Ch. 181..185: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 181-185

Chapter 181

“I was a catastrophe of a person,” Jackson groans, laughing softly as he presses his eyes shut and remembers his first few days in the city. “I was…so shocked by the noise, Ariel, and the pavement – god, stone and metal everywhere – and the people. God, I didn’t think that there were that many people in the world, let alone one city.”

–

I stay quiet, letting Jackson tell at his own pace. He moves pretty quickly through the story of how he was chosen from the ranks of the young men in his community to attend the Alpha Academy, to gain what new military knowledge he could and bring it back to his own world.

Jacks leaves out a lot as he tells me about how they barely prepared him and then dropped him at a boarding house in the city three months ahead of time, I think not wanting to remember all of it. But he tells me how he showed up basically with a spare set of clothing, a handful of cash, and the order to acclimate himself.

“I stayed inside for a whole week,” he murmurs, shaking his head with an embarrassed smile on his lips. “Like, inside my room. I had this little window? And I sat at it all day, just watching people walk by, trying to…to figure out who they were, what their lives were like. I felt like a complete alien – like I was from another planet, Ariel. There were just men and women, walking together, holding hands, in these weird clothes – and just like, kids everywhere…” he shakes his head at what must have felt so bizarre.

“Well, what changed?” I ask, desperately curious.

“The landlady came,” he murmurs, looking down at me with a smirk. “Demanding the next week’s rent. And that’s when I realized that…I was going to run out of money very, very soon.”

“What!?” I gasp, horrified that he was out of money after a week. “Jackson, how much did they send you with?”

“Like, fifty bucks,” he says, laughing and shaking his head. “Which I’m sure to them felt like an insane amount of money to just hand over – we don’t deal with a lot of cash in the community. I’m not sure they knew how fast it would run out? Or maybe they did.” He shrugs like it doesn’t matter..

do?”

I curl up closer to him, so sorry for my mate and feeling guilty that I’ve never once wondered about paying rent or whether or not I’d have enough money to get by. “So, what did you “Some of the other guys in the house noticed how miserable and scared I was,” he says, smiling at me and stroking his hand over my hair, “and that I hadn’t eaten in a week. They took pity – got me a job washing dishes at one of the restaurants in town. It was enough for some food, and the rent, and the utilities. And it made me leave the room, made me go do what I was supposed to do – which is learn how to be in this world.”

I’m quiet again as Jackson continues, telling me that he was basically a little mouse of an employee – always on time, reliable, hard–working, but silent. That he spent his days listening to people in the kitchen talking to each other, learning about modern life, starting to pick up the vernacular and get more comfortable here.

“I was lucky,” he murmurs, “that pretty much everyone in the kitchen was a man. There were some waitresses, of course,” he smiles here and covers his face with his hand like he does when he’s embarrassed. “And I realize now that they may have been…hitting on me. But I

refused to talk to them

TANY

I was terrified.”

I laugh along with him at this and press myself closer, secretly grateful that none of those other girls got their mitts on him. As hypocritical as it is, the idea of another girl touching Jackson makes me want to bare my fangs and tear her stupid face off. And even if Jackson has hinted that there was another girl in his past…well. I guess I don’t want to talk about her right now, do 1?

H

Chapter 182

“I hate that,” I murmur, working to press myself closer to him, even though that’s not really possible. “I hate the idea of you scared, and alone, and talking to girls when I was just like… half a city away.”

“But you were engaged,” he says, his voice strange- I think a little amused? I don’t know. I can’t quite parse it.

“You knew about that?” I ask, looking up at him wide–eyed,

“How could I not?” he asks, grinning at me. “You were all over the media – – and it’s all anyone would talk about, especially as it got close.”

“Well,” I say, smiling myself a little too and reaching up to stroke my fingers through his hair. “What did you think about it?”

“You’ll be disappointed in me, Ari,” he murmurs, lowering his face and taking a sniff of my hair. “I didn’t really think about it. It was all very far from what I had been instructed to think was important, what I could understand – a royal wedding…” he shakes his head. “I didn’t have a way to understand it, why it was important.”

“Oh, come on,” I say, shoving his shoulder a little, my smile deepening. “You must have thought something.”

Jackson grins at me for a long moment before he breaks, looking away from me like he can’t hold my eyes while he admits it. “Fine,” he says, heaving a little sigh. “I thought you were… very pretty.”

“Pretty!?” I say, grinning and sitting up straighter with a happy squeak. “You thought I was pretty!?”

“Just in passing,” he mutters, still not looking at me, a faint blush on his cheeks. “I saw a few pictures on the covers of magazines –”

“So then how did you not recognize me when we met!?” I shout, laughing and tugging on his shirt, wanting him to look at me again. My mate, ever obliging, turns his head to smile at me.

“Because you were a boy, Ariel – and you smelled like a boy, and I had no reason to equate the lowest–ranked Candidate at the academy with the pretty girl I’d seen on a magazine cover

“You thought I was prettttty,” I sing, a little delighted, wiggling victoriously in his lap.

“And I was right,” he growls, snatching me closer and bending me back a bit in a way that makes heat coil in my core. “You are pretty. Much prettier in person, and not dressed up in all that bride–y gauze.”

“Yes, all that bride stuff really was crap,” I say with a sigh, staring up at him, starry–eyed and swept away by how wonderful he is – at once handsome, and powerful, and cute. God, how does he manage it?

But there’s still so much more I want to know, and I’m being selfish, turning this conversation away from him.

“So,” I ask, quieting down, sitting up straighter and resolving to be good. “How’d you spend your time off? Did you hang out with the guys that you lived with?”

All I want in the world right now is to sit right here in my mate’s lap, listening to him talk for hours, spinning out the story of his life. I’d listen for days, if time and circumstance would let me, even though I know they won’t.

“In my time off,” Jackson murmurs, thinking back on it and raising his hand to my hair, petting me again, “at first, I just sat alone in my room. But then the guys I lived with – they were kind, but…a little rough, you know? They told me I’m a sad sack and that I was being a creep, just sitting in there in the dark. They made me come out into the communal living room, which is where I discovered… television.”

“What!?” I gasp, unable to keep from laughing a little. Jackson laughs along with me, though, giving a self–deprecating little shrug. “You didn’t know what television was!?”

Chapter 0183

This gets his attention, and he snaps his face to mine, snarling and baring his teeth. But I just cross my arms, glaring up at him. “Would you listen to me? I know things, all right? And she’s not here.”

Jackson goes still, just staring at me.

“I’m not tricking you, Jacks!” I shout, frantic myself now, wanting to get a move on, wanting to get his mind back on the correct problem before he wastes more time than he already has. “Do you think I’d lie to you? Seriously, after everything we’ve been through in the past few months – I know I’m still keeping things from you, Jacks, but do you honestly think I’d turn you away from your mate if she really needed your help!?”

Jackson’s face softens slightly as he stares at me, his teeth still bared.

And I nod once when I see his eyes clear, see him believe me.

Because, despite everything, over the past few months we have become friends. I have earned some of his trust, and he knows I won’t betray him.

Jackson stares at me for a few moments longer and I hold his gaze, willing him to take my side.

And then he just turns, covering his face with his hand as he tilts his head up to the sky, groaning as he shakes his head. “God, Clark, what the fuck is going on?” he murmurs against his palms.

And I sigh, shaking my head, wanting desperately to tell him, to make this easier on him.

“Can we just go, Jacks?” I say on a sigh, exhausted by all of this – by the Examination, by the sight of my mate so upset, by the fact that another cadet just tried very hard to murder me.

And god, we’re not even an hour into this bullshit.

Slowly Jackson turns, sighing himself, meeting my eyes. “I don’t understand this, Ari,” he whispers, and the fact that he’s using my name now – not Clark – warms me.

“I know,” I say in reply, taking a step towards him. “I’m sorry.”

He just shakes his head, closing the distance between us and wrapping a broad hand around my arm. “Is she okay?”

I exhale sharply, looking up at him. “She’s fine.”

He stares at me, confused, but I look to the right, along the ridge.

“Come on,” I say, taking a step forward and pulling him with me. “Jacks, we have to go. We can’t stay here – we have to get to the end.”

He tightens his hand, not letting me get away. “Do you promise?” he breathes, and I turn back to him, my heart aching at his sincerity. “Do you promise she’s safe?”

“She is now,” I say, steady.

Jackson takes a deep breath, nodding once, and then drops his hand from my arm. I nod back, steady, and then I start again, adjusting the crossbow slung over my back, and I don’t look back to see if he’s following. Because I know that he is.

My mate – of course he’s at my side. Of course he is. And with him here, I actually have a shot at surviving this.

Jackson and I walk for a long time in silence, and I give him the space to pull himself together. I don’t miss, out of the corner of my eye, that he sends worried looks over his shoulder and I swear at one point that I hear a very wolfish whine of worry come from his throat.

But I just breathe out and concentrate on moving forward and paying attention to our surroundings, because one of us needs to be attentive to the world around us. A thousand things could happen now, the most dangerous of which would be getting attacked by another larger group of cadets.

As we walk, though, I calm, and I feel Jackson next to me do the same. Passively, I wonder if that’s just normal empathy letting me know that he’s calming down and starting to concentrate on the situation at hand, or if it’s the connection between us, growing deeper.

After about twenty of minutes of walking, Jackson pushes a canteen against my chest, making my jump a little. “Drink,” he murmurs, and I glance to the side to see him pulling his own map out of his pocket, looking over it. “Let me see your map,” he murmurs. “I want to make sure that they’re the same.”

Chapter 0184

I oblige, taking a quick sip from the canteen as Jackson holds one map in each hand looking them over. He gives a swift nod, handing one back to me.

“Thanks, by the way,” I say, taking my attention from the path for a moment as I hand his canteen back to him. “For…rescuing me. Again.”

Jackson doesn’t say anything, just shoots me a little look and nods like it was the obvious thing to do. But guilt wells in me, because I know that even though his mate and I are one in the same, that he wasn’t actually trying to save the me he knows, Ari Clark – he was trying to save some anonymous girl.

And a little jealousy suddenly wells in me…

But I scowl and brush away.

Because honestly, am I wasting time in this Examination being jealous of myself!? My wolf huffs at me, giving my soul a nip, telling me to pay attention. So I do, pushing myself forward along the ridge as fast as I can, which is slower than I’d like it to be. The terrain has changed now, moving from smooth forest to rocky terrain that slows my steps, even as night falls.

After about two hours, Jackson sighs, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Stop,” he says, and I turn to see him shaking his head as he looks up at the sky. “We need a plan.”

I stop, turning to him as he again pulls out his map, taking advantage of the last gasps of light to review it. I come to his side, standing on my tiptoes so that I can see it as well.

“The bridge is a trap,” I murmur, frustrated.

“It wouldn’t be,” he replies, his voice chagrined, “if we were faster.”

I scowl, because I know that’s my fault. If it weren’t for me, Jackson would be halfway up the mountain by now.

“The Examination is testing a lot of things,” Jackson says, speaking his thoughts aloud as he studies the map. “How fast we can move, how we deal with our apparent enemies, whether or not we can change plans on a dime. Eventually, it will test our ability to handle rough terrain,” he says, pointing towards the land closest to the Final Destination, which I noted early is mostly cliffs that we’ll have to scale.

I study the map alongside him. “Cadets are going to gather at the bridge,” I sigh, shaking my head. “Make it hell for anyone to cross.”

“Yup,” he agrees, nodding. “It’s not a bad plan – anyone who is strong and fast enough will have already crossed anyway and made it to the mountain by tonight. But for anyone who is a little slower or doesn’t have the ability to shift, it will be worth it to take the time and knock out faster candidates as they try to cross. I mean, I can take them, but…” he glances down at me, not needing to finish the sentence.

I ignore the fact that I cannot, looking up into his face and frowning. “Would it even be worth it, though? I mean, even if you could take them and do some damage, you risk getting hurt.”

“They can’t hurt me,” Jackson mutters, his eyes roving over the map for a plan.

“Jacks,” I sigh, suddenly pissed and a little sick at the idea of him barreling through a gauntlet of cadets at the bridge. “You’re not invulnerable, you’re just big. Stop being so cavalier.”

Jackson takes a second to study me with a frown, I think surprised that someone is worried about him. But then he just shrugs. “It doesn’t change anything,” he says. “We still have to get you across.”

I bite my lip, staring up at my mate’s perfect face, suddenly horribly guilty at all he’s giving up by dragging my tiny little self along in his wake. “Jacks,” I say softly. “Just…go on without me. Leave me behind.”

Slowly, Jackson turns to stare at me like I’ve said the craziest thing he’s ever heard.

Chapter 0185

“I’m not leaving you behind, Ari,” Jackson spits out, glaring at me like I’ve said something horrible and ridiculous, like we should both throw ourselves off the cliff.

“I’m just slowing you down!” I say, throwing out my hands for emphasis. “Seriously, if you hadn’t back-tracked for me, you’d be like, finished now –“

“I didn’t backtrack for you,” he mutters, still staring at me, “I backtracked for –“

“Your mate, whatever,” I sigh, rolling my eyes. “Either way, it’s not fair. I’ll find my own way up the mountain, it will be fine.”

“It will not be fine,” he says, reaching out to grab my arm. “Do you think I want to do this without you!?”

“What?” I ask, suddenly baffled.

“Not…not this, Ari,” Jackson says, waving the map around at the darkening forest. “Not the Examination. I mean, the Academy. Do you think I’m not aware that you’re the only person who has been nice to me? That you’re – you’re the only human connection I have at all?”

“But,” I frown at him, “Rafe and Jesse –“

“Are only friends with me because you make them be –“

“That’s not true, Jackson,” I whisper, turning to face him, desperate for him to believe me. “They like you for who you are – sure, I was the start of it, but they really do –“

“Ari,” Jackson sighs, his shoulders slumping, “this isn’t the time for a pep talk. Just – I’m not leaving you behind, okay? I found you in the woods, for some reason – because you’re always weirdly around when I smell her scent – but…I’m not leaving you behind now, all right? There’re ways to do

this, even if I have to drag you up the mountain myself.” He mutters the final words, looking back at the map, and a slow, terribly pleased smile creeps over my face.

Because my mate – he likes me. He’s my friend.

And as stupid as that is to realize because, duh, of course your mate is supposed to like you as a person…god, it means everything in the world to me right now.

“Okay,” I whisper, giving in and stepping close. “So, what should we do?”

“Can you shift?” he asks, glancing over at me, hesitating. Not everyone can shift – some people, even though they’re full wolves, just never develop the ability. “This will all be a lot easier if you can run as a wolf.”

I bite my lip, because while I can shift…I mean, the jig will instantly be up if I do. Jackson will take one whiff of my honey and clove scent in my wolf form and know immediately who I am.

Which will, of course, destroy his world and throw his attention off again when we both need to concentrate on getting to the top of the mountain.

So, slowly, I decide to lie, hoping desperately that it’s the right choice. “No,” I whisper, and my wolf howls within me to be denied the chance to run as well as the fact that we’re blatantly lying to our mate. “I…I can’t shift.”

Jackson scowls, looking down at the map. “Well, let’s get to the bridge then,” he says, folding it neatly and sliding it into his back pocket. “See what the situation is there. Then…we can make our next move.”

Nodding, I fall in slightly behind him, letting him take the lead.

We walk for another hour then, with me placing my feet where Jackson placed his, trusting his steady steps and his apparently innate knowledge of the wilderness to know the best way through the dark. He silently, almost passively watches out for me, pointing to tricky spots or turning to offer a hand when the terrain is particularly steep. I stop noticing the pulse that rushes through the air every time we touch, because it’s become natural to me now, just part of being near him.

Both of us become intent, though, when we see fire ahead. I focus my eyesight, seeing the edge of the ravine and the start to the bridge next to it. Clearly, a group of cadets truly has set up something of a toll at the crossing, and they’re not being shy about announcing it.

“Bold,” Jackson murmurs, peering through the trees. Then he looks around, interested. “Let’s get to higher ground,” he says, nodding upwards to a cliff above us. “I want to see what we’re up against there.”