Page 78 of Baseball and Shifters

Rachel presses in close to my side placing a hand on my chest. “Hey, look at me.”

She waits for me to comply, before continuing.

“I am fine, we are fine. Thanks to you, Liam, and Derrick, Ranger never stood a chance of getting me. And since when am I ever alone lately? If it isn’t one of you three or Bas, I’m with my girls. I’m stronger now and I am never alone. Remember?” She lifts the dog tag from its place hanging around her neck and something inside me releases.

I gather her in my arms and pull her into a crushing hug. Within seconds I feel arms surrounding us and I know it’s our pack. I’m not sure when he got here but I even feel Bas wrapped in our group hug. We are safe. We are never alone.

Dean Harold clears his throat and we all turn our attention back to him. “Would you like to file a report? This wasentirely inappropriate and if you file a report we can open an investigation into how this happened.”

Derrick pulls out his phone and steps away to make a call. I can just catch his quiet words. “Dad. I need you. Now.”

He hangs up and his eyes turn skyward. We don’t wait very long, only a few minutes have passed when the wind shifts. Flying so fast he’s hard to track, Mr. Ashford soars in from the north. His majestic navy-blue and gold dragon form has people all around us pointing to the sky and gasping in awe. He lands in a vacant corner of the parking lot, wings spanning nearly the width of the lot, scales shimmering like molten armor, before quickly shifting and striding our way.

Rachel presses in closer to my side and Liam’s arm wraps around her from the other side. We stand together as one pack waiting for Mr. Ashford to fix this, to help us protect our mate.

He stops in front of Dean Harold and levels him with a piercing glare. “This 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.”

Rachel

“This 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 stepscloser 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. Jameswill 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?”

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