Vaughn
He hadn’t wanted to let Sam go, but he had to leave early for school since he still needed to finish grading the papers he’d never gotten around to over the weekend.
“It’s after lunch. I want him.” His little heart began to race and he began to panic.
“It’s okay, Ollie,” Ben whispered. “It’s just a little longer.”
Ben’s reassurance didn’t help. Ollie began to wail. Nana rushed into the room and tried to help as well, but Ollie wasn’t having any of it. Everyone got more and more upset, and finally Nana looked at him for a solution. He could only think of one.
“Okay, everybody up. Let’s go see Sam.”
Vaughn carried a still crying Ollie out to his truck and buckled him into the back seat.
Nana grabbed the blanket from Sam’s house, knowing the scent would give Ollie a little comfort, and tucked it around him in the seat.
After helping the rest of the cubs get in and buckled, Vaughn climbed into the driver’s seat while Nana sat in the passenger’s seat beside him.
Their hellhound shadow squeezed into the back without a word.
“You sure this is a good idea?” Nana asked.
“No,” Vaughn answered. “But I don’t have a better one that doesn’t involve him suffering for another couple hours until Sam gets back. He was supposed to go by his dad’s after school got out so unless you can think of anything…”
“Let’s go.”
The school was only a few minutes away and Vaughn parked his truck out front.
Nana stayed with the rest of them while Vaughn unbuckled a still crying Ollie and carried him into the building.
He got a few puzzled glances, and probably more than one phone call was being placed to the office, but Vaughn followed his nose down the long hallway to a classroom with a sign beside the door that said “Mr. Baker.”
“Okay, Ollie. We’re here.”
Vaughn knocked on the little window pane and drew Sam’s attention. He hurried to the door and pulled it open with fear in his eyes.
“Vaughn, what’s wrong?”
“Sam!” Ollie flung himself against Sam, and Sam caught him quickly.
Ollie wrapped his arms around Sam’s neck and burst into tears. “What happened?”
“He didn’t understand that after lunch didn’t mean right after lunch.”
“You didn’t come back,” Ollie wailed.
“It’s okay, Ollie. I’m here. It’s okay,” Sam said as he gently rubbed Ollie’s back. “Where are the others?”
“In the truck with Nana.”
“Okay. Go to the office and get a visitor’s badge. They’ve probably already called security. Ollie can stay with me.”
Vaughn nodded and hurried back toward the office. Sure enough, the principal was heading his way. Luckily, Vaughn knew her and her sickly Pomeranian well.
“Dr. Vaughn? What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Principal McNeely. Kind of a long story? I’ve recently taken in some foster kids. Mr. Baker is a friend of mine and has been helping me. The youngest has grown quite attached to him and was having a moment earlier. I’m afraid I needed to interrupt Sam’s class for help.”
“Oh, my. Let’s go check on them. I’ll accompany you.”
Vaughn nodded, thanking his lucky stars that she knew who he was.
They went back to Sam’s classroom and found him still holding Ollie.
He’d stopped crying but had a death grip on Sam’s neck.
Since it was near the end of the last day of school, Sam’s students were helping him pack up the classroom.
Mrs. McNeely stopped at the door and looked inside.
“If that isn’t the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, I don’t know what is.”
Sam looked their way and carried Ollie over. He looked a bit worried about what Ollie might do, but Vaughn wasn’t. He’d reminded the kids of the rules both the night before and again this morning on their walk.
He did it the same way his dad had, gentle reminders with scenarios of how to handle simple situations. Besides, he was there, and an alpha’s presence always helped with control.
“Sorry about this, Principal McNeely.”
“It’s fine, Sam. Well, just this once, anyway. Dr. Vaughn told me there’d been a bit of a problem.”
Ollie lifted his head and looked curiously at her while sniffing and rubbing his teary eyes. “Sam didn’t come back after lunch. He said after lunch.”
She melted a little. “Well, it is after lunch. We’ll have to ask Sam to teach you about the big hands and the little hands on the clock so you know just what time he means.”
“Big hands?” Ollie asked.
“Yep. Sam can show you. Telling time is fun. Now, I know you missed Sam, but I thought you might like to look around school with me. Dr. Vaughn can come with us.”
Ollie looked at her suspiciously then back at Sam. “I don’t want to go.”
His lip wobbled and he wrapped his arms back around Sam’s neck.
“Okay. You don’t have to,” Sam said. He glanced apologetically at the principal. “Do you mind if he stays with me until the end of the day?”
She glanced at the clock then back at Sam. “No problem. I’ll get back to the office. Dr. Vaughn, I’m afraid I can’t let you stay. School rules and all that.”
Vaughn glanced back at Sam, who shooed him away after giving him a sweet smile that made Vaughn’s wolf preen with happiness. Vaughn stared, unable to tear his eyes away from his mate as Sam carried Ollie to the back of the classroom where a few students were stacking a group of textbooks.
“You have quite the challenge ahead of you,” Mrs. McNeely said and keeping Vaughn from following his mate and claiming him once again.
Vaughn pasted on his doctor smile and forced his attention to Sam’s boss. “I know. He’s the youngest of six,” Vaughn said. “But I have a ton of support and believe me when I tell you that their case worker is fierce.”
Of course, she had no idea that he was actually referring the alpha of the hellhounds when he said case worker, but it was the language she understood for what was happening with them.
She smiled and patted his arm. “I’m sure they’re in the best possible hands. And it’s nice to see someone looking at Mr. Baker the way you are. He’s one of the best men I’ve ever met. Treat him well.”
“I will.”
She led him back to the front of the school. “Good. I’ll be bringing Princess in for her checkup in a few weeks. Hopefully everything will have settled for the little guy by then.”
“I hope so. Will you let Sam know that I’m waiting outside? The rest of the kids are in the car with my Nana.”
“You’re a good man, Dr. Vaughn. I’ll pass along the message to Mr. Baker, and please say hello to Jean for me.”
Vaughn exited the school to find six sets of nervous eyes staring at him from the rolled down windows. “He’s fine,” Vaughn said. “He’s staying with Sam until the end of the day. It’s only another thirty-five minutes.”
Ben looked a little nervous about leaving Ollie. He chewed his lip and stared at Vaughn.
“I promise he’s okay.”
Ben nodded, but he kept his attention focused on the front of the school.
Vaughn wondered if Ben would ever stop feeling responsible for the well-being of the rest of the cubs.
From what Vaughn had been able to put together, it sounded like Ben had practically raised them.
It had to be weird for him now to have Ollie clinging to Sam.
His instincts would allow Ollie to seek comfort from his alpha. But a human?
Then again, all of the cubs seemed to accept Sam so easily.
As easily as Vaughn himself had.
It brought to mind Sam’s concerns the night before, and the moment when Vaughn’s heart had gotten lodged in his throat.
He couldn’t explain why he’d been able to have sex with Sam two years ago and not know then that Sam was his mate.
It didn’t make sense. Something had changed, but Vaughn had no idea what it was.
“Alpha?” Jack said. He had a worried tone to his voice that had Vaughn turning his attention to the vehicle where the kids were all looking at Henry oddly.
“What’s the matter?”
Henry shrugged. He was chewing his lip nervously, though.
They all had the same nervous habit, as if they’d learned to bite their lips to keep their mouths shut under the circumstances they’d been living in.
It made sense but made him angry all over again for everything they’d been through.
If something was bothering Henry, though, especially as exposed as they currently were, he needed to be on his guard.
Vaughn glanced at the hellhound, who climbed out of the vehicle and began scanning the area with his enhanced senses.
Vaughn rounded the car and opened the back door.
He leaned in so he could be closer to Henry and held onto the kid’s hand tightly.
“Henry, buddy, if something is happening, I need you to tell me, okay? I won’t be mad at you, I promise. ”
Henry nodded and glanced toward the school. “It’s not bad,” he whispered. “I… I think… are they really happy?”
Vaughn looked toward the school where the first of the students were beginning to emerge. He’d been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even heard the bell ring.
“Yeah. They’re really happy. It’s the last day of school, and they have the whole summer off to play with their friends and have fun. Did you feel how happy they were?”
Henry nodded again. “The bell was really loud, and then I just… I just had to smile.”
Goddess. The kid didn’t even know what summer vacation meant. Hell, they didn’t even have any toys to play with.
Vaughn heard a suspicious sniffle from the front seat and knew his Nana was as impacted by Henry’s words as he was.
“I bet that felt really cool. I think Sam will like to hear about it when he comes out. What do you think?”
“Is Sam really happy, too?” Henry asked.
“Yep. Because he gets the summer off just like his students.”
“Sam… Sam isn’t going to leave us, is he, Alpha?” Henry looked scared at the thought, and Vaughn pulled him into a hug.
“Sam’s not going anywhere, buddy. We still have some grown up stuff to figure out, but come on… you saw him stand up for you, right? You think he’s not going to look after you after that? I mean he faced down a hellhound for you guys.”