Page 29

Rachel

“ T his ends now, Andrew. No one threatens my son’s mate. Not on my watch and I would expect not on yours either. But obviously I was wrong.” Derrick’s father sweeps in with an air of power and confidence.

Dean Harold seems extremely concerned about his arrival. “Hello, Tribunal Leader Ashford. Would you like to take this somewhere more… private? I have a conference room big enough for all of us and I’m sure with a little communication, we can get this all figured out.”

Mr. Ashford chuffs in disbelief, but gestures for Dean Harold to lead the way before turning to us and motioning us forward. Bas leads our group forward while Liam and Lucas flank my sides, Derrick, the protector of our pack, follows behind us with his father.

Our walk to the conference room is tense. The bond vibrates with the storm of emotions from all of my mates. Derrick steps closer to me and places a steadying hand on my lower back, sending comfort and love down the bond trying his hardest to calm my nerves. Dean Harold fumbles with his keys, his round face slick with nervous sweat, the collar of his shirt slightly askew. Finally locating the correct key, he slides it into the lock, hands still shaking. Stepping back he lets us enter the room first. Inside a large mahogany table sits surrounded by several chairs.

“Please everyone, take a seat. Make yourselves comfortable.”

Mr. Ashford stays standing as Liam pulls out a chair for me. Once I’m in my chair, my mates take their places around me, except Derrick, who like his father chooses to stay standing. If the mood weren’t so somber I would grab my phone and snap a picture of Derrick and his dad standing side by side. They stand like twin sentinels, tall and broad-shouldered with matching furrowed brows and stormy glares that could shatter stone.

“I would like to know what exactly is happening at this school.” Mr. Ashford’s scowl deepens with every word. “How is it that Ranger St. James, a man I warned you to keep an eye on, was allowed to roam school grounds? How could he even make it past the gates? And how did he gain access to Rachel without you ever even knowing he was here?”

Dean Harold swallows hard and clears his throat, obviously unsure how to respond. We all watch him struggle to form words for a solid minute before I decide to step in and assist.

“Mr. Ashford,” my voice is quiet but firm. “I think I can answer that last question for you. Liam, Lucas, and I were eating lunch at the cafe when a kid…”

“The same one with the red hair and the poor running form that came to get D and I when you visited last time,” Lucas helpfully supplies.

“Mr. Abernathy, he’s my student aide for this semester,” Dean Harold fills in for us, finally finding his words.

“Okay, Mr. Abernathy came into the cafe and told me I had a visitor in the dean’s office and was needed urgently,” I proceed. My palms are damp against the table as I try to steady my voice, my heart pounding so hard I’m sure they can hear it. “The twins could tell something was off with him and so they followed along, and we made our way here to the admin building. When we got here, my father was pacing out front and one thing led to another, and he shifted and attacked. Thankfully Derrick taught me early on how to call my mates through the bond and he arrived just in time to save us from some pretty gnarly injuries at best and at worst…” I trail off shuddering involuntarily as I think about what could have happened had Derrick not shown up when he did.

I feel a comforting hand on my shoulder, and I’m surprised when I look back to see it’s not my mate, but Mr. Ashford who has stepped in to support me. The compassion and kindness in his gaze reminds me of the fathers who love their children in the books I've read. A tear slips down my cheek at the realization that I haven’t only gained mates, I’ve gained a whole extended family.

“Thank you for your bravery, Rachel,” Mr. Ashford says with a smile in my direction. “And please call me Demi, or dad, your choice. Either way, you’re family now and family doesn’t call me Mr. Ashford. That goes for all you boys as well, you are all my children now so no more formalities.”

“Thank you… Dad,” I whisper, my throat tight with emotion.

Derrick smiles, pride flickering through our bond.

Dean Harold, on the other hand, still looks like he would rather jump off a cliff with a mouthful of angry wasps than continue this conversation. Mr. Ash… Dad, turns back to him, the soft paternal warmth he held for me melting away instantly.

“Now,” he says, voice clipped and sharp, “are you prepared to assure me this will never happen again? Ranger St. James will be barred from entering this campus going forward and you will personally be seeing to the safety of my daughter and her bonded mates?”

The dean fumbles for an answer, but Demi doesn’t give him the chance.

“I’ll take over her tuition payments going forward,” he adds simply as if that’s not a massive amount of money to shell out. “Effective immediately I want every record that even suggests Ranger St. James has some sort of right to access Rachel wiped. I don’t care if you have to plaster a poster of the man's face on every inch of available wall space on this campus, you will make sure he does not come back. Understood?”

“I… Of course,” Dean Harold agrees quickly. “We’ll process the change immediately.”

“And I’d like a full report of what you allowed to happen today on my desk, by the close of business.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Ashford.”

Demi stares Dean Harold down and for a second, I think that’s the end of the conversation, but then he crosses his arms again narrowing his eyes.

“While we’re here, I have another question for you. Why is Lucas still under investigation for protecting his mate? Why was he benched and threatened with expulsion when he was not the instigator in the incident?”

Dean Harold’s confusion is instantaneous. “Wait, Rachel was involved in the incident with Mr. Hopper?”

Liam makes a sharp sound somewhere between a laugh and a scoff.

“See?” Demi says, his voice rising slightly. “This is exactly your problem. You don’t even know the full scope of the situation you’re punishing him for. You benched one of your star players without ever allowing him to explain the context of what happened. Why is that, Dean Harold? Could it be because he’s a scholarship student?”

Dean Harold opens his mouth to reply but Demi barrels onward.

“Because from where I’m sitting that’s exactly what it looks like. And you know what, Andrew,” Demi’s voice takes on a sinister edge. “I fund the majority of those scholarships, and I’m pretty damn close with all of the other donors. How many of those donors, me included, are responsible for the majority of your extra funding to keep this school running? How do you think they’d feel about continuing their support if they knew you were unfairly targeting scholarship students?”

Demi’s mic drop moment is awe inspiring. We all sit in silence for a beat waiting for the dean to respond.

“That won’t be necessary,” Dean Harold finally says. “Lucas is officially cleared of all wrongdoing, effective immediately. And the notation of the disciplinary action will be removed from his permanent record.”

“And what about Trent?” Lucas growls. “The one who harassed her, has been harassing her since the first day of classes.”

“We… uh… we hadn’t… we haven’t yet opened an investigation,” Dean Harold stammers. “But we certainly can.”

“You’ll open one today,” Demi cuts in, voice sharp as steel. “A full inquiry. I want a full report on my desk regarding what you find and what actions you will be taking. And I expect that when you find that what my children have told you is one-hundred percent true, you will be doing much more than benching Trent Hopper for one game. You have a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment, if I remember correctly.”

Dean Harold nods a little too aggressively, I have the feeling he would agree to just about anything Demi says at this point.

“Yes, of course, Mr. Ashford. I will have those reports to you as soon as possible.”

“Good,” Demi says with finality. “Thank you for your time, Dean Harold, I’ll hear from you soon.”

Those of us who are seated rise and when we’re all standing, the six of us file out of the room. Once we’re in the hallway I release a breath I didn't realize I had been holding and some of the tension slips out of my body. Lucas threads his fingers through mine and Liam throws his arm over my shoulder as we make our way outside.

Walking down the front steps, I take in a big breath of fresh air and release it. It’s finally hitting me that we won. My father is banned from campus, Lucas is free and clear, and Trent is under investigation.

“I’m proud of all five of you,” Demi’s tone has shifted to something softer and more… fatherly. “You’ve all grown so much in such a short time. Your bond is obviously strong, look at the way you stood together today.” He shifts to lock Derrick in his gaze. “And you, my boy, I am so proud of you. Not only did you protect your mate and pack when they needed you, you did it with a reasonable and not excessive amount of force and you knew when to hold back. That’s a level of control that takes some dragons half a century to master.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Derrick replies, and I swear I see my dragon blush.

“Thank you, son. And thank you for calling me in as soon as you were able. You know I’m always here for you whenever you need me.” He turns back to the group of us, “that goes for all of you. I am only ever a phone call away.”

Demi ushers us all into a group hug, and I love every second of it. Surrounded by the safety and comfort of my mates and for the first time in my life, my dad.

“Rachel,” Demi says when we’ve all broken free from the hug, drawing my attention. “My mate, Helene, and I would love it if you joined us in our VIP box for the home game tomorrow.” His blue and gold eyes seem to swirl as I lose myself in them.

My pulse picks up a bit at the thought of meeting Derrick’s mom without Derrick by my side, but the way Demi still holds my gaze has it coming back down.

“Oh. I…” I don’t want to turn him down, but I also already promised to sit with the girls at the next game. “It’s just that I, well I had plans to sit with my roommates who are also my besties and I don’t want to bail on them, but I also don’t want to turn you down. But also I’m kind of worried about meeting Derrick’s mom without Derrick around. I’ve never had a mom, what if she doesn’t like me. That would really suck because then I didn’t just lose one mom I lost two and I…” I smack my hand over my mouth to stop myself from continuing to word vomit every thought in my brain.

What the hell is going on? Why did I just spill everything like that?

Derrick and Demi are sharing a bit of a chuckle, but they don’t keep me waiting too long before filling me in.

“It’s his dragon power,” Derrick informs me. “If you look in his eyes for too long, he puts you in a sort of trance and then you can’t help but spill every thought running through your mind.”

“Wait, so you basically have emotional mind control? No fair,” I pout.

“Yeah,” Derrick scoffs. “Tell me about it. I couldn’t get away with shit as a kid. Speaking of dragon powers have you ever heard of shared dreaming being a dragon thing? We’ve been having some pretty wild dreams lately and most nights we all share the same one.”

My cheeks flush as the memory of last night's dream hits me. We may not have all progressed to the same point in our real lives but hey what's the harm in a few dirty dreams?

Demi ponders Derrick’s question for a minute before responding. “Actually yes, I think I’ve read something about dream powers before. I will look more into it and get back to you. But let’s not get off topic. Say yes, Rachel, you can bring as many friends as you want. Please, Helene will be so disappointed if you say no. And I can’t promise she won’t come hunt you down in the stands to introduce herself.”

“Yes,” I say with a chuckle. “We’ll be there.”

“Perfect, Helene will be so pleased.” Demi grins. “And just so you know, the name rule goes for her too. Call her Helene, or Mom if you like, but you may break her heart if you call her Mrs. Ashford.” He winks before turning and walking towards the nearest clear area for him to shift. “And tell your friends they better come hungry. Helene always brings enough homemade snacks to feed a team… and that’s on top of the food that’s catered in.”

With that, he does a strange three step shuffle forward before jumping and shifting mid-air. The move leaves me stunned as we watch his dragon form fly out of sight.