Ch. 836..840: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 836-840

Chapter 0836

"No, Jesse!" Midnight laughs, stumbling forward outside of her yurt and grabbing his shadow panther right out of the air, making it dissolve away to smoke and reeling it into herself. Jesse gasps as he loses control of it, letting it pass into Midnight's capable hands. "Why do you keep making animal shapes? You don't need to - that's a crutch. It's just a shadow - the edges are the only things that matter. The edges are the only things that exist."

Jesse scowls and frowns at his little mate as she very capably releases shadows from her own skin, sending them out in all directions, formless and yet powerful. "Well why can't I make animal shapes?" he asks, crossing his arms. "If it helps me? And I like it? And it's cool?"

"Because then you're limiting them, mentally," Midnight says, tapping her temple as she sends the shadows streaking for him. Everywhere they touch Jesse the shadows buzz dangerously and he shudders, realizing that Midnight is of course obliging the shadows to go easy on him. Should she wish it, they could cut or burn or slice.

"Can you...help me understand that?" Jesse asks with a sigh, impressed with her power and control but still not getting it.

"If you limit them to animals," Midnight says, pulling the shadows back and making a panther like Jesse usually favors - though, predictably, her panther is more detailed and refined than his ever are. "Then you're limited to what you think animals can do. A panther can bite and scratch, so his dangerous parts are his teeth and his claws." She shrugs. "If you just let the whole shadow be a weapon... then all of the shadow is a weapon."

Jesse sighs, pulling the shadow back from her and letting it take a nebulous shape, shifting and ephemeral. "I still think the panthers are cooler."

"Power is cooler," Midnight says, a bit cold, and he turns his head to her. "Control is cooler. The better weapon is cooler."

"Midnight," Jesse says, quietly studying her. "Against whom have you ever had to use a weapon?"

She shrugs. "When I have to, I'll be ready."

Another chill passes through Jesse.

But suddenly, Midnight snaps her head to the side and then tilts her ear up, as if listening.

"What's going on?" Jesse asks, stepping towards her. She holds a hand out towards him, begging him to stop, and he does.

When Midnight moves again, her eyes narrowing on Jesse. "I have to go somewhere. You stay here."

"No way!"

"Jesse," Midnight growls, stepping towards him, her eyes going dark. "I have a job to do."

"What job!?"

"My job," she snarls. But when Jesse doesn't back off, she sighs and gestures out into the night. "Darkness has sensed an intruder. He wants me to check on it for him."

Jesse's eyes fly wide. "Fine, but I'm coming with you."

"You're staying here! In this yurt!"

"Midnight," Jesse says, leaning far forward so their eyes are even, his voice low and dangerous. "If you leave me here alone here in the tent, I'm going to burn it to the ground."

"Jesse, no!" Midnight gasps, pressing her hands to her heart.

"I mean it,” he says, shaking his head. "Those are your choices. Take me with you, or no more house."

She glares at him, hard, and then scowls and reaches for his hand. "Fine. But don't interfere, or I'll let him smite you."

Jesse squeezes her hand and makes no promises as Midnight vanishes them away.

"Jackson!" I shout, scrambling to my feet and stumbling towards him. Jacks - I've only been away for a week, but he looks so different - and so hot -

-

He has about three days' worth of beard on his face, and he's slimmer than he was not that he was ever fat, just big. And now he's still by no means small but instead lean and muscled, like a winter wolf

"Ari!" he gasps, my name choked on his shocked lips.

He reaches for me through the bars and I throw myself against them, pressing as

much of my body to my mate's as I can as I burst into tears.

"Oh my god, Ariel," Jackson

whispers, wrapping his arms around me as best as he can and holding me close. I groan, pressing my face to hischest, taking in breath after breath of his wonderful scent

"Jacks, I missed you," I murmur, rubbing my face against him, my wolf howling in my soul as she dashes across the bridge of our bond and hurling herself against his wolf, pressing her body frantically all along his length. His wolf snarts with possessive joy, rubbing his face against her, pawing at her and trying to tuck her beneath him, though she keeps wriggling out of his way.

Chapter 0837

"Fuck, Ariel," Jackson whispers, trembling a little in shock and relief. "I've missed you so much – I'm so sorry -"

"Sorry," I say, lifting my face and sniffing hard, even as tears continue to fall from my eyes. "Why are you sorry."

"Because I let them take you," he murmurs, sticking an arm through the bar and wiping the tears from my face with his calloused thumb. "I'm so stupid -"

"Jacks," I say, scowling a little and pushing back. "Don't be ridiculous - they'd been planning that capture for months - for years -"

"I still should have -"

"Jackson McClintock," I snarl, pushing fully away but wrapping handfuls of his shirt in my hands, desperate to keep hold of him. "If you blame yourself for one more second, I'm going to punch you -"

His face bursts into his wonderful smile as he laughs at me - at my fury and my possessive love. I moan at the sight of it, loving him entirely, and stumble forward, wanting to be close again.

"No, Ariel, step back -" he says, laughing again and taking a step away that makes me clang into the bars. "Geeze, are you okay? Be careful, Ariel -"

"Jacks," I groan, reaching for him, "come back!"

"Just step away for a second - I can bend the bars -"

My eyes fly open as I stare at him. "You can?"

"Yeah, they're like...they're not very strong," he shrugs. "Cheap materials."

I raise my eyebrow at him. "Cheap materials, or super-human strength?"

He smiles at me and gives a slightly smug one-shouldered shrug that... ...well, it puts him at serious risk of me tearing all his clothes off.

"Go on, Tiny, give me some space," he murmurs, laughing a little and waving a hand at me as he studies the bars, clearly deciding where the apply his strength.

"No, Jacks," I say, holding my hand out to him. "Um...maybe don't."

"What?" he asks, going still.

“Is that...is that how you got here?" I whisper, shaking my head and then trying to peer around him towards the rest of the cages. "Did you come from outside the fence and force your way in?"

"Yeah," he says, still frowning at me and dismissing the point. "But why don't you

"Jackson," I interrupt, shaking my head at him. "How did you...how did you get here? To the Land of Darkness?"

He focuses on me again and huffs a frustrated sigh, seeing that we're not going to get anywhere towards his questions until he answers mine first. Then he pulls something from his pocket and holds it out to me. "This showed up in my tent," he says as peer at the small, rectangular rock. "I - can we talk about the

details later? It's kind of weird. I don't know who left it there, but...I think it allowed me to shift here, like you can do."

"It must be a talisman," I murmur, studying it. And then my eyes go wide as I dart

my gaze up to Jackson's face, my wolf suddenly yelping and skittering away from his.

"What?" Jackson asks, going still. "No, come back..." he murmurs, frowning, his wolf moving after mine.

"Wait, wait," I breathe, holding out a hand to him even as I shift my gaze inward to my wolf and to his, studying them. "Gabriel - he's got a talisman too that allows him to

come here. But to get it he had to.....”

My words fade as I study Jackson's wolf for any sign of corruption. For that oil, or a dark light in his eyes, or...anything. But Jacksons' big dark wolf just stands very still, his head cocked to the side, staring at my little rose-gold one. Slowly she

moves forward and sniffe

I think he's okay, she says, anxious.

"He had to what?" Jackson asks, hesitant.

at him.

I refocus my eyes on Jacks as my wolf again moves forward to Jackson's wolf's side. “He had to sell himself to Darkness, which corrupted his soul. I – it's very bad, Jackson. He's...horrible now."

Jackson snarls and steps close to me again. "This man. Is he your mate?"

I exhale a long and slow breath, keeping my eyes steady on his. "He is, Jacks."

Chapter 0838

Jackson snarls down into my face, though I don't budge an inch, completely unafraid. Because even if fear and anger ripple through him at that confirmation, I know that none of this is for me. For my grandmother, perhaps - but not for me.

"Hey," I whisper, reaching a hand up and cupping his cheek in my palm. "This one? This stupid mate? I hate him."

Jackson stares at me for a long moment before a laugh pulses through him. "Seriously?"

I nod vigorously. "He sucks, Jacks. He's really mean, and he murdered his cousin tonight, and he punched me earlier -"

Jackson stands up straight, his eyes flaring. "He punched you?"

I smirk a little, turning my face to show him my bruised jaw. "The regicide is okay, but the punching is where you draw the line?"

He snarls, deep and true, as he leans close to me and wraps his hands around the bars. "Come on, we're getting you out of here, and then I'm coming back to kill him."

"Jacks,” I say, a little frantic, my hands covering his on the bars. At least, as much as they can. "Not - not yet."

He whips his head up to look at me, again shocked. "What are you talking about? We have to go, Ariel!"

"No, please," I beg, my wolf howling her desperation so he can see how deeply we're feeling it. "I just – there's so much more happening, Jackson. Can we just take a minute, and think about it, before we go tearing this cage apart and make our escape?"

"What else could we possibly want to do, Ariel?" Jackson asks, bending forward to lean against the cage, to bring his face closer to mine. "Than get you the fuck out of here?"

I bite my lip and shrug. "Um...destroy Atalaxia and end the war?"

Jackson just stares at me for a moment like I'm insane. Then he shakes his head, once, hard. "Nope. Not our job. I'm getting you out of here."

He again tightens his hands on the iron and I smack at them. "It is my job! It is - these are my people and my nation that are being threatened by Atalaxia!"

"And my mate that they've got in a cage!"

"Please, Jacks," I beg, shaking my head at him too. "Please, let me just...tell you everything. And then we'll decide."

He sighs and hangs his head. "You are...killing me, tiny."

"I know, baby," I whisper, reaching up and again cupping his cheek in my hand. He sighs and leans his face against my hand, filling my heart with joy. "That's... also my job."

Jackson huffs a laugh and then glances around. "Do we have time? Is anyone coming here?"

"I don't think so," I say, shaking my head. "They're really busy tonight trying to solve a murder even though everyone already knows who did it."

Jackson raises an eyebrow at that but lets it pass. "If anything weird happens, Ariel," he says, his voice low and serious. "I'm ripping these bars apart and taking you out of here. Okay?"

"Okay," I say, agreeing to these terms.

"Okay," he sighs, sinking down to the ground and indicating that I should do the same so that we can talk. I grin as I do as I'm told, settling down across from my mate and beaming at him through the bars of my cage. "I hate this a lot."

"Yes, but I love you for listening to me," I say, reaching forward and taking his hands. "Amongst a thousand other things."

Jackson sighs and raises one of my hands to his mouth, kissing it. And I begin to tell him everything.

The telling takes a long, long time, and the moons in the Land of Darkness crest all the way over the sky as I telt Jackson about Elias and Pippa, and Gabriel and his poor corrupted wolf, and the life of Atalaxian women, and of Faiza, and the cyanide, and Ben being here, and everything that happened tonight.

Jackson holds my hand in his nearly the whole time, staring at my palm as he listens, tracing over its lines with one of his fingers. He interrupts only a few times when he needs more information or I've skipped something over, but mostly my

sweetheart mate just lets meel

and listens intently. As he always does, taking me quite seriously, considering my thoughts and observations and opinions. As I go, our wolves curl up together, his making a neat circle completely around mine. She stretches her nose over his paw, completely content.

"So..." I say at the end, studying the wide set of my mate's shoulders, the top of

his dark head. "What do you think about all of that?"

He takes a moment before lifting his lovely sapphire eyes to mine. “I can't say I'm thrilled about the sudden appearance of a handsome new mate.”

"Handsome new murdery mate with very anti-woman leanings. Honestly, Jacks, he's...not a threat to us. To our relationship."

Jackson raises an eyebrow at me. "And yet you want to stay."

I sigh, moving closer to him, suddenly wishing desperately that Jackson would bend these bars sot could crawl though and curl up in his lap. "Jackson," I say, quite seriously. He looks into my eyes. "At the end of this? It's me and you."

 

Chapter 0839

He blinks once, I think shocked.

"I'm serious,” I say, squeezing his hand, holding his gaze. "I've had time to think in here - time is the only thing I have - and when I get home? You're the only mate I want. I don't want Gabriel – and I don't want Luca, okay? I just want you. Me and you and that's it forever."

Jackson swallows hard and I can see hope filling him.

I turn my head to the side, a little surprised by his silence. "Isn't that what you want too?"

Slowly he nods. "But...I don't want to hold you to it, Ari. If that's not the destiny your grandmother wrote for you."

"Yeah well," I sigh, frustrated. "Granny and I need to have a chat. But what she said was that she wanted me to have my mate's marks - not that she wanted me to live in some kind of bizarre foursome. And that's why I don't want to run right now, Jacks - because..." I bite my lip. "I think I need to explore the magical connection between me and Gabriel. I think that my grandmother gave this link not because she thinks he's some great match for me - but because his magic can lend something to mine."

Jackson sighs and looks away. "It would be easier if he were ugly."

I laugh a little, squeezing his hand. "Nobody's as pretty as you."

Jackson raises his head and an eyebrow along with it. "I'm not sure I'm precisely pretty."

"You're very pretty."

“Luca's pretty,” Jackson murmurs, looking away and – I suspect – hiding a blush. "I'm...good looking."

"You're super hot, Jacks" I say, wrinkling my nose at him. "And rugged. And very sexy."

Jackson tries to hide his smile and blushes a lovely raspberry red, making me laugh.

"Did you know Faiza just refers to you singularly as 'the hot one?""

"Stop, no she doesn't."

"She does!" I say, laughing. “Just like all the tabloids. I mean come on, Jacks, you're gorgeous." I grin at my mate and tug on his hand again. "So, Gabriel's lesser attractiveness aside, what are your other hesitations?"

"Well, I'm not thrilled about you still not having my mark," he says, sighing and scowling at me a bit, which just makes him...a thousand times hotter. I bite my lip, looking him up and down, tempted to throw my national duty to the wind and júst let him take me out of here. And immediately to bed.

"Oh, I'll get that mark soon enough," I sigh, knowing that I have to be good. For the sake of the nation.

"Do you want me to just...give you the mark now? Through the stupid bars?"

I wrinkle my nose and shake my head, even as my wolf leaps to her feet and turns

in frantic circles, yipping her approval of the idea. "You'd change my scent and then the ruse would be up."

"But you'd have my magic," he points out, tilting his head. "Which means you could blow the whole place up. And then there would be no need for a ruse."

I grin at him. “There are people I like in there. Benny and Pippa and Elias."

"Fine, fine," he says, leaning back on one hand as he keeps the other firmly in mine. "Then on to the true thing that's worrying me. You could die, Ariel, he says, holding my gaze quite seriously. "If this Gabriel is as unpredictable and power-hungry and violent as you say he is? He could kill you, and then...the world would lose its flame. Its entire reason for being."

My heart clenches a little at the centrality to which Jackson holds me, the idea that he thinks the universe would come to a grinding halt without me. And while I think that's ridiculous - obviously, I can't be that important - I see the true meaning beneath his words.

That he loves me, desperately. And he wants me to live a long full life at his side.

"I'm going to make it, Jacks," I whisper. "One...one more day, and then we'll go. Okay?"

Slowly, he shakes his head, hating it. Hating that he's going to give me this bargain that we both know he will, because I've asked it. "All of my

instincts are telling me to take you now. To just throw you over my shoulder like I did in that Examination and carry you home,

Ariel."

ou

I smile softly at him. "And you can do that...tomorrow."

He groans, pulling his hand from mine for the first time in hours and burying his face against his palm. "You're torture."

"And you're an angel," I whisper, meaning it, beaming at him.

"All right, tiny demon," he says, dropping his hand and pretending to glare at me. "What's your big plan?"

I bite my lip and straighten up, pressing myself against the bars. "Okay, yes, help me out with this." And then I begin, and my mate and I stay up until dawn fine- tuning a plan to end this war and get us all out alive.

 

Chapter 0840

Jackson kisses me softly through the bars of my little Atalaxian cage. I lean my full weight against them, letting my hand slip up over Jackson's stubbled cheek and then back into his hair.

He pulls away, snarling a little, both for want of me and, well-

“I hate these fucking bars,” he growls, glancing around at them even as he wraps

an arm around my waist as best he can, pulling me tight against him. "This was not the reunion I had in mind."

I smile at him. "Well, for the reunion, can we keep the beard?"

He raises his eyebrows at me in surprise. "You like it?"

My smile deepens. "You're all rugged and rough, like you were when we first met and you didn't know how to get your hair cut -"

A laugh bursts from him and he tightens his arm. "You were a fan of that?"

"I was a fan of it once you stopped trying to murder me and I realized how sweet you were beneath," I say, grinning at him fully now, unable to help it. "Rough exterior, sweetheart inside. Gorgeous through and through. Come on, how was I supposed to resist?"

He nudges his nose against mine. "Yeah, see, this is why I want to get you out of here now. Before you look more deeply at the mate who currently wants to murder you and realize how sweet he is beneath."

"He doesn't want to murder me, he just wants to corrupt my wolf and enslave me to darkness so that he can use my powers to destroy my homeland," I say, giving Jacks my sunniest smile.

Jacks groans, tilting his head back. "Oh, god. I can't believe I'm letting you go back."

"For a couple of hours," I say, laughing at him in turn. "Then its me and you, forever. Right?"

He sighs and lifts his head again. "Right."

"Okay, now juice me up," I say, putting my hand flat on his neck for contact.

He laughs at my phrasing - both of

us thinking of Jesse, I know and does as I say, filling me with his power and making me feel ridiculously awake and sunny after spending all night awake and scheming.

I shiver all over as the power rushes into me and I drop my hand when I've had enough, though I stand close. "You're still good with your magic and energy levels?" I ask quietly. Even after not sleeping and eating all week?" My eyes slip over his slimmer form, honestly surprised at how much weight he's lost. I mean, I know that Jackson told me that his magic is intimately tied to his body, but the evidence I have of it here really proves that point.

"It's not ideal," he says with a shrug. "But I've still got plenty. It's not anything you need to worry about."

"Okay." I say, sighing and stepping away. "Be safe. I'll be back in a little bit and then I'll call to you, right?" I tap my temple, indicating how he'll hear it.

"See you soon, Ariel. I love you."

"I love you too, Jacks," I say, my voice nearly a whisper. And then, beaming, I tumble myself backwards through the darkness and back into Atalaxia.

Jesse and Midnight lay flat on their stomachs atop the hill, looking down at the rather remarkable network of cages down below. As Midnight continues to peer closely at the

blobby blur at the center of the net

network that may or may not be people - they can't quite tell at this distance - Jesse groans and closes his eyes, resting his head against his folded arms.

"Shhh," Midnight says, shoving at his shoulder with the tips of her fingertips. "I'm watching."

"And does my groan of agonized boredom interfere with your sight?" Jesse mutters, frustrated.