Ch. 186..190: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 186-190

Chapter 0186

Then, to my shock, Jackson ferrets out a teeny tiny little path up the cliff, balancing on it with incredible grace that makes me wonder if he’s part goat shifter, instead of all wolf. I do my best to follow, clinging to the rock and taking his patient hand when I need to. Twenty minutes later we’re about thirty feet in the air on a flat jut of rock about ten feet wide. I hesitate, wondering if it’s safe, but Jackson crouches casually on the edge, apparently having no such concerns.

I scowl and move close to him, wishing I moved in the wilderness with his clear ease and confidence.

Too much time hanging out in a palace, I guess.

“What are you seeing?” I whisper, wanting to know what the situation below looks at from his eyes.

“Big group,” he murmurs, gesturing towards the three fires burning below and the cadets gathered around them. “Already done some damage.” He points to the side now and I grimace to see that there are about ten cadets passed out to the side, my stomach turning to see a few of their legs twisted and broken, taken out of the running in their attempt to cross.

I press my eyes shut, swallowing hard, hoping desperately that none of them are Ben, or Jesse, or Luca, or Rafe. But…no, it can’t be. Their stories at the Academy can’t end like that, and neither can mine.

“So?” I ask, forcing myself to open my eyes and pay attention. “What do you think, do we risk it? Rush it?”

“No, too many of them,” Jackson murmurs, shaking his head. “They’ll hold out overnight, hoping to take out more. Then, in the morning, they’ll shift and run. Maybe cut the bridge behind them. We need to get across another way.”

“Is there another way?” I ask, fear curling in me now.

“Down the ravine and back up,” Jackson murmurs, nodding and pointing left along the trail, beyond the bridge. “It’s…harder, it will take time.”

“Well let’s go,” I say, standing up straight. But Jackson’s hand intercepts me, pulling me back down.

“Impossible in the dark,” he murmurs, and I can see him shake his head. “Handholds, footholds… you could easily fall to your death.”

I don’t miss that he says that I could fall to my death. He doesn’t mention himself.

“So, what?” I ask, ignoring it. “First light?”

“First light,” he says, nodding. “We move along the ridge, get to a high point, get into position. Then, as soon as we can see…we move. Hope to hell nobody has projectiles, like you.” He nods to my crossbow.

“The only people who do will be marksmen,” I sigh. “And…the other two are close enough with me. They won’t take us out.”

“Trusting,” Jackson says, his voice sarcastic, like he clearly thinks that they might. But I ignore him as we both stand and move to the left along the cliff face. Again, I step where he steps, trusting the fact that if the stone can hold him it can certainly hold me. About fifteen minutes pass as we move along and I’m drenched in sweat, even in the cool night air, with the stress of having to balance so high and so precariously.

Finally, though, we come to another wide, flat area, this time with a slight overhang in the cliff face that creates a little shelter. I peer into it, a little worried it might already contain some wildlife, but Jackson moves towards it without a care.

“In,” he says, tossing his canteen beneath the overhang and taking off his backpack, dropping that too. I do as I’m told, sitting down and crossing my legs, unlooping the crossbow from my shoulder and placing it at my side along with the arrows as I look up at him. “There’s some fruit in there, and bread,” he says, gesturing towards the bag. “You should eat.”

“Well, you should too,” I mutter, pulling it towards me as I realize how hungry I really am.

“Nah, I don’t need it,” Jackson says, putting his hands on his hips and looking back the way that we came. “Eat as much as you want. I’ll be back by morning.”

And then my mouth drops open as Jackson begins to stride away.

Chapter 0187

“What!” I shriek, scrambling to my knees and knocking the fruit and bread out of my lap.

“Shh!” Jackson hisses, turning back towards me and holding out a hand, looking at me like I’m crazy. “Don’t be an idiot, Ari! If we’re waiting for dawn to move into the ravine, others are too! And they will come for us! Just…be quiet, all right!?”

“Jackson!” I whisper, full of rage, ignoring his words and getting to my feet, striding towards him, “you are not leaving me here!”

He huffs a little laugh, clearly implying that I couldn’t stop him if I tried. “Yeah, Ari, I am.”

“You are not!” I put my hands on his chest and shove, angry.

“I’ll be back!” he says, not budging an inch. “I promise, all right? I’m not abandoning you – I’ll be back at dawn, I’ll help you. I just…”

And I go still as I see his head turn again, back the way we came, back to where…

Well, back to where he imagines she is.

His mate, alone.

His mate, frightened in the wilderness, needing his help.

And then even though I assured him that she’s safe, that there’s nothing wrong, he can’t leave it.

“Jackson,” I beg, wrapping my fists in his shirt and staring up at him. “Please, please don’t do this.”

“I have to, Ari,” he says through his teeth, frustrated with me. “She’s my mate.”

“She’s fine!” I insist again, tightening my fists, trying to will him to believe me.

“I know that you believe that,” Jackson snaps, shaking his head. “But Ari, I smelled her, I could taste her fear on the air – I swear it, something happened to her.”

“And she got through it!” I insist. “Didn’t it go away!? Didn’t the fear like…dissipate!?”

“Yeah,” he concedes, “but what if that’s because she got hurt? What if she’s unconscious?” He scowls, stepping away from me roughly, suddenly angry. “I never should have let you drag me away from there. I should have stayed –“

“You should not have stayed!” I snap, getting pissed in my own right now, because Jackson – he’s being foolish. “She’s fine! She doesn’t need you to go searching for her – she needs you to stay here, so you can be ready to cross at first light!”

“How the fuck do you know that, Ari!?” Jackson growls, stepping towards me, looming over me. And I realize, quite suddenly, that this is a fight – a real fight. And if I’m not careful, I could make this Alpha snap, that it could get violent –

But I dismiss the thought, instantly. Because my mate – he won’t hurt me. His body, his biology won’t let him hurt me.

Except…well, except if he doesn’t know who I am.

I push it all away, stepping into his space now, unable to help it. “I know that she’s safe the way I’ve always known, Jacks,” I reply, my voice low with my own anger in response to his. “Have I ever betrayed you? Have you ever not been able to trust me? Have –“

“I probably shouldn’t have been trusting you this entire time!” Jackson suddenly exclaims, throwing up his hands in the air. “I don’t know why I do! I mean, is this your magical gift, Clark!? Making me act like a god damn idiot!? Making me constantly, consistently turn away from my mate and just believe you that one day you’re going to tell me what the fuck is going on!?”

“You trust me because you know I’m trustworthy!” I snap, putting my hands on my hips. “What was all of that about friendship earlier!? About not abandoning me because I’m the only one who’s been nice to you?”

“And what is that about, Clark?” Jackson says, his voice a little more dangerous now as he steps closer to me, moving so close that his chest bounces against mine, making me fall back a step. I regain my footing fast, scowling at him, suddenly livid that he’d bully me like that – use his larger form to intimidate him.

Chapter 0188

“What are you talking about?” I growl.

“Is that why you’re nice to me?” he asks, and I can hear the wound in his voice now. “Because you realize that…that that’s the only way you’re getting through this? You found the loneliest guy in the Academy and gave him the scraps of your attention, and for that I do what – carry you through the Examination? Is that –“ he pauses now, his voice catching, “is that seriously what’s happening? Have you…have you been leading me on, telling me that you’ll tell me about my mate someday to…because you know that it would wrap me around your finger?”

I stare up into his face in the darkness, completely shocked, appalled at the idea.

And my heart absolutely breaks for him, that he could consider this a possibility. Again, my mind turns to what his world must have been like – who raised him, that he could imagine me so manipulative?

“Jackson,” I breathe, shaking my head, “I would never do that to you. You’re – you’re my friend –“

His MATE! My wolf howls, grieving within me, realizing alongside me that we’re wounding him further.

Because whatever world he did grow up in, we’re doing the same thing. We are lying to him, every day, because it easier for us. Tears spring to my eyes and my mouth goes dry as I stare up at him, not knowing what to do.

Jackson – I have been betraying him. And he’s been so tough, so sturdy, that he – he just took it, uncomplaining.

“I’m going after her,” Jackson growls down into my face, ignoring my emotions. “I have to see, Clark. I have to make sure that there’s no trace of her in the forest – I need to know that she’s okay.”

“Jackson,” I murmur, stepping forward once again, wrapping my hands in his shirt, desperate. “Jackson, she’s not out there. I swear on everything that she’s not – please, please just stay here.”

“Ari,” he whispers, have livid and half desperate, “how can you ask me not to? How can you try to keep me away from her!?”

“I’m not!” I gasp, the tears starting to roll down my cheeks. “I swear, Jackson, she’s safe! She’s not in any danger! You can’t leave – you can’t spend the rest of the night prowling around the forest looking for her! It’s pointless!”

“How do you know that!?” he shouts, losing his temper now and shoving me away from him, his voice ringing out against the rocks as he forgets our situation completely, as he loses himself to his desperate anger, his need to know.

“Because!” I shout in response, stumbling backwards before finding my balance, my hands fisted at my sides. “Because she’s right here, Jacks!”

“What!?” he breathes, staring at me and then looking frantically around our little plateau like she’s going to suddenly appear or something. “What are you talking about, Ari –“

“It’s me!” I shout, the words stumbling from my mouth.

My wolf howls in relief, her noise long and slow and agonized, like letting out a long-held breath that has been aching in her lungs.

“What?” Jackson says, staring at me like I’m crazy, like I’m an idiot.

“It’s me, Jacks!” I repeat, stepping forward and glaring at him, tossing out a hand between us like it’s obvious. “When you’re smelling your mate? You’re smelling me. You smelled my fear – that’s why you came running to me!”

“What?” he repeats, his face screwing up in concern and confusion, his head tilting as he tries to put it all together. “Are you two like…tied? Does her magic…does she feel your fear? Are you like… twins?”

Oh my god, my wolf says, standing rigid in my soul. He really…he really just doesn’t get it.

 

Chapter 0189

I stare at Jackson like he’s an idiot now. Because…honestly I really kind of did think that he’d figured it out, at a least a little bit. Or that once I told him, all the pieces would snap into place.

But the way he’s looking at me…Jackson does not know.

He bought, hook line and sinker, the lie that I’m Ari Clark, royal cousin who has some strange and elusive tie to his mate.

“Jacks,” I growl, shaking my head. “No, it’s…it’s me. Your mate is me.” And with that, I whip off my cap, revealing the hair braided in a coil on top of my head, letting my true scent free.

He continues staring at me, uncomprehending. But I see him stumble back a step, his eyes going wide the moment my scent hits him.

“How…” he murmurs, his voice trembling. “How can you…you’re a Cadet…you’re male…”

“Oh my god,” I groan, dipping my face into my hand for a second before dropping my hat and grabbing the hem of my shirt, tugging it up halfway as fast as I can so that he can see the shape of my body beneath, my wider hips, my trim waist. “Jacks, no, I’m a girl.”

I stand there, my shirt fisted against my breasts, staring at him, breathless.

Realization hits Jackson like a bus.

His eyes go wide and he stumbles back a step, not breathing, his face going deathly pale in the light of the moon. I stare at Jackson, watching him struggle to make sense of the newly disparate pieces of the world. His eyes move fast over me again and again before, always, returning to my face.

But he just stares back at me, slack-jawed, not saying a word.

And then, after a long, long moment of staring at each other, Jackson just…turns on his heel.

And stalks away.

And I stare after him in…absolute shock.

Jackson’s tall form disappears quickly into the darkness and I stare, my mouth hanging open, into the black night for way, way too long.

And then I groan a long, slow groan, standing up straight and burying my face in my hands, wondering what the hell I just did.

It’s okay, my wolf says, a little frantic, it can’t be bad – we told him the truth…the truth can never be bad…

Yeah, I reply, deeply sarcastic, unless the truth completely upends your world in the middle of an insane trial. And your core reaction is to just run and leave your mate stranded on a cliff somewhere.

My wolf murmurs comforting things about how that can’t possibly be what’s happening, that he just needs a minute alone to process because he’s the solitary sort, but eventually she runs out of pleasant, hopeful sentiments as we both just stare into the darkness waiting for him to come back.

But…he doesn’t.

I curse, slowly and fluently, and turn towards the little overhang of rock where I’d been sitting with the water. I sink into that spot, sitting hard on my butt and ignoring the pain as I rest my elbows on my knees and then prop my miserable chin into my hands.

Because, I mean, what did I think was going to happen!? That he was just going to be like, “Oh, cool! How nice! What a relief, now I can stay!”

No, of course, my weird outdoorsy Alpha mate reacted to his panic by going completely back to his roots. He probably shifted into his wolf and is now prowling around the cliffside in the moonlight, not even thinking human thoughts anymore, just letting his animal instincts take over and forgetting all about me.

I scowl a little because…well, because as sorry as I feel about losing my temper and blurting it all out in a rush…

It did hurt my feelings, a little bit, that he just…walked away.

I mean, did he…did he reject me?

Does he hate me? Did he realize that I’m a girl and think, immediately, “ew”?

Oh my god…does Jackson think I’m ugly?

I groan, putting my face back into my hands and shaking my head, hating that these are my thoughts right now. I mean, I hate not knowing, I hate that he’s not here to talk this through with me, to hear my apologies and my reassurances, but I also hate that I’m dealing with mate drama while I’ve got less than twenty-four hours now – or thereabouts – to get to the top of a mountain so that I can keep my place at Alpha Academy.

Chapter 0190

I mean, could there have been a worse moment to admit the truth to my mate?

“God, I have such shit timing,” I mutter to myself.

My wolf lays down in my soul, stretching out her long, sorry nose, burying it under my mental hand, wanting to show me love at the same moment that she begs for a little attention. I turn towards her, giving her a little scratch, marveling again at the softness of her fur.

It will be okay, she assures me, her eyes wide and limpid and sad. No matter what happens…it will be okay.

I hope so, I say, smoothing her fur back lovingly. She lets her eyes drift shut, holding on to the hope for both of us.

But she sits up at the same moment I do at the sound of footsteps pounding back towards us.

My breath hitches because…

I mean, is it Jackson? Coming back?

Or…I mean, we weren’t precisely quiet, were we?

Despite our earlier decision to be stealthy and quiet, to hide up here all night and sneak back out at dawn, we just got into a shouting match that other people were bound to notice.

So…could it be someone else? Could it be someone coming…coming to hurt me?

Anxious, I spin, looking for my crossbow. I reach for it, snatching it up into my left hand, my right working anxiously at the quarrel, wanting to get it loaded before whoever is approaching actually gets here.

But it’s too late – I’m not fast enough.

And when I look up, and see who it is, the crossbow falls from my hands anyway.

Because those shoulders, that height, that steady stride – I’d recognize it anywhere. In my sleep, in my dreams.

Anywhere.

My breath hitches as Jackson stalks across the little plateau towards me, his face stern.

“Jacks,” I murmur, taking a step back, but there’s no time for anything else.

Suddenly, he’s there, in front of me, and he doesn’t even pause his as he dips low, one arm going around my waist while the other hand wraps around the back of my thigh, lifting me suddenly and steadily up against him as he continues forward until my back is pressed against the wall of the cliff behind me.

And then, before I even realize what’s happening, Jackson is kissing me.

My physical reaction to Jackson is immediate, and visceral, and vivid. I cling to him, my legs wrapping instinctually around his waist as he moves his lips against mine, bidding my mouth open, dipping his tongue inside to lick me, to taste me.

I’m completely frantic both with shock and the immediacy of wanting him. My hands seem like they move everywhere at once as I gasp against him, my eyes pressed shut. My fingers are in his hair, and then down his neck and his back as his hand untucks my shirt, pulling it out of my pants like it was stupid that it was ever in there in the first place. And then his palm is flat against the skin of my back and it makes me tilt my head back with a deep moan. God, Jackson’s skin against mine, suddenly it’s all – all that I want.

Jackson takes immediate advantage of my bared throat, dragging his mouth down the length of it, taking a long, slow breath of my scent as he goes. He drags his canines across my skin when his mouth gets to my shoulder, pressing his teeth delicately against the tendons there in a way that makes me shudder, hard.

God, fuck, but I want him – immediately I want him. I pull my head back up and use my hands to lift his face, putting my thumbs beneath his heavy jaw and moving his mouth back to mine. Jackson immediately complies, kissing me fervidly, with utter abandon – taking my mouth with his, tasting me however he wants to. And every inch of me responds, pressing him closer, wrapping myself tighter around him.