Ch. 581..585: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 581-585

Chapter 0581

I laugh, wrinkling my nose at him. "It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. But she's fine, Jesse. I invited her up tomorrow night for the party." "Really?" he asks, bursting into a smile. "That will be great."

"Yeah," I say with a happy sigh, resting my head back down on his shoulder. “I told her you'd give her a full display of your new magic skills. You'd better start practicing so you can show off."

"No pressure," Jesse murmurs, sarcastic. He raises a hand though, his brow furrowing with concentration, and then softly blows on it. As his breath fills his palm it darkens, taking the shape of a little black cat. I burst into a grin, watching as the cat walks daintly around his hand, rubbing its tail warmly against his thumb.

"It's amazing," I whisper, shaking my head in awe, smiling so hard I'm afraid my cheeks will break, "how good you've gotten at that in like two days."

"It's easier now that I'm not scared of it," Jesse murmurs, making the little shadow cat jump from fingertip to fingertip. "I don't remember who said it - but they really are mine, the shadows. Extensions of me. I can make them do...whatever I want."

“That seems rich with possibilities," I whisper, reaching out a hand and beaming when the little shadow leaps from Jesse's hand into mine. Fascinated, I watch and feel it walk around, half substantial.

"I know,” Jesse whispers. "I can't wait to experiment. Way cooler than your stupid gift.”

"Watch yourself," I growl, concentrating on the cat and tapping into my power, making it puff up into the air in a tiny cloud of smoke. Jesse and I both gasp at the same time, turning our heads to look at each other as we burst out laughing.

"That was so cool," Jesse exclaims, grinning at me. "I felt it - it got all hot -"

"I know!" I squeak, pressing my shoulder warm against his, thrilled.

"Too much fun over there!" Rafe calls, sounding tired and annoyed.

"He's just jealous that we're fun and he is so serious," Jesse whispers, way too low for Rafe to hear, making me laugh again. But, I think both of us deciding not to rub it in, we turn our mutual concentration back to the show and fall quiet, letting Jacks and Rafe work while we relax.

"Up."

Jackson's voice rings out somewhere above me, making me jump awake and, blinking, look around.

et

"No," Jesse groans, "you go sleep somewhere else." Groggy, I turn to see that I'm slumped against my cousin's side and that we've both fallen asleep in the nook watching TV, the empty cookie packet and Tiger laying between us.

"You just come in too," I murmur, reaching out a hand for Jacks. “We're too tired to get up."

Jackson just laughs. "If you don't get up, Jesse, I'll just carry you."

"Fine, sounds nice," Jesse mutters, holding his arms up like a toddler waiting to be scooped into the air. "The kind of life I could get used to, just being carried everywhere like you do with Ariel."

"Sorry, I meant drag you," Jackson says, dry. "By your hair."

"Violent," Jesse sighs, pushing himself up and slowly climbing over me and off of my bed, slumping across the room to his own,

protectively patting at his hair liet

he's scared Jacks is going to make a grab for it. "I expect your temper to be much improved in the morning, Jackson. Ariel, you work on that for me."

"You got it, buddy!" I call after him, rolling over into the warm space Jesse left so there's room for Jacks. He climbs into the spot next to me with a happy sigh. But then he goes still, looking down at the bed in horror.

"Ariel, there are crumbs everywhere -"

"My bed,” I say, narrowing my eyes and pointing a finger at Jackson as I gather Tiger close to my chest. "My rules. Besides, Jesse did that, not me."

"Whatever," Jackson murmurs,

collapsing next to me and making

ne

me squeak with joy when he wraps an arm around me and pulls me close against him, dipping his head down and pressing a kiss to my neck. "I'm too tired to complain. I missed you."

“Missed you too,” I murmur, entangling my feet with his, wanting as much of his body touching mine as I can get. "All done planning?"

"As much as we can be," Jackson says with a yawn, turning my face to his with a gentle hand and then giving me a long, sweet kiss. "But as much as I want to tell you all about it, we need rest. Dream state?"

"Dream state," I say with a happy sigh, letting my eyes drift shut. And, curled up close to Jackson's chest, my heart singing with happiness to be there, I quickly fall fast asleep.

 

Chapter 0582

The next thing I know, Jackson and I are cliffside and he is snatching me close to him with a wicked snarl, surprising a laugh out of me that he quickly silences with a proper kiss - the long, deep, knee-jellying kind that quickly has me rather desperate, pressing my body tight against him and winding my arms around his neck.

The growl that builds in Jackson's chest is satisfyingly hungry as he pulls me to the ground with him, my legs finding their place on either side of his hips as he settles me on his lap, deepening the kiss and letting one hand get lost in my hair while the other traces down the line of my back.

I'm basically panting a few minutes later when he breaks the kiss, looking at me with his gorgeous sapphire eyes lazy and half-lidded. "Hi," he whispers.

I ignore the word, emitting a little desperate huff and lifting my chin, wanting more, but Jackson just laughs again and turns us, laying me out on the soft grass by the cliff of our dreamscape, cradling my head gently in his hand. "Trust me, I want nothing more than to kiss you all night," he murmurs, dropping his lips to my neck and tracing long, lingering kisses there.

"So do it," I whine, desperately unhappy that he apparently wants to talk when things were getting so good.

Jackson just laughs and presses one final kiss to my mouth before he shakes his head at me. I sigh, tracing my fingers along his cheek and staring up at his face, noting and not at all displeased that Jackson doesn't make any move to lift his body from where it presses deliciously all along the length of mine.

He grins at me, sensing my emotions, and I just bite my lip. "It's your fault," I whisper. "For being so hot."

Jackson laughs, grinning at me, shaking his head. "I didn't choose to be so devastatingly good looking, Ariel," he murmurs. "Can't blame me for that." "Yes I can," I whine, covering my face with my hands, unable to look at him without wanting to grab his shirt and pull him down further on top of me and kiss him until I pass out or die or whatever comes next. "Unfair."

"You have the same effect on me, you know," he murmurs, tracing his hand achingly down the length of my torso.

"I so don't," I growl, lowering my hands enough to glare at him. "Or else we'd definitely be naked right now -"

He laughs at me, I think entertained and pleased. "It's just discipline, Clark."

"Well then quit that, McClintock," I snap, sitting up a little, grinning at him. "Give in - it's a magical dream state! There are no rules here, no one to impress with how stoic you can be!" But this just makes him laugh, and kiss me again, before taking a deep breath and relaxing against me.

"I want to check in with you," he says, calm and even. "Make sure you're okay."

"I'm all right," I say, relaxing back

against the grass, pleased and warm and perfectly at peace - even if just mildly sexually frustrated. I raise my hand and rake my fingers through his hair.

"You're worried, after everything that happened today," Jackson murmurs, even as his eyes go half-shut with the pleasure of having his head scratched. "I can tell and I want to help."

"You know

-

say quietly, even as ! study his perfect face, "I'm allowed to be worried it's a very natural emotion. You don't always have to fix it. Sometimes things are worrying - and so I worry."

"I know," he says, his full lips curving at the corners. "I just want to make it all easy and good, even if I can't."

"Because you are so sweet," I whisper, continuing to trace my fingers through his hair.

"No, I'm very tough and scary," he says, his voice pitching deeper, more threatening. But I just laugh. “Nobody needs to reminded of how sweet they are the night before battle."

"Don't worry, I won't tell the enemies” I say softly. “Your secret is safe with me.”

He nods once, dropping a kiss to my cheek.

"What about you?" I whisper, my eyes moving slowly over his face – his long lashes, his straight nose. "How are you feeling about what happened this afternoon, all the news we got?"

"It's weird, isn't it?" Jackson sighs, rolling away from me so that he's laying on his back, staring up at the stairs. I prop myself up at his side so that I can look down at his face, listening closely, wanting to help in turn ifI can. "I never...thought about where my magic came from before I came to this Academy -it was always just mine. And now I have so many questions." Content belongs

"Does it upset you?" I ask quietly, slipping a hand across his hard stomach, kind of unable to not touch him. "That your magic is not a Goddess-given gift? That it's from someone else?"

"No," he says, turning his head to look at me. "Especially if it opens the possibility that I don't have a second mate - someone I met earlier in my life who made the magic start."

 

Chapter 0583

"Well, it's your lucky day, Jacks," I say, giving him a big smile. “Because...I kind of asked about that when she froze time and we had a little...secret meeting."

"What?" he asks, sitting up a little.

I laugh, nodding. "Yeah, I couldn't resist - couldn't not know. She told me that I'm your only mate - a fact that gives me a great deal of relief, even if...” I hesitate now, grimacing a little, “it is hypocritical."

Jackson groans with relief, falling back to the ground and wrapping an arm around me to take me with him. I laugh, resting my head against his chest, pleased to feel that he, too, is happy and relieved at the news.

"Thank god," he murmurs. "I can barely handle you, Clark. Don't want another one. Don't want anyone but you."

I nod, tilting my head to press a soft kiss to his shirt, and we sit in silence for a moment as I let Jackson collect this thoughts.

“So, you have time to ask the Goddess only a few questions in private," he murmurs, “including questions about the gift the God of Darkness gave you...and you asked about whether or not I have another mate?"

I laugh, sitting up and grinning down at him as he peers up at me - exhausted, pleased and curious all at once. "I do have my priorities straight, Jacks,” I say daintily, pressing my fingers to my chest. "I needed to know if there's some girl out there that I needed to have locked away in a dungeon or something."

He laughs, shaking his head at me, but then narrows his eyes a little. “What else happened?" he asks. “In the private conference? That news wasn't enough to have you on your feet, your chair knocked over."

I bite my lip, my face falling into more serious lines, considering what to say and shutting down my end of the bond a bit for privacy. Jackson waits patiently, watching my face. "Would it be okay," I ask quietly, "to...keep that to myself a little longer? Just until I have some time to turn it all over in my mind and know how I feel about it?"

Jackson frowns at me and I can feel his worry down the bond as he raises the hand from my back, sliding it softly over my hair. "But you're okay if you do that? Nothing...we need to do, or take care of?"

I shake my head then, softly, barely moving it. Because, I mean, there is time...three months is not a long time, but...

Well, I know that if I told Jackson

what the Goddess said right now, he'd wake up and give me his mark right now rather than risk losing me, having her break our bond. But perhaps selfishly, I don't want it to

happen like that - Content belongs

I want Jackson to give me his mark freely, because he wants to and because I want it. Not because a Goddess demands it. And while that's maybe too romantic for our situation...I have some time, right?

Quite suddenly, I make a snap an

arbitrary decision to give it one

month. One month to try everything I can to persuade Jackson to give me his mark as naturally as I can

then, it doesn't happen by the an

tell him about the Goddess's ultimatum. That's...that's plenty of time, right? To let it happen naturally?

I'II

Inwardly, my wolf nudges me and I guiltily add Luca to the list. One month to get Jackson's mark and Luca's. Both of their marks, both of my mates.

I sigh, looking to the side, wondering how the hell I'm going to manage this.

“Ariel,” Jackson murmurs, cupping my cheek in my hands, and I turn my eyes back to him. "Are you sure you want to wait to tell me what's going on?" "Yeah, babe," I whisper, laying myself down at his side and letting him wrap me up in his arms. "I'm sure. Don't worry about it – just...something I have to figure out."

"Okay,” he whispers, curling his body over and around me, protective and warm.

"At least we get to shoot people with paintball guns tomorrow," I say, working hard for a smile as I look up into his worried face. "That should take the edge off."

"Yes, victory is always a great relaxant," he murmurs, lowering himself to kiss my cheek, and then my jaw, and then my neck, moving his way down towards my shoulder. "Though now, I've got other things in mind."

d

I tilt my head back, eager to give my mate more of a canvas to work with, wishing you could get marks in the dream state - because honestly take it right now, if he'd give it. Though whether or not he to give me his mark as badly as I want to have it?

Well. It's a question I'm not sure I'm ready to ask.

Chapter 0584

 

I squeal – just a tiny bit - with excitement when I wake up in the morning, pressing my hands to Jackson's chest and sitting up, looking over at Rafe and Jesse's bed through the still-open curtain.

"Is it time?" I ask, gleeful. "Can we go? Did the weapons come? Did they deliver my paintball rifle?"

"No, it's not Midwinter for gun nuts, Ariel," Rafe murmurs in his bed, blearily rubbing his eye, clearly not as awake and excited as me. "They don't bring the weapons to our room - obviously, they'll deliver them to the field."

"Oh," I say, slumping a little in my disappointment. "Well, that's okay, I'll —“

But before I can further lay out my plans, Jackson's big arm sweeps up, knocking me down off his chest and into a pile of pillows. "No magic energy for you today," he groans, turning over and burying his face into the blankets. "You're already too awake. And too chipper."

"Jacks!" I gasp, laughing, too cheerful and excited to be offended, sitting up again and pouncing on him, smacking at his arms and chest. "Get up! Time for Games! We have to go!"

"I reject you," he mutters as he covers his face with his arms, "I reject our bond - I reject the love that was once between us -"

I laugh, smacking him again and crawling over him, feeling his love and adoration for me flowing steadily down the bond even if I am annoying the crap out of him right now. I hop to my feet as Jesse likewise glares at me from beneath his blankets. "Oh, would you all cheer up!?" I call, skipping off to the bathroom. "This is going to be a great day! We're going to have so much fun! I'm going to shoot everyone!"

As I dart into the bathroom, the dumbwaiter bell rings, confirming that I'm right and that it is time to get going.

Fifteen minutes later, when we're all dressed and standing around in a circle hastily eating the breakfast sandwiches that came up for us, Jackson passes us each a good dose of energy through our bond.

"Do you think this is cheating?" I ask, turning my head to the side as I hold one hand in Jackson's and the other in Jesse's, watching with a bit of delight as a shudder flows through my cousin when the energy hits. I can basically see his hair standing on end.

"No rules against using magic," Rafe

says around his final bite of breakfast, kneeling down to tie his boots. "Though our team's got the lion's share of it, which is probably unfair. Keep an eye out for Tony skulking around near bodies of water."

I grin, thinking of Tony emerging from the water like a swamp creature. "Are there lakes?" I ask, curious.

"We're not supposed to tell you,"

Jackson says, smirking at me as Jesse drops my hand when he's all filled up with energy, moving over to his bed to find his own cap and pull it onto his head. I offer Jacks the last bit of my sandwich, knowing he needs more calories than the rest of us, but he just shakes his head and lifts his chin at me, indicating that I can eat it.

"You should tell me, though," I say, stepping close to him and grinning up into his face. "Because I'm pretty."

"Then yes, there's a river," Jackson says, grinning down at me and cupping my cheek in his palm. "We're going to be in a sort of crevasse or a ravine with -"

"Jacks!" Rafe scolds, swatting at Jackson's leg as he stands up. "You're breaking the rules."

"I can't help it," Jacks says, gathering me close to his chest and grinning at Rafe, laughter in his eyes. "She's...really pretty."

I wind my arms around my mate's waist and turn my face up towards my brother, giving him a smug smile.

"All right, whatever," Rafe says, laughing and whipping a hand out to knock the brim of my cap sideways, making me laugh. "Let's move out, troops!" Jesse, newly energized, gives a happy whoop and together the four of us head for the door and downstairs. I eat what's left of my sandwich on the way, so incredibly excited that I don't know how I'm going to keep it down.

We gather with the rest of the

cadets in our year on the lawn in front of the candidate barracks, where eight rather gigantic

helicopters wait. Rafe and Jackson immediately go into command mode and I stand next to Jesse, watching them with wide eyes as they call our team together, barking out orders for how to load up the helicopters and get everyone organized.

"Holy crap," I whisper, watching the efficiency with which they work, the ease with which they assume command. "They're like...good at this."

 

Chapter 0585

"I know, it's gross," Jesse says, slumping next to me with his arms crossed, doing his best to live up to his worthless and profligate reputation.

I grin, nudging him with my elbow. "You're probably good at it too."

"Yes," he says, turning bored eyes my way, "but unlike the rest of you, I choose not to live up to my potential."

I burst out laughing and give Jesse a shove before Rafe barks at us to make ourselves useful and help carry some of the supplies onto the chopper, whose blades are starting to turn. We hop to it, but even as we do I look around at the other teams, easily spotting Luca's tall form across the field. I send a pulse down our bond and he instantly looks up, his eyes finding me with satisfying speed.

Luca grins at me, and I think I see a wink as I wave hello to him. But then Rafe is next to me, sighing and grabbing my arm, hauling me forward and scolding me for fraternizing with the enemy. I laugh, climbing onto the chopper and telling him to unhand me. After all, that's my sniping arm and it can't risk being damaged.

We're in the air remarkably fast after that, with me buckled into a seat pressed between Jesse and Jacks, Rafe sitting on the other end of the helicopter chatting with three other warrior Cadets for whom he has a special mission. The other half of our team - five more students - are on the other helicopter and are going to meet us there.

I can barely contain my excitement, practically vibrating with it.

My eyes moving to the hard-shell cases strapped to the center of the helicopter that I know contain our allotted supplies which - I was surprised to discover - Rafe and Jackson also had to negotiate for, picking and choosing which weapons to equip for their team.

"Is it in there?" I whisper, leaning over to Jackson, desperate to know.

He laughs, looking down at me with real pleasure. "Of course it is. Why are you so obsessed?"

"I'm just really excited."

I grin, my eyes moving over the boxes, but I sit up straight when I see one of the warriors with whom Rafe is speaking looking over at the three of us, frowning with his eyes trained on me.

"Is there a problem, Miller?" Jackson says, leaning towards the Cadet under his command, his movements slow and dangerous like a lion that's spotted a threat to his pack. My eyes go wide as I watch Jackson put himself between me and this man who's frowning at me, reminded again that my mate - who is so sweet and gentle with me - is, in reality, no one to be messed with.

“I just...don't fucking get it, McClintock," Miller says, casting a hand out towards me as he locks eyes with Jacks.

"It's Commander, in this situation," Jackson says, his voice dropping lower. "And luckily, no one asked you whether or not you 'get it.""

"Look," Miller Snaps, pushing his luck

a bit. "I just know we sacrificed a lot of resources in order to get this...shrimp on our team. And know he's in with your crew or whatever, but it doesn't seem wise to have "

—

"Enough," Jackson says, the Alpha command rumbling low in his voice.

Miller sits up straight, his mouth snapping shut as everyone in the helicopter realizes what's happening and turns towards Jacks and consequently - to me.

"Not that Commander Sinclair and I

need to explain our logic," Jackson says, looking around and meeting everyone's eyes individually. "But our reasoning for making such a heavy bid for Cadet Clark will make itself abundantly clear when you see what he can do."

I blush a little bit, even if I feel smug at Jackson's words. But I lift my chin and look around at everyone else in the helicopter, hoping with sudden desperation that I can live up to my mate's faith.

Don't worry, Jackson says directly into my mind, snapping my attention up to him. You can.

A smile breaks onto my face, and I nod once as the helicopter tips, starting to head down.

"All right,” Rafe says, drawing all attention to him. "Get ready, troops. The moment we land? We're at war."

Jesse nudges me with his shoulder and I turn to see him smiling as big as I am, equally excited. "You ready to kick ass, baby trouble?" he asks, holding a fist out to me.

I ball my own fist and bump it against his. "Oh yes, your Grace." I say, beaming at my cousin. “I sure as hell am.”