it made my hand itch, so I let her give it to Beth instead. Besides, Beth loves jewelry and I don’t really care about it that much.”

  “Oh, okay. Well, if it made your hand itch, imagine what being shot with a silver bullet or stabbed with a silver knife would feel like.”

  Crystal stuck out her tongue. “No thanks.”

  “Something about silver makes it harder for us to recover,” Hank said. “It’s our kryptonite.”

  Crystal rolled her eyes and made him chuckle. “Okay, so what about this belladonna stuff? That’s a plant, I remember that from school. Poisonous, right?”

  “Belladonna’s been used as poison for thousands of years,” he confirmed. “Wolfsbane too. In fact, it got that name from wolves, normal ones, digging up the roots in hard winters and eating them. Then it killed them.”

  “Yuck.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t know how it tastes, only that it will stop your breathing and your heart. We can handle most poisons; we digest them and metabolize them before they hurt us. A good dose of either of those will knock us out, though. A heavy dose can kill us.”

  Crystal tilted her head. “Okay, uh, why would they have that then? And how would they know?”

  “There are people out there who know about us. Not our pack, necessarily, but what we are. They know we are real and they don’t think we should be.”

  “You mean—” Crystal hesitated. “Oh my God! Guntar and Adrian were talking about this. Nutjobs who think we’re evil and should be destroyed! But how did they know we’d be there?”

  Hank shrugged.

  “You have to have an idea! Come on, Hank, you’ve been with them awhile—you have to know something!”

  He sighed. “My guess? They know enough to figure out what’s happening to that kid—”

  “Chad?” Crystal interrupted.

  “Yeah, Chad. So they armed themselves in case they had to take him down.”

  “Jesus,” Crystal muttered. “But, uh, Chad’s dad was there! And Stephanie’s dad. Holy cow, Steph told me how religious her dad is and how he and Chad’s dad are in all the same clubs and stuff. Oh man, this is bad. Really, really bad!”

  Hank sighed. “Crys, calm down.”

  “Calm down? How can I calm down? I’m living in the same town as some psychopaths who want me dead! His daughter is one of my best friends!”

  “Stephanie’s one of your best friends? When did that happen?” he asked.

  “This week,” Crystal said. “After I accidentally made her fall in love with me.”

  He frowned. “Just because she has to love you doesn’t mean you have to feel anything special for her. Remember, you couldn’t stand her a couple weeks ago.”

  “What are you talking about? How can I not feel something?”

  “Guilt maybe,” he offered. “I’m just trying to remind you, that’s all. Don’t let yourself get caught up into thinking this is some high school drama. Settle down a little.”

  “Oh my God! Beth just got raped and had the crap beat out of her! If we hadn’t found her, she’d either be dead or a lot worse off. What almost happened to me could have happened to her!”

  “And it didn’t. We can’t undo what’s been done; we can only move ahead,” he said in a voice that was so calm it made her furious.

  “Maybe you’re used to this kind of stuff but I’m not,” Crystal hissed at him. “That’s my friend in there. She’s been my best friend for, like, ever. If she’s hurting, then I’m hurting. And right now she’s really messed up. I want to find that son of a bitch and I want him to pay for what he did!”

  “He will.”

  “How? Guntar let him go!”

  “We know who and where he is,” Hank reminded her. “We’ll watch him and we’ll take care of him, but not until it’s safe to do so.”

  The door to the ER lobby hissed open, stopping Crystal from responding. They turned and saw Beth’s parents walking towards them. Brett was reaching into his pocket while Marian looked up from her purse and rushed forward. She threw her arms around Crystal and squeezed her tight enough to make Crystal gasp. Marian let her go and turned to Hank. Without a word, she gave him a long hug that left the tall biker blushing.

  “Thank you so much,” she whispered when she finally let go. “Both of you!”

  “I wish we’d have gotten there sooner,” Crystal said.

  Mrs. Stenger’s eyes lingered on Hank before she turned to Crystal and said, “You got there, that’s what’s important. I just wish it hadn’t been so dark so one of you could have seen him clearly.”

  Crystal’s brow furrowed. “Beth didn’t get a good look at him?”

  “She said it was too dark.”

  Crystal turned to Hank and saw him give a quick shake of his head. She frowned. “Dang it. I hoped she’d know.”

  Mrs. Stenger turned to Hank. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Hank,” he offered and smiled. “Hank Rogers.”

  “I’m Marian Stenger, and this is my husband, Brett. We can’t thank either of you two enough,” she gushed. She glanced back at the doors and said, “They gave her some medicine to help her rest. I’m going to stay with her tonight so I can find out what the lab tests have to say.”

  Crystal grimaced. They were probably testing for a lot of things. It was too early to check for pregnancy, but they might be able to look for other things. Infections and maybe even STDs. She shivered at the thought of it.

  “They gave her some medicine to make sure nothing happened,” Mrs. Stenger added after watching Crystal shudder. “Beth’s been on the Pill for over a year but, you know, in a case like this we can’t be too careful.”

  Crystal saw Hank’s eyes widen and felt her own reacting the same. “Um, yeah,” she said, anxious to talk about something—anything—else. “I’m glad Hank was with me, otherwise that creep might have tried to rape me too.”

  Mrs. Stenger nodded and turned to regard Hank. “You look like you go to the gym?”

  Mr. Stenger chuckled. “He looks like he ate the gym! I’d guess college football?”

  “Used to play a little ball,” Hank admitted. “Wrestled too. These days I just try to keep in shape.”

  “Your idea of in shape reminds me of action movie stars from the eighties!”

  “He’s a hero as far as I’m concerned,” Mrs. Stenger added to her husband’s praise. She smiled at Crystal and said, “Both of you are!”

  “I’d do almost anything for her,” Crystal said.

  Marian nodded and sniffed back some tears. “Go home, it’s late. I’ll stay with her.”

  “I—”

  “I’m telling you that as a mother,” Mrs. Stenger said. “You’ve been my daughter all these years too, Crystal. Go get some rest. She’s going to have a rough time and need you, but not tonight.”

  Crystal pressed her lips together and nodded. She glanced at the hospital and then looked at Hank. He nodded and started to turn away.

  “Crystal!”

  Crystal spun back around, a feeling of icy dread running down her spine. Her mom stood in the open doorway of the ER and came rushing out. “What’s going on?”

  Chapter 9

  “Mom!” Crystal blurted.

  “What’s going on? What happened?” Crystal’s mom asked. She turned and looked at Mr. and Mrs. Stenger. “Oh no! Beth? Is she okay?”

  Mrs. Stenger and Crystal started to talk at the same time. Crystal stopped and let Beth’s mother go. She didn’t want to incriminate herself any worse than she already was.

  “Brandy, oh, thank goodness for your daughter!” she said. “Crystal and her boyfriend saved Beth’s life!”

  “I don’t know about—” Mr. Stenger started to say. He was overruled by his wife.

  “Beth was attacked. She said a m
an surprised her when she got out of work and overpowered her. He kidnapped her and took her off into the woods to—to do things to her!”

  Mr. Stenger rubbed his wife’s back as she stuttered to a halt.

  “Is she okay? I was told Crystal brought someone in who had been hurt.”

  “Crystal and Hank scared him off,” Mr. Stenger said.

  “Hank?” Brandy turned to look up at the large man. He nodded and offered a weak smile. She raised an eyebrow and then looked at Crystal. “Why haven’t I heard of Hank before?”

  “Sorry, it’s been crazy lately,” Crystal mumbled. “I met him through Ember.”

  “I see,” Brandy said. She pressed her lips together and then softened her expression. “We can talk about that later. Thank God you two were there. How did you find them?”

  “We were out for a walk,” Crystal lied. “I saw Beth’s car and thought it was weird that it was parked in the middle of nowhere. Then we heard a noise and checked it out.”

  “Kind of weird that you were walking in the middle of nowhere too,” Brandy observed.

  Crystal opened and shut her mouth, blushing. “It was a long walk.”

  “I bet,” Brandy said with a smirk. She turned to Hank. “Hi, Hank, I’m Brandy, Crystal’s mom.”

  He shook her hand and smiled. “Pleasure to meet you. I see where Crys gets her good looks from.”

  Brandy laughed. “Oh! Is that how this is? Watch out, Crystal, your friend has saved my other daughter’s life and now he’s lying to my face in the sweetest way possible. Tell me, Mr. Heartbreaker, how old are you?”

  “Twenty,” he lied.

  Crystal’s mom pressed her lips together.

  “Mom, you said we could talk later?” Crystal reminded her.

  Brandy glanced at her and let out her breath. She smiled. “You’re right, I’m sorry. Thank you, Hank, for helping.”

  “I’m wiped out. Hank’s going to take me home,” Crystal said. She turned to Mrs. Stenger and asked, “Call me when you find out something?”

  Marian smiled. “Of course! Beth wouldn’t let me live with myself if I didn’t.”

  Mr. Stenger chuckled and shook his head. He caught Hank’s eye and shrugged, earning a chuckle from the large biker.