Ch. 586..590: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 586-590

Chapter 0586

 

"It's so beautiful," I gasp, on my knees in front of the newly-opened case that holds my paintball sniper rifle, which is matte black and obviously brand spanking new. The helicopters have just pulled away and we're in a secluded, thick patch of trees that's growing on a plateau halfway down the cliff edge of a ravine.

"Could you try to be a little less of a girl?" Rafe murmurs at my side, looking around with a grimace to see whether any of our teammates have noticed me pressing my fingertips delicately to my lips in awe. "For like, one day?"

"I can try," I sigh, dropping my hands but otherwise ignoring him as I reach out for the gun, picking it up and inspecting all of the details, kind of impressed by the quality of the scope. "Where are the bullets?"

Rafe reaches for another box, pulling out a pair of binoculars and then a couple of magazine cartridges attached to a belt. He hands them all over to

me.

"Accessories!" I gasp, putting the gun down and slinging the binoculars over my neck before reaching for the belt, grabbing it and starting to work it around my waist.

Rafe laughs and stops me, helping me rearrange it so that the belt drapes neatly over one shoulder and down to my other hip. "So you don't have to lay on it," he murmurs.

“Thanks,” I say, beaming up at him. “Um, can I practice with this?" I pick up and hold out the rifle, which is satisfyingly light.

“As much as you want,” Rafe says, rather passively, standing up and gesturing for me to come with him. "But we need to get everyone in place first. So, patience, all right, trouble?"

"Yes sir yes sir," I mutter, standing and taking the gun with me, trying to hide my disappointment. Rafe smirks at me and then together we walk through the little patch of forest over to the rest of the team, who are being briefed by Jackson. When we wander over, several cadets raise their eyebrows at the huge gun in my hands, but I just grin at them, knowing that they're jealous.

"All clear?" Jackson asks, looking around at the group.

As one, they all chant “yes sir!” and break into two smaller groups with Jesse and another Cadet standing to the side. "What's happening?" I whisper to Rafe, curious.

"Two strike teams," he murmurs, bending to the side a little towards me as he gestures towards the two groups of Cadets. "One advance and one reserve. And then Jesse,” he says, pointing to our cousin, who is crouching by the supplies and strapping on his own set of weapons, "is advance scout."

"Really?" I ask, looking up at Rafe. "All by himself?"

"That's what he's trained for," Rafe says, grinning down at me. "Well, not as a scout - that's different. But Jesse can move fast and undetected alone, so we're using him for special projects today."

I'm still turning over in my mind what the hell special projects means when my eyes turn towards the last Cadet standing alone with Jackson. "Who's that?” I ask, raising my chin towards him.

"Our singular ambassador," Rafe

says, sounding a little guilty about it.

"The other teams are going to

et

negotiate more, but Jacks and I...he hesitates, glancing at me, "well, we kind of just decided that going Scorched earth was going to be

more effective."

I laugh a little, staring up at him. "Seriously?"

He shrugs. "We have a strong team - we're playing to our strengths."

"Well, what about you?" I ask, readjusting the rifle slung over my shoulder. "And Jackson? And me?"

"I'm in command," Rafe says, turning and pointing through the trees towards what looks like a little brown shack that I didn't notice before. "Going to be directing the troops by radio from in there. And Jackson -"

"Is going with you," Jacks says, sauntering over to us, slipping a tiny earpiece over his right ear and holding one out to Rafe and to me. "Come on, Clark. Time to get you in position - the Game's already started."

I look wide-eyed at Rafe and then back at Jacks as I slip my earpiece on. “Seriously?” I say. “That's all the briefing I get?"

"You don't need to get briefed," Rafe

says, clapping me on the shoulder

line

and turning towards the command shack with the reserve group as Jesse and the other group head towards the cliffside. "You just take commands and let us do the

thinking."

"I hate that,” I scowl, glaring at my brother, my hands tightening on the strap of my gun.

"Welcome to the army, sis," Rafe says, smirking at me and patting me on my cap before turning away, getting started.

“Come on,” Jacks says, grinning at me and nodding towards the forest and the cliffside climbing at our back. “Let's get you set up."

I sigh, but nod, following my mate.

On the way, Jackson - I think

sensing my frustration, my need to

comprehend instead of just

-

et

following orders explains some things to me. "The whole point is to see which team is standing in the end," he says, walking swiftly and obliging me to trot to keep up. "We can either kill everyone by getting paint on them -"

Chapter 0587

"With guns?" I ask, glancing up at him.

"Or other weapons," he says with a shrug. "Paint-coated dulled knives, the like. The point is - you get paint on you, you're dead. We're watched from above," he says, pointing up towards the sky, "with cameras. If you die you'll get a notification to clear the field." He taps on his earpiece, making it clear where that notification will come from.

"Oh," I say, glancing up as we reach the wall of rock behind us and Jackson - mountain goat that he is - starts up a very narrow trail that I might not have noticed without him here. I start up after him. "What happens if we kill everyone?"

"Then we win," Jackson says over his shoulder. "Last team standing takes the victory."

"So, what's the strategy?" I ask quietly, looking out over the landscape as we climb. It really is a deep ravine that we're fighting in, with two sheer cliffsides facing each other and a river at the bottom. Each of the cliffsides has many plateaus built into them like the one that our helicopters landed on. An interesting battlefield, for sure - but one that's certainly built to favor my own brand of sniping. I smirk, pleased and wondering if the Captain trained me in part with this in mind.

"Our strategy," Jackson says, continuing to hike up the steep path, "is to let everyone come to us."

"Really?" I ask, focusing on his powerful shoulders as he moves ahead of me. "Why?"

"Because we're little," he says, grinning over his shoulder at me. "And we have you. We're going to let the enemy come to us and shoot them as they approach."

"Oh," I say, my eyes going wide. Because, I mean, I knew they put a lot at stake to get me - but I still didn't know I was so central to the plan. Jackson and I finally reach what looks like another plateau, though this one is much, much smaller, and I'm panting a bit as I look around. Jackson, annoyingly, waits for me to catch my breath, looking completely un-winded.

"Our worst case scenario is if the other two teams are clever enough to band together and assault our team together. We won't last long under that." “Oh," I say, looking up at him, kind of worried now. "So that's what they'll do?"

"We think tensions and mistrust will run high enough between the teams that even if they do, it won't last. Someone will start shooting the other, given enough time. So, we're not doing a big offensive - just...waiting it out and seeing what happens. And you're going to be a big part of that."

I look up at my mate with wide eyes and nod my agreement, perfectly eager to help in whatever way I can. "Um," I say, glancing around, a little awkward. "How do you want me to do that?"

Jackson grins at me and turns,

leading me over to a set of bushes

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just by the edge of the cliff where he crouches down, waving for me to do the same as he pulls a map and a little red pen out of his pocket. "We're setting you up here," he says as I kneel next to him, peering at the paper that he spreads out before me. "The locations of the other bases are marked on the map with red x's. We want you to take some time to get acclimated with the gun and then the rest of your time scanning with the binoculars."

"Really?" I ask, looking down at them, wondering what they can do.

net

"They're digital - very high powered," Jackson says, slipping them off of my head and showing me their details, demonstrating the extent to which they can zoom which is seriously impressive. When I understand the basics, he hands them back to me. "You can report where troops are and how you're seeing them move and we'll message it down to Rafe - it will be incredibly helpful to be able to mark their movements on the map. And then when they get close enough, you can shoot them." He shrugs like it's all very simple.

I pause for a second, looking up at Jackson. "Wait, we'll message it down?" Jackson stares at me with a slight frown, not understanding my hesitation.

"Jackson," I say, quirking my head at him. "What is...your job today?"

"Guarding you, obviously," he says, settling comfortably down behind the bushes and gesturing out over the ravine.

I just stare at him, my jaw dropping

open a bit, a growl growing in my chest. He starts to narrow his eyes at me, not understanding but also not liking my growl.

"And Rafe agreed to this?"

"I didn't give him much of a choice," Jackson says, his chin dropping dangerously. "Did I?"

"Jackson," I snap, glaring at him hard. "Absolutely not."

"Are you defying your commands, Cadet?" Jackson asks, leaning forward towards me, quirking his eyebrow.

"You're damn right I am," I say, leaning forward too to glare up into his face. "Which I am entitled to do, when they're really stupid.”

Chapter 0588

 

Jackson just stares at me, shocked and unblinking - and for a split second I realize how rare it actually is for people to look him in the eye and defy him.

But his surprise is not long lived, replaced immediately by anger.

"Ariel, you will fall in line -"

"No way!" I throw back, baring my teeth at him. "Jackson, you're being overprotective! I've got a big gun, I'm up here all alone, I've got radio to contact you and binoculars so I'll know miles away if anyone is coming —"

"I am not leaving you alone in a battle trail again, Ariel,” Jackson snarls, leaning even closer and wrapping his hand around my arm. "Never again." My mouth goes a bit dry as I stare at Jackson, realizing what all of this is about.

"Jacks," I whisper, reaching up and pressing his cheeks between my hands, staring into his gorgeous blue eyes. "That's - that's not going to happen again -"

“The psychopath that hurt you the first time is out there right now coming for us with weapons!"

"Paintball guns! Dulled knives!"

"And if you think he can't rip you apart with just his bare hands, Ariel," Jackson's hand tightens on my arm as he stares at me, quite panicked, "then you don't realize how...how delicate you actually are!"

"I am not delicate," I snap, offended, dropping my hands from his face and glaring up at him again. "I've been working really hard -"

"I know," he interrupts, his mouth a tight line. "I know, Ariel - I'm...I'm..." he exhales a long, slow breath, closing his eyes and working hard to find his words. "Wright is nearly as good as Rafe and me - he has been since we were Candidates. And I know you have come so far in your training - but it is still so dangerous for you to go up against him.”

"He's not here," I say, climbing to my knees and moving closer to Jackson, wrapping my hands in his shirt and tugging him closer, making him open his eyes and look into mine. "Jacks, I get that you want to protect me but it's important that we win this, yes?"

He exhales slowly, frustrated, I think not even wanting to give me a platform to object. But then he nods once, terse.

“And you – probably the most powerful Alpha on this battlefield – are wasted just sitting up here next to me like a mother hen, keeping me safe!"

"It is not a waste," he snaps. "Keeping you safe is never a waste."

"And were you actually keeping me safe," I whisper, "I would agree. But you're just sitting with me."

Jackson just shakes his head once, letting me know that the argument doesn't work. That he's not going anywhere.

I sit back hard on my ass, shifting my focus ou over the valley, trying to figure things out. We sit in silence for a long few minutes, my mind turning, before I speak again. "So, you're up here and Rafe's down there, in the command center ordering the troops."

"Yes," Jackson snaps, still terse, not happy that I haven't just given in to his plan to hang out with me all day.

"And were you to go back down the cliff –“

"I'm not going -"

"Were you," I repeat, turning to glare at him, not letting him interrupt me. He takes a deep breath, letting me talk, "then Rafe could go out with the troops and Jesse could go on his individual mission. And be a serious asset there. Is that not correct?"

Jackson clenches his teeth but doesn't say that I'm wrong. And if I were, he'd have said it.

“Here's the deal, McClintock,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “You're going to go down to command and run it from there, and Rafe's going to go into the field, as is better for the team -"

"Ariel," he growls -

"And!" I say, ignoring his protest and continuing on "I'm going to be up here, doing exactly what you told me to do. And the moment people get too close, I'll contact you with my little earpiece," I tap it for emphasis, "and you can come back up and protect me. But until then, you are not wasting all of your potential and everything that you can do to sit by my side and protect me!"

"Well, I don't agree to that," Jackson says, shrugging like my plan doesn't matter.

"Fine,” I say, shrugging back. "Then I'm not shooting anyone. Or looking in any binoculars. I'll just sit here and stare at the sky and enjoy this beautiful day."

 

Chapter 0589

Jackson glares hard into my eyes, I think hating me a little bit right now for not being easy and simple and falling in line with his plans to be overprotective.

"You know I'm right, Jackson. That we have a better chance of winning with you down there instead of up here."

He sighs sharply through his nose, looking down at the ground, confirming that I'm right even if he doesn't say it.

"I want to win," I say, reaching for him again and placing a soft hand on his forearm. "And this is cutting into time I could be practicing with the gun. You can come up the moment anyone gets close but Jacks..." he looks up at me now, "no one's close. You know that, right? You know where the helicopters dropped people off."

Jackson sighs, dropping his gaze again and glaring hard at the ground. "Why are you so damn stubborn, Ariel?"

"I didn't enroll here to be sheltered and protected, Jacks," I say, my voice hard. "I came to learn how to do this - how to help my country, which means putting myself at least at a tiny bit of risk."

He whips his head up. "I'm never going to allow that."

"Yes, sweetheart," I say, my eyes softening as I raise myself again to my knees, moving close to him and taking his face in my hands. "You are. Because I'm going to ask you to. Because I'm not going to let you put your love for me in front of the wellbeing of my people. That's not what's at stake today but...that's what will be in the future. If I can make a difference, you have to let me go into dangerous situations. And if not then...what is all of this for?" I shrug. "If my safety actually is the top priority - the only priority - then we should have probably locked me up in a nunnery to start with."

"Very tempting right now," Jackson murmurs, looking stubbornly away from me and over the valley below.

I press my fingers hard to his cheek, making him turn back. “Hey,” I say leaning close enough for us to share breath. “I love you, and I love how much you want to protect me."

Something goes out of him at that and Jackson raises a hand, curling it around the back of my neck.

"I know this is hard," I continue, "but you've got to let me fight, Jacks. Especially when the stakes are low - you can't...you can't spend your entire life exclusively protecting me. You're too useful to just play bodyguard - and there's so much at stake."

Jackson tugs me closer to him,

et

knocking me off balance but catching me in his arms, pressing me tight to his chest. "I love you so much, Ariel," he whispers back This is....incredibly difficult for me can't betieve you're making me do this."

"I know," I whisper, pressing my cheek against his warmth, letting my eyes close. "But you know it's right."

"As soon as they get even remotely close," Jackson growls. "I'm coming up here. Or, if I order you down the cliffside, you come skittering down to the base without a single damn question, all right?"

"Okay, baby," I whisper, smiling into his chest.

"And don't call me baby on the battlefield," Jackson growls, releasing me and helping me back to my knees. "And get started learning that weapon - we've...already lost enough time with this chat."

“Okay, sweetie,” I say, giving him a big smile and unstrapping the weapon from my back as he stands up.

“Ariel,” Jackson says and I look up at him, ready to listen. But he just stares at me, I think a bit at a loss for words.

I smile, encouraging, just...waiting.

He frowns a little, I think puzzling it out. "I am....incredibly proud to be your mate,” he says quietly, his voice tight as he stares down at me, his hands tightened into fists and kis mouth drawn into a serious line.

My smile fades away and I clench my jaw against the raw emotion that wells in me at the realization that Jackson is baring his heart.

"And...I like you, and you make me

et

want to be a braver man. I want to...care about the world, and everyone in it, as much as you do love you but I also....admire you a great deal. I think you're the best person I've ever met."

I take a deep breath, fighting hard against the tears that line my lower lashes, so incredibly overwhelmed and swept away by the earnestness of my mate that I'm not sure I can bear it.

Chapter 0590

I don't have any words in response, completely overwhelmed as I am at the incredible compliment Jackson just gave me, at the impossible way that he sees me and how incredibly much he loves me. So I just stare at Jackson, and open my side of our bond completely, letting him feel all the love and pride and joy and fear that his words have raised - fear that he loves me too much, that I'll never live up to his standards.

I can see the moment when my emotions hit him, the way his face bursts into a bashful smile, how he reaches for me. And I'm instantly on my feet, hurling myself up into his arms, him wrapping me up with a vicious snarl as he lifts me up off the ground.

"You already do, Ariel."

"I love you too, Jacks," I say, sniffing hard against my tears.

"We're not supposed to cry in battle," he murmurs, tucking his head down next to mine.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't supposed to do a lot of things." I sigh as he sets me back down on my feet. I sniff again, wiping hard at my cheeks as he holds me stead for a moment, softly stroking a hand over my cap and down my neck.

I take a deep breath and straighten my shoulders, giving his shoulder a little shove. "Now go away - we have work to do."

Jackson just laughs, taking a step away from me even though I can tell that he hates it. "Shoot straight, Clark."

"Yeah yeah," I say, forcing myself to turn away and unstrapping the gun from my back. "Go...be bossy. Or whatever your job is. Punch hard." "Earpiece on!" Jackson calls, starting down the little trail as I unstrap one of the magazines of paintballs and begin to load it into my rifle. I take a second to flick the switch next to my ear.

"You got it, Commander," I say into the piece, knowing he can hear me now.

"Finally, some respect," he says, sarcastic, making me laugh.

"You in place, Clark?" Rafe's voice says, coming down along the line, sounding stern and a bit angry. "Bout time. The other teams are already on the move - we need your eyes on them."

"You got it, Sinclair," I murmur, laying myself down next to my rifle and sighting down the scope before taking a few shots, each at longer distances along the side of our own cliff, wanting to test my accuracy but not wanting to let the other teams know where I am just yet. "Two minutes and I'll get you the first report."

"Make it one," my brother says, dry, making me smirk.

And then, as a team, we finally get to work.

Rafe protests surprisingly little at the news that Jackson changed the plan and is now coming down from my vantage point to more fully join the battle. Imarvel at Rafe's flexibility on this point for a moment while get used to my gun, taking further and further shots and adjusting my movements in tiny increments until I get it right.

1

But then suddenly I grin and look away from my scope when I realize that maybe Rafe was...counting on this. He knew Jackson wouldn't listen to him when he said that. Jacks shouldn't babysit me the whole time, but Rafe certainly knew that I'd be bossy enough to send Jackson back down the cliffside instead of wasting his time sitting

around by my side. Content belongs

I laugh quietly to myself, shaking my head at my brother and taking one last shot with the gun. When I hit a very particular leaf at a thousand yards I nod, satisfied that I'm comfortable enough with the gun to land my shots.

Then I put my gun aside, turning to the ravine and lifting my binoculars, beginning to survey the landscape and using the impressive zoom feature to attempt to survey the surroundings.

"You ready to report, Clark?" Jackson asks into my earpiece.

"What do you want a report on?" I ask a little passively, looking around the valley and getting used to the landscape, noting its features. "Like, where should I look?"

Jackson laughs a little. "I left you the map, Ari," he says, and I can almost hear him shaking his head. "Look to the red x's where the other camps landed - see if you can see any movement."

"Oh!" I say, realizing that this is - obviously a great idea. I drop the binoculars so that they hang around my neck while I pick up the map, glancing up.at the ravine and noting the different places that the teams have landed according to the natural landmarks that I see before me. We're in a relative triangle; our team is on the other side of the ravine from the other two, but we're equidistant between our enemies, in the middle. "Any indication," I murmur to my brother and my mate, "of which of these two teams is more dangerous?"