Ch. 491..495: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 491-495

Chapter 0491

When she sees who's standing out there, holding a plate of food in his hand, her face breaks into a wide, laughing smile. She swings the door open and leans against the frame, staring up into Rafe Sinclair's pretty green eyes.

"Well, aren't you a surprise," she says, beaming at him.

"Thought you might be hungry," Rafe says, giving a too-casual shrug and holding the plate of food out towards her.

Daphne laughs as she crosses her arms over her chest, a sound and a sight that makes Rafe's pulse rush more than the hasty walk down here did. God, but she's beautiful - and that laugh?

He takes a deep breath, working hard to settle the butterflies in his stomach as his wolf eagerly paces back and forth in his soul.

“Come on, Rafe," Daphne says, nodding towards the already-empty dinner plate resting on the tray by the door. "What did you think, I went starving every night when you didn't bring me the cold leftovers from your table?"

"Listen, I was just being considerate," Rafe says, grinning and indulging in a blatant lie, pressing an earnest hand to his heart. "We worry about you, Daphne. About your nutrition, primarily."

“Well, instead of worrying about my...nutrition," she murmurs, her voice dropping a little, along with her lashes. "You could tell me why you're really here."

Rafe goes still for a moment, trying to think of something witty to say.

But god damn it that was never his realm of expertise -

Suddenly he gives up all pretense and moves, shoving Ariel's unappetizing decoy plate onto Daphne's tray in the same moment that he dips low, wrapping an arm around Daphne's thighs and pulling her up against him, hard and fast, as he moves into the room.

The next moment her mouth is on his as he kicks the door closed, and god - the way she moans - the way she tastes -

He's nearly undone with it already.

Rafe stumbles over to Daphne's bed, sinking down onto it, taking her with him. She laughs as they go, kind of delighted, and Rafe is dizzy at the sound of it - the feel of her -

He pulls Daphne tight against him as he lays down in her tiny bed, his head falling back against the pillow, her knees finding a place on either side of his hips. Rafe doesn't even know how they do it - how they draw breath - between the fervid kisses - each one deeper than the last.

Each one pulling him in further so that he's drowning in her - in her heat, her scent, the feel of her body beneath his hands. Drowning, and happy to do it to give it all up, everything.

Things slow then, growing more serious and intent after the shock of his sudden appearance passes. Rafe moves his mouth deliberately over hers, even as his wolf pants in his chest, desperate and aching for her. Still, he moves his hands slowly, exploring every inch of her as they kiss, moving down her back, over the swell of her ass that he can't help but grasp –

And god, fuck, but the shuddering little gasp that comes out of her when he does that –

He stirs, the weight of her on top of him absolute torture, the clothes between them...an abomination.

His hand slips lower until it reaches the hiked-up hem of her dress, his fingers slipping eagerly beneath -

But suddenly, she pulls away.

"Um, Rafe?"

His eyes slowly open and Rafe looks up at Daphne above him, struck dumb by the way her auburn curls look in this light - casting almost a halo around her head.

She frowns a little, confused at his nonresponse. "Rafe?"

He blinks and swallows, hard, finding his breath. "Yeah?" he says, sitting up a little. "Are you...are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she says, smiling at him softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I think we just..." she hesitates, biting her lip, and Rafe clenches his teeth as his eyes move immediately to her mouth in that moment.

Because god does he wish that was his teeth right now, doing precisely the same thing.

Daphne laughs a little, and he returns his eyes to hers. "Rafe, I think we just need to...slow down a little?"

Rafe stares at her for a long moment, kind of appalled at the idea, because all he wants in the world right now is to...

But then he blushes scarlet, embarrassed that he hasn't even bothered to figure out if Daphne is in the same place as he is. If she, too, wants to rip

off all their clothes and spend the next several hours so wrapped up in each other that they lose track of time, space. Everything.

And, obviously...he should have checked. Because clearly she does not.

 

Chapter 0492

 

"Rafe," Daphne murmurs, clearly guilty as she reaches out and cups his cheek in her palm. "I'm sorry, I just —"

"No, Daphne," Rafe replies, laying back against the pillow and closing his eyes, moving his arms so that his hands press lightly against her back. "Don't be sorry - don't ever be sorry for something like that. If you want to slow down then we'll go slow."

Daphne smiles a little, accepting the invitation his hands give to lay herself down over his broad chest, to tuck her head beneath his chin.

And as she does, Daphne feels incredibly guilty.

Because here is this perfectly wonderful prince, who she's had a crush on for literally years, who so clearly wants to be with her...

And all she can do is think about...

Well.

The less thought on what's actually on her mind, the better, for now.

At least while Rafe Sinclair is in her room, his arms tight around her, working hard to steady his breathing.

Daphne sighs, letting her own eyes drift shut. Wondering what the hell she's supposed to do next.

"So," Daphne whispers, working hard around the knot in her throat. "Tell me about your day, Rafe."

He sighs, laughing a little and holding her closer. "What do you want to know, Daph?"

When I come back to the room after my workout with Blaze, the mood is unusually somber.

And the room itself is unusually...empty.

"Where's Rafe?" I ask, putting my hands on my hips and frowning as I look around the room.

"He stole your dinner and took it down to Daphne's room," Jesse mutters, stabbing his pen at the page of the notebook resting in his lap. He's sitting moodily cross-legged in his chair, his head resting against his hand.

My mouth falls open in horror as my stomach turns, grumbling. "What!? Daphne doesn't need my food!"

"Apparently she did," Jesse snaps, raising his eyes to glower at me.

My own eyes go wide as I look at him because what the hell is this mood about?

But Ben, from his spot on the couch, looks up at me and hastily shakes his head. I do as he asks, falling silent, but after a moment I figure it out - why Jesse might be in a mood at Rafe's absence. What, precisely, he might be imagining happening downstairs.

I grimace a little and turn away, sensing that my cousin needs his space to deal with his...emotions.

"Here, Ben and I saved you the best scraps," Luca says from an unusual spot on the floor, gesturing towards a plate resting by his side. I smile at my mate, moving quickly towards him as I push the door shut behind me.

But my smile immediately falls when I realize that the scraps are a couple of crusts of bread and the tail end of a piece of salmon.

"Luca!" I gasp, slumping down next to him on the floor. "This isn't dinner! This is...trash!"

"How dare you insult my gift," he growls, pulling me tight against him and making me laugh, "which I saved from the jaws of starving dogs for you, my love."

"Yeah, well," I sigh, leaning my back against him and grabbing one of the bread crusts, shoving it eagerly in my mouth. "Next time can you try to save some meat from those slavering jaws? Or like, cake? I'm starving."

"I will do my best, baby," Luca murmurs, pressing a kiss to my hair. I swallow my bite, tilting my head back to grin at him, and Luca takes advantage, pressing a long, warm kiss to my mouth.

As he does, my poor hungry wolf turns in a contented circle and settles in my soul, warm and comforted.

"So," Luca whispers a moment later when he pulls away, smiling down at me. "Tell me about your day. I want to hear everything."

"Well, you're going to have to hear about it with my mouth full."

“Oh, I understand full-mouthed language," Luca murmurs, tightening his arm and pulling me closer. "The past several months with you have made me an expert."

I laugh, swatting at his leg, but then I begin, telling Luca all about my lesson with Blaze. Luca listens carefully, smiling a little as I give him every detail. Rafe doesn't actually come back to the room until hours later, once Ben and Luca have gone to bed. To my surprise, Jackson is at Rafe's heels when he comes through the door.

"Really?" Jesse asks, perking up a little as the two of them come in. "Were you two...together?"

"No," Jackson replies, frowning a little at Jesse as he pushes the door shut behind him. "We just happened to run into each other a few moments ago in the hallway."

Chapter 0493

 

Jesse's shoulder slump and he looks down at his bedspread, tracing his fingers across it.

Rafe, a little moody in turn, doesn't say anything and heads directly for his bed, opening his dresser and pulling out some pajamas.

"Where have you been!?" I bite out from my place in my nook when Jackson turns towards me. I snap my hands firmly to my waist, even if the effect of my rage is a bit ruined by the fact that I'm sitting cross-legged, and my pajamas are pink, and I have books and colored pens scattered all around

me.

"What, did you miss me?" Jackson asks, completely unperturbed, walking slowly across the room to me with his hands in his pockets, moving in a way that just...

Guh.

My breath all leaves me in a woosh and I just stare at him, shaking my head.

Jackson's face breaks into a broad grin as he feels absolutely all of my emotions coming over our bond with a rather embarrassing amount of clarity. "I'll take that as a yes," he murmurs, his voice low, his eyes narrowing a little as he tilts his head and looks down at me in the bed.

"Not fair, McClintock," I growl, whipping a hand up to point at him. "You should -"

But before I can get any further Jackson's hand shoots out, whip fast, and grabs my wrist, hauling me up out of my blankets - scattering my books and pens everywhere - and up into his arms. I shriek in both protest and delight as I find myself suddenly high in the air, pressed to his chest, laughing down into his face.

He laughs too, smiling up at me, his arms wrapped low beneath my ass as my legs go around his waist.

"Seriously," I sigh, pouting and running my hands through his silky brown hair. "Why didn't you come to dinner? We talked about this."

"You said I didn't have to if I needed peace and quiet," he replies with a little shrug. "And I needed to study. Rafe and I have...kind of a big thing tomorrow."

"Really?" I ask, glancing over at Rafe, who is still moody as he finishes pulling his pajamas on and starts to stride for the bathroom. Because, I mean, apparently he was...not here doing homework tonight.

How big could it be?

"Hey," Jackson says, giving me a final squeeze and drawing my attention back to him as he lowers me to the floor. "You ready for bed?" "Well, I was," I say with a sigh, turning and casting a hand out towards the wreckage of my bed. "Until someone came and destroyed my study space."

"Come on," Jacks says, giving me a warm pat on the booty. "I'm sorry. I'll help you clean it up."

Jackson does just that quite helpfully, even urging me to go wash up in the bathroom one last time while he finishes neatening the nook. When I come back and he goes to brush his teeth, a warm rush of delight runs through me when I see that Jackson has lined my pens and notebooks up on my desk just as I like them. My weird organizational methods are not something I ever laid out for Jacks, but which he clearly noticed anyway and took care to replicate them.

I sigh, flopping into my bed, delighted at how sweet and thoughtful Jackson can be.

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in," Jesse mutters across the room.

I frown, turning towards him. "What?"

"Can we all just go to bed?" Rafe grumbles from his own corner, now dark, where he's huddled down beneath the blankets.

I frown at him in turn, wondering what the hell is up with these two.

"Actually, no," Jackson says, striding out of the bathroom and surprising me by not climbing into our bed but instead sitting on the edge of it, resting his elbows on his knees and looking with interest at Rafe and Jesse.

"What?" Rafe says, kind of angry, sitting up to glare at my mate. “Jackson, what are you talking about? We need to sleep, we're —“

"Before we sleep," Jackson cuts in smoothly, his voice deadly serious. "We need to talk about why you two," he points now between Jesse and Rafe, “can't see how creepy Alvez is with Ariel. And why Tony and I can.”

"What?" Rafe says, sitting up straight in his bed, his anger immediately washed away in his concern.

"Jackson," Jesse says, his head turned to the side like he's worried that Jacks has finally cracked or something. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Chapter 0494

“I'm talking,” Jackson says, looking evenly between my brother and my cousin, “about the fact that Alvez spends most of class giving Ariel seriously lewd looks -"

"He so does not!" Rafe bursts out, appalled.

"He so does!" I counter, crawling forward on the bed to stare at my brother. "Like the entire time, Rafe!"

"Ari," Jesse says, folding his arms across his chest and shifting his gaze to me like I'm the one who might be crazy now. "I mean, I think we would have...noticed that."

"I know," Jackson says, nodding eagerly. "Which is why I think something's up."

"I like - I don't even get this," Rafe growls, running an aggravated hand through his hair. "I mean, Jacks, are you being overprotective because she's your mate? Are you looking too far into things that would otherwise –“

"Is he looking too far into the fact that Alvez grabbed me by the back of the head today?" I say, looking at my brother with wide, earnest eyes. "And like, pulled me in like he was going to kiss me?"

"What!?" Jesse and Rafe burst out simultaneously.

"He did!" I insist.

"Ariel!" Jesse barks out, staring at me, I think starting to get a little freaked out now. "I mean, we would have seen that -"

"It happened," Jackson says, pitching his voice louder to draw attention back to him. "I saw it and Tony saw it too - that's why I growled and Tony gasped. And you guys were looking but you just like...missed it. Something is up, guys."

Jesse and Rafe go quiet, staring at us, finally starting to see something. Because they definitely reacted to Tony and Jackson's reaction but...I guess they didn't see anything amiss.

"It happened before, too," I say, scooting closer to Jacks and pressing myself to his side, wanting his solid warmth next to me. "He gives me these creepy dirty looks all the time and no one sees it - he did it in that meeting with all of my professors, like looked me up and down like I was a piece of meat, and mom just sighed and was like 'oh isn't he so nice?""

"What the fuck," Jesse breathes, lifting his hands up and running them through his hair in a bewildered way, clearly starting to believe me.

"Is it...is it totally new?" Rafe asks, leaning towards me. "Like, did this just start?"

"Well, no,” I say, my own hands reaching up to play anxiously with the ends of my own hair. "he's kind of been...creepy from the start."

"What!?" Rafe and Jesse burst out again.

"Well, I couldn't like, tell anyone!" I protest, casting a hand out in explanation. "You guys would have killed him, and then I would have gotten kicked out of school -"

A rough snarl breaks from Rafe as he whips the blankets off his body and basically leaps to his feet, his chest heaving and his eyes flashing. "Did he put his hands on you, Ariel?"

"Um," I say, my eyes going wide as I take in my brother's Alpha rage. "...no."

"Don't lie, Ariel," Jackson snaps, turning to glare at me.

"WHAT!?" Rafe storms forward towards me and Jesse scrambles out of bed, close on his tail.

"Jacks!" I growl, giving him a rough shove. "I was lying for a reason - now they're all worked up -"

"They need to know!" Jacks protests.

"Tell me, Ariel," Rafe growls, looming over me, livid. "Tell me right the fuck now if I need to go find Alvez and kill him." Jesse is his mirror image at his side, and my eyes go wide when I see my cousin's usually friendly face looking like he's ready to tear someone apart.

"Would you two please calm down," I breathe, staring between them as I stretch my hands out towards them, palms flat. "I will explain everything, but nothing is happening tonight. Yes?"

"I'm not promising that," Rafe snaps.

"Well then I'm not telling you!" I counter.

“Then I'm just going to find him —“ Rafe shouts, storming for the door.

But Jackson moves in a flash, faster than I knew he could, getting in front of Rafe and leaning back against the door, shaking his head at him. “Hear her out, Rafe," Jackson says, his voice low. "Don't you think that if I thought he needed to be killed for his actions that he'd be dead by now?"

"What the fuck do you know about this?" Rafe snarls, not liking the fact that Jackson's getting in his way.

"Let me tell you," Jackson growls back, gesturing back towards the room.

Chapter 0495

 

Rafe sighs, clearly all worked up, and Jesse groans, turning away from me after giving me a quick glare.

"All right!" Jesse snaps, striding back towards his bed and fishing, bizarrely, for something behind his headboard. "Family meeting! We're all having a drink and we're talking this through. And if murder needs to happen, at least we'll be well lubricated."

My eyes go wide as Jesse produces a bottle of liquor that he's clearly smuggled into school - and from its label, I can tell that he swiped it from dad's personal collection. "Jesse!" I gasp. "We're not allowed to have that!"

"Oh, get over it, princess, you goody-goody," Jesse says, giving me a little glare and pointing towards the couch as he strides for the bathroom, presumably to grab a couple of little paper cups to drink out of. "We have bigger problems tonight."

I sigh, and look at Jacks, who shrugs. Then, moving almost simultaneously, I push up off the bed as he moves away from the door. We reach the couch at the same moment and he wraps his arms around me, pulling me tight as we sit down together.

Rafe looks almost longingly at the door for a second before he sighs, resisting the urge to just go commit murder before he turns in for the night. He walks over to us and flops into his arm chair as Jesse reappears from the bathroom, setting out four little cups and pouring four drinks. Privately, I say a little prayer of thanks for Jesse's more wayward habits, because even the break of pouring us each a tiny glass has given everyone the moment we need to collect ourselves, gather up lost tempers, and get ready to talk.

And I have to admit, as I sip the whiskey, it does go a long way towards settling my nerves.

"How long have you known about this?" Rafe asks, looking evenly at Jackson as he holds his empty cup out to Jesse, who obligingly refills.

"Long time," Jackson says seriously, meeting his eyes. "Before I knew Ariel was a girl, I felt...protective of her anyway. I guess I justified it to myself because Ari was just a shrimpy guy who was nice to me," Jackson glances at me here, "and I didn't want to see him being creeped on by this old professor. But, now I guess I'm more aware that it was the mating bond urging me to take care of her."

I grin up at him, a little delighted at that I mean, I knew that he felt the urge to protect me even before he knew I was his mate, but it's nice to hear it again aloud. Jacks gives me a fond little smirk before turning back to Jesse and Rafe.

"So, what happened," Jesse asks, still quite serious as he lounges back in his chair, "beyond the creepy looks."

I take a deep breath but then tell them about the day that Alvez called me to his office, how he...made a move on me, for a lack of a better term. Made it very clear that he wanted it to go further, and that he held his knowledge of me being a girl above my head as a way to keep it a secret, but that Jackson's interruption clearly saved me.

Both Rafe and Jesse slump in their seats, their faces devastated, as I finish the story.

"You should have told us, Ari," Jesse says, hanging his head. "We would have...done something about it. It's a disgusting misuse of power, and I hate that that happened to you. I hate that you couldn't trust us to help you, either."

"But I was fine," I say, holding my hands out, begging them to believe me and feeling incredibly guilty. "If I told you two, you would have gotten Alvez fired or killed - and it would have come out that I was a girl. And Jackson said he wasn't going to let me be alone with Alvez again, so...it was fixed."

Rafe just shakes his head, looking guilty in a way that breaks my heart. "You should have let us deal with it."

Something about that - the way my brother insists on handling my problems for me, even after all of this - makes me sigh, sadness creeping into my heart. Because even if I do appreciate that he wants to protect me, and I love him so much for that...will Rafe ever have enough faith in me to let me handle my life on my own?