Ch. 566..570: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 566-570
Chapter 0566
“Okay, so, ground rules are clear?" mom says, arms crossed, looking around at us. Fifteen minutes have passed and while we're all equally freaked out, we're much calmer and more ready to...call upon a Goddess, apparently.
Quietly, we all just nod, staring at mom, I think all kind of wondering if this is some elaborate prank.
"All right then," Cora says, exhaling a deep breath. "Ariel and Jesse, why don't you two...go ahead."
Jesse and I give each other a glance and then, as we decided a few minutes ago, quietly concentrate, doing as Cora instructed us and calling upon the Goddess in our hearts in our minds, through our magics, mostly...because we want to know if we can.
About a minute passes and nothing happens. I look up at Cora, a little disbelieving now, and sigh.
“Okay,” she says, shaking her head. "My hypothesis was correct - you two...for some reason, can't call on her yet.”
"Well, what reason could that be?" Mom asks, curious, turning to Cora as if she wants to speculate on it.
"Mom," Rafe says, sighing deeply, "please, can we not add any side quests right now? And just do this?" I press my lips together as I look over at my brother, because he seems like he's the most stressed of all of us. Cora looks away from mom and nods, apologetic, when she sees Rafe's expression.
"All right, sugar," she says quietly, using an old pet name we haven't heard in years. Then Cora exhales deeply and shuts her eyes for a moment, clearly...doing the thing.
I frown at my aunt, wondering if she's over-estimated her abilities because...I mean, I don't notice any changes. I glance at Jackson, who peeks at me at the same moment, but we both shrug and look back at Cora. When she opens her eyes and smiles I frown at her in confusion because... honestly I can't figure out why.
Until she turns to the right, her smile growing. "Hey, mom.”
I nearly leap out of my skin as I follow the direction of Cora's gaze and see a woman standing there - an incredibly beautiful woman, half transparent like a ghost, her form lit up in glittering silver light. I grip the sides of my desk, leaning forward to stare at her in awe.
"Is she here?" mom asks, likewise leaning forward eagerly, touching Cora's arm. "Can you see her?"
"Hello, daughter," the Goddess says, stepping forward towards Cora and taking her face in her hands. Cora melts a little at the Goddess's touch, like it's the softest, most wonderful thing she's ever felt.
Still gaping, probably ghostly pale myself, I look back at my mom, who flicks her eyes to me and then laughs when she sees my face.
"Oh, can you see her too?" Mom says, perking up.
I just turn my eyes back to the goddess, completely shocked.
"Oh...oh my god..." mom breathes, looking around the room. "Can you all see her?"
The Goddess laughs a little, looking
around at all of us. "Yes, they can all
ne
see me,” she says with a happy sigh "Though these two," she says, narrowing her eyes a bit like she's entertained, flicking a finger between Jackson and Tony. "Are not mine."
Cora turns to mom and tells her what the Goddess said, acting as a kind of translator as she's done before because - apparently - mom burned up her bond with the
-
Goddess once in a desperate plea to save Rafe when he was just a baby.
As Cora does that, I take a moment to look around the room, to see everyone else as shocked and gaping as I am.
Cora looks at us too and her mouth twists in disappointment when she sees all of our reactions. "You know, I prepped you for this," she says, frowning. “The least you could do is stop gaping at her like a school of fish."
As one, we all slowly close our mouths, and the Goddess laughs at us alongside her two daughters. I blink at her, still awed, because...it's the Goddess. Laughing at us.
"Well?" the Goddess says, perching
her hand on her hip and looking around at us impatiently - looking so much like my mom in this
net
moment that makes my mouth fall open again. "You know I don't like having my limitless cosmic time
wasted. So? Did you call me here for a reason?"
"They have questions, mom," Cora says with a sigh, still looking at us with disappointment. "If any of them can get a word out, that is."
"Mom," Tony whispers, still awed. "She...called the Goddess...mom.”
Something about that - the stark way that Tony said that - shakes something loose in me and I look at him with a little grin on my lips. I open my mouth to speak, but Rafe beats me to it.
Chapter 0567
"Sorry," he says, I think working hard to be polite and not knowing precisely what level to strike. "But, um...what did you mean when you said that?" He points now towards Tony and Jackson. "When you said they...weren't yours?"
"Oh, look at you, little godling," the Goddess says, moving across the room towards Rafe so fast that I don't know precisely how she got there. Did she...flutter? Or float? Still, the unearthly way she did sends shivers down my spine. But quite suddenly she's standing before Rafe, cupping his face in her hands. “So handsome," the Goddess says, glancing over her shoulder at our mom with her eyes crinkling up with joy to see him, "and so like his father."
Rafe just gapes up at our grandmother, I think forgetting his question.
"Yes, he's good looking," Cora says, after translating for mom who - of course - looks quite proud of Rafe and pleased that the Goddess recognizes it too. "But if you could get to his question, mom?"
"Oh," the Goddess says, dropping Rafe's face and giving a tinkling little laugh. "Those two," she says, gesturing again towards Tony and Jackson. "I didn't give them their gifts. No, I'd remember that."
She takes a step closer to Jackson, who I don't think has blinked once since the moment she arrived. To my shock, the Goddess seems to...sniff the air above him. Then she moves to Tony in the blink of an eye and does the same.
"They have the smell of my ex-husband about them," she says, narrowing her eyes a bit, perching her hands on her hips. "But not...quite strong enough to suggest that the gifts came from Ole Darkie himself..." she considers for a moment, her lips pursed as my eyes go wide to hear her nickname for the God of Darkness.
Then the Goddess turns her head to the side and turns back to Rafe. "Probably one of his children gave these two their gifts? So, undesirable provenance but," she shrugs, grinning between them and wrinkling her nose, “still useful gifts. And also,” her smile deepens as she looks between Tony and Jacks, "you're both very handsome, which is more important."
My mouth drops open a bit further as the Goddess calls my mate handsome, but my expression changes - my face bursting into a desperate grin - when I see that Jackson is blushing.
"The God of Darkness's...children..." Cora says, speaking slowly, trying to put the pieces together, her arms still crossed. "But not your children?" "Oh god, no," the Goddess says, waving a dismissive hand and looking around at the rest of us with clear pleasure. "Not those brats. One of his many affairs, which is why I dumped him in the end."
I just stare at the beautiful Goddess before us, shocked because, I mean...I didn't expect her to be so...casual. So chatty.
But...I guess our moms had to get it from somewhere.
"And you!" the Goddess says, suddenly turning towards Jesse, quickly crossing to him and making his eyes go wide.
"What's happening?" mom whispers to Cora, who fills her in as the Goddess takes Jesse's face in her hands next, beaming down at him.
"Is that why we can see her?" Tony asks, leaning forward towards Jackson. "Because...another God gave us our magics?
Jackson just shakes his head, either not knowing or not willing to respond as he keeps his eyes on the Goddess, nearly unblinking.
"My treasure!" the Goddess says, leaning close to her second grandson and wrinkling her nose at him. "You are very special to me," she says, laughing, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I crafted you as my special protector which..." she peers closer to him and then laughs alittle, "yes, which you've discovered, haven't you?"
“Y-yes,” Jesse sputters out, still staring at her.
"Well, it's a good gift," she says, quite cheerful, straightening up again and patting his cheek. “And a flashy one, which I think suits your personality. Enjoy it" The Goddess looks around now, apparently done with him.
"Wait," Jesse says, leaning forward, trying to catch at her glowing skirts with the tips of his fingers, but they just pass through his hand, insubstantial. The Goddess turns
back to Jesse with interest. "Did -
do you -"
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My eyebrows go up as I see Jesse searching for words, because he's usually the most eloquent of us. He gulps hard and then tries again as the Goddess nods to him, encouraging.
“Did I...need to find my mate?" he asks, a little desperate. "To make my magic develop like that?"
Chapter 0568
"What do you mean?" the Goddess asks, grinning at Jesse, clearly a little entertained and looking around the room as if she's going to see Jesse's mate hiding in a corner or something. "Of course you've met your mate - that's how it works! My magical gifts can't develop until your mate comes along to spark them - that's why I gave you the mates. But also," she laughs again as she shrugs, "for fun."
A little pulse of shock goes through me as the Goddess admits this - both that Jesse has a mate and that, somehow, he's met her. And the confirmation that magic develops once you've met your mate...god, but that's important news.
Down our bond, I feel Jackson go still - anxiety turning in him as he wonders why his magic developed so soon before he met me.
"I - I'm sorry, Goddess," Jesse says, pressing his hand to his heart. "But my wolf and I - we have not found our mate. How can I have accessed my magic?"
The Goddess frowns, humming deeply and reaching for Jesse again, pressing her hand to his forehead and concentrating this time. Then she sighs, putting her hands on her hips.
"Well, that's odd - you truly have no memories of meeting her," she says, clearly frustrated. "But...if you have your magic, then you have met your mate. Or," she shrugs, "she has met you. The spark is biological - if your body came close to hers - if you smelled or sensed her, even if you were, perhaps, unconscious? It would have been enough."
The Goddess shrugs like it could be anything and turns away from my cousin, even as Jesse's eyes go wide because...well, it's a very creepy thought, isn't it?
Still, there's no time to rest on it as the Goddess turns to me at last, her face breaking into her most beautiful smile. "And there she is," the Goddess says with a happy sigh, flitting to me next and likewise taking my face in her palms. "My little granddaughter," she laughs her tinkling laugh that sounds like bells and joy and moonlight, looking over her shoulder at Cora and mom as she wrinkles her nose. "Looks like me, doesn't she?" "Yes," Cora says with a happy little smile. "Yes, she certainly does."
I just stare up at the Goddess in disbelief because...there's no way. There's no way I can look at all like someone who is that beautiful.
"And what do you think?" the Goddess says, turning back to me and laughing again as she leans towards me, conspiratorial, nodding sideways towards Jackson. "Do you like my choices?"
I glance towards Jackson, who still just stares between the Goddess and I in awe.
"Yes," I say, laughing a little too as I turn my eyes to Jacks, whom I love so incredibly much. I raise my hand to cover hers as it presses to my cheek. "Yes, I like him very much. Thank you."
"Good," she says with a happy sigh, straightening up. "You know, your gift is particularly complicated, my girl, and without -"
But then she stops talking mid-sentence and frowns at me, leaning forward to peer very closely at my neck. I breathe in sharply as something flares at the Goddess's eyes as she suddenly turns her glare on Jackson.
As she does, everyone in the room - everything - goes completely still.
My heart starts to pound as the Goddess turns her gaze on me once again. "And where, granddaughter," she says, leaning down towards me to glare directly into my eyes, "are your marks?"
My heart starts to pound and I again grip my desk, not knowing what to say. She blinks once and exhales slowly, clearly growing impatient.
"I - I'm sorry!" I sputter out. "I didn't know - they haven't given them to me yet?"
The Goddess's eyes flare, suddenly
filled with the fire that I recognize as part of my gift. "Do you think that this is a joke, granddaughter? That I have given you these mates for your pleasure alone? Why haven't they given you their marks!?"
My chin trembles a bit because I know, already, that she's not going to like my answer.
"They...they want me to choose between them," I whisper, still staring up at her star-filled form, her gorgeous face. "They want to wait to give me their marks until...I decide which one of them to keep."
A growl grows in the Goddess's chest as she turns her head to glare at Jackson, who sits frozen in time next to me. As she crosses her arms over her chest, I begin to pant with anxiety.
"Jealous fools," the Goddess growls,
her eyes flaring again as she
straightens, "Receiving the greatest gift directly from my hands and turning their nose up at it like that? Do they think that it is wise to reject my generosity?"
"Please!" I beg, shaking my head vehemently. "They - they didn't mean it like that!" I press my hands to my chest directly over my heart, sensing that this is going very, very poorly and that it is all my fault.
The Goddess turns her eyes back to me and her expression softens, just a little. In a flash she is closer to me, bending forward, her face very close to my own. My breath stills in my chest to see her so close - to see... the infinity within her, the endlessness, the power.
-
Chapter 0569
-
"It is clear, little daughter, that you and your mates do not understand. So I will say this once to ensure that I am perfectly clear: I did not give you these mates simply because it pleased me to grace you with abundance. I did it because it was necessary to your gift – and because your gift is necessary to this world. Far, far more than you currently realize."
She stares into my eyes, willing me to understand, and fear creeps into my soul.
"Why...why me?" I whisper, shaking my head. "Why give me this gift?"
"Because you please me,” she murmurs, reaching out and cupping my chin in her hand. I can feel her fingers like frost or morning dew against my skin as she slowly tilts my face from side to side, looking at all of its angles. "And because I saw it from the moment you were conceived - that the shape of your soul - your courage, your spirit, your slight tendency for recklessness," she smirks here, "was the right match for this gift. Little fireheart.” She whispers the last few words and then releases my face, moving further away, just slightly.
I marvel, for a moment, that this woman - a Goddess, my grandmother - could have seen so much in me.
"Do not let the petty jealousies of those boys control your destiny, daughter,” she continues, straightening and folding her arms over her chest. “I gave them to you, and you are owed their marks as part of your birthright. You must claim them."
"Why?" I whisper, shaking my head, not understanding. She raises an eyebrow at the temerity of my question, but I put my hands out to her, placating and pleading at once. "Please, I'm not questioning you, I just don't understand - why do I need their marks with such urgency? Why can't we wait?"
"Because," she says, the fire in her eyes fading a bit, "your gifts will not fully develop until you have them. And many depend on the development of those gifts - all of us. It is not a small fate to which I have tied you, Ariel." Something twists in me to hear the Goddess say my name and my eyes fill with tears. "You must rise to meet it. Demand from your mates what they owe you - and if they do not give it," she shrugs and looks aside, her mouth tightening, “then...I will have to replace them with mates who will.”
My eyes flare wide as I leap from my spot at the desk, my chair skittering out behind me as I do, clattering to the ground. "What!?"
"I am not kidding, granddaughter," she says, turning that fiery gaze upon me. "You will receive the marks or I will take my grace from these men and find you new mates deserving of you. It is your right and it is important!"
"But!" I sputter, glancing down at Jackson, horrified. "I can't just - just - demand that they do it tonight! I —"
"Why not?" she asks, raising an eyebrow at me.
That eyebrow, that simple
command, kindles something in me, and my own fire lights in my soul to match her own. "Please," I say, a bit through my teeth, shaking my head and willing her to hear me, "I am listening to everything you say but marks should not be demanded! They should be freely given an act of love, of connection! I will..." I hesitate here, trying to figure out what to say and how to say it how to say it. I exhale slowly, trying to think of how to find a middle ground between what the Goddess wants and what my mates have demanded. "I will communicate to them that they have to give me their marks. But I need...time."
"How much time?" the Goddess asks, considering me closely.
"How much time can you give me?" I inhale sharply, hoping to hell she says more than just a week. Because how - how could I do that?
She inhales slowly, tilting her head to
the side. "Three months,
Three
granddaughter," the Goddess says, her voice cool and smooth. “A
quarter of
year - one season - and then..she takes a step closer to me, focking her eyes with mine, making me hear her, "if you do not have their marks, I will reject these for you and find you more willing mates."
"Okay," I whisper, nodding once, holding her gaze. "Three months...I can do."
"Good," the Goddess says, a smile
breaking onto her face, her voice
again perky and cheerful. She raises a hand and somehow, instinctually, I know at she's about to restart time
- to bring us back into the conversation with the rest of my
family and friends. Content belongs
"Wait!" I call, desperate.
The Goddess turns back to me with a smile, almost entertained. "Yes?"
"Um," I look down at Jackson now, my hand drifting towards him, wanting desperately to touch him. "Does he...does he have another mate? Did she...spark his gift, make it start?"
And then I look slowly back up at the Goddess, terrified at her answer.
Chapter 0570
The Goddess beams at my question. "You really like this one, don't you?" She nods her head to the side to indicate Jackson, still frozen next to me. I raise my chin, my teeth clenched, not bothering to answer. Because I'm sure she can see it, read it in every line of me - that Jackson is the most precious thing in my life right now. And that if she takes him from me and gives him to another mate?
There's going to be hell to pay.
I mean, I have no idea how I would wreak vengeance on a Goddess but...I would figure it out.
The Goddess laughs, light and tinkly, and again comes close, wrapping me up in her arms. "No, my flame," she says, enveloping me in her grace, allowing it to flood and comfort me. "You are his only mate - I am not so generous with my gifts as you might think me. I don't know what sparked his magic - probably puberty, or something like that. All of your mates are only mated to you. They are my gift! Enjoy them."
When she pulls away I wipe briskly at my face with my wrist, wiping away the fast tears of relief that sprung to my eyes.
"Okay,” I say, nodding and sniffing, looking down at my feet. "Th...thank you."
"Oh, I do like you, little girl," the Goddess says with a graceful sigh, drawing my eyes back to her face. "You are living up to your promise. Now. Get those marks." She points a willowy finger at me and gives me - of all things - a cheeky wink.
But there's no time to consider my shock as time snaps back into place, everyone jumping a bit and looking around in confusion. I grimace a little, seeing what everyone else sees - that the Goddess is in a different place than she was what they perceive as half a second ago and that I'm suddenly standing with my chair knocked over.
"Ariel," Jackson gasps, reaching for me, a hand going around my wrist. "What are you -"
"I'm fine!" I say, my voice still a little choked as I fold my hand into his and give it a squeeze before turning towards my chair, picking it up and settling a little awkwardly into it, trapped as I am under six wondering stares. "Um. No need to...look at me...everything is normal. Nothing happened just... lost my chair for a second."
Everyone continues to stare at me, no one believing my blatant lie.
"So, are we done here?" the Goddess asks, smiling beatifically around at everyone.
"Mom, we like...just got started," Cora says, pulling her gaze from me and turning towards her mother with a frown.
"Oh, nonsense, there are no more questions," the Goddess says, waving a dismissive hand. "Everything is perfectly clear and I have business to which I must attend." To my shock, her form begins to fade in the air.
"Wait!" Rafe calls, getting to his feet quite suddenly, his own chair skittering back - though perhaps not as dramatically as mine.
We all turn to him, the Goddess's light brightening, her form becoming more vivid.
"Please," Rafe says, his eyes fixed on
et
the Goddess. When...when will I meet my mate?" My heart twists when I see my brother's shoulders shaking with emotion, see how badly he wants that connection. A sly smile takes the Goddess's lips as she considers him. Content belongs
"Are you questioning the wisdom of my timeline, little grandson?" she asks, curious and playful.
"No," Rafe says immediately, but then he sighs, looking down at his desk. "I just want to access my magic - I want to help, the way Ariel and Jesse can."
"You will have patience," the Goddess says gently, her fondness for her first-born grandchild clear in her voice. "Your mate will come along and make you the craftsman you were meant to be, have no fear."
Rafe frowns at her words, looking up into her face, more confused now than he was when we began.
"But..." the Goddess looks away for a moment, her eyes going somehow deeper as she stares across space...maybe across time. Then she blinks and looks again towards Rafe. "You do not have long to wait."
"And I...have not already met her?" Rafe ventures, his voice breathless.
е
The goddess shakes her head, smiling deeper now. "If what you're secretly asking, child," the Goddess says, a soft smile coming to her lips, "is if the seamstress is somehow for you..." Slowly, as if aware that her answer gives great pain, the Goddess shakes her head. "You need a mate who challenges, not comforts, my little Rafe-wolf. Much rests on your shoulders - you will have the love that you need, if not perhaps the love you currently want."
Rafe hangs his head, his eyelids dropping shut, and we all sit very quietly as we witness his grief.
"All right," the Goddess says, looking around the room at all of us. "I think that is sufficient. Unless...” she pauses when her eyes land on Tony. "You have not asked a question or received new information. Is there anything you want to know?