Ch. 721..725: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 721-725

Chapter 0721

I gasp, pain flaring in my neck, my wolf howling and scrambling away in my soul as I put my hands on Luca's chest and shove him away, hard. He gasps too, his eyes flying wide as he falls to the side and I pull myself from beneath him, huddling up against the headboard and staring at him, my hand slapped to my bleeding neck where -

Where he marked me -

"Ariel,” he whispers, panting, staring at me in utter shock and fear. "What - what's wrong?!"

"Luca!" I gasp, tears springing to my eyes - half betrayal and half pain. "Why - why did you do that!?"

"What are you talking about," he breathes, leaning closer to me, horrified. "Ariel, I'm so sorry - did I do it wrong?" He reaches for where my hand is still pressed too my neck, where I can feel blood slipping from between my fingers.

"You weren't supposed to do it at all!" I cry out, tears starting to streak down my cheeks as I stare at him, shaking my head. "I didn't - I wasn't ready, Luca!"

"Wh-what?" he whispers, scootching closer, still reaching for me, clearly desperately upset to see me reacting like this. "Ariel, I'm sorry, I didn't know obviously, I've never done this before - was I supposed to wait? I'm sorry, you're right, I should have waited until towards the end - I didn't know it would hurt that much -"

“No, Luca!" I sob, shaking my head at him, anger welling in me now too. "I wasn't ready for the mark at all! I didn't – I didn't want it today —“

My wolf howls, anxiously darting back and forth, shaking with her pain and anxiety, throwing herself down to the ground and rolling around like she can get the scent off of her. Luca's wolf just stands by, perfectly still, watching her in horror.

The scent - the new scent - my changed scent, so it's mixed with Luca's now -

Oh, god, everyone will know. I hang my head and begin to sob.

"What...what are you talking about, Ariel?" Luca asks, his voice harder. I raise my eyes and see his face ghostly pale. "You didn't want my mark?" "Luca, I love you," I say, shaking my head, willing him to understand. "But I wasn't ready for this - the consequences -"

“Are you talking about him?" He bites out, angry now.

My mouth turns down in a desperate frown as I shake my head and look up into his eyes. Because yes, yes of course it's about him - of course Jackson is at the front of my mind right now -

How betrayed he's going to feel, how desperately jealous and sad and broken by this -

But there are other things at stake right now - my heart, for one.

"We weren't there yet, Luca," I say, snappier than I mean to be, shaking my head at him. "We're not connected enough - our wolves barely know each other -“

"Then why did we have sex!?" he bursts out, throwing his hands to the side.

"Because we wanted to!" I yell in

et

return, tears still streaming down my cheeks. “Because I wanted to be with you, Luca - I wanted to feel good, and wanted you to feel good, and wanted to get closer! But it doesn't mean I was ready to be marked!"

"No, Ariel," he snarls, glaring at me and leaning closer. "That wasn't the deal and you know it."

I stare at him, a little shocked, forgetting to breathe. “What deal?”

"The deal we all struck! The fucking - sex pact, or whatever!" he shouts, throwing his hands again to the side, completely losing his temper. In fucking Jackson's bedroom the night after my big fight!"

I just stare at him for a moment because honestly honestly I forgot about that in the past few hours that I've been in Luca's room. But even if I remember it now I don't remember any deal being part of it. What the helf is he talking about?

"Remember?" he says, leaning forward and staring at me, his voice slightly condescending and making my hackles rise. "We said no sex with either of your mates to avoid the possibility of one marking you!"

Chapter 0722

"So!?" I say, leaning forward in turn and matching his tone, my hand still clamped to the wound on my neck.

"So - so we had sex!" Luca shouts, baffled and freaked out and afraid. "So - you picked me! You picked me, Ariel! I gave you my mark because you picked me!"

I go perfectly still as I stare at Luca, my mouth slightly open.

Because that...that is not at all what happened.

I mean, we just had sex - we had a horrible few days, and had a bunch to drink, and we took refuge in each other –

And I love Luca desperately, but I did not choose him.

"Luca," I say, quite slow, "I did not pick you. I am not rejecting Jackson. We just had sex -"

“It's the same thing!" he roars, staring at me like I'm insane, or that he might be going insane, or that the world itself is broken and horrible and he's somehow just lost in it.

Luca snarls and shoves himself up from the bed, grabbing his underwear and hastily pulling them on before striding away from me, his hands getting lost in his hair as he turns his back to me, attempting to put the shattered pieces of his reality back together.

I start to cry again, gathering the blankets to my chest and looking down at my shaking hands. Because even if Luca and I greatly misunderstood what was happening today, I see his side of it - I see what he means. He thought that breaking the stupid sex pact was not just us having sex, but me fulfilling the terms of it: choosing him, deciding to reject Jackson, wanting his mark.

And that may have even been the wording - god, I don't even remember - that I wouldn't have sex with one of them until I'd decided.

But so - so much has happened since then - so much has grown and changed -

"This was supposed to be special for me too, you know," Luca snaps, turning back towards me suddenly and drawing my eyes up to him. "A man only gets one chance to mark his mate. I never precisely imagined that the moment I did it that you'd say 'no' and shove me away and start crying."

I hang my head and sniff hard then, because he's right. It shouldn't have been this way for either of us.

"You should have asked me," I

and

whisper, shaking my head and starting to tremble, grief hitting me again foreverything that has been lost and ruined in these past few days. I tried to escape it, to run from it, but god...god, I've just made it worse.

"Asked you?" Luca asks, a nasty tone in his voice now. "Why, because that's what he would have done?"

"Why are you being like this?" I cry out, turning my head back up to him, my lower lip trembling in my agony. "Why are you even talking about Jackson - this is about us -"

“It's never just about us,” Luca snarls, glaring at me like he hates me. His wolf snarls in my soul, prowling towards mine. "It's always about him – he's always there - between us - ruining this -"

"That's not what it's like Jackson would never do that -"

"Well then maybe you should have slept with him, Ariel!" Luca shouts, vicious. "If he always does everything right and he's so fucking perfect, maybe you should have had your first time with him! And then everything would have been great!"

I just stare at Luca, dread coiling within me, and slowly close my mouth.

Silence echoes in the room between us as Luca reads my reaction.

His face again pales, and his shoulders drop, his hands falling limp at his side.

I clench my jaw and raise my chin, refusing to apologize for it.

-

Because it was — it was perfect. I wouldn't have wanted to lose my virginity any other way than on a soft, quiet afternoon in my bed with a man who loves me very, very much. And as much as it breaks Luca's heart, I'm not going to be ashamed of it.

“Oh...oh my god..." Luca murmurs, gaping at me, unblinking. And then he moans, and covers his face with his hands and turns away.

 

Chapter 0723

“Luca," I groan, shaking my head and getting to my knees, still clutching the blanket to my chest with one hand and reaching for him with the other. "It's not like that -"

"It is!" he shouts, turning back to me, fury in every line of him now. "It is like that, Ariel! You - you fucking chose him!"

"I didn't!" I gasp, shaking my head vehemently. "He asked if I was - I told him I wasn't - I want both of you - I need both of you!"

"You're so fucking selfish, Ariel!" Luca shouts, taking three harsh steps towards me, making me flinch. "You can't have both of us - not if it breaks us into pieces to do it!"

"No, I do!" I sputter, my mind reeling, trying to find a way to explain - the Goddess - she said that I - I need both - "It - it doesn't have to break you! We can find a way -"

"Well, you already have," he snarls, leaning down to glare at me. "What - he didn't mark you? Did you shut that down too, so you could fuck him in secret and never let me know? So you could betray me night after night?"

"No, Luca," I growl, my spine straightening as I glare back at him, hating how he's lashing out at me in his hurt. "I didn't have to shut it down - he didn't want to mark me! Because he knew how complicated it would make all of our lives!"

"So - so you asked him then?" Luca says, softer now, but no less dangerous. "You wanted his mark?"

Dread rises in me at this question. Because I instantly know the truth.

I raise my chin and stare into Luca's eyes, unable to say it aloud because I know it will kill him to hear it. But I let Luca have my answer nheless. Luca roars and turns in the room, swiping a hand out at the various objects on top of his dresser, sending them scattering and smashing to the ground. I fall back on my ass on his bed, huddling into the corner, frightened and not knowing what to do -

An Alpha like this, in a rage, and me the cause? My wolf whimpers, afraid, and his wolf prowls closer in our soul, baring his teeth.

"I can't do this, Ariel!" Luca shouts,

spinning back to face me, his

et

canines flashing. "Not anymore! I can't live like this, with you always putting me in his shadow! You chose him, you fucked him, and you treated me like a dog who should be grateful for your scraps!"

“Luca!” I moan, shaking my head and begging him to see that that's so, so not true.

"No," he snarls, prowling closer. "I'm - I'm fucking done, Ariel. I can't do this anymore."

“What are you talking about?" I whisper, going rigid as my wolf stills in my soul, looking up at Luca's wolf, his slavering jaws.

"I'm talking about ending this, once and for all," he whispers, leaning close, his expression closed-off and cruel. He stares at me for a long, silent moment as his lips curl in disgust. "I reject you, Ariel Sinclair. I reject our bond. This is done."

And in my soul his wolf lunges for mine, his teeth sinking deep into her neck.

I scream in agony - the pain unbearable, unfixable - as Luca likewise moans and turns away from me, his shoulders shaking.

My wolf rips her neck from Luca's wolf and yelps as she tears herself away, running hard and fast, leaving the length of our bond between us trying to get some distance. I sob as Luca's wolf goes after her for a moment before turning to the bond instead and taking his claws to it, shredding it to pieces.

I cry out again in shock and very real physical pain as he uses his teeth to tear it up -

As Luca shudders and stumbles for the door, pulling it open and then shifting, bolting out of the room –

Chapter 0724

And then I'm screaming and crying aloud as Luca's wolf fades away, as the sense of Luca's physical presence fades from my mind - meaning that he's gone, he's gone -

I turn my face into the pillow, sobbing, physically unable to do anything else, the pain wracking through me.

I barely notice the stir at the door as I reach inwardly for my wolf, calling her back, wanting desperately to touch her, to ensure that she's okay. There are muffled curses and then shouts for someone to come -

I don't know how much time passes, but all I can do is concentrate on my poor bleeding wolf, who comes limping back towards me, her motion shaky, her eyes terrified and sad as she finally reaches for me, slipping her snout under my prone hand, wanting to be close but in terrible, terrible pain.

"Holy shit," someone mumbles behind me. "Get the fuck out of here! Right now!"

"Ben?" I whisper, turning my head towards him, recognizing him despite the change to his usual friendly tones.

"Get Jesse and Rafe Sinclair right the fuck now!"

There's a pause.

"I don't give a fuck if you don't know where they are! Find them! NOW!"

A door slams and my eyesight is fuzzy as I try to see - but honestly - I'm so broken -

"Ari?" Ben whispers, coming close.

"Benny," I gasp, turning fully towards him, reaching desperately.

He softly shushes and gathers me up into his arms, pulling me down on the floor to sit naked in his lap, rocking me back and forth. Ben doesn't say anything, doesn't ask me any questions, just rocks me for a long, long time.

As he does, I'm aware of the tension in him, the way he looks over me, the way he gently inspects me to make sure that I'm okay -

“Ari, baby,” he murmurs, “what happened? I'm seeing a little blood here, but —“

He goes still as he tucks my hair back behind my ear, sees the mark that Luca left high on my neck.

"Oh...holy shit..." he murmurs.

“He broke it,” I whisper, still sobbing, pulling myself closer to his chest as Ben reaches for the blanket from the bed and wraps it warm around me. “He broke the bond -"

"He did what?" Ben whispers, appalled.

"He rejected me," I whisper, looking up into Ben's pretty eyes for the first time, my entire body trembling. "Benny - he - he rejected me -"

But then I'm sobbing again, unable to say more.

A long, soft string of curses comes out of Ben's mouth as he continues to hold me tight and rock me gently, trying to give me what comfort he can. But nothing nothing can heal this-

The door slams open and I immediately smell my brother.

"What happened!?" Rafe roars, storming into the room. He reaches for me, ripping me from Ben's arms, lifting me high against his chest.

I sob harder, so grateful that my brother is here, tucking myself against him.

"He fucking rejected her, Rafe," Ben snaps out, getting to his feet. "He marked her and then he rejected her."

"What!?" Rafe gasps, and then he

Qu

turns his shocked eyes to me. But I just shake my head, unable to bear it, my mind and eyesight going. totally fuzzy - even black. “That fucking bastard," he snarls. "I'm going to kill him -"

—

“She's passing out -" Ben gasps, striding forward. "We have to get her —“

I groan, going limp against my brother, my consciousness fading.

Rafe strides for the door with me in his arms, wrapped as best as I can be in the blanket. I barely keep my grip on consciousness enough to notice the scent of embers carried on a winter breeze – pine and cold things - Content belongs

"What?" Jackson gasps, reaching for me.

But my eyes flutter shut, my body going limp, in the same moment that he spins away, retching and vomiting all over the hallway floor.

Chapter 0725

Jackson empties his stomach onto the corridor floor, one hand flat against the wall as he presses his eyes shut, his whole body trembling. Because it can't be -

What he saw can't be true -

But then why is he reacting like this? He gasps in a breath, turning back towards the figure in the Prince's arms. He sees it again, though - his eyes moving instantly to the mark high on her neck, still dripping blood - and her strange shifting scent - it hits him like a damn truck.

Jackson gags again, turning away, working hard to keep from retching.

"Clear this hall!" Rafe roars at the handful of cadets standing in the hall and peeking around the edges of their doors, staring fascinated at the tiny figure in his arms. Ben, standing with him, likewise snarls at the crowd. "All of you - either get in your room or go find Jesse Sinclair! Fucking now!"

Jackson's shoulders shake as he pushes himself up from the wall and he takes a deep breath. He turns towards Rafe but he can't - he just can't fucking look at her. Not like that - not marked. By him.

Ariel she's his mate. His girl. His fucking...everything.

Claimed by Luca Grant.

"Jackson," Rafe snaps, stepping closer as the hallway clears of frightened cadets who either slip back into their rooms or go running. "We have to get her -"

But Jackson just groans and steps away, shaking his head – holding his hand out flat towards Rafe – his shaking shoulders begging the Prince not to come closer.

"Jacks," Ben gasps, his eyes going wide. "You can't -"

"I - I need a minute," Jackson murmurs, devastated, ashamed of himself, his eyes falling to the ground. Because he knows what he has to do what he should do - that he should take Ariel in his arms and hold her close and ensure that she's all right. But his wolf is howling within him, so full of grief, in real pain at what they now know.

At what they've lost.

He can't - he can't hear anything - can't concentrate -

If he takes her, he'll drop her. Or just collapse to the ground with her in his arms, sobbing.

"Jackson!" Rafe snaps, appalled and ashamed. "Get your shit together! She needs -"

"Please," Jackson begs, taking another step away and putting both hands up now. "I'm - 1 -"

He moans, ducking his face into his hands, trying so hard to get his thoughts together, to pull himself together for her.

She needs him.

But his wolf is trembling in his grief, agonized by it. He lowers his snout to the ground and pants, hard, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Jacks," Ben whispers, stepping closer, reaching out a sympathetic hand.

"God, fucking mates," Rafe snarls, turning and storming away with Jackson's girl in his arms. "I curse the Goddess for making fucking mates. I'm taking her upstairs!"

Jackson moans at this too, taking a

—

step towards them, not wanting her gone but then what? What does he want, for everyone to just stay in this hallway until he pulls himself together? He grits his teeth and pulls his face from his hands, disgusted with himself, working so hard to be strong and just failing - failing when she needs him -

But feeling so, so broken. So pathetic.

"Ben!" Rafe snaps over his shoulder, striding fast away. "Get Jesse! Jackson, come when you figure your shit out!"

Ben hesitates, looking after Rafe, wanting to obey - but he turns back to Jackson first.

"Are you okay, man?" Ben whispers, still holding his hand out but not daring to touch the devastated Alpha before him. Because he knows that in this volatile state Jackson, too, is dangerous.

“No,” Jackson growls, working hard to take deep breaths in through his nose. “No, I'm not all right, I'm –“

But then Jackson's head snaps to the side, and his lips peel back, his fangs flashing.

"Jacks?” Ben whispers, yanking his hand back.

Jackson just snarls, lifting his nose in the air, sniffing again.

And yes, there it is - the scent of that fucking traitor, who marked her and then hurt her and then ran. Ran - he doesn't know why - Jackson doesn't understand any of what happened. But one thing he does know for sure.

"Jacks!" Ben gasps, realizing at last what's happening and grabbing for Jackson's arm, even if he risks his own safety by doing it.

Jackson wrenches his arm from Ben's hand and turns away. "I'm going to kill him," Jackson snarls to himself as much as to his friend. And then he shifts into his wolf and pounds down the hall, chasing Luca's scent.

"Fucking matęs," Rafe grumbles as he storms up the final set of stairs toward their room. "I fucking hate mates. Want some magic? No, you need a mate! Want a nice calm educational experience while you're at school? No! Here's your fucking

ridiculous sister, and her two insane mates!"