Ch. 966..970: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 966-970

Chapter 0966

"You're going to love it -" I say, grinning at Marigold, who sits up, as intrigued as her dad. "It's called Mystery Hunk saves -"

"Give me that " Jackson snarls, snatching for it. But I burst out laughing, pressing it closer to Marigold instead.

"It's her present, Jacks, you can't take away her present -"

"Dad!" Marigold bursts out, desperately pleased, pointing at the image of her father on the front of the magazine.

"Oh my god, Marigold," Jackson groans, leaning far over and reaching for it. But when his fingers curl around it Marigold gasps, clutching it to her.

"My mystery hunk!" Marigold protests, her eyes going big and round with worry. "Yeah, Jacks!” I say, cackling a bit with glee, grinning at my mate. "It's her book!"

Jackson sighs and releases the magazine, letting her have it. "I'm taking that back the moment you learn how to read, Marigold."

She brushes that point aside, smiling down at the magazine. "Mystery hunk." "Yes, that's daddy!" I say, laughing, a little delighted. "What a great story!"

"You'll pay for this," Jackson sighs, turning his eyes to me.

My grin widens as I crawl closer to him, snuggling up and letting him pull me into his lap. "I'd better," I murmur, passing him a sultry little pulse down the bond. He laughs at that, low and deep, pulling me close to his chest.

"You good?" he murmurs, pressing a kiss to my cheek just below my ear.

"I'm amazing," I whisper, turning my face and pressing a kiss to his mouth in turn

- much more chaste than I'd like it to be, for Marigold's sake.

I end the kiss quickly, turning my eyes back to the little girl as she flips through the pages of the magazine, fascinated, squeaking happily when she finds more pictures of her dad somewhere in the middle.

"I'll tell you everything," I say softly, glancing up at my mate. "But... let's put her to bed first, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Jackson says, giving me a squeeze. Then together we lean forward to Goldie, telling her the story of the Mystery Hunk that we make up as we go, doing our best to make it make sense

pretty astoundingly. But Me

alongside the pictures and failing

doesn't care, laughing softly at us before her eyes slip shut and her cheek rests softly against the pillow, falling quickly asleep, her little hand flat on the open pages of the tabloid.

"She's so perfect," I whisper, leaning forward to brush a soft finger across the swell of her lovely little cheek.

"Yeah, she really is," Jackson sighs. I turn to smile at him, loving how much he loves her already, how easily he's fallen into his new role. "She's a miracle."

"So are you, Jackson," I whisper, sitting up, reaching for him.

Jackson gives a quiet little snarl, bundling me up in his arms and standing as he grabs the baby monitor, accomplishing it all in one sweeping move. "Come on, Tiny," he says, nudging his nose against mine. "Food first, then you tell me everything that jackass said to you in the courtyard, then I'm taking you to bed too."

I bite my lip, swinging my legs a little in anticipation, my stomach fluttering with happiness as my mate carries me from the room.

Jackson carries me through the

living room and we give a little wave

to the boys who are gathered there, but I murmar him to keep going, wanting privacy tonight. Following my directions, Jackson carries me to one of the dining rooms very close to the family apartments. This dining room is my favorite because it's so tiny and cozy - really only suitable for two or three people. Mom and dad use it for their date nights, or for one-on-one meals with each of us kids.

I use an intercom to call a request for some simple food down to the kitchens and then settle in close to

my mate, filling him in on bee

that happened in the courtyard.

Jackson listens quietly but intently, nodding along, only snarling softly to vent his anger about Luca's

behavior. But as I tell him everything that happened over the next twenty

or so minutes until the food is

delivered, keeping absolutely nothing back.

And as we begin to eat the simple but full charcuterie board, I can't keep my smile from growing. Because even though I can feel that Jackson is unhappy about Luca's audacity in coming here, trying to start things with me again, he never, not once, directs a single ounce of anger, or distrust, or hesitation towards me.

Instead, my sweetheart mate only listens and trusts, knowing with his whole self that I'd never betray him. Not even for a moment does Jackson begrudging me my right to speak alone to anyone on earth - even Luca or Gabriel - because Jackson trusts in me, believes in us.

And if anything, my love for him only grows richer and deeper in this moment. My Jackson - he's all warmth and support. I steel my heart again in my determination to do everything I can in this world to deserve him.

"Luca Grant," Jackson murmurs, reaching across the table for a slice of apple and cheese as he shakes his head with a bit of bafflement. "He should bottle and sell his confidence. He'd make a fortune."

Chapter 0967

"If he could," I sigh, pulling a grape off a stem and popping it into my mouth. "His uncle probably would have already done it." I pause a moment, looking my mate up and down. "So, you're okay with all of that? The whole conversation?"

Jackson shrugs. "Rafe said Luca came around and was all contrite when we were in Atalaxia. I don't like that he was hiding out in the courtyard like a coward. I didn't like the sight of you standing alone with him after he hurt you -"

"But "I protest, sitting straight.

Jackson puts up a hand, smirking at me, silently begging me to let him finish. I grin and sit back. "But," he says, putting steady emphasis on the word. "You're a powerful goddess. You can handle yourself. So, yes, Ariel, I'm good with it. As long as you are."

"Yeah, I am too,” I say quietly, beaming at him.

Jackson leans forward, capturing my hand, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. "The conversation was inevitable. And he'll try it again. You just let me know if I ever need to come in and smack him. You know I'd only be pleased to so."

I grin at Jacks and nod, stretching my hands above my head and yawning.

We spend a little more time just like that - quietly talking together, turning over the events of the past few days, adjusting to our new roles. Eventually we find ourselves curled up in the little loveseat in the corner of the room, sitting quietly, passing emotions passively back and forth down the bond as we sort through our thoughts.

I sip my second glass of wine, my mouth turning slightly down in a frown, my eyes distant as I get a bit lost in my thinking.

"What is it?" Jackson murmurs, pressing a kiss to my hair.

"Hmm?" I say, jumping a little, turning my face to him.

"You're...unsettled," he murmurs, tightening his arms around me, pulling me more completely into his lap so that we're face to face again. "You can talk to me about it, if you want to."

I sigh, thinking that...yes. That I have a question for him, and even if I haven't figured out quite how to phrase it, I may as well ask. I finish my glass of wine and put the glass on the floor before slinging my arms around Jackson's neck, looking him steadily in the eye.

"Jacks," I say, quiet. "I didn't like it, at all, when Luca suggested that I wouldn't, or shouldn't, want to raise Marigold with you because she's not the result of a goddess-blessed bond. It gave me...a very bad feeling in my stomach."

Jackson hums, considering it, watching me carefully. "Why didn't you like it?"

I sigh, my shoulders slumping. "Because it was mean. Because it implied that Marigold is...lesser. Than our other children will be."

Jackosn quirks an eyebrow. "We'll have other children?"

My face bursts into a grin. "You think we won't?"

"Ariel," he replies, laughing a little and leaning towards me. "I cannot emphasize

to you enough how little thought I have given to the question of whether or not you and I will have kids -"

"What!?" I screech, even as I laugh.

He laughs along with me. "It's not a

no, Ariel - I just haven't thought

tel

about it for heaven's sake, I just, found out how kids are made like eight months ago, after I already had one, apparently. I am... behind on these conversations."

"Well, we're having them, Jacks,” I say, a bit of a snarl in my voice, even as I smile

at him. "And if you give me any flack about it I'll go full Midnight and demand eighteen pups -"

Jackson bursts out laughing at this, pulling me close, shaking his head. "Please," he says. "You're you're trying to kill me with that - I'm stil adjusting to one. Hypothetical can do, but don't hit me with a number like eighteen right now, okay?"

"Okay," I whisper, smiling at him and brushing my thumb slow over his cheek, across the soft hair of his beard. "But...I do want more kids, Jacks. Some day. Hypothetical."

"All right, Ariel," he murmurs, leaning forward, pressing a kiss to my mouth. "You got it. Are you still upset?"

I sigh, brought back to earth a bit by

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the question, and nod. I lean back against his arm, dropping my face a bit and biting my lip. "I am," I say, nodding, sure of it now. "Because ...I hate the idea that people even beyond Luca will think that Marigold will be different than our other kids. Even potentially lesser. And worse, I never, ever want her to think that."

"So, what do we do?" Jackson asks, his voice genuinely wondering. "She...she will be slightly different, Ariel. She has a different history, a different starting point. We can't change that."

"Well," I say quietly, hesitant, raising my eyes to his. "What...what would you say to the idea that I...that I become her mother?"

Jackson just stares at me, shocked.

Chapter 0968

I wait for a second, grimacing a bit, watching Jackson's face for a reaction. But he just stares at me, completely blank.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, shaking my head, reaching for him. "I'm sorry, Jacks - I didn't mean anything bad by it -"

"No, Ariel..." he replies, blinking out of his frozen state and clearing his throat. "I just I just don't understand -"

I frown at him, not getting what he doesn't get.

He narrows his eyes and leans closer to me. "How...how would you become her mother?"

"Well," I say, twisting my fingers together, feeling tense. "I would...adopt her. Legally, she would be mine as well as yours - I'd have all the rights as her mother and she as my daughter. And there's a ceremony that you can perform at the Temple before the Goddess's sacred pool - people do it all the time when they adopt kids. You ask the Goddess to bless the union so that the child is spiritually yours, as well as legally."

Jackson continues to just stare at me, though I can see his mind at work now, putting it all together.

I do my best to give him a moment to think, but eventually I can't bear the silence anymore, guilt and worry rushing through me. "And I'd never want to replace Tasha -" I say softly, all in a rush. "We wouldn't like - erase her memory, or pretend that she's not real, or keep anything a secret from Marigold - we can find ways to honor Tasha and find ways to help Marigold remember her first mom."

Jackson sighs, his head dropping like he hadn't even considered that point.

"But if...if Marigold has someone in her life who desperately wants to be her mother," I whisper, lifting a hand to cup Jackson's cheek, hope and love surging through my chest. "Then a mother is a wonderful thing to have. And I really... really want to be her mom, Jacks."

Jackson raises his eyes to mine and as soon as I see the wetness of his lower lashes tears spring to my eyes as well.

"Ariel," Jackson says, shaking his head, disbelieving that such a thing can be true. "It's it's so much to ask of you -"

"But you didn't ask," I reply, shaking my head, smiling at him even as tears streak down my cheek. "I asked. And if you say no I'll understand. But...I really hope you say yes. I want to do this - I want to be a family. I want...Marigold to be mine as well as yours, a full sister to all of her future siblings."

"All eighteen," he sighs, shaking his head, resting his forehead against mine.

I burst into laughter, pulling him close, loving him a great deal. I smile, letting my eyes fall shut, breathing in a deep breath full of his scent. "Is that a yes?"

"Of course it's a yes," he whispers, pulling me close and cradling me to him. "Unless...unless Marigold won't like it? Like you said I don't...want to wipe away Tasha from her life. Maybe...maybe we give her a minute to adjust."

"Yeah," I say, Smiling and pressing a kiss to my mate's mouth. "Yeah, we'll give her plenty of time. There's no rush, right? But..." I bite my lip a little, suddenly incredibly happy at this new thought. "I really like now that...I have a little girl."

He grins at me, likewise pleased. "You like it?"

"Yeah, she's really cute!" I say, laughing a bit and winding my arms around his neck. "She reminds me a lot of this guy I have a really big crush on -"

Jackson laughs, tucking his head down next to mine, pressing a kiss to my neck, to my mark. "I love you, Ariel."

"Yeah, I love you too," I say on a happy sigh, snuggling closer, if it's even possible. “I think...I think it's going to be really great, Jacks. Challenging but...] really like our new tiny family."

"Me too," he murmurs, raising his head and pressing a kiss to my mouth this time – a real one, true and deep. I kiss him back, giving myself into it, wrapping my hands into the fabric of his shirt and pulling him closer.

Things get heated...very fast.

"Ariel," Jackson pants, stopping himself with a force of will that I...absolutely do

not have. He glances towards the door, anxious.

"Oh whatever,” I mutter, wrapping a hand behind his neck to pull him close again. "It's locked. Who cares."

Jackson hesitates for a second

more, glancing at the baby monitor, but then he groans, bringing his mouth again to mine and fully giving in. I moan as Jackson lays me out on the little couch, slipping his hands beneath my shirt and against my bare skin, moving them steadily down.

 

Chapter 0969

My head falls back as my mate kisses his way steadily down my neck, my chest...

And my eyes drift shut as I think - just to myself - that I'm really, really going to enjoy the rest of my life with this man.

"Okay, little baby," Pippa whispers, pressing the fussing infant close to her chest as she pulls the door softly shut behind her. "You want to try a little walk? You liked this when you were -"

But Pippa goes still when she turns and sees the Alpha sitting with his back against the wall, his arms resting over his knees, which are bent up before him. He looks up at her with sad, exhausted eyes.

Pippa gasps at first and freezes but then whips her head left and right before storming over to Mark Sinclair. "What on earth are you doing here!?"

"Pippa," Mark says, looking up at her, flipping his hands over, helpless. "What... what else am I supposed to do?"

“You're supposed to...to be elsewhere!" Pippa hisses, her eyes darting up the hall. She spins back towards her door, a bit frantic that her Alpha will come out of it and witness this encounter.

"I can't go elsewhere, you're here -"

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Pippa snarls, turning back to Mark with a frown. She presses the still-crying child even closer to her chest and jerks her chin at him before starting down the hall. "Come on! We have to go somewhere we won't be seen."

Mark sighs as he gets to his feet. Because even if his wolf howls with eagerness to go with his mate, he knows this isn't going to be good. Mark follows Pippa, his heart attuned both to the sound of them and to the baby's soft cries.

Pippa rushes forward, her quick steps doing nothing to outrun Mark's long stride, until she finds a dark alcove. She rushes inside, turning her face up to Mark as he follows her in, a frown on her lips. "Are we going to be overheard here?"

"No," Mark says, giving a shrug. "It's the middle of the night - and no one uses this wing, mom wanted you to have privacy - Pippa, do you want me to take her?" he reaches for the baby, who cries louder now. "She's very fussy -"

"No!" Pippa growls, clutching the baby tighter and turning her half away. "She's my baby! I can take care of her!"

Mark hesitates, letting his hands drop a little. "I never thought you couldn't," he murmurs. “I just thought you might...want some help, you must be exhausted -"

"My exhaustion is none of your business," Pippa bites out, looking down at her baby girl with a frown, bouncing her a bit to comfort her.

Mark sighs, letting his hands drop fully, putting them on his hips to have something to do with them. "I mean, it kind of is my business," he murmurs, annoyed and sad and a bit at the end of his rope regarding what to do next. "Considering you're my mate."

Pippa whips her face up to him, her eyes full of rage. "How dare you, Mark Sinclair!"

"How how dare I!? Pippa, it's true!"

"I have an Alpha, Mark!” Pippa snaps, her voice wavering with emotion. "An Alpha who I love very much, to whom I have always been faithful! We have a child together!"

Mark sighs, his head dropping. "I'm aware of all of this, Pippa."

"Then you should be aware of the necessity of leaving me alone! We shouldn't we shouldn't even -!" she gasps, the sound putting Mark's nerves on edge. He whips his head up to see her smack her hand across her mouth, horrified.

"What?" he asks, taking a step towards her, worried.

She takes a step back, shaking her head rapidly. "I - I shouldn't even be alone

here with you - this is uncouth, and unmatronly - this is unchaste -"

Mark can't help it, he laughs – just a tiny bit. "Pippa, we're just talking -"

"In private! Alone! I - I have never been alone with a man who wasn't my Alpha,

or a member of my immediate family!"

Her face goes as white as snow and Mark takes a step back, realizing that she's genuinely uncomfortable. "I'm...not going to touch you, Pippa. It's okay. I just wanted to...talk."

en

"We have nothing to say to each other, your highness," Pippa snaps, her chin held high, her voice wavering. Mark sighs, leaning back against the wall of the alcove, studying her.

Because even as every atom in his body wants to be here, right now, with her, in this little alcove, Mark has to admit that he is...completely out of ideas regarding how to handle this.

Chapter 0970

Mark watches Pippa carefully, still completely at a loss regarding what to do or say to calm her down, to let her know that it's all right. Because she's right - completely right. None of this is simple. She is, by all accounts, married to another man and newly the mother of his child.

But despite all of that, besides her slim little chest heaving with anger, Mark notes that.....Pippa doesn't leave the alcove.

And it's not because he's keeping her here by force.

Be cool, be cool, his wolf cautions, even has he fails to take that advice himself and darts anxiously back and forth in Mark's soul.

Mark exhales slowly and holds Pippa's gaze. "Your situation is even more complex than you're painting it," he says, doing his damn best to stay calm.

Pippa stiffens, her shoulders straightening as she glares at him. "By which you mean?"

He raises an eyebrow at her. "You're leaving out the fact that your Alpha is mated to someone else as well. Happily so, by all accounts."

Pippa inhales deeply through her nose, her eyes flaring as she glares at Mark. His wolf howls in his soul, anguished, wondering if it was the wrong thing to say. But damn it, what the hell is the right thing to say in a situation like this?

"Elias will never leave me," Pippa says, her voice tight, lifting the baby higher in her arms. Mark's eyes move for a moment to little Bianca, seeing that she's calming somehow, his heart gladdening for it. Because that little baby - she's not even his child, and he feels...such a tie to her. His mate's little girl - of course she's precious to him.

"I'm not really...concerned with Elias right now," Mark says quietly, sighing as he runs his hand through his hair. "Pippa, can we just...talk? Normally? I mean, you're so resistant to this, but I'm not going away."

"I wish you would!" she snaps.

"What, so you can hang out alone in the alcove?" Mark asks, sarcastic, waving around to it. But then he drops his hand, a little ashamed at himself for snapping like that.

Pippa just glares at him, so Mark carries on.

"Pippa, you are my mate," he says, sighing, shaking his head at her, pressing a hand to his heart. "I know that you feel it too. Can we just...calm down? Take a minute to get to know each other?"

"Is that seriously what you want to do, Mark?" she snaps, taking a step towards him, her mouth pulling down at the corners. "You want to just take some time to get to know each other?"

"Well, yeah?" Mark says, wary, knowing that this is a trap but not understanding it yet.

"And how would you suggest we do that?" she snaps, glaring hard.

"Um, we could... hang out?" he says, awkward, curling in on himself a little as he realizes that he has...absolutely no answer to that question and feeling like an absolute idiot. "We could...have dinner? Talk?"

A rough little laugh breaks from Pippa's mouth. "My entire life is falling apart, and you want to hang out?"

He grimaces, not getting it, but knowing that this is bad. "Um, yes?"

"And what does one do when they hang out?"

Mark sighs. "I don't know, Pippa. We could...get some pizza? Just...relax? And talk?"

"I am a Luna and a mother," Pippa snaps, advancing on him again, cradling her baby close. "I am fighting to adjust to the loss of my family and my position in society so that I can give my little girl a better life. And while I am happy to make that sacrifice for her, I am struggling at every turn to understand who I am in this world! Not to mention that my Alpha has fallen in love with another man - an act that would result in his death in our home nation. And that might very well result in me being abandoned and alone here"

"Pippa, we would never let you be abandoned, of course we'd always support you

"My life is falling apart!" she shouts, breaking in, desperate, her voice cracking. "And I am trying to hold it together with the bare edges of my nails! I have all the responsibilities of a grown woman, Mark Sinclair am the mother to an infant child, I have my Alpha's household to establish and run, and you want to...hang out!?"

Mark groans a little, hanging his head, seeing her point.

Because even if he and Pippa are the same age their lives are completely different. And his suggestion that she act like any other nineteen-year-old girl and just

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hang out with him - grab some pizza, watch a movie, chat about their interests- utterly neglects to take into consideration who she is and what she needs.