Chapter 153 Bonus Chapter 5- Do Not Suggest Buying A Safe Instead

Chapter 153 Bonus Chapter 5- Do Not Suggest Buying A Safe Instead
SHEREE ISTVAN
I cannot WAIT for this term to end. I need a break. A real one. Not the kind where I’m technically ‘off duty’ but still answering messages at all hours because something else has inevitably gone wrong. I’m thinking sunshine. Ocean. Somewhere with absolutely no magic, no politics, and no students with poor impulse control. Preferably somewhere with a drink in my hand. Something frivolous and silly. Why? Because between Blake, Lexi, the wolves, Professor Farrow, and an entire group of hunters breaking onto campus, I have been putting out fires non-stop. Literally AND figuratively. Mostly literally, lately. The moment Blake arrived, I had no less than a dozen calls within the first day. Students. Parents. Influential families. Even a couple of politicians who should absolutely have better things to do than micromanage my enrolment decisions. The general message? ‘Remove the dragon.’ Or, more bluntly, ‘Remove the dragon, or we will remove you.’ Charming. I was mostly confident they couldn’t actually follow through on that. Not while Blake was technically within the rules. And to his credit, at the beginning, he was. He has a reputation, yes, but it’s a very specific one. Keeps to himself. Doesn’t pick fights unnecessarily. Slow to anger unless provoked. I was cautiously optimistic. And then he met Lexi. At first, I thought it was perfect. She’s sweet. Grounded. The kind of student who actually listens, who tries to do the right thing even when it’s difficult. I thought maybe she’d balance him out a little, give him a reason to be a little invested in this place. And, to be fair, she has. Just not in the way I was hoping. Because while Lexi is not the problem, she has a remarkable tendency to attract problems. None of them technically HER fault, which makes it infinitely harder to deal with. Case in point; the bullying. If she had just REPORTED it, I could have documented it. Handled it properly. Shut it down early. Instead, she handled it herself, or worse, didn’t handle it at all, and by the time it reached me, it had already escalated into something much messier. Which brings me to Aaron. And his damn father. I have never received so many aggressive, self-righteous calls in such a short period of time. Apparently, his son being injured while attempting to steal from a dragon is somehow my administrative failure. What kind of IDIOT tries to steal from a dragon? Honestly! And then there was the SCRI app. I have run this Academy for years without needing anything like that. Suddenly, I’m organising moderators, setting policies, dealing with online disputes between students like I’m running some kind of magical social media platform. We are supposed to be an institution of higher learning. Not a moderated chat room. Still, fine. That issue is, mostly, under control. And then… Of course, Blake had to go and break Aaron’s hands. Now. Am I saying I don’t understand why he did it? No. Frankly, I saw it coming from a mile away. But it would be very HELPFUL if students stopped taking matters into their own hands and then expecting me to clean up the aftermath. I am a principal, not a miracle worker. They could at least send me a heads up. ‘Hey, I’m about to go do something super dangerous and illegal.’ Then I could plan for the fallout. Every incident means more calls. More ‘concern.’ More PRESSURE! At first, it was easy enough to shut them down. ‘No, I cannot expel Blake Nyvas. He has done nothing wrong.’ Technically true. Until it wasn’t… Once the violence started, the demands escalated. Expulsion. Immediate removal. Consequences. So I compromised. Suspension. Something temporary and honestly harmless to him. But enough to look like action without actually removing him. Aaron’s father pushed, of course. But I pointed out the obvious. If Blake was to be expelled, then Aaron would have to be as well. And not just Aaron, any of the wolves involved. Because last I checked, theft and provocation count as aggression too. And SUDDENLY suspension sounded perfectly reasonable. Funny how that works. In the end, they were all suspended. Blake and the wolves. I also banned the wolves from defence classes for a month. Officially, it was about safety. Unofficially, it was because I needed them to stop escalating every situation they walked into. Personally? I would have preferred to expel them. Every last one. But that would have required expelling Blake as well. And while I absolutely cannot condone the level of violence he escalated to, I understand it. Which is more than I can say for most of the people currently calling my office. And if I’m being completely honest, between the dragon and the wolves? I know exactly which one I trust more.

A lot has happened since then. Too much, frankly. And while things have, on the surface, settled down a little, the noise around it hasn’t stopped for a second. The calls are still coming. The complaints. The threats. The ‘concerns.’ I hate that word. It’s so fake. Aaron’s father has apparently decided that harassing me is now his full-time occupation, Farrow’s extended family are demanding a full investigation and pushing to press charges against Blake Nyvas for murder, which is complete and utter nonsense, AND the police have buried me in so much paperwork I’m fairly certain I’m now legally classified as a filing cabinet. At one point, they even suggested I cancel all classes and send every student home while they ‘look into things.’ Like there is actually anything left to investigate? And seriously, send them home? As if this is a day school. As if I don’t have students here from other states, other countries! Students who live here. I can’t just… evacuate the Academy like it’s some kind of minor inconvenience. Absolutely not! My phone rings. I glance down. Of course. Of course it’s him. Jeremy. Aaron’s delightful excuse for an alpha. To be fair, he DID schedule this call three days ago, and I agreed to this time. But I was quietly hoping he’d forget. Or get distracted. Or, ideally, fall into a hole somewhere and lose signal. I consider, briefly, pretending I’ve forgotten. Or faking illness. But no. That would only delay things, and knowing him, he’d just show up in person. I am NOT dealing with that today. With a long-suffering sigh, I answer the call, straightening in my chair out of sheer habit and slipping into my most polished, professional tone.
“Hello, Jeremy. How are you today?” I say politely. 
“Don’t you start that with me, Istvan. You know why I’m calling. Have you done anything about that damn dragon yet?” he snaps immediately. Ah. Straight to it, then. Professional. Lovely. 
“As I’ve explained previously, the earlier incidents have already been addressed. Your son was directly involved in those situations as well. As for the more recent event with the hunters, it was clearly self-defence. Blake protected another student and prevented further harm to others, including a member of staff. There are no grounds for expulsion.” I reply, keeping my voice calm and even. 
“Cut the crap,” he growls. 
“You KNOW he needs to go. He’s a dragon. He’s a threat. If he helped anyone, it was just to make himself look good. My son, and my pack, aren’t safe while he’s there.” he insists. I close my eyes briefly. Deep breath.
“Actually, your son and Blake appear to have come to an understanding. There hasn’t been a single incident between them in weeks. I would go so far as to say they are… friendly.” I say, very carefully. Alright, friendly might be generous. But Layla did see Aaron nod at Blake once in the hallway. And Blake gave a tiny nod back. Which, for those two, is practically the same thing. She rushed to tell me of course. 
“My son would never be friendly with a damn dragon!” He starts. And then he’s off. Ranting. Raving. Listing every imagined flaw and danger associated with dragons like he’s reading from a very outdated, very biased textbook. I let him go for a while. I really DO try. But eventually… I snap.
“ENOUGH!” My voice cuts through his tirade, sharp and final.
“The dragon is staying,” I say, every word clipped and deliberate. 
“And your son has already worked that out, because, unlike you, he’s intelligent enough to recognise that antagonising a giant, fire-breathing creature with wings is a bad idea. He’s also shown the ability to learn from his mistakes.” I don’t even pause. I’m on a roll now.
“But by all means, if you feel strongly about it, you are more than welcome to come here and tell Blake that yourself. And afterwards, your wolves can collect whatever remains of yourself from the courtyard.” I continue sweetly. There’s a choking, spluttering noise on the other end. Good.
“As for these calls, I am done. If you need to process your emotions, I recommend a diary. Or, better yet, a therapist. Preferably one equipped to deal with misplaced rage and a frankly impressive level of insecurity. I sincerely hope your son turns out to be a better alpha than you are.” I go on, my patience well and truly gone. I take a breath.
“Do not call me again unless you have something useful to say.” I say firmly. And then I hang up. Silence. Glorious, blessed silence. I sit there for a moment, breathing a little harder than I’d like to admit. Well. That will absolutely come back to bite me later. Do I regret it? Not even slightly. My gaze drifts down to the desk, where, conveniently, a glass of wine now sits within reach. I didn’t pour that. I smile faintly, patting the desk.
“Thank you,” I murmur. 
“You’ve been so focused on Lexi lately, I was starting to think you’d forgotten about me.” I tease. The chair beneath me tilts back just slightly in response, and soft music begins to play somewhere in the room. I yelp, grabbing the desk instinctively before I can topple over.
“Yes, alright. Message received.” I mutter, straightening myself again. I take a sip of the wine, letting the tension ease just a fraction. My job is exhausting. The students are chaotic. The politics are unbearable. But despite everything, despite all of it, I can’t quite bring myself to hate it. Because at the end of the day… I DO enjoy watching people learn. Even if, sometimes I have to shove that information down their throats and watch them choke on it.