Queen's Guard (Shifter Royalty Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  My mind is racing. There is so much we have to prepare and plan for. On the top of my list is Callyn’s safety and training. We are going to have to do the training in secret. If we bring a human to our training center questions will be asked. I’m going to have to see if Graydon’s dad, who runs the center, will let us come in after hours. I pull my phone out of my pocket, pull up my notes app, and begin making a list of all the things we needed to do. We have a lot of work ahead of us.

  Maximus

  Lucian’s grandfather is sitting at the head of the table, and his grandmother is at the other end. Lucian, Callyn, and Zeke are sitting across from me. My seat is directly across from Callyn, and Graydon is sitting across from Lucian. Lucian’s grandmother made pot roast, mashed potatoes, and peas for dinner. Ugh, peas. Out of all the vegetables she could have made, why did she have to make this one? I hate peas, ugly, round, green balls. I ate everything else on my plate, and now, I’m just pushing the peas around. Everyone around me is engaged in a conversation. Lucian, his grandfather, and Graydon are talking about when the best time to bring Callyn to the training center will be. Zeke, Callyn, and Lucian’s grandmother are talking when Callyn’s Aunt is supposed to arrive in town.

  I’m sitting here glaring at my peas, wishing my eyes had lasers to vaporize the ugly things. I wonder how much trouble I will be in if I fling my peas across table at Callyn? I know Graydon will probably smack me, and Grammy will probably yell, but WWCD? What would Callyn do? I guess there is only one way to figure that out. I scoop up a spoon full of peas, angle the spoon, place my finger on the top and flick. Most of the peas smack Callyn in the face. The rest land in various places on the table and surrounding floor. Callyn whips her head in my direction, a frown on her face. I start to laugh. She narrows her eyes at me, and a cold, calculating look cross her face. Shit.

  I’m just about to get up and run from the table when Callyn says Graydon’s name.

  “Graydon,” he looks at her, “can you hold Max in place for me for a minute?” she asks sweetly.

  Graydon shrugs his shoulders, but gets up and places both of his hands on my shoulders. I see Callyn swipe a handful of mash potatoes from what's left on her plate. She gets up and walks to my side of the table.

  “Now Maximus, thank you for wanting to share your peas with me. Now, I must repay you in kind.” She lifts her hand and moves it toward my hair.

  “Please, no, not my hair, anything but my hair.” I start to struggle against Graydon’s grip but he just tightens it the more I try to move.

  Callyn just gives me this evil, little smile. She then goes and smears the mash potatoes across my face and into my hair, giggling as she does so. I can hear the laughter coming from everyone else around me.

  “Aww, you can dish it but not take it?” Callyn questions.

  Callyn backs up a step, and Graydon lets go of my shoulders. “Oh no, I can, but don’t think that I won’t retaliate.”

  I slowly get up out of my seat; Callyn raises an eyebrow at me. I take one small step toward her, and she puts it together. Just as I’m about to reach for her, she takes off running. She only gets as far as the living room before I catch her. I spin her around and trap her between my arms. My only warning before I move is a smile on my face. I pull her, so her body is flush with mine. I lower my head and rub my cheeks all over hers, transferring some of the mash potatoes from my face to hers.

  “Max,” Callyn whines. I just chuckle. It’s only a few seconds later when Callyn joins me in laughing.

  She puts her hands on my chest and tries to push me away, but it doesn't work. I stare into her eyes. This is it, my moment to kiss her, and it couldn’t be more perfect. I lean down but someone clears their throat, breaking the moment. Callyn and I take a couple of steps back from each other. I turn to face who interrupted my moment. Of course, it’s Graydon. He has impeccable timing.

  “Are you two finished? I have to take Callyn home, it’s getting late.”

  “Yeah, come on, angel. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

  I throw my arm over her shoulder and steer her in the direction to the bathroom down the hall. I flip on the light switch, grab a hand towel, and turn on the sink. After wetting a corner; I turn toward Callie and start to clean the potatoes from her face. It only takes a few minutes, but I get back her normal, beautiful face. I take my hand and cup the side of her face, using my thumb to brush back and forward across her cheek.

  I didn’t think I would get another moment, another chance to kiss her, but here it is. I lean down slowly, checking Callyn’s face as I do. She’s not pulling back. I take that as a good sign. I’m just about to brush my lips across hers, when someone clears their throat, again. Are you kidding me? Why me? My eyes flick up to see who interrupted my kiss. It’s Graydon, again. Seriously? This dude must have some kind of someone is about to kiss Callyn radar, because how else could he possibly have such great timing, not once but twice. Note the sarcasm. Graydon must have seen the annoyance on my face, because he starts to laugh.

  “I just came to see what was taking you so long. You guys got pretty quiet and that’s never a good thing.” I can’t fault him there, it’s not. “If you’re done with Callyn I’d like to get her home.”

  I look back down at Callie, searching her eyes. She looks as disappointed by the interruption as I do. I lean down and rest my forehead against hers. “Soon, angel, soon,” I whisper. I give her a quick kiss on cheek and step back. “Yeah, she’s done. I’ll see you tomorrow, Callie.”

  “Bye, Max.” Callie goes to give me a kiss on the cheek but stops. She grabs the hand towel and cleans a spot on my cheek, before giving me a quick peck. Callyn takes a couple of steps back, tossing the towel at my face. “You can clean the rest.”

  Before I can say anything back, she takes off down the hall. I can hear her giggles as she walks away. I shake my head and smile. She’s definitely my partner in crime, and we are going to get into so much trouble together.

  Graydon

  I stare at Callyn’s butt as she walks down the hall in front of me. Did I mean to walk in on Max and Callyn almost kissing twice? No. Am I mad that I stopped it from happening? No. I want to be her first kiss. I know it’s not up to me, but I can’t help it. Callyn says a quick goodbye to everyone and grabs her hoodie. It’s not long before we’re on our way to the family that is fostering Callyn until her aunt arrives.

  “So, how are Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson treating you?”

  “Oh, they’re great. They treat me like I’m one of their grandkids. Well, I assume they do. I don’t really have anything to compare it too,” she says with a shrug of her shoulders.

  “You don’t know your grandparents?”

  “I don’t know if I have any. My mother never talked much about her family. It was like she was disowned or just up and left and never looked back. I never thought much on it. When my mother died, so did all of the secrets she held.”

  “I know it has to be hard, Callie bear, but I’m here for you if you need me. We all are, even our families.”

  “I know. Can we talk about something less depressing?”

  “We can talk about you rubbing mash potatoes in Max’s hair. It made him look a hundred times better by the way. Maybe this will make him think about cutting his hair. He’s more obsessed with his hair than half of the student population, male and female.” I shake my head. “His mom would forever be grateful. She’s been trying to get him to cut his hair for months now.”

  Callyn starts to laugh. “I know how much he likes his hair. I see him checking it out in every reflective surface we pass.” We both start laugh. “But I like it, and I don’t want him to cut it, not yet anyways.”

  Before I know it, we are pulling up in front of Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson house. I’m not ready to tell her goodnight. I park the in the drive and get out to open her door. I hold my hand out to help her and we walk hand in hand up the sidewalk to the front door.

  “Thank you for the ride home and for helping keep M
ax still long enough for me to pay him back. Though I’m not sure who actually won this round.”

  It was me. I couldn’t help the smile that slowly crept across my face. Callie gives me a weird look.

  “What has you so smiley all of a sudden?”

  “Because I know who won.”

  “Care to share?”

  “It was me. I won this round.”

  Her eyebrows scrunched together. “How?”

  “Trust me I won. If you want you can ask Max about that later,” I say with a laugh. I take a step forward when I notice that she still has a little bit of mash potatoes left on her cheek. I use my thumb to lightly brush it away. I can see her eyes dilate and hear the slight change in her breathing. I lean forward to kiss her, when I see the curtain move slightly, right before the porch light comes on. “I guess that's my cue to leave. Goodnight, Callie bear.” I open my arms, and she steps into my embrace. I lean down and take a deep breath of her scent. It’s the one thing that calms me, besides her touch.

  “Goodnight, my grumpy bear,” she whispers.

  I chuckle as I step back. I wait for her to enter the house before I head to my truck. My drive home is spent between me thinking about our almost kiss and ways to help train her. I plan on keeping my promise I made to Callie. No one will harm her again, because I will tear them limb from limb if they do.

  Callyn

  It’s my first day back to school since my father got arrested. This being a small town, everyone knows about it. I missed a week of school, only because the doctor gave me an excuse. After I put the necklace on and my back healed, I had no need for the note, but the boys convinced me to take the time off anyway. Their thinking was it would give people time to move on to something else before I came back. They were afraid of people asking me questions about what happened and me not being able to handle it.

  I can’t fault them. They probably would have been right. Also, Elder Harris helped me change my doctor from a human one to a shifter one. There would have been no way we could have answered how my back healed so fast. I’m lucky the police took pictures of my back in the hospital to use as evidence against my father because there is no evidence now. So far, there have only been a few odd looks which I expected, but nothing else I can’t handle. Besides, I have my four mates with me. I almost feel invincible with them around. Almost.

  “What are we doing after school today?” I ask as I sort through my bookbag.

  “We figured tonight we should start your training. Nothing to serious, just your basics. It will be moves to help you defend yourself against an attack from a shifter, while you’re in human form. Once you shift, we will throw in moves to help you defend yourself in both forms,” Lucian answers.

  I close my locker and turn to face the guys. “You think I will be able to shift?” I whisper. “I haven’t thought much about it. I don’t want to be disappointed if I can’t. I don’t want to disappoint y’all either. Does it hurt when you shift?”

  “I believe you will. It’s just a matter of unlocking that part of you. It’s buried somewhere deep inside you. We just have to find it and set it free, and you could never disappoint us, Callie. So, don’t think twice about that. Back to the rest of your question, usually the first shift does hurt, but it gets easier the more you do it. After a while it won’t hurt at all.”

  “Small favors, I guess. So, my aunt should be here by the end of the week. Can you guys help us move her in this weekend? It will be a good opportunity for her to meet all of you. You are a huge part of my life. It’s nice that I don’t have to hide it anymore either.”

  “How are you going to explain who we are to your aunt?” Max asks cheekily.

  “I plan on telling her the truth, that you all are my mates. Well, maybe not mates. It’s not a very common way to say boyfri…” I trail off because I almost called them my boyfriends. Oh god. I look up at them in horror. I mean we didn’t talk about this. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I just-I just,” I trail off again.

  Graydon slowly starts taking steps in my direction. Every step he takes toward me, I take a step back, until my back is pressed up against my locker. He doesn’t stop until he is standing right in front of me. His hands go to either side of my head effectively blocking me in. He leans down until just inches separate our faces.

  “Let’s just set this straight right now. We are your boyfriends. Hell, we are more than that. We are your mates. Do you know what that means?” I shake my head. “We have a deeper connection, one that surpasses that of a boyfriend. Mates are for life. There will be no others, for any of us. We have been yours since the moment you set foot in this town. Now, we will be your boyfriends until we can claim you. Once we do that, we will be mates, we can call each other that after it happens.”

  “When will that happen?” I whisper.

  “As soon as you’re ready,” he whispers next to my ear.

  I’m ready, I’m so ready. Okay, maybe not because I don’t exactly know what claiming each other entails. Add that to my growing list of questions. Graydon lowers his face to my neck, bringing me out of my inner thoughts. His nose trails a path from my ear to my collar bone. He takes a deep breath before I feel his teeth nip at my pulse point. A moan escapes my lips. I feel my body arch into his. I turn my face to his neck and graze my teeth at his pulse point. A low growl rumbles from his lips. His hands go to my waist, pulling my body against his.

  “Um, guys? I feel like I should remind you, you’re standing in the hallway,” Zeke says.

  “Yeah, as hot as this is, you are giving everyone else quite a show,” Max quips.

  “Perhaps another time and place would be better,” Lucian includes.

  I look over Graydon’s shoulder to see he is right. I can feel my face get hot. I push at Graydon. He backs up a step.

  “So, yeah. Um,” I run my fingers through my hair. “Okay, you’re all my boyfriends.” I smile. “Huh, who knew the first time I’d have a boyfriend, I’d end up with four.” I start to giggle and the boys follow soon after.

  Besides mine and Graydon's impromptu little show this morning, the rest of my day has been great. It feels amazing not having to hide anymore. I can finally breathe. I can finally be Callyn Silvers. Which apparently still includes not being athletic. Gym is the worst. I always countdown until the end of class, which never seems to come fast enough. Finally, it does. I’m standing at my locker when I see a shadow appear next to me. I turn to see Kelsey. She left me alone for a couple of weeks, but it looks like my luck has run out.

  “Heard your daddy is locked up and liked to use you as a punching bag.”

  I turned to face her. Her days of coming after me are done. I square my shoulders. She wants a fight, well she’s about to get one. I’m just about to say something when I see a strange look on her face. That’s when I notice she’s not looking at me, but rather she is looking at my neck. I look down to see that my necklace isn’t tucked into my shirt.

  “Where did you get that? Do you know what that is?” Kelsey questions. Before I can stop her, she grabs my necklace. I’m expecting her to yank on the chain, but instead her expression is blank. I reach up and try to pry her hand from my necklace. Just as quickly as Kelsey went into her trance, she comes out of it. “Why? How? Are you fucking kidding me,” Kelsey rambles as she backs away from me. “Of all people, why you?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “You’re the fucking Alpha Queen.”

  Kelsey - A few moments earlier

  Callyn Silvers. My lip curls up in disgust. I don’t understand how she has Lucian, Graydon, Zeke, and Max wrapped around her little finger. She says jump, and they’re like how high. I can’t find a redeeming quality about her. Seriously, what do they find so appealing about a mousy, plain jane, when they could have all of this. I did hear some interesting news though. Her daddy is in jail, and he likes to hit her. You think I feel sorry for her, I don’t. I want to gouge her eyes out with my claws. I want to rip her throa
t out with my teeth. The only reason I don’t is because I know I will never have a chance with any them if I do, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t mess with her.

  Oh, they tried to threaten people, to get them to stop. I let them believe it was working, but I think it’s time I go back to being me. I walk over to Callyn. We’re the last ones in the locker room, just like the day I pinned her. I saw her slowly losing consciousness as I squeezed her throat. It was satisfying.

  “Heard your daddy is locked up and liked to use you as a punching bag.” She turns and squares her shoulders. Oo, someone is growing a backbone. I glance down and notice a necklace hanging around her neck. She never wore that before. I take a closer look. No, it can’t be. There’s no way she should have anything with the Alpha Queen symbol on it. “Where did you get that? Do you know what that is?”

  I reach out to grab the necklace, to yank it from her pathetic neck. Suddenly, it feels like I’m being transported to another time. Rapid successions of images flash before my eyes. A queen handing her baby to someone, taking off her necklace and putting it around the baby’s neck. That baby growing up and handing the necklace down to her daughter. Over and over the same thing happens until I see Callyn being handed the same necklace, the one that is around her neck. I blink, and I’m brought back to the present.

  “Why? How? Are you fucking kidding me?” I’m piecing it all together. The queen, it has to be the Alpha Queen. There is no other explanation. I back away from Callyn. “Of all people, why you?”

  Her eyebrows furrow. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  The only reason Callyn can have that necklace is if she is a descendant of the Alpha Queen. Which means only one thing.

  “You’re the fucking Alpha Queen.”

  Realization dawns on me. The reason why the guys are so obsessed with her. It only makes me hate her more. One of the guys has to be her mate, but which one? The only question left is why I had that vision? I have never had that happen. What could this mean?