Ch. 446..450: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 446-450

Chapter 0446

We have a really nice evening, especially when the food comes and then we get to share in on the muffins that Daphne's mother sent along as a gift, but even despite that I think all of our eyes are on the clock. Tomorrow everything starts again, after all, and we're all anxious to make a good start. We end the evening earlier than we usually do.

Daphne is the first to leave, making her excuses about having a ton of sewing to get started on in the morning, and we all bid very sorrowful goodbyes that she laughs off cheerfully, reminding us that while we have a workout in the morning she just gets to get up and have coffee and start sewing.

Ben and Luca stay a little longer, but they bow out soon after. After I give Ben his kiss goodbye on the cheek and wave him away down the hall, I take both of Luca's hands in mine and lean back against the wall of the stone corridor, looking up at him.

"So, what was that all about?" I ask, a little smirk on my lips.

"What was what all about?" Luca asks, blinking innocently and playing dumb.

I just narrow my eyes. "Your secret rendezvous with Jackson. Ben thinks you two were kissing, by the way."

Luca laughs and then strokes my cheek with his thumb. "Look at you, Princess," he murmurs, "practicing one whole hour of restraint in not asking that question." He steps close to me and presses a hand to the wall above my head, leaning in and looking down at me, just a bit. I bite my lip as I look up at him, thinking that he is...just a little too good looking in this little moment. My wolf agrees, giving a sharp howl and hopping around in an eager circle.

"Yes, I am a paradigm of self control," I reply, immediately belying my words by putting my hands on his hips and tugging him closer, a little shiver of delight running through me when his body presses against mine. "Now tell me - what happened between you and Jackson in the nook?"

Luca shrugs. "Nothing much. Just...established some ground rules between each other for how to behave. No beheadings, reduced frequency of insults. Rules of war. That sort of thing."

"Really?" I ask, legitimately surprised. "So mature."

"New man,” he says, gesturing towards himself with his free hand before slipping it behind my neck and cradling my head. "Now, do I get a kiss goodnight? Or have we all grown so chaste that even that is forbidden?"

I laugh and tilt my head back, standing on my toes a bit, and Luca dips his head and presses his lips to mine. My body sings, my wolf prancing, to feel his mouth again on my own. I kiss him slowly and deeply, relishing it, pleased that things are more normal between us again. It ends to soon, if you ask me.

"I'll see you at breakfast?" he murmurs, so close that I can feel his words as breath.

I smile and nod, allowing my feet to fall flat again. "I'll bring you some of the pens," I whisper, grinning eagerly up at him and making him laugh. Luca kisses me swiftly one last time and then starts down the hall. I call him a goodnight and then move back into the room, where Rafe and Jesse are cleaning up the plates from dinner and carrying everything to the dumbwaiter. Jackson helps too, clearly doing my share of the work.

"Thank you," I say, laughing a little and working to take the plates out of his hand. “No, I can do this –“

"It's fine, Ariel," he says, laughing lightly and grinning down at me. I sigh, feeling lazy about letting the boys do the work - but honestly it all goes by so quick between the three of them that there's not much more for me to do. I slip into my nook, pulling out my pajamas for the evening, my ears trained for Jackson's footsteps because I know that he will not leave without saying goodnight.

When he comes over, I toss the pajamas on to the bed and take a step out of the nook.

"Ready to sleep?" I ask Jackson, reaching my arms up towards him. Instantly understanding, Jackson dips low so that my arms easily clasp around his neck as he picks me up, the arm around my back pulling me warm to his chest as he presses a kiss to my cheek.

"Yes," he says, giving a happy sigh and smiling up into my face, his dark blue eyes shining. "I'm tired - it's been a long day."

Chapter 0447

 

“I know,” I murmur, remembering the stressful meeting. "But I'm glad you're here. And I'm glad that you and Luca...worked things out, or whatever." "We couldn't keep going the way things were," Jackson says, shaking his head at me sadly. "Our little timeshare will solve a lot."

"Timeshare?" I ask, confused, frowning.

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" Jackson asks, glancing towards the door as if Luca will still be there.

I shake my head no, wanting more information. Jackson nods and puts me down on my feet, clearly implying that it will take a minute to fill me in and he might as well put me down while he does it.

"Okay, goodnight, Jacks!" Jesse says, waving to him and heading for the bathroom.

"Yeah, goodnight!" Rafe calls from the side of the room where his bed is, where he tugs off his shirt, ready to change into his pajamas himself. "We'll see you in the morning, man!"

"Yup, you sleep well too, Rafe!" Jackson calls over to him.

And then to my shock Jackson gives a tired little sigh and grips his shirt with both hands, pulling it off in one smooth move.

My mouth drops open and Jesse stops in his tracks, almost stumbling over his feet as he reaches for the bathroom door.

"What..." Jesse says, staring at Jackson for a long moment and then at me. "What is happening here?"

"Huh?" Jackson asks, turning towards Jesse with a frown.

"What...why are you...disrobing?" Jesse asks, gesturing towards Jackson's half-naked form.

"Oh," Jackson says, looking down at himself with a frown. "Well, this is how I sleep."

A slow grin starts to spread over my face as I start to figure it out.

Rafe's footsteps echo in the room as he slowly walks over to us. "No, no," he says softly, like he's trying very hard to come up with an explanation for this that is not the obvious one. "I need answers too. Why, again, are you...preparing for bed in our room?"

"Oh," Jackson says, turning to look between my brother and my cousin. "Because I sleep here now." Jackson casts a hand out towards my bed in the nook as I press my hands together behind my back and work very hard to not grin.

Jesse breaks into appalled laugher as Rafe just gapes at Jackson. But Jackson does nothing, just looks between them, confused in turn. "Jackson," Rafe says, stepping forward and clapping a hand on Jackson's bare shoulder. "I love you, man, but you do not sleep here now."

"Yes, I do," Jackson says, stating it like it's a fact as he stares at my brother.

"No!" Jesse says, striding over, vehemently shaking his head. "You do not!"

"Okay," Jackson says, a little awkward now, glancing at me. "I mean, I didn't think you wanted Ariel to sleep anywhere but this room, but...I guess we can go downstairs to mine - the bed's smaller, but we'll manage -"

"WHAT is happening!?" Rafe shouts, casting his hands out, a little panicked now. "Nothing has changed! Ariel sleeps here! You sleep downstairs! I... this is how it is! These are the sleeping arrangements!"

"Oh," Jackson says, nodding like he finally gets it. "Well, no, that's changed now. I sleep where Ariel sleeps," he says, pointing at me like this is the great clarification that will solve all of the problems.

"What!?" Jesse gasps, scandalized.

"Um," I say, my voice high and ringing as I step forward, hoping to make this a little easier. "We kind of got in the habit of it over Midwinter. We haven't spent a night apart since...well, since the night of Luca's fight.”

Jesse guffaws and stares between us as Rafe goes pale.

"Seriously!?" Jesse sputters, "even after the whole sex ban, you guys just...ignored it!?"

"No, it's not like that," Jackson says fast, frowning at Jesse like he's making this dirty when it's really not. "We just like to...sleep together. To be together when we're asleep. It's..." he shrugs, "it's really nice. I sleep way better than I did before. Plus, I know she's always protected."

I nod eagerly, looking at my brother and my cousin, desperately excited at the prospect that Jackson could start sleeping here but trying very, very hard to be cool about it.

Obviously, I fail, and Rafe scowls just stares at me, livid.

 

Chapter 0448

 

"Absolutely not," Rafe growls, looking between me and Jackson. “This is ridiculous – Jackson, you can sleep in your own damn bed –“ "Again, I'm fine with that," Jackson cuts in, I think starting to get frustrated. "But Ariel would be coming with me."

All three boys look to me and I only hesitate for half a second before stepping close to Jackson's side.

"I would," I say, nodding. Because, I mean, I too had assumed that we would be sleeping separately while at school - but now that Jackson has suggested it? I really can't imagine any other way.

"Are you serious, Ariel?" Jesse gasps.

"I am," I say, nodding and holding his gaze and then Rafe's. "If you two are strident about not letting Jackson sleep here, I'll go with him."

"It's not safe!" Rafe snaps.

"Seriously, you think Jackson can't protect me? Behind a locked door?"

"But the secrecy element!" Jesse protests. "You can't sleep down there - people will see you coming and going and figure it out!"

"Which is why it makes sense for me to sleep here," Jackson says, casting out a hand. "Your hall is mostly empty - mine is full all the time." "Absolutely not, Ariel," Rafe snarls, stepping towards me with a growl. "If you go down there I will just carry you back upstairs!"

"And he will carry me back down!" I shout, frowning at my brother and stepping towards him in turn. "Don't you try to intimidate me, Rafe Sinclair, you big bully -"

"I'm not being a bully!"

"You are too! I'm my own person, I can sleep where I want to! And you're being all snarly and puffed up because you think you can scare me out of it!" Rafe pauses and steps back, realizing that I'm right - that he was using his bigger size to intimidate. But he gets over his shame quick enough and groans in frustration, turning away from me and sinking his fingers into his hair, cursing under his breath as he clearly tries to figure something out. Jesse just laughs, low and derisive, shaking his head at us. "I can't believe this is happening."

But Jackson just shrugs, meeting Jesse's gaze, clearly inviting him to do something about it. Jesse just rolls his eyes, giving in. "Fine," Rafe snaps, turning back towards us and striding back over so that he's looking Jackson right in the eye. "But I have two rules." Jackson pauses for a moment and then nods, agreeing to hear him out.

"Hello!" I say, waving my arms in the air and standing on my toes. "I exist! I'm part of this negotiation!"

But they ignore me.

"One," Rafe growls, holding up a single finger. "Absolutely no funny business. And if that defies translation, Jackson, then use your god damn imagination. You sleep in that bed, and, at most you talk. Nothing else."

"Not a problem," Jackson says, crossing his arms. "Like I said, we just want to sleep in the same space."

"I, too, consent to this!" I shout, slapping my hands on my hips, fully realizing that they're not even bothering to pretend to listen to me.

"And two," Rafe says, putting up his second finger. "No excess noise. You snore? You talk in your sleep? You so much as creek too much in the bed and you are out!"

“Rafe you are such a hypocrite!" I exclaim, stepping forward to smack him hard on the arm. He snaps his head to me at that, finally paying attention. "Jesse snores more than anyone I've ever met and you're fine with it - you sleep like a baby! Jesse could win a medal for the sonorousness and frequency with which he snores!"

"A gold medal," Jesse qualifies, crossing his arms over his chest with a proud nod.

"Yeah," Rafe snaps at me, ignoring Jesse and not contending my point. "But I've been used to Jesse snoring since we were kids! I've acclimated! He!" Rafe gestures vehemently at Jackson now, "is new! His sound are different - they'll wake me up!"

"He doesn't even snore!" I roll my eyes.

"Yes, that's her," Jackson murmurs, pointing at me.

Rafe rolls his eyes in turn, ignoring all of these points, and snaps his attention back to Jackson. "No funny business, no excess noise. And this is a probationary period,” he growls. “Jesse and I both have veto power – either of us can say at any time that this is done. All right?"

I squeak with glee, all my previous rage wiped away the moment my brother gives in. I throw myself at Rafe, seeking a hug, but he just shoves me away. "I'll get you some pajamas," my brother murmurs, glaring hard as Jacks as he strides back to his side of the room.

Chapter 0449

 

Jesse sighs and walks back towards the bathroom as I find my balance. "Welcome to Casa Sinclair, new roomie," he murmurs. "Good to have you here."

"He's not a roomie!" Rafe calls over his shoulder, angry. "He just sleeps here!"

I squeak with joy and throw myself at Jackson next. My mate laughs and catches me, holding me to his chest as he falls back on the bed and takes me with him.

"This is the best," I whisper, a bit shrill with excitement. "When did you think of this?!"

“I didn't think of it, it's not a scheme,” he murmurs, smiling up at me as he tugs my cap off and tosses it onto the desk. “It's just the way it's got to be." "Good," I murmur, dipping my head to press a kiss to his chest. "We need to -"

"I heard a kiss! No kissing!" Rafe shouts, and then something soft hits me in the back of the head. I'm laughing even as I turn to gather up the pajamas that Rafe hurled at me. I ignore him.

"Here,” I say, smiling at Jacks. "These are for you."

"Thank you," he murmurs, taking the pajamas from me but immediately putting them aside as he pulls me in for a quick kiss, right on my mouth. Inside me, my wolf goes a bit jelly-legged with glee.

And as I grin at my mate, I'm not sure I've ever been so excited to go to sleep.

We all take a few minutes then to get ourselves ready for bed, changing into pajamas and brushing our teeth. I even steal a quick shower, eager to get the dust of this long day off of me. By the time I get to my bed the room is already mostly dark, the only thing shining on Rafe and Jesse's side being their little reading lights as they begin to wind down their day.

I work very hard to hold back a hum of happiness as I jump into my bed, flicking my little velvet curtain off its hook as I do so that it falls shut in a soft shush of fabric. My mate is ready for me of course, snatching me out of the air in his big arms and pulling me down next to him with a soft snarl.

"Silence in there! Remember the rules!" Rafe calls, still a little mad. But Jacks and I just ignore him.

"Are you cozy?" I ask, turning on my side so that Jackson and I are laying facing each other with our stomachs touching. He has an arm around my waist, holding me tight.

"I'm fine," he murmurs, his voice a happy rumble.

"Do you..." I hesitate for a second and then sit up a little bit, peering towards the other side of the nook. "Do you even fit on this bed?"

He laughs a little and I gasp when I see that his feet do indeed hang off the end of the mattress.

“Jacks!” I hiss, appalled. "We'll have to get a new bed! But will a bigger one even fit in the nook? We have to -"

"It's fine, Ariel," he murmurs, pulling me back down to my spot with the heavy hand still on my waist. "I don't fit in any beds - I haven't since I was a kid. The first bed I've slept in in like a decade where my feet didn't hang off was the one your mother gave me."

"Yeah, well," I murmur, not too happy about him potentially being uncomfortable, "she's used to accommodating giants."

Jackson laughs lightly and strokes a hand down over my still-damp hair.

"So," I say with a happy sigh, snuggling down into the mattress. "Tell me about this timeshare that you and Luca came up with."

"It's pretty simple," Jackson murmurs, and I can hear the sleep starting to sneak into his voice. "We both agreed that you've got limited free time to spend with your mates and neither of us are crazy about the idea of sharing it. So, we'll split it."

"Oh, really?" I say, my eyebrows going up and my wolf going a bit still within me, wary. "And...um. How did you decide to split up my free time, Jackson?"

“He gets dinners with the groups. I get nights."

"And did...either of you think to ask me what I think about this?" Jackson sits up a little, instantly less sleepy. “Are you...mad at us?" “Well, yeah, Jackson!" I say, casting out a frustrated hand. “Kind of!"

Chapter 0450

"I'm sorry," Jackson says, and I can tell by his devastated tone that he means it very much. "I'm so sorry, Ariel."

"Jackson," I sigh, frustrated - because it's very difficult to be angry with him when he's being so sweet. "What are you even sorry for?"

He pauses and it's instantly clear to me that he has no idea what it is that I'm mad about - he's just ready to apologize for anything. I laugh a little and so does he when he realizes what is happening. He tucks his head down against my shoulder and I wrap my arms around him.

"Please," he murmurs. "I am sorry if I've upset you - but I don't understand. Please tell me.”

"It's just - it's happened twice tonight, hasn't it? And more in the past few weeks. It's like all of you boys make these decisions and strike these deals, usually with me at the center of them, and no one really asks me what I think. And sometimes I need that help - like the morning when Luca came and banged on your bedroom door and I had no idea what to do. But other times - like this decision about the timeshare? Jackson, you and Luca can't just decide how I split my time without asking me about it."

He nods, and down the bond I can see that he instantly understands and feels terrible. "We were just trying to make it easier on you," he whispers. "It's complicated - and we both get so riled when you're between us."

"I know," I sigh, stroking his hair. "But just because it's easier for you to decide without me sometimes doesn't mean you should." "You're right," he sighs, pulling back a little to look me in the eyes. "I won't do it anymore. I promise."

"Thank you," I whisper, smiling at him and continuing to stroke his hair. Then I frown, thinking about the deal that he struck with Luca. "You're really fine with that? Just hanging out with me at night?"

"Well, I didn't quite say at night. I just said I wouldn't come to dinner and study time - that Luca could have that. Which is fine by me - I don't know how any of you get any studying done in a big group like that anyway. I know Luca just talks the whole time."

I smirk a little. “You grew up in a room full of boys too," I say quietly. "I would have thought you'd have learned how to tune them out as well." "Yeah, but we knew how to be quiet," he says, frowning at me like it's obvious and making me laugh.

"So," I say quietly. "Luca knows that you...sleep here now?"

"Oh, no," Jackson says, laughing a little. "He never would have agreed to that."

I gasp a bit and smack him on the arm, not used to a tricky side of him. He laughs a little too, enjoying himself. "Well then what does he think 'at night' means!?"

"Probably the dream state," Jackson murmurs with a contented sigh. "Which we can use. But I'm not sure we'll need it if I get you all night, and all morning, and in magic class..." he shrugs. “I think it's fair.”

I bite my lip, a little uncomfortable that Luca doesn't know that Jackson sleeps here now but...also knowing that he's going to flip out if he finds out. I sigh, wondering what the best route here is - peace or transparency?

"I'm sorry," Jackson says again, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. "I'll do whatever you want. We can talk to Luca and change the plan - we'll do anything you want."

"Oh yeah?" I say, raising my eyebrows and grinning a little at him in the dark, wicked in my own turn. "And what if I said that I wanted Luca to sleep in the nook too?"

"What?" Jackson says, pulling back a little to stare at me, appalled.

"Yeah, you know," I say, working hard not to laugh, "like, a little Ariel sandwich -"

Jackson snarls even as he sees that I'm kidding, tugging me close against him, possessive. He doesn't say a word, but his answer to that proposal is clear. I laugh, I can't help it.

Across the room, Rafe clears his throat in a loud and obvious way that lets me know we're getting a bit loud for his tastes. I glance towards him and then back to Jacks, grimacing a little. He nods, letting me know he understands too, and that it's time to settle down and get to sleep.