My conversation with Dimitri didn't last long as he had been in a rush to get to my location. He sounded angry and worried while he was on the phone and I knew I had fucked up. I wished I could take back my impulsive actions from tonight, but it was too late. All I could do was wait for the guardians to arrive and contemplate everything I did.

I stayed in the snow with Avery's body curled up in my lap as I tried to warm her up. I didn't usually get cold so easily, but the snow was deep and I was freezing by the time the guardians finally came. My clothes were wet and parts of my body had become numb. Avery was even worse than me as she was still wearing shorts and a tank top. I was beyond angry with her, but I wasn't about to let her freeze to death. My body heat seemed to help her and I constantly rubbed her exposed skin to get the blood flowing but I was careful not to disturb her wounds which were already healing pretty fast.

I heard people getting out of their cars after they parked on the side of the road, using their flashlights to check the other car. They probably couldn't see us at first since we were in a ditch.

"They're over here," someone called, pointing their flashlights in my direction. The light hurt my eyes and I looked away before they turned off their lights. I was so cold I could barely talk, but I didn't need to. These people were trained and they knew how to handle crazy situations.

They took Avery away and rushed her into one of the vans to get her warmed up. I stayed in the snow, not quite sure what to do next until someone wrapped an arm around me and sat down. I already recognized the hands and turned my head slightly.

"Dimitri?" I whispered. I was surprised that he wasn't yelling at me. Maybe he had calmed down. Maybe he was just being nice because of my current condition. The guilt still hurt me inside and I dipped my head down, hiding my face with my hair. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."

"I know," he said, holding me closely.

"I'm in a lot of trouble, aren't I?" I asked.

"Big time. I don't even know where to begin on how reckless you were tonight," he said, "but right now, you're okay and that's what matters. Let's get you into the car. You're injured and you need help." Dimitri started to pull me up, helping me stand. I started ranting to him on the way to the large SUVs.

"I didn't mean to worry you and Eddie. Is Kirova going to expel me? I...I'll pay for the car I destroyed." Not that I had any money. "If you want, I can even ask for different guardians so that you guys don't have to worry about me anymore—"

Dimitri stopped in my path, gripping my shoulders. "That's not happening. It'll only make me worry more. Stop overthinking and just let us take care of you. Kirova isn't going to expel you."

"Why not?" I asked. "Don't I deserve that after what I did?"

"I told her I would deal with you," Dimitri said solemnly. "I didn't say what I would do, but I'm sure you know. She might make you do something to make up for tonight, but she won't expel you. You were reckless and we're going to talk about that later, but you also saved that girl's life."

I looked over at Avery who was just starting to wake up in the back seat of the other car. "She was so drunk. I didn't know what to do. I just wanted to stop her."

"I know," Dimitri repeated. "Roza, we can talk about all of this later. The only thing I care about is your health and I just want to make sure you're okay. Get into the car. Please."

I sighed but did as he asked and crawled into the front passenger seat. Before he closed the door, he took off his winter jacket.

"Dimitri, you don't have to—"

"Shut up," he said, wrapping it around my shivering body. He got into the driver's seat, following the car in front of us while another group stayed behind with the damaged vehicles.

I was quiet at first, occasionally turning to look at Dimitri's stoic face. I wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing that he wasn't saying anything.

"Um...is Eddie angry with me too?" I asked, holding onto Dimitri's jacket around me. "I probably made him look bad, but I don't want any of you to look down on him. Everything that happened tonight is my fault. He didn't even know I left the party."

"We're aware, and no, nobody looks down on him. He was angry, but I think he was more worried than anything. He was with one of those girls—the one you picked up at Eric's club. Chloe, right?" Dimitri asked, still keeping his eyes on the road.

"Oh god, is she okay? Avery...did something to her."

Dimitri grabbed my hand, holding it tightly at the gear stick. "Yes, she's fine. Eddie has already told us everything and he's taking care of her. Avery's going to be serving a lot of punishment for feeding on her against her will. If you and Eddie hadn't gone in, things could have gotten worse."

I shut my eyes before looking at the car ahead. "Adrian was with us too. He was pretty hurt. And then, after he left...something weird happened."

Dimitri took his eyes off the road for a second and he looked at me with concern. "Did she hurt you? Because if she did, she's not getting away with it."

"She didn't hurt me," I sighed, "but she tried to. She offered me Chloe's blood."

"What?" Dimitri said in disbelief. "You think—"

"That she knows about my secret? Maybe. She was drunk and out of her mind, but it just seemed like she knew something. She—" I paused, shivering in discomfort before I continued again. "She pinned me against the wall and said I was 'intoxicating' and that she wanted to know what my blood tasted like. And then she said I was the 'perfect little doll' and something about how 'they' liked me the most...I don't even understand what that's supposed to mean."

"By 'they', does she mean your old pimps?" Dimitri guessed.

I shrugged. "I think so...but I don't understand why she would say that. She wouldn't get off when I told her to and she even tried to feed on me."

Dimitri looked like he was lost in thought, but as time passed, his facial expression hardened more and more. He turned into the forest leading to the academy. "I need to talk to your father. Until we figure out what's going on, I want you to stay away from her, do you understand?"

I slipped further down into my seat, gripping my injured head. "Yeah. I understand."

After Dimitri parked in the parking garage, I stepped out of the car and nearly fell before I regained balance again. My head was healing, but I was still a little dizzy. I let Dimitri hold my arm while he took me to the hospital and they took me in right away.

"Rosemarie Hathaway!"

I froze, feeling the embarrassment of getting yelled at already. My mother stormed through the clinic and she grabbed my arm, pulling me into one of the private rooms. Dimitri came in, standing behind her and giving me a sympathetic look.

"What in hell were you thinking?" she demanded, looking me over to see my injuries. "You know, if you weren't so injured, I would have slapped you across the face!"

I shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time I got hit in the face."

Janine opened her mouth to say something, but after taking in my words, she dropped her head and sighed. I felt bad for using my past as an excuse to get out of things, so I tried to drop it. "Okay, fine, I screwed up. I'm aware of everything I did wrong. You don't need to repeat it to me."

"Damn straight I do! When are you ever going to learn to behave? You stole an academy vehicle, crashed it—which Abe and I have to pay for, by the way—and you were driving after you had alcohol!"

"Yes, yes...I know. I shouldn't have done it." My cheeks were flushing. I was glad she wasn't yelling at me in front of all the doctors or I would have fainted from embarrassment.

"I know you've been reckless in the past, but this...I don't even know what to say to this," she said, lowering her voice. "You're crazy and impulsive, and all I could think about when they told me you were missing was that you were taken away again."

I snapped my head up as a wave of sadness and guilt hit me. My mom hadn't been the same since my kidnapping. Every time I went out or didn't respond to her calls, she would start worrying, thinking something terrible had happened or that I had been kidnapped again. No matter how many times I tried to reassure her that I was okay, she still had that inner feeling that something bad would happen. I was her only child so it was understandable and I should have been smarter about this.

"I'm sorry." It was all I could say. I had nothing to argue back with and it would only make things worse if I did. She hugged me tightly, mumbling something about how she loved me and how stupid I was for putting myself in danger. I smiled, feeling her tough motherly love kick in.

Dr. Olendzki walked into the room, shaking her head when she saw me. "My favourite patient gets herself into trouble once again."

Dimitri shook his head. "She's a danger magnet."

"Isn't she," Dr. Olendzki agreed. She patted her hand on the examination table, motioning for me to get on. "Get up here. Let me check your injuries."

I didn't resist and sat on the leather cushioning, letting her examine the bruise on my forehead, the slight swelling in my chest and the small cuts from the glass. They were all minor injuries that were still in the process of healing.

"Nothing too serious," she said when she was done. "All of these should be gone by tomorrow, but you need to give yourself plenty of rest."

I smiled at Dimitri and Janine. "See? No biggie."

"But there is something else I'd like to talk to you about," she said, raising a brow at me. "Have you had time to consider the therapist I recommended to you?"

"Ugh..." I rolled my eyes. "I don't like talking to strangers about my problems."

"Rose, this could help you! I know you have your friends and family as a support system, and I'm more than happy about that, but I've known you for a very long time and I know you tend to hold back on things you need to get off your chest. Whatever you say to your therapist is confidential. The other girls are doing it and it's helping."

I was beginning to think Dr. Olendzki wouldn't give up until I gave in. Everyone was telling me the same thing—that I needed help. I couldn't disagree and I thought if I just gave it a try, it might be a good thing for me. "Fine," I groaned. "I'll book an appointment."

"Oh, thank goodness," she said in relief. "Guardian Belikov, I understand your guarding situation with her, but these meetings are generally a one-on-one thing unless she requests for you to go in."

"It's not an issue," Dimitri said. "I'll just stay outside whenever she has a session."

Before Dr. Olendzki replied, someone else opened the door, cutting her off. It was Abe, and he looked like he was in a rush. Whatever he had come in here for was urgent. "Janine, Dimitri, you guys need to see something. You and I are going to talk later," he said, giving me a pointed stare.

"Lovely," I said to myself, getting up to leave the room. Outside, I was greeted by Eddie.

"Thank god you're okay," he said, pulling me into a hug. He pulled back a second later, punching me in the arm. "But you're a fucking idiot."

"Eddie—I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have run off like that. I didn't know what else to do."

"What do you mean you didn't know? This school has guardians in case you've forgotten. You should have alerted someone on duty! Not go out when you were half drunk and alone!"

I had never seen Eddie look or sound so worried. He didn't even seem to care about his reputation or the fact that I had unintentionally made him look bad. He was a lot like a protective older brother, so I couldn't blame him for reacting like this. "I know I worried you—"

"You think?" he asked, dropping his voice and trying to calm down before he hugged me again. "I thought she hurt you."

"I think she's the one who got hurt the most," I said, pulling away. "How's Chloe doing?"

Eddie sighed, taking my arm. "Come with me."

I didn't ask any further questions and let him take me to another room. When I walked inside, Chloe sat on a hospital bed with a bandage on her neck. She looked like she had been crying earlier from all the redness and swelling around her eyes.

"Hey," she said, moving so that I could sit next to her.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she answered. "I don't even remember why I ended up at that party. I just remember Avery walking into my room and she said she could make my pain go away—that I could stop feeling it for a bit. But it just made everything worse."

I wrapped an arm around the young girl as she cried again. She was weak from losing so much blood and I felt so sorry for her. She had been trafficked for months and whatever progress she was making in getting better had plummeted.

I heard footsteps coming from down the hallway and saw Dimitri walk inside, stopping when he saw Chloe's disoriented state. "I can, uh, come back later."

"No, wait," I said. "I need to talk to Abe."

"I was about to tell you to go into Kirova's office to talk to him. We have news, but if you need time, we can wait a few more minutes."

"You should go," Chloe said, wiping her face. "I'm okay here. I'll stay with Eddie."

"Are you sure?" I asked. She looked tired now. With her blood loss, she probably needed to sleep.

"I'm sure," she whispered. I hugged her again before leaving the room with Dimitri by my side.

I was half-expecting Kirova to lecture me when I walked in, but she wasn't even in her office. Abe and my mom stood around her desk with some paperwork and a laptop placed in the middle.

"What's going on? Where's the headmistress?" I asked, hearing Dimitri close the door behind me.

"She's in a meeting to discuss tonight's events and figure out an appropriate punishment for your friend Avery," Abe informed me. I swallowed nervously, sitting down on a chair across the desk.

"And myself?"

"For some reason, I'm not surprised you did what you did—despite nearly getting yourself killed. You're lucky I convinced Headmistress Kirova to withdraw any punishment she had planned for you. Otherwise, you'd be in Avery's position."

Abe had never been strict with me, but under his calm state, I could tell he was a little angry. He wasn't far off from me, but he probably didn't want me to get hurt when I was such a high target.

"You mentioned Avery being one of the victims that were rescued, right?" he inquired, changing the subject. I nodded, looking down at my fingers.

"Well, she was lying. There's no sign of an Avery Lazar these files. No photos of her face, nothing. None of the guardians reported seeing her that night either and I can assure you nobody was left out. Now, we spoke to the students who attended her party and every single one of them had the same answer for us—they had no idea why they were there. Eddie Castile reported witnessing a girl from the high school campus being fed on and compelled. It sounds to me like she compelled almost every person at that party too. Dimitri has informed us of what she tried to do to you as well. It doesn't matter if she was drunk or not."

"So, she was faking it the whole time," I whispered to myself. "Damian was right..."

"What?"

"O-oh, nothing," I stammered, shaking my head. "I appreciate you telling me this, but it's still a lot to process and I think I just need to rest now."

Abe sighed, leaning back against the desk while slipping his hands in his pockets. "Yes, you do. We'll discuss the rest of this with the headmistress. As for you...well, I think Dimitri has that covered."

I squirmed in my spot just thinking about what I had coming. Dimitri put his hand on my shoulder, nodding for me to get up. "Let's go," he said. I complied and let him take me out.

"He doesn't know what we do, right?" I asked. The thought of my father knowing what Dimitri had in mind was disturbing.

Dimitri chuckled. "Relax. I wouldn't tell him that. What we do stays private. I just said I'd take care of you and that was enough for him."

I groaned. "You're going to spank me, aren't you?"

Dimitri snuck an arm around my waist, patting my lower back. "Yes. But not now. I want you to sleep and recover first, but you're in for one hell of a spanking tomorrow."

"Ugh. Don't remind me again."

"I think a reminder is exactly what you need right now," he said, opening the doors for my building. We stopped at the entrance and he grabbed my chin, looking down at me closely. "You have to sleep. Even if I'm punishing you, the first thing I look out for is your health and I want you to be well enough, okay?"

Dimitri had to be the most loving, caring person I had ever met in my life—both as a boyfriend and as a dom. He showed love and care in every way possible even when I was in trouble. He always took care of me and although I dreaded my punishment, a part of me felt happy that he cared enough to do that for me. Some people would think I was insane for letting him do that, but it worked for us.

Before he could go, I slipped my arms around his waist and gave him a tight hug. I needed it after a stressful night and he was happy to return the favour as he enveloped me in his arms and kissed the part of my head that was still slightly injured. "Get some rest," he whispered, pulling back. "Call me if you need anything."

"I will. Thanks, Comrade," I said with a tired smile. Dimitri cupped my face and kissed me tenderly on the lips, making me melt again before he pulled away and headed back to guardian housing.

I have to say this now just in case: there is non-sexual spanking in the next chapter. It's going to be a little more intense than the one in HPT, so if that makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to read it.

I read a lot of fics that include corporal punishment/domestic discipline and they get quite a lot of flame despite the warnings. I haven't really gotten any of that though and I think most of you already know my content includes that stuff.

Thank you all for reading and keeping an open mind :) I hope you liked this chapter too.