Page 67 of Red River

His lower lip was quite swollen, and another bruise was forming on his cheek.

My boy… I wanted to rush over and hug him, but the moment he saw me, his expression stopped me in my tracks. He was furious—cold, boiling rage just beneath the surface.

My despair only grew. We were so far apart.

"Good afternoon, I’m River Monroe. I’m Igor’s dad," I said, stepping inside. "And this is his legal guardian, Archer Wilson."

The two teachers, both betas, turned to glance at us. The taller one, a stocky man with thick black hair and glasses, stepped forward and shook my hand.

"Good timing. I’m afraid I have bad news—Igor attacked one of his classmates—"

"He looks more like the one who got attacked," I snapped, unable to hold back.

The teacher cleared his throat. "We’re still piecing together the details. I’m Principal Vernon, and this is the school counselor, Dean Nelson."

Now I remembered—I had seen him in passing when we were here two weeks ago enrolling the kids, but I had only spoken with the vice principal, not him personally.

The counselor, a short man with a big beard, gave a nervous smile as he shook my hand, then Archer’s, though he avoided meeting our eyes.

"How’s the other boy doing?" Archer asked, his calm tone only fueling my irritation.

The principal cleared his throat again. "He’s fine. He defended himself… effectively."

"So effectively, that Igor is the one sitting in the nurse’s office," Archer said coolly. "Not the supposed victim?"

There was an awkward pause, during which I started to wonder why I had even been mad at Archer in the parking lot. He was unequivocally on my side.

"As far as we know, those boys have been bullying Igor since his first day—" I began, but the principal interrupted me.

"But none of them resorted to violence first."

Archer crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you a psychologist?" he asked, shifting his gaze to the counselor.

The man blinked, a little surprised, and nodded.

"Then you know how teenage alphas behave. If a boy is called ‘pretty omega’ for two weeks and told his lips would be great for blowjobs, at some point, he’s going to snap. That’s part of an alpha’s nature, which I hope you’re aware of as a professional."

Archer's voice was deep and strong, making an impression. I stared at him as well, feeling pretty upset because this was the first time I had heard this detail about the bullying.

Principal Vernon cleared his throat even louder.

"I want to start by saying that we’re willing to sweep this whole incident under the rug, given that Igor recently lost his father, and transitions like these are typically very challenging."

I had no intention of letting this slide. What I’d just heard infuriated me beyond belief.

"This kind of behavior is unacceptable—it’s sexual harassment!" I snapped, feeling my blood boil.

The principal turned toward me and winced slightly, probably reacting to the high-pitched tone of my voice. "They were just boys joking around, and it was Igor who lashed out first. I’d suggest we leave things as they are because the alternative is suspending Igor for starting a violent attack on another student," Mr. Vernon said sharply.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Are you serious? So what’s your plan then? If the harassment continues, is Igor supposed to report every single incident to the school counselor?"

"Yes, that could be a good starting point, and we’ll decide from there whether the matter warrants further intervention," Principal Vernon replied firmly.

"So, let me get this straight." Archer’s tone was disturbingly cold. "Igor is supposed to snitch on his classmates while allowing them to call him names and humiliate him in front of his peers without any other reaction. Did I get that right?"

When no one answered, Archer added, "Now, here’s my counterproposal. Next time, Igor hits one of those boys hard enough to flip the script, and since this is a ‘transitional period’, we can just sweep that incident under the rug too. Sound good?"

Both men, and the omega nurse, were now focused on Archer, looking a bit dismayed. Even Igor, who had been sitting with his head bowed the entire time, finally raised it to look at Archer, though it was impossible to read what he was feeling.

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