Ch. 506..510: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 506-510

Chapter 0506

"You can sit there, Ariel's boy," Blaze says, waving a general hand towards the wall by the door as Luca follows me into the small gym and pulls the door shut behind him. "You are not to interrupt. Read your book, if you would, or watch. But no talking."

Luca raises his eyebrows at me, I think a little baffled and intrigued by this bossy little man, but he nods and does as he's told, taking a seat by the wall and settling his bookbag on the ground next to him. As I drop my own bag by the door and head to the center of the room, Luca pulls out the same book he was reading in the hall and opens it in his lap, starting to read it. Or at least, pretending to.

"Hands behind your back," Blaze says, taking his familiar, relaxed fighting stance across from me and raising his own hands. When I exhale a deep breath and knot my hands behind my back, he nods once. "And we begin."

Blaze is instantly moving, as he always does, his hands like knives in the air coming for me so quickly that I can barely see them. I move backwards, dodging his blows as best I can. When I run out of space on the mat, I move swiftly to the left - which is when he gets me.

"Hahaa, princess," Blaze says, smacking me hard on the shoulder. "Got you."

I scowl a little, glaring at him. "You always get me."

"You are getting faster though, little bird,” he says quietly, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and leading me back to the center of the room. “I see your progress. Soon, when you can get all around the room without a touch, I will teach you how to block."

We continue like this for a long time – what feels like hours even though I know it's less. And honestly, even though it seems basic, it's all that we do. On our first private meeting together I was surprised when Blaze made me put my hands behind my back - told me that I wouldn't learn to strike at all until I could learn to properly dodge.

"You cannot hit," he had said, his cheerful smile on his lips, "if someone is already punching you in the face."

And then he'd smacked me across the cheek, pretty hard, to demonstrate his point that I really, really needed to learn how to evade the kinds of blows that would take me out.

Unfortunately, I'm not very good at it yet. But like he said – I am getting better. When we first started a few days ago I could barely get one step without Blaze smacking me. But he taught me some techniques about how to watch for movement, how to predict the direction of the next blow - how to even control my opponent's next actions, in part, by how I move my own body in response. The work is fascinating and engrossing, engaging my mind as much as my body.

And I have to admit - I love it, and I'm improving. By the time the class ends, I make it nearly halfway around the room before Blaze gets a touch in. “Very good, little bird,” Blaze murmurs, stepping forward and giving me a big hug even though I'm all sweaty and gross. I laugh a little, hugging him back. “In a few short months we will teach you how to do it with a knife in your hand, and then you will be a dangerous little animal indeed."

"Cool," I say, panting a little and grinning as I pull back. "I'm excited for that part."

"I am too," Blaze says, giving me a steady nod. Then, to my surprise, he turns to look at Luca. "And what does the creature think?"

"Me?" Luca asks, looking up at us and pointing a thumb at his chest.

"Yes, you," Blaze says slowly - perhaps a little too slow, like he thinks Luca might not understand. I laugh and Luca grins.

"I think it's cool," Luca says, closing his book and looking between the two of us. "I've never seen a technique like that before - it's really interesting."

"And you are a fighter?" Blaze asks, his eyes sweeping expertly over the well-muscled set of Luca's shoulders, well-formed by years of boxing.

Chapter 0507

"I am," Luca says seriously, pushing up from the floor as he intuits that the lesson is done.

"Well then," Blaze says, looking at him for a long second and then shifting his eyes to me. "Perhaps you can put our Ariel through a different set of paces. See if her dodging skills adapt well to a different fighting style, or if she's only able to dodge me because I'm the one that taught her."

My eyes go wide a bit as I start to understand Blaze's proposal. "Wait, you want me to fight Luca? Do you - do you know who he is? What he can do with those fists!?"

"You said he is your creature," Blaze says, shrugging, I think a bit pleased with himself as he turns quietly and heads towards the other door in the room - though I don't know where it leads. "I doubt he will punch you very hard, Ariel. See you tomorrow!"

And with a little wave, Blaze disappears through the door.

"What do you say, gorgeous," Luca says, grinning at me and moving to the center of the room. "Wanna fight me?"

"Um, no!" I say, even though I follow him to the spot at the center of the room where I always start with Blaze. When I get there, Luca raises his fist into his boxer's stance, his muscles smoothly settling into it in a way that suggests he's done it a hundred thousand times before. Which, of course, he has.

"Oh, come," Luca says, smirking and giving me a cheeky wink. "I won't hit hard."

I groan a little even as I fold my hands behind my back, taking up my own much less threatening stance. "Don't hit me in the face, okay?" I say with half a sigh, looking up into his brown eyes, my own pleading. "I want to stay cute."

"You looked pretty with a black eye too, when we first met," he says. "But, sure. Body blows it is." Luca shifts his fists almost imperceptibly lower, but then suddenly he's moving – starting to swing. I gasp a little, taking my first step back, but Luca's fist and long arm is already there, coming from my right. I gasp a little as his fist takes me in the arm, knocking me to the side so that I stumble a few steps.

But, as promised, he was gentle. Or at least, as gentle as a six-foot-something Alpha can be with fists the size of small melons. Still, it was light enough that there's no chance that I'll even bruise - except, obviously, my pride.

"Gotcha," Luca says, still grinning at me, I think kind of loving this. "That was easy - honestly, Ari, is he teaching you anything?"

"No fair!" I whine, starting to get pissed. "I wasn't ready. Set up again."

Luca does as I ask, taking a step back to the center and raising his fists again. I bend my knees, getting ready, and then we're off again. I duck under Luca's fist this time but Blaze was right - I was getting used to his method of fighting. With Luca, I have to completely adjust. He gets me on the second blow and I bare my teeth at him, making him laugh, and then I shove him backwards, making him start again.

We go on for a further thirty minutes and I fall completely into the practice, concentrating hard and finding new ways to predict the blows, moving back faster than I do with Blaze to stay out of Luca's reach, dodging lower and feinting different directions to confuse him. The result, I'm pleased to see, is that I finally make it to the back of the mat without him touching me.

I give a shriek of victory when I get there, throwing my hands up, but Luca - scoundrel he is - snarls roughly and dodges forward, wrapping his arms around me and yanking me up into the air. I shriek with laughter, pounding my fists against him, shouting about how he's a cheat and needs to put me down immediately.

"I made it!" I pant, still smacking at him a little, "admit it! I made it, I won!"

Chapter 0508

"You win, you win," Luca sighs, letting me slip in his arms a little until we're face to face. "That was awesome - you improved so fast." He nudges me happily with his nose. "We should have got you in the gym long ago, Shrimpy."

"Well," I sigh, letting my weight fall back against his arm as I stretch my hands languidly above my head. "If we'd done that, it would have been me in the boxing ring against Atalaxia this Midwinter, and I just couldn't do that to you, champ -"

Luca laughs, pulling me forward against him and kissing me soundly. I smile and then give into it, taking his face between my hands, kissing him deeply and losing myself to him completely.

We're only brought back to reality by the sound of my stomach's fierce grumble.

Luca breaks away, glancing down at my belly. "Come on, Shrimps," he says with a happy sigh, putting me down on my feet. "Let's get you something to eat."

I lean against him for a moment, resting my forehead against his chest and taking a deep sniff of his lovely sunny scent before I peer up into his face with a happy smile, slipping my hand into his. "Okay," I say, cheerful. "Unless you think Rafe brought my food to Daphne again."

Luca laughs, shaking his head. "Poor Daphne, getting your cold plate. Honestly, I thought Rafe was good with girls - but if that's his best move, then I'm going to have to teach him a thing or two."

Laughing, the two of us grab our bags and head out of the gym.

On the long trip back upstairs, Luca and I take a moment to discuss our plans for the charitable donation I'm planning to send towards his gym, each of us quietly laying out our priorities for what is, apparently, becoming our joint partnership.

"I don't want to change your vision, Luca," I say quietly, looking up into his face. "I just want to help. But my dad was right - I should have some say in where the money goes."

"I get it," he says, nodding to me seriously. “Honestly, I liked the idea of hiring someone to take over the whole business - I mean, it would have to be the right person, but doing so could give my uncle the chance to just...concentrate on the boxing. And with the money wisely invested, we could help a lot more people."

"Okay,” I say, wrapping myself around his arm a little bit as we finish climbing the staircase to the floor that my room is on. "So, at the call later in the week with my parents, we tell them that's what we decided? To search for someone who can head up the organization business-wise, while your uncle stays on as like...head coach?"

"Yeah, I think that's best," Luca says, beaming down at me, clearly excited. "And then we can...move forward from there once they've found someone. Honestly, Ari, I think this is...really cool. I love that we're in this together now."

“Me too,” I say, smiling so happily that my eyes crinkle up at the corners. Luca glimpses around the hall quickly but, seeing that it's empty and quiet, quickly dips his head and gives me another swift kiss. I return it happily, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck, very pleased and content.

Luca exhales softly as he pulls away and I can feel down the bond that he feels exactly the same as we move to the door to my room and Luca pushes it open.

Of course, all of those good feelings wipe quickly away from Luca the moment he sees Jackson sitting on the couch in the living room.

And unfortunately, to make matters worse, Jackson's sitting...precisely where Luca usually sits.

“Hey!” Rafe calls happily from his arm chair. “Come in, we had dinner served late so yours wouldn't be cold!"

Jesse and Ben call their hellos too but the room quickly fades to awkward silence when they see me and Luca just standing at the door, Luca staring angrily into the room, me just...grimacing a little as I look up into his face.

Down the bond, I can feel Luca immediately lose his temper at the sight of Jackson here, at dinner, when he expressly agreed not to be. Guilt rushes through me because of course his is my fault – I had every opportunity to tell Luca what to expect, but it just...completely slipped my mind in the chaos of my new daily schedule.

"Do you...not want spaghetti?" Jesse asks awkwardly, gesturing towards the plates still waiting on the coffee table. “Um, maybe we can send for something else?"

Chapter 0509

Ben leans closer to Jesse, probably explaining quite patiently that Jesse's completely misinterpreting the entire situation, as I tug on Luca's sleeve, feeling his anger surge, trying to draw his eyes back down to me.

“Luca, please,” I say quietly, a little desperate, glancing between him and Jackson. “I can explain."

To my surprise, Luca snaps his eyes shut and forces himself to take a long, deep breath. And I realize that this is not at a performance - that he's actually working, really hard, to control his temper and to not flip out, even though everything inside of him is telling him to do that.

After a few long moments, Luca opens his eyes again, settling them on Jackson, who sits very still on the couch, watching Luca's every move. "What are you doing here, man?" Luca asks, and even though his voice trembles a little bit with his anger, I can tell that Luca is working incredibly hard to be casual, to appear cool.

Jackson, I can see, senses this too. His reply is just as even. "I'm having dinner," he says quietly. "Ariel asked me to come."

Luca takes another deep breath and shifts his gaze to me. "Okay. Could I...have a word with you in the hall? Please?"

"Of course," I say softly, taking his hand and tugging him with me.

As I turn, Rafe puts his hands on the arms of his chair, his face worried, like he's going to stand up and come with us - like he's worried at me. I look wide-eyed in Rafe's direction and vehemently shake my head no.

Because, I mean, there's no risk here - Luca would never hurt me, and he's working so hard to contain his temper, he doesn't need Rafe coming to tick him off.

Besides, this whole thing is very much between my mate and I. I owe him this conversation. In private.

Luca and I step back into the hall and he drops my hand as I pull the door quietly shut. He slumps back against the wall, letting out a long breath, running his hands through his hair. "So, are you like, aware of the deal that Jackson and I struck?" he asks, confusion mixing with his dulling anger now. “Because...we kind of made a deal that he wasn't supposed to be here for these sorts of things."

"I am aware," I say, folding my hands behind my back and forcing myself to meet his eyes, determined to do right by Luca and tell him the full truth as plainly as I can. "But...I don't like how you and Jackson made that decision without asking me, Luca. I told him this as well, but I'd like to be consulted, in the future, when you decide how to split up my time."

Luca scowls, dropping his head to look at the floor. "It wasn't really like that, Ari," he says, snapping a bit, even though guilt chases his anger soon after the words leave his mouth. I can feel that, down the bond. "We weren't trying to decide your time for you...it's just very hard for us - or me, at least - to be in a room together. It felt...better to find a way to avoid it."

I watch Luca as I feel, down the bond, his renewed determination to be calm and fair, to not snap at me. And even as I'm worried and anxious about this conversation, a big part of me admires – very much - how hard Luca is working to control his temper.

"Okay," I say quietly, nodding so that he sees I understand as he lifts his eyes to meet mine. "But...Jackson is part of this group, Luca. You were part of it first, but now? After the examination, after Midwinter? He's...family."

I can feel Luca go rigid as he hears the word.

"I want him here for group dinners and study time," I say quietly, forcing myself to continue, to make my point heard. "At least, as long as he's happy to come."

Luca's fist clenches a little bit, and I know that it's an unintentional physical manifestation of his emotion, but something about it makes me feel incredibly remorseful. I feel myself falling back on my knee-jerk desire to say something to make him happy - to make it better - and I wrack my brain for what that could be -

But suddenly, my wolf nips me, fierce.

I stand up straight, looking down at my chest, wondering what the hell that was about.

Chapter 0510

"All right. I just...have very little time alone with you now, Ariel," Luca says, straightening up and slipping his hands into his pockets as he, apparently, adjusts himself to the knowledge that his time-share deal with Jackson is apparently dead. "At least, time without him around. And that's...difficult for me."

"It's difficult for me too," I say quietly, my eyes going a little wide when I see the sadness on his face, hating it. "But...I mean, at school I have very little time for...anything. It's not that I don't want to spend time alone with you, Luca, I just...don't know when that would be."

"Well, do you think we could meet in the dream state more?" he says quietly, taking a hand from his pocket and casting it out in front of him, seeking some medium ground. “We haven't done that in a while and –“

"No," I say instantly, knowing that it's impossible, shaking my head.

Luca's eyes go wide as he stares at me, completely shocked by my answer.

And inside, I know that in terms of giving my mates equal time with me, I'm being completely unfair.

But honestly, the idea of laying physically in bed with Jackson while I meet with Luca in the dream forest, where there's another bed? And do...the things that we do there?

No. I feel, immediately, a little sick at the idea.

Luca, I see, starts to put together the pieces as I do, his mouth falling open a little bit. "So," he sputters out - not so much angry now as feeling incredibly sad, and jealous, and a little betrayed, "Jackson still gets nights and I get...nothing?"

My heart breaks as I feel his emotions coming down the bond, as I see the horrible expression on his face. My mouth opens, my throat clicking a little in my eagerness to say something to make it better - anything - but what -

God, maybe he should have some time in the dreamscape – maybe - maybe I should spend some nights with him instead -

But my wolf nips me again - harder this time - and I physically flinch.

No, she growls, fierce. You tell him the truth. He had no trouble telling you what he wanted, after all, even when it upset you. Now it's your turn.

I slowly close my mouth as I realize that she's...completely right. And while I hated when Luca did that to me...there has to come a time when I tell Luca, honestly, what I really want right now.

"Luca, I'm really sorry if this is hard to hear," I say, pressing both of my hands to my chest as my voice cracks with the terrible emotion that I'm feeling right now, “but...my wolf wants me to spend my nights with Jackson right now."

Luca just gapes at me further, going a little pale.

"I mean," I say, a little desperate to make it better, taking a step towards him, "you and I had so much time in the dream state alone - for months, before Jackson even knew I was his mate! And -"

"Ariel," Luca says, shaking his head from side to side, his own voice tight as he stares at me, willing me to see how this is totally different. I wasn't splitting time then. And I'm not now - but for a totally different reason.

And I stop my words, hanging my head a little and taking a deep breath, working hard to stay steady in my convictions. "I'm sorry, Luca," I say quietly. "This is...what I want right now - what my wolf wants. At least for the foreseeable future. It's what my wolf is telling me is right."

She gives a fierce little yip in my soul, I think attempting to bolster me.

Luca drops his head, heaving a deep sigh, raising a hand to cover his eyes. He stays that way for a long moment, shutting down the flow of emotions down our bond, clearly adjusting to this new reality and finding a way to deal with it.

I stand perfectly still, watching him, waiting, desperate. God, I'm not sure if I'm even breathing.

But then Luca heaves a sudden sigh and drops his hand, and stands up straight, and opens his arms to me. "Come here," he whispers.

I close the distance in an instant, my arms wrapping tight around his waist as he folds his around my shoulders, pulling me close, ducking his head so that he rests his cheek against my cap.

"I'm sorry," I whisper into his chest. "I know that this isn't want you wanted."