“I can’t get a read on her thoughts. She must be too far away” Tristan bit out.
"I'm shrouding us, transform now," Calev said, his voice full of fear and anger. He lifted his hands and shot out a huge cloud of shadow to surround us. I let my bear come forward, my clothes ripping to shreds in the hallway as my muscles and bones stretched to accommodate my bear's mass. Instinct immediately took over. The bear was pissed, and he wanted to see her safe. It took a long thirty minutes before we even caught a hint of her scent near the cafeteria. We circled the place three times, but the smell of food and other students was throwing us off.
By the time we finally found a full trail, I was about to start destroying the building itself. Nose to the floor, I followed it to a nearby classroom. A ‘Closed for maintenance’ sign was taped to the door. Evander rushed forward and threw it open, turning on the lights and frantically searching around. A muffled sob sounded from the back of the room, and the sight of my girl tied to a chair with her mouth taped shut broke me. Her hollow eyes and broken expression hurt me more than anything ever had. Rushing forward, I shifted mid-stride. I used my bear's claws to slice easily through the ropes, freeing her. Her arms and legs were red and puffy, the lines indented into her creamy skin. Without a second thought, I scooped her into my arms, not caring that I was stark naked. My bear and I just needed to know she was safe now. She shook violently, the sobs uncontrollable as they wracked through her petite frame.
'Something else is wrong, she'd just be pissed if this was all it was,' I called out to Tristan. When I didn't get a response right away, I knew he was looking in
her mind to see if she would tell him anything. His low growl set me on edge; he was the level headed one of us. When he sent the images of Alistair groping her and her feelings of shame and disgust, my growl joined his.
"Go get the fucking headmaster, now," I ordered loudly, making her jump.
"You're naked, he's gonna see you in all of your pasty white glory," she teased as Tristan bolted from the room, the lightness in her voice sounding off. I chuckled anyway, reaching for the backpack Aeson was holding and handing her over to Evander. I slipped out the extra pair of clothes I kept in there before pulling them on. The door opened just as I buttoned my pants and slid on a pair of sandals, Tristan and the headmaster barging in.
"What is the meaning of this?" he bellowed, his face sweating already. I glared at him and stepped forward, my bear making my arms quake.
"The meaning of this, is you did a shit job of disciplining Clara. She and Alistair are both guilty of kidnapping and binding Lennox. Alistair is also guilty of sexual assault. Get the police here, now," I bit out, my fists clenching in outrage.
"You...uh....wait a second...uh," he sputtered out, looking at the visible signs of abuse still on Lennox's arms and legs. Aeson was taking a picture of the wounds and recording while she recounted the details for him.
"No police. I want them expelled," she said, her anger boiling to the surface now. "Those are your choices, choose wisely." Her voice had taken on the melodic tones of her song again, as her siren nature started to push forward. Calev turned to her and put his hands on either side of her face.
“Stop it, Lennox, This isn’t the way. You’re stronger than this.” he whispered as he held her gaze. Her body relaxed as she reigned her siren back in.
"The way you children think you can accuse people around here is despicable. I won't be bullied in my own school!" he thundered, pacing the room as he babbled.
"No, you just prefer the students get bullied, instead. You're a waste of space, and a poor excuse for a leader," Tristan screamed, pulling out his phone. "Hello, it's Tristan. Can we get a hold of Obsidian Cove Prep's board of directors, please?" The sputtering picked up at his words, the headmaster fighting for his job and only proving our case. Little did he know, his board wasn't exactly made up of humans. Sure, they let the little assholes’ parents pay their way in and think they were special, but our kind had a hold on this area, and we made sure that humans would never have majority control over any business or institution. "Ah yes, thank you," he said politely, before turning back to us. "The directors will be here to handle this in half an hour. They said to wait here, and that includes your sorry ass."
Headmaster Collin's face paled at those words, and he sat roughly on the table nearby, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. We all huddled around our girl, hating that they did this to her. I'd be damned if they’d get away with this, not this time.
"What do you want to happen, Baby?" I asked as I sat down next to her and Evander. She looked up at me with those pretty sea green eyes, her strength shining through.
"If he's willing to do it to me, he's gonna do it to someone else. I guess I should go to the police and file a report," she said with a sigh, hating the idea, but thinking of others before herself.
"Can I just kill him and end this?" I asked in a hopeful voice. Her laugh pealed out, surprising all of us.
"Nah, killing is frowned upon. But feel free to scare him," she said, her shoulders sagging a bit as they relaxed some of the tension.
The board arrived in thirty minutes, just like they said, sweeping in and taking over. A kind woman counselor helped her recount the story to a police officer, filing charges against Alistair. Both of them were going to get some form of charges, ranging from kidnapping to accessory. Hopefully they'd learn some humility before their daddy bailed them out.
It was late by the time we were able to go back to our rooms. Lennox was exhausted and roughed up, but she still walked back with her head held high. Aeson offered to heal her, but she refused, not wanting the officials to think it was all a hoax.
"I have an idea," Aeson said excitedly, running for our adjoining room as soon as we entered hers. A few minutes later he came out with a box. Lennox perked up, taking it from him and opening it up. She let out a laugh and pulled out a bright blue, glittery ball.
"What the hell is it?" I asked, stepping forward to look at it. The smell of berries and vanilla wafted off of it, a variation of her usual scent.
"Bath bombs. They're my secret weakness, so don't fucking judge me," he said, narrowing his eyes at me. "I picked up some berry vanilla ones for you, I just forgot to share," he explained to her, before heading to the bathroom and getting a bath ready.
She gathered her bath stuff before following him in, giving him a kiss on the cheek before shutting the door. As soon as we heard music drifting from the room, we turned to each other, all of us on the same page.
‘We need to talk.’
March 19
Evening
Lennox
The warm water helped to soothe my frayed nerves. I hated that I let them get to me, especially that vile man, but I was a hot mess. The guys being there for me, and putting everything in motion, meant more to me than I could explain. Even now, they were taking extra steps to make sure I was handling it all okay.