The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



"Yeah, I'm kind of jealous," Tony says with a nod. "I can do one thing and...it's sort of done. No developments for me."

"Well, we don't know that," Cora says to Tony with a small smile. "What Alvez said to you before was right - we should experiment."

Tony considers it for a moment and then shrugs, nodding to her, letting her know that he's game.

"But what do we do about what the God of Darkness said?" Jesse says, drawing all eyes back to him. Others stare at him in confusion, not knowing what he means, but my stomach twists a little, remembering what Jesse said this morning. "About..." he hesitates, looking around for a moment before deciding to press forward. "About his girl finding me, or whatever. Sort of...implying it had something to do with this?"

"Well," Cora says, looking over at mom with some hesitance. "We have...sort of a hypothesis about that."

"We do?" Rafe says, leaning forward towards them, quite interested now.

"We talked about it last night," mom says, sighing and folding her legs up beneath her so that she's just perched casually on the desk and looking around at the five of us. "And, I don't think it applies to Jackson and Tony, but in our family at least...I think the magic starts to come when you meet your mate. I mean, in my case it was a little different," she shrugs, "because...I didn't know I was a wolf and then my mother gave me the gift as a literal gift. But all of that started when I finally met Dominic."

"Whoa," I say, my eyes going wide as I realize that...the same is true for me.

"And my gift only really manifested in Roger's presence," Cora says quietly, "after I had accepted the bond between us. Even if I, too, also did not yet know I'm half wolf."

We all stare at them in a bit of shock.

"Wait, no," Jesse says, leaning forward, tension in every single muscle. "No, this does not work - because I have not met my mate."

"I know, kid," Cora says, nodding to him quietly as Jesse stares at her "But the way the God of Darkness phrased that...what if you have, and you just haven't realized it?"

"What are you talking about," Jesse says, speaking very quickly, his shadows starting to seep from him again as he starts to get freaked out. "The way that Ariel talks about, I'd have known - I'd have recognized her instantly!"

"True," Cora says, her eyes sad, holding a hand out to him. "But what if...you haven't met her yet? But...she's met you?"

Jesse's mouth drops open, shadows

spilling from for a second before

et

he notices and snaps his mouth shut, leaking back in his chair and staring off into space for a long, long moment, his shadows eddying around him in an anxious circle.

"Jesse,” my mom says, hesitating and then starting to get off the desk, clearly wanting to go to him.

"No, no," Jesse says, holding a hand up towards her, even as he continues to stare into space. "I need a minute, please."

Mom hesitates again but then turns back to the rest of us.

"I mean, like you said, it doesn't work for us," Jackson says pointing between Tony and himself. "I mean...unless I have another mate? And I met her when I was younger?"noveldrama

My eyes go wide as I stare at Jackson, absolutely horrified by the idea, my mind flashing - instantly, of course - to Tasha, the girl he...

But I clench my teeth, forcing the thought from my mind, hating it. Hating all of it. Livid, and jealous, and horrified again.

Quite suddenly my body gets very, very hot - the energy focus on my hands, pressed to the desk in front of me.