Ch. 511..515: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 511-515

Chapter 0511

 

"It's okay," he murmurs back. "What I want is...not the most important thing. I just...feel like I'm losing you, Ariel."

"What?" I gasp, whipping my head up to look at him.

He shakes his head sorrowfully at me, raising a hand to trace his thumb across my cheek. “I don't want you to feel bad. I probably shouldn't have said anything -"

"Of course you should, Luca," I whisper, my eyes filling with tears. "You're allowed to have your emotions too - and I want to hear them -"

He just shakes his head again, his mouth a determined line. "You're growing closer to him. I guess I...didn't think that would happen - thought that when you spent time with him you'd realize he's dull as a brick and then come running back to me. But...he's not, and you're not. And it's just... terrifying to me. I don't want to lose you, Ari."

"You're not losing me," I whisper, pressing myself closer to him, looking desperately up into his face. "I'm right here."

"I know, gorgeous," he murmurs, and he traces his thumb over my cheek one more time before he dips his head and kisses me softly. "Just...let me stick around too, okay? While you explore whatever this is with him? And...maybe don't kiss him in front of me?”

"You got it, Luca," I say, starting to smile a little, hope burgeoning in me that...that maybe this could work.

"And maybe I could...come to your Blaze workouts?" he whispers. "As long as I'm not a distraction, and he doesn't mind?"

I nod eagerly, loving the idea of having something that's just for Luca and I, absent of everyone else.

"Good," he murmurs, dropping one last kiss to my mouth and then heaving a sigh as he pushes up from the wall, taking me with him so that we're both standing straight, holding each other tight. "Come on, Shrimp," he says with a sigh, loosening his grip on me but keeping on arm around my shoulder as he turns towards the door. "Let's go have dinner with your family and your other boyfriend. And Ben."

I laugh a little, though I'm still shaken emotionally, kind of unbelieving that this is...all coming together. That Luca not only didn't lose his temper but... agreed.

Luca pushes open the door and lets his arm fall from my shoulder as the two of us step inside. As one, everyone in the room turns to stare at us. Jesse, useful as always, breaks the silence by pointing sharply at Rafe. "I stopped him from eating your garlic bread. You're welcome." Rafe just scowls. "They never even would have known that there was garlic bread if there was none left on the table - it was a victimless crime -" "No way,” Luca says, crossing the room with me and taking his spot in his usual seat which I notice that Jackson has interestingly vacated in order to move to my side of the couch. "I'm Itablio, man, and a wolf. You know I can smell the presence of garlic bread from a mile away." Almost cheerfully, Luca reaches for his plate as I settle down on a pillow on the floor next to Ben.

Ben gives me a wink as he slides my dinner over to me and my stomach growls audibly as I take it.

"So!" Jacks says, his voice booming out in the room a little, apparently forcing the conversation on for all of our sake as I wrap some spaghetti around my fork and take a big bite. "Anyone...do anything...interesting today?"

He grimaces a little, realizing that he is very, very bad at this.

But Ben chimes in, ever a good conversationalist, and lets us in on the on-goings of the Ambassador track, including the potential to have a conversation with actual ambassadors to Atalaxia next week, about which he's incredibly excited.

As Ben details the opportunity, I don't miss the way that Rafe reaches out a hand to clap Luca warmly on the shoulder, murmuring something soft that sounds a great deal like "good man."

And my heart warms as Luca smiles, concentrating on his plate, apparently making himself get used to our very strange, slightly awkward, new dinner crew.

But even as I feel a little awkward, my wolf pounces around excitedly within my heart like an eager pup. And for her sake, I can't help but smile as I stab a meatball on my plate and eat it whole.

Chapter 0512

 

The next morning, my wolf wakes me up early, knowing that I need it. I mean, she doesn't frequently function as my internal alarm clock - we both like our sleep way too much for that – but today she gives me a sleepy little nudge with her nose before climbing to her feet and giving her fur a rough shake.

I stifle a groan and take a deep breath, letting my eyes stay shut, wanting desperately to just... lean back in the warmth of Jackson's body and sleep for just five more minutes...

But my wolf is more disciplined than me, and she gives me another nudge with her nose, and I sigh quietly, forcing my eyes open.

Then, moving as slowly as I can, I lift my head from Jackson's chest and peer up at him. But he's still breathing deeply, his eyes shut. Carefully, I lift my body just a centimeter and slowly move away, grimacing the whole time, desperate trying not to wake him.

But just as I'm about to slide completely off his chest and onto the bed, his arm tightens around me, pinning me to him.

"Why are you being so weird," he grumbles, his voice thick with sleep.

I gasp a little and then scowl, letting myself fall back onto him. "I wanted you to stay asleep!"

"Why?" he asks in a whisper, opening one eye and looking down at me. "When you get up to go to the bathroom you just get up and bounce out of bed, making a racket. Why are you being so sneaky now?"

My scowl deepens, because I thought that I had been shady. But my mate smirks at me, letting me know that I was no such thing.

"Fine," I sigh, resting my chin on his chest and looking up at him. "I wanted to get up early and go to the shooting range for practice."

"What?" Jackson asks, blinking hard and shaking his head to wake up more.

"Nooo," I moan quietly, reaching a hand out to touch his cheek. "You stay asleep - you need it —“

He just smirks at me and nudges me down the bond, reminding me that because of his particular magical skill, sleep is largely optional. I just roll my eyes, because even if he can draw on his magic and his body mass for energy, he shouldn't have to just for me.

"I need range practice every day," I whisper. "Captain said so. And the only time I can do it is in the mornings before our run."

"Damn," Jackson says, his eyebrows going up. "Even more responsibilities? You are...loaded up this semester, Clark."

"Don't remind me," I murmur, shaking my head. "But you go back to sleep, Jacks - just because I have to -"

"No way," he says, sitting up and taking me with him so that I'm sitting in his lap, his arms supporting my lower back. "I'll go with you."

"You don't have to do that!" I sigh, shaking my head. "No one's even awake to hurt me -"

But he ends my protest with a quick kiss before lifting me bodily and setting me gently on my feet by the side of the bed. I grin over my shoulder at him.

“Go," he murmurs, giving my lower back a little shove as he reaches for a pen and a piece of paper on my desk. "Brush your teeth and get dressed, I'll write a note for the other two, who are going to freak out when they wake up and find you gone."

I grin at my mate, secretly pleased at the idea of having him along, and grab my uniform from where I sneakily hid it last night before bed, tiptoeing away to the bathroom to get dressed for my day.

Fifteen minutes later, Jackson and I are walking in the pre-dawn light across the field behind the castle, my rifle slung over my shoulder. I stifle yawn after yawn as we walk and he smirks at me, already bright and awake.

"Oh shut up," I sigh, bumping my shoulder into him, which of course does nothing. "Not all of us have magical coffee in our veins."

"If I did," he murmurs, looking forward to my blind, "I'd be at risk of you biting me like a vampire, drinking my blood for the energy kick." "Yes, baby," I sigh, trudging forward. "You would."

Together we make our way to the telephone-pole-like ladder and as I start to climb I laugh when Jackson dips down to put one firm hand beneath my ass, boosting me with little to no effort about eight feet in the air and cutting my climb down by about a quarter. I grin down at him, calling my thanks, and then do my best to scurry up the pole as fast as I can.

 

Chapter 0513

ackson follows quickly - of course - and is already pulling himself up onto the platform before I've barely pulled the gun out of its bag. Jackson murmurs his admiration as I set up the gun and then he settles down with his back against the low rail, pulling a book out of his bag but not moving to open it.

"What," I say, laying on my belly and turning to peer at him. "You're just going to watch?"

"Watch my gorgeous mate shoot a state-of-the-arts sniper rifle at a target five hundred yards out?" His face bursts into a smile. "Hell yes I'm going to watch."

I laugh, shaking my head at him as I turn back to the gun, concentrating. "Okay, just don't interrupt."

Jackson doesn't say a word in response and I honestly forget he's there, falling into a bit of a reverie as I go over the Captain's instructions about how to take aim, how to concentrate, how to pay attention to the elements as well as my own breathing. Then, slowly, I exhale and begin to shoot.

The first few shots go wide, but I adjust every time. And then, after a few pulls of the trigger, I'm gratified by the sudden grey hole in the fabric of the target. I grin, incredibly pleased, and shoot until I count ten bullets.

Then I sit up, and take the scope off of the gun, using it to peer at the target.

Three hits - all erratic and nowhere near to the bull's eye.

But still, three hits.

I can't keep the smile off of my face.

“How'd you do?” Jackson asks, his voice a deep grumble in the morning light.

"I hit it," I say, shrugging, trying to play off how pleased I am.

But he just laughs at me, because he can feel it down the bond. He raises his chin at the scope. "Can I look?"

"Be my guest," I say, handing it over to him.

He whistles appreciatively and grins as he hands the scope back to me. "So what, we done here?"

The way he smirks at me lets me know that he knows my answer before I say it. "Oh, settle in, puppy," I sigh, making him laugh loudly at the renewal of Seraphina's nickname. “We're gonna be here for a lot of rounds."

Jackson stays completely silent as I practice, which I appreciate. I again sink into that concentrative zone, taking my time shooting rounds of ten shots and then sitting up each time to consider my progress, to make small adjustments that I hope will make me a better shot.

By the time about an hour has passed – getting us dangerously close to missing our run with Rafe and Jesse – I've shot at least two hundred bullets. And the target is satisfyingly riddled with holes, though they're still scattered and far apart, none really coming close to the bull's eye - except for one, which happened when I sneezed.

So. That doesn't count.

I sigh as I sit up, stretching my arms over my head, still peering at the target which looks...so incredibly far away, now that I'm not looking at it through my scope.

"Nicely done, Clark," Jackson says, snapping his book shut and holding his hand out for the scope.

I hand it to him even as I start to pack up the gun. "How do you know it's nicely done?" I ask, smiling and pleased with my morning's work. "You haven't looked yet."

“Because," he murmurs, peering through the scope, "you did a good job concentrating and making adjustments. Honestly, Ariel, you're a good soldier. I'd have you on my team any day.”

I grin at Jacks as he peers at my handiwork - guniwork? - and then gasp as I remember something the Captain said.

He immediately turns to me with a frown, concerned that's something's wrong, but I just lean forward and snatch the scope out of his hand. "Speaking of teams!" I say, kind of in disbelief that I forgot to bring this up last night - even if I did fall asleep over my chemistry book kind of moments after I finished eating my pasta. "What the hell are these Games the Captain mentioned!?"

Jackson's face bursts into a grin. "Wait, Ariel - how do you not know what the Games are?"

Chapter 0514

"I don't know what the Games are because nobody tells me!" I growl, smacking Jackson hard on the arm as I bare my teeth at him, pissed that apparently everyone knows what these 'Games' are except for me.

"You have a handbook in your room, Ariel," Jackson says, laughing at me, completely ignoring my smack which he probably barely felt. "Two of them, I think. You're allowed to read them - they contain all of this information."

"I have enough reading to do on my own," I say, waving a hand at him as I quickly pack away my gun. "I rely on you boys to keep me otherwise informed." I say the latter in a very bored, spoiled sort of way, and I can feel his grin down the bond even if I'm concentrating on zipping up my gun bag.

"Well, then let me perform my singular function as your walking, talking handbook, your highness," Jackson says, heading for the ladder and climbing down ahead of me. Luckily, he modulates his pace so that I can hear him as I follow. "There are three War Games over the course of the semester- and they're real simulations of what it might be like to be in a battle."

I continue to climb down hand over hand, listening carefully."

"Everyone plays the roles that they're being trained for," Jackson continues. "Rafe and I will be captains, amongst some other Cadets that the staff thinks have command potential, and we'll select our warriors according to their particular skills, trying to put together the best team possible. We also pick Ambassadors, who we can use to talk to the other side and either negotiate a ceasefire or spread misinformation. And you, tiny mate,” he says, his feet hitting the ground moments before he reaches up for me and takes me gently by the waist as I hop the last foot or two to the ground, "will be the only sniper on the board. So. You'll be quite in demand."

"Really?" I ask, looking up at him in shock. "So, I'm going to like...shoot at people?"

"Yes," he says seriously, and then his face breaks into a smile. "With a paintball gun, of course. But everything else is apparently very real."

"I get a paintball gun!?" I shout, immediately delighted.

Jackson laughs and slings his arm around my shoulder, leading me back towards the castle. "An expensive one, I'm betting," he murmurs. "Because I don't even know how you even make paintballs for a sniper rifle. I'll get you on my team, though. You'll be my first pick."

"Jesse will be so jealous," I say, hiking my gun bag up onto my shoulder and laughing a little maliciously.

Jackson laughs again, tugging me into a swifter pace next to him. "Come on, let's hurry up or we'll miss our run. And then the other Sinclairs with which we live will be pissed at us."

I grin up at him, nodding eagerly, and then the two of us hurry into the Castle to return my gun to its locker.

When we arrive back outside the Castle a few minutes later, we find Rafe and Jesse already there - dressed and ready for us.

"Are we late?" Jackson asks, frowning a little.

"No," Jesse says, grinning and turning to us. "We're early - we're just...shocked Ariel's up and doing things before us."

"I am so not as lazy as you guys imply," I say, crossing my arms and frowning at my brother and my cousin.

"Yes you are, Ariel," Rafe says, his eyes going half shut with his doubt, even as he smirks at me. "You'd sleep till noon if we let you - have done so on many occasions."

I roll my eyes at him even if...well, even if it's true.

"But seriously?" Rafe continues, raising an eyebrow at me as he looks me up and down. "More extra assignments? Now early morning sniping practice?"

I bite my lip a little as I look into his face, kind of worried that he thinks it's too much. "I can do it, Rafe," I say, nodding seriously to him. "I know it's hard work but I can handle it."

His face breaks into a wide grin as he steps to my side and puts an arm around my shoulders, bringing me in for a single tight squeeze. "No, Ari - you're reading me wrong. I'm proud of you. Just - if you get worn out, don't hesitate to tell people, okay? Your body is going to need a lot of rest or you'll fall apart. Just...tell us what you need and we'll support you."

I beam up at my big brother, leaning my weight against him, incredibly grateful for his support. "Okay," I say, happiness ringing in my voice. "I will!" “All right,” Rafe says with a sigh, loosening his arm and looking around at Jesse and Jackson. “Enough chit chat. Let's go!"

And without another word, he turns and breaks into a sprint. Jesse whoops and follows on his heels, but Jacks says with me, running at my side. "Oh, go!" I say, laughing and waving him on. "Don't hang back for me!"

Chapter 0515

He laughs a little, nodding to me and running forward to catch up with the other boys as I do my very best to catch up. I mean, I fail... But hell, it's good to try.

About twenty minutes later my spirits are quiet a bit lower and my feet are dragging, a little, as I haul myself into the breakfast. I mean, with the adrenaline gone, the lost hours of sleep and the workouts I've been going through morning and night definitely take their presence known.

Jackson - fresh, clean, and already seated at the table with Ben - frowns as I draw closer to the table with Rafe and Jesse following close behind. "What's wrong?"

“Nothing's wrong,” I say, sending him a smile as I reach for the coffee even before I sit down, pouring myself a very full cup. “Just sleepy is all – trying to get some energy back for the day."

He frowns at me as I sit and raise the hot mug to my lips. "I don't like that, Ari."

"You don't like anything that's not Ari sitting happy, safe, and spoiled, Jacks," Ben murmurs, yawning himself as he pushes the eggs around on his plate.

“That's not true,” Jacks replies, frowning over at Ben. "I like when she's tough."

"Watch your pronouns, buddy," Ben says, pointing a fork at Jacks with a wink. "And I know. I'm just teasing you."

Jacks blushes a little at his gender slip, but he nods to Ben and turns back to me. "Do you mind if I...try something?"

I frown at him and sit up straighter. "Like what?"

"I've had this idea since the Examination," he murmurs, and then he glances around the room and lowers his voice. I look around too, noting that Rafe and Jesse are distracted as well, speaking to Ben. "And then again in magic class. Um, I need to be touching you though, for it to work." Instantly, I raise my hand towards him but he just frowns at it. "Ari, I already slipped up once today - let's not also hold hands in the dining hall to further raise suspicion."

I laugh, dropping my hand and shaking my head at him. "All right, what do you have in mind."

"Just...sit still," he murmurs, looking down at his plate and casually raising a hand to pat me on the back - but high enough that his fingers touch my neck, his skin laying flat against mine.

I stare down at my plate, weirdly anxious, sitting quite still. For a moment, nothing happens.

And then, quite suddenly I feel it -

Energy, flooding my veins, like someone has turned on a tap - I gasp a little, sitting up straight, as Jackson's magic flows into me, starting at where his fingers touch the nape of my neck and flowing all through my body, filling me up like -

Like -

God, like I've had sixteen cups of coffee. It rushes through me, making my eyes fly wide, my fingertips twitch. Immediately, I feel like I could run a marathon, like I could jump from rooftop to rooftop, like I could fly -

And then just as suddenly, it's too much. I'm full- absolutely replete - and I gasp, because I don't know where it will go - energy absolutely crackles through me and I yelp a bit, twitching away from Jackson, breaking the contact between us by force.

We both turn to stare at each other, wide-eyed.

"Um, so I guess...it worked?"

"Jacks," I breathe, almost shaking with the amount of energy in my body right now, "do you...do you seriously feel like this all the time!?"

"Like what?" he asks, a smirk coming to his lips as he sees that I'm fine.

"Are you guys being weird again?" Jesse asks, peering over at the pair of us.

"No," Jackson answers with a frown at the same moment that I smile and say, "Yes."

Jesse laughs and Rafe looks between us. "What's...happening," Rafe asks, nosy and pretending to hide his desire to know under a veil of brotherly concern. He sighs. "I can't handle any more weird."

"Nothing's happening, calm down," I say with a happy sigh, remembering that the rest of the boys don't know about Jackson's magic and so I can't tell them not really - what just happened. Even though it's awesome and I'm dying to tell everyone my newfound secret weapon.

But before anyone can ask anything - and trust me, Rafe's mouth is already open with another question on his tongue - Luca comes striding over with two envelopes in his hand.

"Hey man," Jesse says, grinning up at my mate. "Where have you been? I ate your bacon. But it's your fault for not being here, and it was going to waste, so really you should thank me."

"I'll just eat yours tomorrow," Luca says with a tiny sigh, apparently disgruntled but not about Jesse's foraging from his breakfast plate. "I was on stupid messenger duty. And you two," he says, holding out a message to both Rafe and Jacks. "Have a message that you're asked to read right away."