Ch. 266..270: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 266-270
Chapter 0266
“You came!” I breathe, thrilled and relieved and nearly insane with happiness as Jackson laughs and lifts me up, holding me tight against his chest.
“I could get used to this greeting,” he murmurs, his arms wrapped so snug around me, his face so close to mine that our noses brush.
“You scared me!” I protest, half laughing and half shouting as I smack him on the chest with both hands, one after the other. “Why didn’t you come into our train car!? Why didn’t you tell me!? I was so sad! I thought you stayed behind!”
Jacks shrugs, smiling at me like he can’t keep the joy off his face, his blue eyes shining. “I figured my presence in your fancy royal car would cause more trouble than it was worth. You deserved a minute to be calm and happy, and I didn’t mind riding with the other cadets. I just slept the whole time anyway.”
“And you didn’t think,” I say, taking his perfect face between my palms and narrowing my eyes, scolding playfully, “that maybe I wanted you close by?”
“Well, you’ve got me close by now,” he murmurs, lifting his chin towards me in a bit of a challenge. “So, what are you going to do with me?” He tightens his arms, further proving his point as his voice drops an octave to a level that…does dangerous things to me. Emotionally. Physically.
My smile grows slowly, a little devious, but my response is clipped by the sound of Rafe clearing his throat again.
I turn my head and blink in surprise to see my family and friends standing around us now, and the guards grouped around them, all of them staring at us.
Except for Luca. A strong pang of guilt runs through me when I see him staring at the ground to his side, clenching his jaw.
“Ariel?” Rafe says, his arms crossed as he glares at me. “Would you like to…climb down? Before the paparazzi get some great footage of this?”
“Um,” I say awkwardly in response before turning to Jackson and giving him a little grimace. Unperturbed, he smiles at me and slowly lowers me to the ground, careful to ensure that my skirt doesn’t ride up.
“You know, you don’t have to pick her up every time you greet her,” Rafe says softly, frowning at Jackson.
Jackson just stares at Rafe like that is clearly not true.
Rafe just rolls his eyes, laughing a little as he moves on and I fix my dress into less rumpled lines. Captain Conner looks a little frantically between me and Jackson before moving his eyes to Luca, with whom I was just holding hands. I sigh, realizing that…whatever secrecy I held on to at the Academy, isn’t hasn’t really disappeared here, has it?
Unless I want the entire nation to know about my complicated love triangle, I have got to learn to cool it.
“Captain Conner,” I say, stepping forward towards him and doing my best to be the nation’s Princess again. “This is Jackson McClintock. We got accidentally separated from him on the way home, but he’ll be joining us at the Palace for break and should have all the rights and freedoms of an honored guest.”
“As you will it, Highness,” Conner says, giving me a sharp bow. He casts out a hand towards the three-story arch through which the city waits. “If we have our entire party now…?”
His implication is clear and, with another little glare at me, Rafe leads the way out. Luca follows close behind him, not looking at me, and Daphne sends me a little smile and a nod before she hurries her steps to walk with Luca, making a little small talk that I hope will comfort him.
Ben and Jesse fall in with Jackson and I as we bring up the rear, both of them greeting Jackson warmly and likewise telling him that they’re thrilled he came along. Jackson’s smile in response to their genuine excitement to see him fills my heart with joy, because I’m watching him realize that he truly has friends now.
Chapter 0267
It gets a little awkward in the close quarters of the limousine, but Jesse does a good job of breaking the awkwardness by pouring more champagne – god, mom really made sure we were stocked – and pointing out all of the landmarks that we pass on the way to the palace to Ben and Daphne, keeping us all laughing with his commentary.
Rafe, when we got in the car, sat me deliberately on his right with Daphne on my other side, very carefully ensuring that I wasn’t sitting next to either of my mates, I think trying to be fair to both of them. But as we draw close to the palace, Rafe turns to Jackson on his left and raises an eyebrow. “You ready for this?” he murmurs, smirking a little.
“Absolutely not,” Jackson returns, deadpan. But then he smiles at my brother, and moves his eyes to me, and his smile deepens. “But we’ll get through it, right?”
“That’s the spirit,” Rafe says, laughing and clinking his glass against Jackson’s before taking a sip.
Jackson just glances down at his champagne with distaste.
“What,” I say, leaning further over Rafe with a grin, unable to help it. “You don’t like it?”
“What is it?” he asks, baffled, holding his glass up to stare at the pale bubbly liquid.
“It’s champagne!” I say, laughing.
Jackson just shifts his eyes to me like I’m crazy if I think he knows what that means, which makes me laugh more. Jesse, having caught the conversation, laughs as well in a good-hearted way. “What do you like, Jacks?” he asks, flipping open the little travel bar that dad keeps quite well stocked back here.
“I don’t know,” Jackson murmurs, peering over my head with surprise and a little delight at the secret compartment. “Something…brown.”
“Whiskey it is,” Jesse says, pouring him a draft and handing it down the line.
“If he’s not going to have his champagne,” Luca calls, and I turn my head to him with surprise to see him holding out his hand. “I’ll take it.”
Grinning, pleased to see him come back to himself a little more, I take Jackson’s glass and pass it down to Luca, who empties it into his own half-full flute. “No sense in wasting five-hundred-dollar champagne,” he murmurs, lifting his glass to me in a toast with a wink before taking a sip.
“That cost five hundred dollars?” Jackson gasps, almost dropping his glass of whiskey in his shock.
“Whoa, whoa,” Rafe says, putting a steadying hand under Jackson’s glass. “Listen, if you’re that shocked about the champagne, don’t even ask about the whiskey – just…be careful. And enjoy.”
Jackson stares at Rafe, and then at me, and then at all of us in appalled shock, which just makes us all laugh harder. But after a moment he smiles too, shaking his head and taking it in stride. I lift a hand to my cheek, which aches a bit from smiling so much, because this is…this is working, isn’t it?
At least right now it is.
On my other side, Daphne’s leg bounces anxiously.
“You okay?” I whisper, resting my hand on her knee.
“Oh, you know,” she says, her voice high and too breezy. “Just…about to meet the king and the queen. Just a normal day. No reason to be anxious.”
“They’re nice,” I whisper, grinning. And then I tap the bottom of her glass. “Bottom’s up. Liquid courage.”
“You want me to be drunk when I meet the royals!?” she says, aghast, but I catch the corner of her grin and realize that she’s kidding.
“Yes,” Jesse says, leaning towards her with delight, “you’ll fit in just fine if you’re utterly plastered.”
“You’re going to give her the impression that our family is all alcoholics,” I say, rolling my eyes at him as the limo pulls around the final corner to the palace and my home – my home! – comes into view. My face stretches with my smile, my cheeks aching more.
Chapter 0268
“Not alcoholics,” he says, with a frown, “just your run-of-the-mill magical lycanthropes who know how to party. Finish up everyone!” he calls, leading by example and draining his glass. “We’re here!”
I can’t help the little squeak of excitement that makes its way out of my mouth as I grab Daphne’s hand and pass glasses back along the line to Jesse, who neatly stacks them on top of the bar. And then, one by one, we climb out of the limousine and onto the steps of the palace.
As soon as Rafe opens the door to the car, the shouts of the paparazzi start and lightbulbs begin to flash.
Rafe goes first, followed by Jackson, and I eagerly follow after him, stepping close to my mate’s side and watching as his mouth slowly falls open while takes in the palace and all the people standing to our right, held off by red ropes, their cameras going mad. I glance once to the entrance and grin, a thrill of joy passing through me when I see my parents standing there, waiting to greet us. But I turn my eyes back to Jackson, wanting to make sure he’s okay.
“You…you live here?” Jackson breathes, not even blinking as he takes in the expanse of the Palace.
“What,” I say, frowning a little and looking where he’s looking. “is it like…big or something?”
Jackson turns his head to me, staring, shocked, and I burst out laughing, unable to help myself from pressing closer to his side just for a moment, even though I don’t take his hand or wrap my arms around him, like I want to.
“I’m kidding!” I say, laughing up into his face. “Obviously, it’s a ridiculous house. But yes, we live here – and inside we actually just have a really small suite of rooms to ourselves. It’s – well,” I shrug, “it’s cozy, if you can believe it.”
“If you’re there, it’s cozy,” he murmurs passively before glancing back up at the palace before us, apparently completely unaware of how damn sweet what he just said was. I beam at him, thrilled, before I feel my other mate come to my side.
And then I turn my attention to Luca, tucking my hands behind my back as I look up into his face, beaming at him in turn. “You ready to meet my parents?”
“Well, your mom I’ve met,” he murmurs consideringly as he looks up the steps towards my parents as Ben, Jesse, and Daphne climb out of the car. “Your dad…does he know who I am to you?”
“He’s supposed to,” I say, giving a little shrug. “Mom said she’d tell him, so that…well, so that we didn’t have a scene like we did last night.”
“Well then, Princess,” Luca says, surprising me by taking my arm in his own and starting forward after Rafe, leading me up the stairs like he’s my escort. Instantly I walk with him, not having enough time to take a moment to think about what it means – or what the press will make of it – if I walk up these stairs on Luca Grant’s arm. Because it’s already done, isn’t it?
So instead of worrying about it I just smile at Luca and walk at his side. Because perhaps he’s right – what, really, is wrong with walking into the Palace on the arm of my mate?
Luca and I smile at each other and then turn our faces forward, towards my parents as the seven of us troop up the steps to the palace where the King and the Queen of Moon Valley wait – the Queen with a wonderful smile, the King’s expression grim as he moves his eyes slowly between my two mates.
Chapter 0269
As we walk up the steps, the paparazzi call out questions to us, asking where I’ve been and who the new members of our party are. I hear them also calling Luca’s name, but Luca is very professional about the whole situation, keeping his eyes focused ahead on my parents, who are waiting patiently for us at the top of the stairs.
Again, I can’t help the huge smile on my face. My mom beams at all of us, her hands pressed to her heart, but she laughs aloud when she sees me, so pleased and happy that I’m here, and that I’m safe, and that I’ve managed to drag my two Alpha mates into what is sure to be a great deal of drama for her to enjoy.
I shift my eyes to my dad after a moment, not letting it bother me that he’s looking very stern. After all, he usually always looks stern. But as dad watches me, his eyes flicking for a moment to both Luca and Jackson to let me know precisely what is on his mind, I see the corner of his mouth twitch just subtly.
And I know, in that instant, that the sternness is all a front, and that he’s not actually mad at me. That he’s probably just as thrilled and excited to see his two eldest children as we are to see him.
Something about that little twitch at the corner of my dad’s mouth breaks the final restraints I was keeping on myself and I burst into happy laugher, dropping my hand from Luca’s elbow and dashing up the final three stairs into my father’s arms. I hug my dad tight around his waist and his arms fold around me, holding me tight. I hear and feel the happy rumble in his chest as he pulls me closer to him.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Rafe embrace mom quickly and then turn, starting to introduce her to our guests, some of whom she’s already met.
Dad, however, pulls my attention back to him.
“Hello, little trouble,” he murmurs, and I pull back a little to smile up at him. He runs a fond hand down the length of my rose-gold hair. “Looks like you’ve been up to no good, haven’t you?” he says, again looking up to peer over my head at the two young men standing behind me. I quickly glance over my shoulder to see Luca meeting my father’s gaze, standing before him with Cadet sharpness – feet apart, his hands tucked behind his back, his face very serious. Behind him Jackson stands just as still.
I turn back to my father with a smile, pointing upwards towards the sky. “Actually, dad, this wasn’t my fault. If you’re mad about it you’ll have to take it up with my grandmother, the moon.”
Dad can’t help it - he bursts into laugher as he shakes he head at me and unfolds his arms, stepping away and reaching out a hand towards Luca.
“Cadet Grant,” my dad says very seriously as I stand at his side, grinning and watching this unfold. “Welcome to the palace. I was looking forward to meeting you before your fight against the Atalaxians in two days – but now I am eager to get to know you for…other reasons.” Dad’s voice is low, rumbling, intimidating.
Luca, to his credit, stands up beneath it.
“Thank you, Sir,” he says, raising his chin and shaking dad’s hand seriously. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to both defend the nation’s honor and speak with you about my intentions towards your daughter.” He shifts his eyes to me now, just briefly, a smile forming on his lips. “She means a great deal to me.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” my dad says, and when I glance up to him I’m surprised to see that he’s… impressed? “That’s one hell of a shiner you’ve got there, son,” dad continues, lifting his chin towards Luca’s eye. “You going to be fit to fight?”
“What, this?” Luca says with a frown, gesturing towards his own face. “This is nothing, sir. At least you now know that I can take a punch one day and show up to the Palace on my best girl’s arm the next.” He glances at me, fond, before turning his eyes back to dad. “Whatever the Atalaxian’s throw at me, I can take it.”
Dad bursts out laughing at this, apparently as charmed at the rest of the nation. And I don’t know how Luca knew to say it, but he picked precisely the right thing. My dad even gives him a little smile before shifting his eyes to Jackson.
“Cadet McClintock,” dad says with a nod, holding out his hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”
Luca graciously steps aside, making room for Jackson to step forward. Jackson does, meeting my father’s gaze and taking his hand, giving it a steady shake. “Sir,” he says, accompanying it with a serious nod. “Thank you for…welcoming me to your home.”
My dad nods and drops Jackson’s hand. Awkward silence reins for a moment and I look between my dad and Jackson, realizing that my dad is studying him and – of all horrible things – waiting for him to continue.
Chapter 0270
Jackson just stands, staring, having no idea what to do or say. I panic a little, getting ready to step in and introduce some new topic of conversation, but luckily mom comes to the rescue.
“Jackson!” she says, stepping forward to wrap him in a warm hug, giving him a little kiss on the cheeks as she steps back and beams at him. “Welcome, darling boy, we’re so pleased that you’re here. Are you hungry? Cold? Come inside – we’ll fix you up.”
“But there’s nothing wrong with me,” Jackson murmurs, though he smiles at her in his confusion, unable to help it.
“Oh, sure there is,” she says, wrapping an arm around his waist, smiling up into his face. “And even if there’s not, you should make something up so I have something to fuss over.”
“She’s not kidding on that,” my dad says, his voice lighter than it was a moment ago, “if Ella doesn’t have someone to care for she gets bored – and then we’re really in trouble.”
“Quiet, you,” mom says, laughing a little and giving my dad a playful glare as she turns to the rest of us, keeping an arm around Jackson’s waist. “If you tease me too much I’ll just go and have another baby to shut you up.”
Dad just shakes his head, laughing, as mom reaches her spare hand for Luca. “Luca! Such a pleasure to see you again!”
Luca gives her his most charming smile – which, quite frankly, even stuns me a bit – as he takes my mom’s hand and bows over it a little. “Your highness,” he murmurs, grinning. “I’m hoping to make it a full five minutes before you kick me out of the room this time.”
My mom laughs as Luca stands straight, and I marvel again that he’s apparently said just the right thing – who else would have the guts to tease the Queen on their second meeting? “Well,” she
says, wrinkling her nose at him and glancing at me, “that depends on how many of my daughter’s secrets I’m trying to balance this time. But I’m sure we’ll have lots of time to chat, Luca, love. And this,” she murmurs, stepping forward and peering at his wounded face, taking his chin between her fingers, “don’t worry, Luca, we’ll get you fixed up and looking pretty again in no time.”
And then mom steps forward – somehow managing to keep hold of Jackson even as she leans forward to press a kiss to Luca’s cheek as well. Then she sweeps into the palace, calling everyone to come along with her, because there’s a party upstairs. I don’t miss – at all – that she keeps Jackson firmly at her side.
“Looks like your mom has a favorite,” Luca murmurs, walking slowly at my side as we follow the mom and Jacks into the main entrance, heading almost immediately up a set of stairs that will lead us to the family suite where I’m sure everyone is gathered with food and drinks and a great deal of anticipation.
“Oh, don’t, Luca,” I say with a sigh, pouting at him and glancing behind me to see where everyone else has ended up. Daphne, I’m pleased to see, is being led upstairs on Rafe’s arm, while my dad laughs with Jesse at the bottom of the stairs, apparently being introduced to Ben. “Mom just… knows where her attention is needed.”
“Well, if that leaves me alone with you,” Luca says, grinning at me and raising a hand to my cheek, “then who am I to complain?”
I grin at him, pleased, and take his arm when offers it, proud to be escorted by my gorgeous mate. “You ready for this?” I ask as we reach the second floor and approach the door of our tiny living room, which I know will be packed with people.
“Oh, for sure,” Luca says, nodding eagerly with a big smile. “I love a good party – and I’ve got sixteen cousins who all shout over each other – I was born for nights like this. Plus, a Royal party,
filled with the people who made Jesse?” He grins at me, a little wicked, “this is going to be one for the books.”
I laugh and turn to watch as my mom pulls the door open and steps inside. Jackson almost literally falls back at the shout of joy that comes through, everyone pleased and thrilled to greet us.
Mom laughs, pulling Jackson forward, and he looks back at me – a little panicked – as he slips through the door.
Before we come into sight of the room I grin, and stand on my toes, and accept the little kiss that Luca drops to my mouth just before we, too, step into the living room to a big cheer.
And my eyes fill with unexpected tears the moment they land on the first people I see in the room full of people – my Grandpa Henry, with my little sister Juniper and my baby brother Mark on either side of his chair.
Mark shouts and dashes for me while Juniper hangs back, giving me her trademark scowl.