I woke from a nightmare, it was the same thing as per usual, the car crash. But it wasn't my dream, it was Lissa's. The car crash was over 2 years ago, Lissa and I were the only survivors, the rest of Lissa's family had died on impact.
After the crash, we formed a bond and I could feel her emotions and her general location. The bond only worked one way, Lissa couldn't feel my feelings, nor could she see through my eyes. Occasionally, I could see inside Lissa's head at times, mostly when she was feeling very strong emotions.
I shook her awake, tears were trickling down her face. She quickly launched herself into my arms for comfort. I held her close and stroked her hair and whispered to her. "I'm here, I'll always be here for you". Once she settled, it became apparent that both of us were wide awake and sleep was unlikely to occur.
I noticed that Lissa looked pale, I fetched her a bag of blood and heated it up in the microwave for her. Oscar hissed at the window by the sink, I went to fetch myself a glass of water and I peered out of the window. I saw movement in the shadows… They have found us.
"Liss, don't react. Its time to go, Guardians are outside"
We quickly threw on coats and grabbed our 'go bags'. I lifted our roommates keys from the hook, it would do for an escape vehicle in a pinch. I had spotted his car on my run earlier today, it was a couple streets away.
I kept us close to the shadows and I scanned for movement as we walked. When we were 50 meters from the car I could hear footsteps behind us. I turned to see three guardians approaching our south.
"Faster Lissa" I was practically dragging her and was close to picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder. As I looked back towards our destination, I saw a very tall man step out from the shadows.
He was an alpha with shoulder length brown hair, deep brown eyes and cheekbones for days. He was very, very tall and under different circumstances I would say he was gorgeous. He looked like he stepped out of a magazine, but at present he was blocking our means of escape with others close behind. He was clearly the biggest threat to take out first, so I launched myself forward at him.
"Leave her alone" I growled at him
He put his hand out like he was trying to reassure an animal. "Princess-"
I started with a series of attacks to probe my opponent. He was agile and graceful for his height, his every movement was precise. He was good, very good, it wasn't just because he was alpha, he had put in the work.
He blocked everything I threw at him, then I realised, he was toying with me. That bastard.
He made his move, swept my legs from under me and took me down to the ground. I had expected to hit the ground hard with his weight on top of me, but he shot his arm out to control my descent and then wrapped himself around me to cushion the blow. I found myself pinned down to the ground with him on top of me. I braced myself to fight him off when I locked eyes with him, I stopped.
As our eyes met I felt this rush, I couldn't move or speak. He wasn't just gorgeous, he was the most handsome man I had ever seen. He let out a growl while he continued to stare at me and I felt heat pool between my legs under his heated gaze. It was as though time had stopped and no one else existed except him and me. I suddenly started to feel hot and I became acutely aware of him pressed up against my body.
"urrrrr" I didn't know what exactly came out of my mouth at that moment, he had me transfixed.
"Rose, stand down" Lissa called out to me. He got up and reached out to help me up. He held me next to him and I longed to get closer. What is happening to me?
He turned to Lissa. " Princess Dragomir, my name is Dimitri Belikov, I have been sent to bring you back to school. I have been assigned as your new sanctioned guardian." He spoke with a slight accent, definitely European.
His eyes never completely left me, his grip was gentle, but he wasn't going to let me go. I didn't know what it was about him, I couldn't stop staring at him. I felt like a creep but I pressed my body closer to him, he smelt amazing, like pine and leather. I felt calmer.
I heard Lissa in my head, 'I sent your father a text'. My eyes briefly flickered over to her and I nodded in response. I turned back to stare at Guardian Belikov, I felt a pull towards him, a desire even. Are you ok?
I nodded again, gaze intently locked on him. The other guardians had assembled when I finally looked away from the tall alpha. I felt floored, I didn't know why he affected me so much, maybe it was the power that he radiated.
He packed us away in separate cars, him with Lissa and me in the other car. They took us to the airport and when he saw us whispering together he ordered us to stay separated. I was at the back of the plane.
Lissa sat in the front, I could feel Lissa's fear and apprehension with returning to St Vladimirs. She was so anxious, I got pulled into her head. I could see through her eyes, she was looking at Dimitri as he bent over to pick up a bottle. He had 6 small molnija tattoos surrounding his promise mark, I wanted to trace his neck with my hands. I pulled back into myself, getting out of Lissa's head.
Near the end of the flight he swapped seats with the guardian sitting next to me. I kept looking at him from my periphery, I seemed to be utterly fascinated with him, his presence made me feel warm. His scent made me feel giddy, I itched to touch him and I remember how it felt to have him lying on top of me.
"Were you going to attack all of us?" He finally asked me.
"If I had to. You were the first target, clearly an alpha and directly blocking our escape route. If I could take you out quickly then we could have made it to the car and gotten away before the others caught us." I responded like it was obvious, which it was, take out the biggest threat first, otherwise I would have been surrounded with him in play.
He raised an eyebrow in response. "I'm impressed, I thought you would be further behind for someone who had missed training for 2 years."
I tried to keep my face impassive, I was still annoyed by how he toyed with me.
"I was the top novice before I left and I was training aikido and krav maga over the last year" I replied.
"Its good that you continued some of your training, less for you to catch up."
I shrugged in response. I know I should be bowing and scraping more, he is an alpha and the official assigned guardian to Lissa. I could potentially become his guarding partner and I would be at his mercy regarding selection for her guardian team for college.
"Doing that…protecting her like that—it was very brave." He paused. "Stupid, but still brave. Why did you do it?"
I turned to look at him "I'm her guardian." I brushed his arm as I turned back and I felt electricity from the contact. He looked at me and I knew he felt it too. He went to stand up and I could have sworn that he sniffed me before he stood up.
"You are a beta aren't you?" He asked.
"I'm definitely not an alpha" I responded.
"You fight like one" I blushed and gave him a radiant smile and then he returned to the front of the jet.
We landed as the sun was setting, SUV's at the landing strip took us to campus. In a small way I missed the place, it had been my home since I was four years old. The expansive greenery contrasted with the old gothic buildings and stone carvings, St Vladimirs was a beautiful campus.
They walked us through the centre of the commons to Ms. Kirova's office. I could see my former classmates peering at us, enjoying the spectacle of our return. I kept my chin up and acted like I didn't care. I tried to get a lay of the land from my peripheries, trying to see who sat with whom and who showed signs of being alpha.
The moroi society was divided by Royal and non-Royal. The dhampir society separated by biology, their social standing determined by physical strength and fighting prowess. Moreover, alphas were the strongest, most aggressive, usually being in positions of leadership and relative power amongst the dhampir.
The beta were your average dhampir, those who worked the hardest could achieve leadership positions, but they had to be the best. Female alphas tended to be better leaders than their male counterparts, they were often better at keeping their head in situations until their tempers got the best of them. They were fewer in number than the male alphas.
The omega were rare and typically more females than males. Omega could produce Moroi, dhampir or human offspring. They were coveted by the moroi royalty as they could produce moroi offspring while having a more exotic dhampir package that is socially acceptable. Dhampir omegas are treated as courtesans, women dressed in the finest clothes and jewellery, but it was essentially sexual slavery.
At St Vladimirs, the Royal moroi and the alpha were at the top of the pecking order. It was the male equivalent of being 'girl pretty', it had social currency. Alphas tended to think that they could have any girl they wanted and could order around the betas.
Guardian belikov appeared to be more alpha than most, his muscles looked like they were chiseled from stone. My mother once said 'Not all alphas are alike' and now I knew what she meant. He screamed Alpha power and he didn't seem as aggressive as Alphas were meant to be.
The moroi women that carried dhampir children were usually fathered by alphas, they helped continue the dhampir race. Omegas could contribute to more Dhampirs, but the court tightly controlled omegas. Some moroi women even chased them, we called them Rut-sluts. After looking at Guardian Belikov, I finally understood why.
We arrived to Principal Kirova's office and were placed in seats facing Kirova at her desk, our escort barring Dimitri left. We were accompanied by the head guard, Alberta Petrov, she and Dimitri stood behind us against the wall.
"Vasilisa" A voice called from the corner, we turned to see Prince Victor Dashkov in the corner of the office. He was a surrogate uncle to Lissa, especially since her family died in the car crash. Lissa gave him a big hug while I took in his appearance.
He was significantly frailer than the last time I saw him, he looked twice his age with shaking hands and a stick to keep him upright. Illness was rare in Moroi, when they were sick it was usually quite severe.
Kirova started by laying into Lissa, talking about the shame she brought to her family, a line that is almost extinct had we encountered strigoi. She threw a multitude of terms such as 'responsibility', 'reckless behaviour' and 'self-centredness'. I had tuned out until her wrath focused on me.
"And you, Miss Hathaway have broken a sacred vow of your kind to protect a moroi. Even if this was her hair-brained scheme, it was your duty to notify someone which would have kept her safe."
"I did do my duty" I jumped from my chair. "I kept her safe all this time when none of you could. I did what I had to do to protect her" A look from Alberta told me to sit back down and shut up.
"By my estimation, you left because of that destructive stunt you pulled just before your appearance" Kirova snarked. "Which makes my decision easier. The princess is a moroi and must stay here for her own safety, but the school has no such obligations to you"
I pulled up short, utterly shocked. "What?"
Lissa Jumped up. "You can't do this, she is my guardian."
"She is no such thing but a troublemaker. She is expendable "She doesn't deserve to be a guardian, and she will leave."
I sat there in shock, I knew she didn't like me but her callousness and cruelty was astounding.
"Where are you going to send me? A dhampir community to become a blood whore?"
"Miss Hathaway," she hissed, "you are out of line."
"They have a bond." Dimitri's low, accented voice broke the heavy tension, and we all turned toward him." Kirova might have forgotten him, but I certainly had not. I felt that there was a cord tethering us together, his presence felt too powerful to ignore.
He looked directly at me, his eyes piercing me. "Rose knows what Vasilisa is feeling. Don't you?"
"No…that's impossible. That hasn't happened in centuries."
"It's obvious," he said. "I suspected as soon as I started watching them."
I stared back at him, refusing to respond.
"That is a gift," murmured Victor from his corner. "A rare and wonderful thing."
"The stories about the best guardians always do" He said staring into my eyes. My lips parted slightly as I bathed in his gaze.
"Ones that are centuries old. Are you really suggesting that she stay after everything that she had done. She is undisciplined, all the bonds and raw potential in the world cannot make up for that."
Dimitri turned his gaze to Kirova and stepped forward to stand behind me. "Then teach her discipline, classes just resumed, get her enrolled and back to training."
"Impossible, she is too far behind her peers."
He pressed closer to my back to lean over towards Kirova, I pushed back into him, enjoying the heat of his body. "Then give her extra training"
"Who's going to put in the extra time?" demanded Kirova."You?"
Dimitri's argument came to an abrupt stop. "Well, that's not what I—"
Kirova crossed her arms with satisfaction. "Yes. That's what I thought."
He turned to look at Lissa silently pleading and then looked down at me. I felt my heart race faster from the power of his stare, I held my breath and started at him.
"Yes," he said finally. "I can mentor Rose. I'll give her extra sessions along with her normal ones."
"And then what?" retorted Kirova angrily. "She goes unpunished?"
"Find some other way to punish her," answered Dimitri. "Guardian numbers have gone down too much to risk losing another. A girl, in particular."
Suddenly there was a loud knocking at the door, the secretary walked in looking very nervous. "Ma'am, Mr Mazur is here to see you."
I smiled to myself and I could feel Lissa relax, my trump card had finally arrived. Abe Mazur strolled in before officially being allowed to enter.
"Ahhh, Ellen, lovely to see you again"
Kirova looked anything but pleased. "M- Mr Mazur, we are just in a meeting."
"How fortunate that this is the matter that I am here to talk to you about"
Kirova looked puzzled. "Really, how does this concern you?"
"You see, I came to see for myself that my lovely daughter had returned safely"
Kirova looked like she had been his by a two by four in the face. Dimitri stepped between my father and me looking shocked, but ready for action.
Kirova did simple math in her head, I could almost picture the cogs moving slowly. If pale, fair-haired Lissa was not his daughter, then I would be his daughter. The look on her face when she realised was priceless.
"Ahh Rose, there you are. How are you sweetheart" He only pulled out pet names, aside from Kiz when he was playing up the connection.
"Baba" I jumped up to give him a hug and then I turned so we stood arm in arm, facing Kirova.
"What did I miss?" He asked.
Before Kirova could utter a word, I answered. "She was talking of expelling me, but keeping Lissa here. Guardian Belikov has offered to help me catch up with extra training sessions." I turned to look at Dimitri with a very appreciative look, I could see his eyebrow twitch in response.
Kirova tried to backtrack to save her arse. "I was trying to impress the serious nature of their actions as a motivation for her to work hard when she resumes her guardian training.
"I'm sure you were, even though it was a mutual decision by both girls, you thought that my daughter should get expelled."
Kirova got really flustered at this point, trying to backpedal quickly. Mentioning the incident, which was not actually my fault, as the primary reason for my near expulsion. The thing I had learnt from my father, if you leave them enough rope they will hang themselves. I started to see sweat forming on Kirov's brow.
"Of course, we are not expelling her, but she does have extra training sessions and no social events for two months. We will send the girls to the guidance counsellor to organise their schedule"
"Excellent, then we can talk about a tour around the school and accomodations. They will need sizeable storage to accommodate their new clothing. Also, I presume she would be able to have meals with her parents if either of us is in the area."
"Of course Mr Mazur." I smirked, this was sounding less and less like a severe punishment.
We were ushered out of the room while my father worked on getting me a comfortable room and making Kirova inspect it herself.
AN:
I have researched ABO stories on tumbler to get a feel of the genre. I have developed my own book of Alpha/Beta/Omega rules and I have read the works of Hiccuped Studio (Warrior of my heart 1-3 and What could have been) and Swimming in the same deep waters (Her Alpha - Absolutely amazing). I strongly suggest that that you read their works.
I have tried to make my story different to these amazing authors and I have no intention to copy their work, but I have read these works multiple times so I hope that their influence hasnt bled into my own work. I have designed this story to make much more sense later on than at the beginning.
I plan to make this a smutty story, but I want to acknowledge that an adult male teacher having a relationship with a teenage student is icky and an abuse of power. I love VA and I see Rose and Dimitri as people who were fated to be who truely love each other. But as I am advancing their relationship faster, it makes me uncomfortable to produce work that glorifies this relationship as I feel in reality the teacher would be taking advantage.
