Ch. 641..645: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 641-645

Chapter 0641

 

“We're going on a field trip today," Cora says, grinning around at all of us. I'm the only one who gasps with excitement, sitting up in my chair. Cora's smile deepens and she gives me a week.

"And we wanted Luca to come too," mom says, gesturing towards him, "since Ariel's magic seems to be so closely tied to her bonds - both those with her mates and her siblings. So," she shrugs, perfectly casual. "We want to see what happens when we add Luca to the mix."

"Cool!" I say, grinning, glad for the distraction from the Games and the chance to leave this Castle where I'm suddenly the center of attention. "Where are we going?"

"Just a short walk," Cora says with a shrug, gesturing for us all to get to our feet. "Not far."

"I hope this walk is long enough," Rafe says, moving to mom's side and frowning down at her. "I want to talk to you about the Games - see if you can intercede."

"Intercede?" mom asks, going a little pale and wrapping an arm around me as I come to step close to her.

"Yes," Rafe says, his eyes moving to me and then to my mates who come to stand behind me. "The plea with the Captain...did not go well. We're going to try again tonight but I want to see if we can go over his head to dad."

"Oh geeze,” mom says on a sigh, looking around at all of us and then tugging me towards the door. "Walk and talk, meatball. Clearly, we've got a lot to cover this afternoon."

We all troop outside together and then into the hills - away from Newtown this time, not towards it. As we walk Rafe and Jesse fill mom and Cora in on the drama from this morning. Jacks walks with them, listening closely and adding details where needed, glancing back at me every minute or two to ensure that I'm fine. I smirk while I watch him do it, knowing it's some Alpha instinct nudging him to ensure that I'm okay.

Luca and Tony walk on either side of me behind the larger group, both of them silent. But I just let them do it, not in the mood to intercede and try to get them to be buddies. I don't get their drama but honestly - now isn't the time to dig into it.

When we crest a hill, I'm surprised to see a big pile of wood gathered in an open space that's been cleared of debris, even grass.

"Ta-da!" Cora says, gesturing towards it and turning towards me with a smile.

"I mean, thank you," I say, walking towards her as our little group spreads out, everyone but mom frowning in confusion alongside me. "I always love a gift but...a necklace would have done beautifully as well."

Cora laughs and wraps an arm around my shoulders. "Think of it as a blank canvas for your personal art, babes," she says, giving me a squeeze.

"Oh!" I tilt my head to the side when I realize - obviously - that it's the start of a bonfire - a collection of wood for me to burn. Then I burst into a grin and look up at her. "I love it."

"Our little pyro baby," she coos, kissing my cheek and dropping her arm from my shoulders.

"Okay, so!" mom says, clapping her

net

hands eagerly together and gesturing for me to come forward. As I do, the boys spread out in a wide semi-circle around us, watching. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Ariel, but from what I understand is that your precise gift - as it stands

is not actually fire but...heat. And if you concentrate your magic on a flammable object with enough force, you can make it burst into flames, yes?"

"Yes," I say, nodding and then glancing at Jackson, who nods too, I think not realizing that he's doing it. Rafe smirks as he glances between us, realizing that I've worked with Jackson far more on this than anything else.

"And," mom continues, holding a

hand out towards Jacks now, "when you connect with Jackson through your bond and through touch...you draw on his nearly-limitless magical energy to boost the heat, making your job go faster."

"Faster and more powerful," I say, folding my hands behind my back and nodding.

"Wait, what?" Luca breathes, behind me. But I don't turn to look at him.

"And!" mom says, kind of beaming at me now, getting really excited - she likes magic, know, and is really pumped that one of her kids magie with

developed. "When you con magiet

Rafe and Jesse, with whom you also

have bonds, you can ass

you

Jackson's magic to them as well?"

"In the form of energy, yes," I say, nodding and shrugging.

Chapter 0642

 

"What!?" Luca says, starting to sound freaked out. There's a little tussle behind me and I glance over my shoulder to see Tony frowning and giving Luca a little shove. Luca bares his teeth at Tony, but Rafe casually moves to step between them, giving me a nod. I turn back to mom.

"Is that it?" mom asks, turning her head to the side. "Is there anything I'm missing?"

"Ariel can like, burn up my shadows," Jesse says, making us all turn to him in surprise.

"Oh yean, I forgot about that," I murmur.

"You forgot?” Rafe asks, kind of laughing.

"I don't know," I say with a grin, shrugging. "We were just messing around on movie night."

"Movie night!?" Luca asks, jealous.

"I'm going to need you to shut up, Luc," Tony snaps.

I deliberately ignore them, and, taking my lead, so do mom and Cora.

"I think we should explore that," Cora says, turning her head and thinking aloud. "To see whether that's just Ariel's magic...interacting with other magic? Or if it's your powers combining somehow because you have a bond."

Luca doesn't say anything at this revelation that Jesse and I have a bond - unusual for cousins - but I do hear him sigh. I reach for him down the bond but am a little unsurprised when I find his wall up, newly built. I move on from it, trying to concentrate on mom and Cora.

"Ari, why don't you step forward and let's start to experiment," mom says, waving me to her side. Quite eager, I move forward.

Then we begin to play - a process I enjoy very, very much.

There's a log out front of the big bonfire - which I scowl to hear that we're saving for later - that they ask me to light on fire. It takes me awhile - it's further than the ones I usually work with in our room, and – obviously - I don't have Jackson to give me his powers. Cora pulls a notebook out of her pocket and begins to take fervid notes, writing down everything that I narrate as well and the distance between the and the object and the time it takes for it to actually burst into flame.

When it does

about six minutes

later - Jesse Tushes down and attempts to put the fire out with his shadows which do nothing. So he sighs and uses a little fire safety blanket that his mom gave him for the cause.

When he trots back, mom calls Jackson forward and has him take my hand.

"If you wouldn't mind, Ariel?" she says, gesturing forward towards the same log.

I grin up at Jacks, who gives me a wink and squeezes my hand. "Oh, I don't mind at all."

I look back at the log and about half a second later it basically bursts into a ball of flame. Everyone jumps and steps back.

"Whoa," Cora says, looking up at Jackson, who remains stoic - even if he can't keep the corner of his mouth from turning upwards, slightly smug.

"Okay okay, enough of you," mom says, waving Jacks away as Jesse again runs forward with the safety blanket, He tosses it on the fire and begins to stomp it out and then goes and gets another log from the bonfire, since the first one was basically reduced to ash

Jackson steps back into the line of boys and mom crooks a finger at Luca, beckoning him forward. He sighs but does as he's told, coming to my side.

“Hands, please,” mom says, her voice a little sing-song as she points between us.

"But mom," I say, frowning a little even as I happily take my mate's hand. "Luca doesn't have magic. It would have shown up, right? On the little...orb thing, that Alvez had us hold the first day?"

"Yes, I think sq. Alvez gave us the

orb when he left - we checked it out and don't have any reason to believe it's faulty Cora murmurs, studying Luca, "though...I suppose it doesn't matter if it did. No, we kind of think that it doesn't matter if Luca has magic or not. We think it's about the bond."

"Really?" I ask, interested, looking up at Luca who just looks down at the ground, his mouth pressed in a thin line. I squeeze his hand, kind of wanting to know what's going on, but he doesn't look at me.

"Yeah," mom says, watching us curiously. "Give it a whirl, Ariel, see what happens. Worst case, everything stays precisely the same."

"Okay,” I say, taking a deep breath and then looking forward at the log in front of me, simultaneously calling on my bond with Luca as I concentrate.

Chapter 0643

 

I have to admit, when it's just me and Jesse on the run with the paintball gun, it's way better. Rafe and Jackson concentrate a great deal on training, on pushing, on ensuring that we reach new goals and strengthen our bodies. But with Jesse?

It's just fun.

"I got you!" I shout, dashing after him up that final hill to the Castle, my heart pounding and my breath short - but I ignore all of that, snarling and reaching for him. "You're such a brat - I totally got you -"

"You didn't!" he insists, laughing hard and dodging away from me, not letting me grab and turn him around so that I can see the purple paint that we both know is streaking across the back of his uniform. "You lie, baby trouble - you missed – or you hit some other incredibly handsome man in the woods, which is inconsiderate of you -"

"I did," I snarl, and then I make a final leap for him, and he lets me catch him and spin him around, laughing at me as I tilt back my head and release my howl of victory to the sky. "I win!" I pant after a moment, slumping against the Castle and letting my lungs fill with air. "You owe me a lifetime of servitude and your first born, as promised."

“Good,” he says, leaning back on the Castle himself and taking a long sip of water. "I didn't want to win. I didn't want your stupid first born."

I gape at him, appalled. "My first born is going to be super cute."

"Your first born," he says, smirking and narrowing his eyes at me, "is going to be a big dork."

I snarl, and smack him, but we're both laughing. We take a moment to catch our breath then, sipping at our water bottles, looking out over the morning that stretches beautifully before us, thinking our own private thoughts.

But I find that even when I try to wonder how Luca is doing this morning, and how the draft is going, and what magic class this afternoon with mom and Cora is going to entail...

My mind just keeps turning back to one thing.

"Hey Jess?" I say quietly, turning to him, unable to suppress my smile. "Did you really stay out all night with Daphne?"

Jesse sighs and fights his own smile, looking down at his feet. "Don't ask me about that, Ari."

"Why?" I whisper, my smile falling, wondering if...if something went wrong.

"Because," he says, lifting his eyes to meet mine, "even if I had done...that. There are more hearts at stake here than just mine and Daphne's." My stomach plummets as I realize what he means - that Rafe...

But a smile also retakes my mouth as I realize that that's...just about as much of a confession as I'm going to get. Jesse's face bursts into a smile too, and he looks away into the distance, trying to hide it from me.

I nod, even though I'm not sure he sees it, quietly agreeing to his terms, letting these two have their secrets and their peace for now. All the while my heart hums with the secret hope that I've been harboring for a long time that....well, that maybe Daphen really is Jesse's mate, and his biology as a part-human hybrid - like his mom - just.... made it take a little longer for the bond to find its place.

"You'd better be nice to her," I mutter after a moment of blissful silence, giving him a little kick on the ankle.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Jesse murmurs, still not looking at me. "I intend to be very, very nice to her for the rest of our lives."

At breakfast, I sit quite tense between Luca and Benny, my knee jittering as I stare fixedly at the door, waiting for Rafe and Jacks and the results of the draft.

"Coffee?" Ben asks, and when I whip my head to him and see him looking at the fact that I'm basically vibrating with tension already I just scowl and smack him on the arm making him burst out laughing On my other side, Luca and Jesse chat idly about their warrior class that morning, Jesse explaining some details of a map-reading project that Luca doesn't quite understand.

"You shut up, Benny," I murmur. "Your fate's at stake too, you know."

"I don't think so," he sighs, sitting back in his chair and looking at the door with me. "In past years Ambassadors have played a bigger role in the Games - but this year some people," he shoots me a little look, "have just been shooting us at first sight -"

“Oh, Tony did that too," I murmur, waving a hand at him.

"Yes, the pair of you are very anti-ambassador," Ben murmurs, reaching for a muffin and beginning to peel the paper off the bottom. "It's disheartening."

"We love you, Benny, don't worry, you're very important." I murmur this distractedly, though, probably undermining the earnestness of my statement. He just grins and shakes his head, taking a bite of his breakfast.

“Eat up, Ari,” Luca murmurs, reaching over to tap on my still-full plate with his fork. "You're going to waste away to nothing. And then I'll miss you."

I glance at Luca as I pick up my own

fork, pleased to see him looking fresh and bright this morning. Down our bond hear his wolf give a happy yip, calling to mine over the bond even if he doesn't make any move to cross it. My wolf gives a happy yowl back and Luca beams at me. I do the same, knocking my shoulder into his.

Chapter 0644

But our warm moment is short-lived as the doors to the hall open and Rafe and Jackson walk into the room, both of their faces stern and worried.

My breath leaves my lungs a bit as I watch them - as we all watch them. Rafe and Jackson, side by side, look like...I don't know, like warriors out of a myth or something, so tall and broad and radiating so much power that it's hard to believe that they're real. The sheer physicality of these two, especially together, is enough to make even the toughest Alpha quail.

Luckily, I'm not an Alpha.

I perk up in my seat, dropping my fork and raising my hand to wave eagerly at them. It doesn't get far, though, when Ben snatches my wrist and lowers my hand to the table.

"Boys don't wave and call cheerful hellos to their mates and their brothers," he murmurs, smirking at me.

"Well, that's very rude of boys," I say, blinking innocently at Ben, even though I laugh, grateful for his help. I have to admit - the more comfortable I become at the academy the more I forget that I'm supposed to pretend to be a boy. Ben - he's just helping.

"Yeah, we're not fun," Ben says, smirking at me and turning his head up to Jackson, who looms over him as Rafe takes his own seat moodily next to Jesse. "Oh hey, Jacks!"

Jackson just growls at Ben, not in the mood, wanting to sit next to me.

"Oh, did - did you want this seat!?" Ben asks, beaming up at Jackson and playing dumb to tease him.

Jackson's growl just deepens.

"Well sure, buddy!" Ben says, his voice over-friendly and cheerful. "Any time!"

I give Jackson a sharp nudge down our bond alongside a glare, reminding him of his manners, and he sighs and turns to our friend as Ben takes his plate and moves over to the next seat to Jackson can sit next to me.

"Thank you, Ben," Jackson says, his voice dark and testy. "That was...very nice of you."

Ben just gives Jacks a wink and turns to Rafe as Jackson sits next to me. I give my mate a warm pat on the knee, and he growls again - warmer, this time, which is pleasing to me - but still clearly in a bad mood from whatever happened at the draft.

I turn my attention to the table at large. “So?" I ask, perky and excited. "How did it go?"

"It was...weird," Rafe says, nodding kindly to the waiter as he brings his warm breakfast plate. “Not like the last time. Wright and Blythe have... something up their sleeve."

"What was weird?" I ask, my eyes going wide with interest.

"That Blythe didn't contest any of it," Rafe replies, meeting my eyes with a frown. "Just...hung out like he didn't care. Wright put up a fight for the best Cadets, which is to be expected but..."

"Either Blythe gave in because Wright bribed him to throw the games," Jackson says, looking over his shoulder to where I suppose the other Captain is in the room, "or...something's up."

"I think we're about to find out," Luca

ne

says, getting swiftly to his feet as a Lieutenant comes through a door at the front of the room, stacks of paper in his hand. Luca's moving for the head table before any of the rest of us even stand up. I make a move todo so but Jackson puts a hand on my thigh, halting me.

"Everyone's so bossy today," I mutter, keeping my eyes on Luca.

"He's faster than you," Jackson murmurs, keeping his eyes on Luca. "He'll be back with the results before you could even make it to the table. I'm just saving you the trip."

I sigh, recognizing that he's probably right, watching as Luca reaches the Lieutenant first, followed closely by a mass of other Cadets. Luca takes a few sheets of paper and looks down at them even as he starts back. But then he stills mid-step, staring down at the papers, as a whisper and then a roar begin to spread through the room.

Rafe is instantly on his feet, sensing that something is wrong, and Jesse is too a second after him. Jackson stays in his chair but stretches his arm out to wrap around the back of mine, protective.

"What's happening?" I whisper, as the room basically explodes with whispers, everyone staring down at the sheets and then talking to each other in hushed, shocked tones. I go still when I realize that almost every eye takes a moment to glance up at at us.

At me.

"Luca!" Rafe barks, striding a few steps forward as Luca re-starts his walk across the room towards us. "Get the fuck over here!"

Luca jogs back, his face pale, holding out a sheet to Rafe. “There has to be some mistake.”

“What's happening?" I whisper, starting to get scared as Luca looks back at me and then closes the distance, handing a sheet to Jackson that he takes and turns so that we can both read it at once.

Simultaneously, Jackson and I both go pale.

Because while Jackson's and Rafe's individual teams are stacked with impressive Cadets...I'm not on either of them.

No, my name is listed under Captain Redman Blythe.

And it's the only name on his list.

Chapter 0645

 

I stare at my name's spot on the list, alone under Redman Blythe's, completely shocked, as our entire table erupts in protest - just like every other table in the breakfast hall.

"Jacks!" I hiss, turning to him. "You didn't pick me!?"

"Of course I picked you, Ariel," he snarls, his voice low, leaning close. "I made deep cuts across my entire draft lift- and Rafe didn't try to draft you at all, to give me the best chance of -"

“Rafe!” I gasp, turning towards him, my eyes wide. "You didn't even pick me!?" My voice is squeaky with my betrayal.

"Don't even start with me, Ari," Rafe snarls, holding a hand out towards me with a single finger held up. “It was part of the plan.”

"The plan that went wrong," Jesse growls, turning to glare at Rafe. "Seriously, what kind of shit plan was it that it ended up with Ari completey unprotected by any of us -"

Rafe and Jesse begin to bicker, their words getting lost in the noise of the room.

Ben glances at me, anxious, as Luca comes around to my other side. "There has to be something we can do," Ben says, turning to look around at the chaos of the breakfast room. "Some sort of negotiation."

Everyone bursts out with ideas then - going to the Captain to protest this, demanding a re-draft, offering Blythe a private trade, even pulling a Daphne and giving him some poisoned wine tonight to eliminate him completely from the Game. And as everyone spins out ideas I go very still, my breath coming short in my chest because...

Because as far as I've come in this Academy, and despite everything I have learned, I am definitely, definitely not ready to be alone in the woods with a stranger without any of my Alphas by my side.

What - what on earth could Blythe want with me?

Does Blythe - like Wright - want me dead?

"Hello Team Sinclair," a smug voice says behind me. As one, each of my boys goes silent and turns towards that voice, snarls breaking from between their teeth.

Slowly I turn to look up at Redman Blythe. At my Captain.

"Hey, Clark," Blythe says, ignoring all the murderous glares from the Alphas all around me, smirking down at my face. "I'm excited to work with you tomorrow."

I stare at him for a long moment, and then I bare my teeth.

"This is fucking bullshit, Blythe," Rafe growls, taking a step towards my Captain and making all of our heads turn to him. "It's not going to stand."

"Sure it is," Blythe says, still smug, casually re-adjusting the book satchel stung at his side as he gives Rafe a pretty grin. "I didn't do

anything illegal at the draft. It's not my fault you guys didn't think of it first."

I stare up at Blythe as he speaks, taking in the fact that he's tall and well-built, like most of the Warrior cadets atthis Academy. But his chiseled, nearly perfect face - god, he's almost as pretty as Luca, He has none of Rafe or Jackson's

power and maism but...

I mean. Objectively, he's a very handsome guy.

Luca snarls down our bond, sensing the direction of my thoughts, but I just give him a little mental shove - we have bigger things to worry about. "How the hell did you manage to get one Cadet on your team?" Jackson growls, standing up to loom over Blythe, snarling down at him.

"Whoa, big boy," Blythe says, laughing derisively at Jacks and taking a step back. "Give me some breathing room."

Jacks just closes the distance, keeping the pressure on.

"I got one Cadet - the only Cadet that matters," he shots me a grin here, "because I only drafted one."

My mouth falls open - one? He only drafted me? But - why? What the hell is he thinking?

"You're not going to win," Jackson growls, taking a step closer. Blythe works hard not to give up his position, but he falls back another step when Jacks doesn't stop.

"I am going to win," Blythe snaps, glaring up at Jackson. “Because what, you're going to have it in you to kill your pet?” He smirks now, looking around at everyone at the table. "Any of you are?"

My heart sinks when I realize that he's right - that even if we're all recognizing that this is a game, every single person here is going to have a hard time pointing a gun at me and pulling the trigger.

"You put yourself in a fine position, Blythe, but we're calling your bluff," Rafe snaps, striding to Jackson's side and likewise glaring down at the smaller man. "Name your price to get Clark back."

Blythe takes a deep breath, pursing

his lips, making a big show of thinking about it. "Actually," he says turning to me with a smirk. "I think I'm good. I think me and Clark are going to have a lot of fun in our little team of two."

I snarl at him, hating him at this moment. Because I know that this is about way more than just wanting the best sniper on your team.

Blythe - he wants something, and he wants it from me.

"We'll go to the Captain," Rafe snaps. "We'll -"

"Do whatever you want," Blythe snarls back, whipping his head to glare first at Rafe and then Jackson. "The Captain set the teams. He already approved this. I'm not trading anyone."