Chapter 14
The Boys- Zeke
Graydon texted us all late last night. He gave a rundown of what happened and that we were finally going to get some answers from her today. I believe him., there is no way any of us could let this slide. I don’t like the idea of her being in that house with no way for her to reach us in case of an emergency. We all piled into Graydon's truck today. We were all dressed and ready to go faster than normal. I know the guys are as eager as me to finally get answers.
Now, were sitting out in front of her neighbor’s house waiting for her to come out. After what Graydon said we thought it would be better to sit here. We don’t want to give her father more ammunition. What seems like hours later, even though it was just minutes, Callyn comes out of her house. She glances up and looks around before spotting us. She walks stiffly all the way to the car. I hop out of the front and wait for her to take the seat I was just in. She slowly gets in and sits ramrod straight in her seat. I close the door. I hurry and get in the back right behind her. I watch as she moves slowly to put her seat belt on.
Don’t think I missed the wince on her face from the movement. Graydon must have seen her struggle because he reaches across her to grab the seatbelt. When he does Callyn visibly tenses and tries to shrink in on herself and lets out a whimper. Graydon immediately sits back.
“Callie bear,” he whispers.
Ever so slowly she looks up at him. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…” she trails off and starts to sob uncontrollably. “I…I know… I know you wouldn’t…I’m sorry,” she says between hiccupping sobs.
“Callie bear, I’m going to touch your face.” She nods. Graydon gently cups her face, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears. “Take a deep breath for me.” She does. “Good. I’m going to put your seat belt on and we’re going to get out of here.”
“I can’t miss school. They call home.”
“Shit, she’s right Graydon,” I say.
“Fine, we’ll go to school, but start talking.”
“Where do you want me to start,” she says looking out the window to avoid looking at us. She looks so defeated and I hate it.
“Start with what happened last night,” I say quietly.
The more she explains what happened, the more pissed I’m getting. My throat is starting to hurt from forcing the growls down that want to erupt. I want Graydon to turn the truck around and head back to her house, so I can beat the shit out of her worthless piece of shit father. My hands are balled into fists. I want to punch something, preferably her father. With my jaw tight, I look to the others, each of them has the same look on their face. Anger. Hatred. Loathing.
How could her father lay one hand on her? His own daughter, I would never. I can tell you, I’ll try my best to protect her. I’ll be damned what the Council says, Callyn is my mate. The second I can I’m taking her away from that hell hole.
Maximus
I have never felt rage like this before. We all knew something was going on, but I don’t think any of us thought it was this bad. Callyn was still talking when we pulled into the school parking lot. We wait to get out of the truck for her to finish this story. She goes silent.
“Angel, is that all that happened?” I ask.
“Last night, yes. Graydon’s number was the first I could remember. So, I asked if he would relay the message to the rest of you.” She reaches to take her seatbelt off, but Graydon stops her.
“I’ll get it,” he says.
I jump out of the back and rush over to her door. I open it and help her out. The rest of the guys get out. We start to walk, at Callie’s pace, into the school. Not wanting someone to overhear the private conversation, I start to ask her about her phone instead. Someone breaking their phone is normal. They just wouldn’t know how Callie broke hers.
“What are you going to do about your phone? Are you going to get a new one?” I question.
“I don’t know. I don’t when I can get a new one.”
“Do you have insurance on the phone, they might be able to replace it for you?” Lucian asks.
“I don’t know. I would have to go to the store and have them look it up. I got that phone right after I got my license.” She looks around, satisfied no one is listening she continues. “At first my dad didn’t want me to get them, but he realized how beneficial it was when we ran out of food. I could go grocery shopping. From there it turned into me making sure the bills were paid because they were constantly getting shut off. He would drink the money away. So, I came up with a way to keep the bills paid. I made a deal that I would make sure the bills got paid and groceries were bought and whatever was left over would go to him, so he could drink.”
“Are you fucking kidding me,” I say. She shakes her head.
“I also mentioned children services being called and he readily agreed. His drinking got progressively worse over the years. It turned from just on the weekends, to weekdays too. At this point, we’re lucky he functions enough to keep his job.” She shrugs her shoulders like it’s no big deal, wincing in the process.
The bell rings and no one even went to their lockers.
“We got five minutes before the tardy bell,” Lucian says. “Hurry. We’ll finish this later.”
We all scatter, but Callyn. She just turns with her head down and starts to walk in the direction of her first class. My girl is so broken. I rush to my locker and barely make it to my class before the tardy bell. I want to fix this, but I don’t know how. I know there is more to come, and I don’t know if I can take it. What she already has shared has me twisted up inside. I pull my phone out of my pocket and hit the home button, her smiling face is looking up at me.
It’s a candid picture of her and she has no idea I took it. My thumb runs over her face before the screen goes black. I put my phone away. I have feelings for her. At first, I was confused by them. I wasn’t sure if I liked her because she is my destined mate or if it was her as a person. The past two months we have grown closer and I realize how much I want to be near her, hear her voice, see her smile, listen to her talk. I love that she helps me prank the guys too. Graydon was right, we are handful when we are left alone together. I can’t stop thinking about her. It’s fucking hell not being able to tell her who is she, regarding us. We still don’t know much about her and there has been no word from the Council since our last meeting. It looks like we may have to show up randomly. It doesn’t look like the Council is going to be too forthcoming with information.
I don’t have the slightest idea what to do to help her. Right now, I want to hug her and never let her go. Not doing anything is going against all my instincts as a shifter. My wolf is riding me hard to protect our mate. I have to figure out a way.
Lucian
Callyn was already in her seat by the time Zeke and I got to class. I glance over at her. By looking at her you wouldn’t know anything was wrong. But now, we knew, we all fucking knew and did nothing. Why? Because she wouldn’t tell us. Plus, the Council has forbidden us from doing anything. We need to have another conversation with the Council. There is no way that they would stop us from helping Callyn now. Shifters value their mates. If the Council knows that our mate is being abused surely, they will let us act. She told us, that has to be proof enough. I’ll take her before the Council so they can see the bruises themselves.
Now, I’m thinking Graydon was right and we should have pushed. I have no clue what we could have done to help. I feel so useless. I want to see how bad the damage is, but I’m afraid to ask. I don’t know if I could handle seeing it either.
Taking a closer look at her, I can see how uncomfortable she is. She has pulled her shirt sleeves over her hands and is twisting them. I reach over slowly and take one of her hands in mine giving it a squeeze. She moves her hand and laces our fingers together and squeezes me back. I pull her hand to my lap and hold it until we have to set up our lab equipment. Both me and Zeke have been trying to be gentle and make Callie aware of all our movements. Seeing her break down earlier was enough to last me a lifetime.
The urge to pull her into my lap and shield her was insane. I’ve never wanted to do that with any girl. I’m looking at her now, and I think it’s the first time I’m really seeing her. The beautiful, smart, sweet, kind, loving, broken girl. She’s strong, she may not think that right now, but she is. I love everything about her. Callie’s hair falls in front of her face and she pushes it back behind her ear. My hand twitches because I want to be the one to do it. Callie looks up at me, probably sensing I’m staring at her like some sort of creeper. She gives me this side smile smirk.
It hits me like a ton of bricks. I like her. I mean like her, like her. I want to grab her face and kiss the shit out of her. Oh, fuck. What the hell am I going to do? I can’t act on these feelings, not now. I know the mate bond was the initial reason I started to like Callie. But as the weeks go by, and the more I get to know her, the more human feelings started to develop. I didn’t know how much until now.
My expression must have changed because Callie is frowning. I smile at her, hoping I’m portraying everything is fine when it clearly isn’t. It must have passed because she gives me a small smile and returns to work on the questions.
Zeke looks over Callyn’s shoulder. He meets my eyes, giving me a what’s up look. I just shake my head. It looks like us guys are going to be having a talk as well. Before I know it, chemistry is over. Callie moves to get her bookbag, but I swoop in and grab it before she can.
“I’ll carry it. Come on, I’ll walk you to your next class. I didn’t think about it earlier.”
“You don’t have too. I’m used to it,” she shrugs her shoulders, then makes a face. That move probably just hurt.
I sigh, “That may be but, you have us now and we’re going to help you anyway we can. If that means carrying around your books to give your back a break, then that’s what we’ll do.” We reach her class and Callie looks at me. I can see the tears welling in her eyes. I put her bookbag down. “Please don’t cry, baby. I can’t take anymore tears. It guts me.”
I cup her face and wipe a few of the tears that roll down her cheeks. She sighs and rubs her face on my palm, closing her eyes for a moment as she does.
“Go on. I’ll see you at lunch.” I bend down and place a quick kiss on her cheek.
There is no way I was going to make it through the day without doing that. I start to walk away but before I turn the corner I glance back, and Callie is just standing there with a shocked expression on her face. Good. Maybe that will take her mind off recent events. She has had too much bad in her life and I want to be the good.
Graydon
Oh, yeah. I saw that kiss. Yeah, it wasn’t her lips, but still. That makes three of us, whose feelings now lie beyond that of the mate bond. The animal side of us has separate feelings from our human side and both of my sides are on the same page. We want Callyn. I would bet any money the rest of the guys feel the same. Zeke was smitten after his game, that night. I saw it on his face. I just saw that same look on Lucians. I’m also pissed because I didn’t think to carry her bag for her. What kind of ass makes her put that weight on back, literally right after she told us her father hit her with a belt across it? Me. That’s what kind of ass.
Callyn is staring off into space in the hallway. I get up and walk over to her. I bend down and pick up her bookbag. “Come on, Callie bear.”
Her cheeks turn rosy. She must have liked it or is that from embarrassment? How would she feel if she knew I wanted to do the same, but on her lips instead? I frown as I put her bag on floor and take my seat. What if she only likes one of us? How is she going to feel when we finally do tell her that she is the mate to all four of us? Hell, the others are better suited for her. She hates my rude and pushy behavior, but that’s just who I am. Will she give all of us a chance, or will she run screaming?
“Hey, you okay?” she asks breaking through my self-loathing.
“Yeah, why?” I lie. No, I’m not okay. There is a possibility I have no chance in hell with the one girl I want more than my next breath.
“You’re quieter than normal. Well, normal for you anyway,” she smirks.
Half of my mouth lifts into a smile. “Yeah, Callie bear, I’m okay. How are you doing? Does your back hurt? Do need to take anything for pain? Shit, I’ve been a horrible mate,” I whisper, so no one can hear.
“Mate?”
Shit, I said mate. Fuck, play this off, Graydon. “Yeah, mate, you know it’s just another name for a friend.”
“Okay, mate.” She giggles. “And no, you haven’t been. Like I told Lucian earlier, I’m used to it. It only hurts when I make sudden movements.”
I barely keep a growl from escaping between my lips, when she calls me mate. Hell yeah, I am. I’m just going to have to work hard on making sure I’m deserving of that title. “Do you know how angry it makes me that you’re so used to it, that you don’t need medicine to help you?”
“There’s no sense in getting mad about it. It’s not like you could have stopped it from happening.”
I groan. “I still don’t have to like it.”
“Oh, my grumpy bear. I know, but this is going to get worse before it gets better. I haven’t even told you guys the half of it. You’re really going to blow a gasket later.”
Well, shit. I’m not ready for this. Earlier almost broke me. When she huddled into herself in my car, because she thought I was going to hurt her, I almost threw up. The thought of ever laying a hand on her like that makes me sick to my stomach. I wanted to march right into her house and beat her father, the sick bastard.
I’ll admit, I love when she calls me her grumpy bear. It does something to my heart every time. It’s also kind of funny since I’m a bear shifter. I’ll be damned if I admit that out loud to anyone, but her. I have to try to be better, for her.
For her, I would do anything