The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



"He's such a cutie," mom says, sighing as Jackson steps out of the classroom and pulls the door shut behind him, her hands clasped together.

"He's well over two hundred pounds of lethal Alpha, Ella,” Cora says, casting out a hand after my mate. “He's capable of killing a man in less than ten seconds and if he shifted into his wolf it'd be even faster than that. I'm not sure 'cutie' is the word you're looking for here."

Mom hums consideringly and then shrugs. "Nope, I'm right. Stone-cold cutie." She beams at her sister, who just laughs. "You always did have a type, Ella," Cora sighs, looking back at me.

"One, ew," I say, pointing a finger at Cora, who laughs even harder now. "Don't even imply that my mate is mom's type -"

Mom just grimaces, guilty, but I ignore her.

"And two, we are getting off topic.❞

My mom and my aunt do their best to school their faces into more serious lines, but they fail instantly, and I just roll my eyes at them.

"We're still so proud of you, sweetie!" Mom says, leaning forward to beam at me. "I can't wait to tell your dad about it - he's going to cry - he's so cute when he cries."

"You're a villain," Cora murmurs, looking over at mom, "I don't know why people think you're so sweet."

"And!" Mom continues, ignoring her, “I think he's going to have a lot of ideas about how this can be used to benefit the military! I think it's a big deal, baby," she says, nodding eagerly now. "How are you feeling about it?"

“Excited,” I say, nodding too and sitting up straighter, "I want to talk to dad about military applications - I mean, I've been having ideas too. And I want to see what else I can do with it. I think -" my wolf nips me, though, and I sit back a little, sighing, realizing that I'm getting off track. "I mean, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about, though."

"What it it, sugar?" Cora says, leaning forward, her face more serious now.

I begin, then, to spill it all out as fast as I can wanting to tell them everything but aware that they're heading back to the Capital tonight. Mom and Cora's faces go paler and paler the more I spill about falling through space in the first Games, about traveling to that dark world and seeing that strange woman there before I traveled mysteriously back. They seem better assured when I tell them about Jackson's

-

hypothesis that this is my gift

from the God of Darkness and that I control it, but as my mom and my aunt look at each other, I can tell they're totally freaked.

"Um?" I say, drawing their eyes back to me. “I'm not finished?" They just stare at me wide-eyed as I tell more about Faiza's assignment to go to Newtown to try out disguises, but then both of their faces fall in sadness when I tell them about Luca and the strange break through we had - about him suppressing his wolf for what I can only assume is most of his life.

"So that's why he was acting strange," Cora murmurs, looking over at the door.

"I don't know," I say on a sigh. "He was normal this morning. I think...him being strange about my magic might be something else."

"Or something interrelated," mom says, keeping her eyes on me.

"Yeah,” I say, my shoulders slumping a bit. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"You fall into a realm of darkness at will," Cora says, slowly raising a brow at me, "and you want to talk about why your boyfriend is acting weird?"noveldrama

I laugh a little, straightening my shoulders. “Yup!"

"Your daughter, for sure,” Cora murmurs, smiling a little and glancing at mom, who glances back and gives her a little kick.

"Yeah, so,” I say, leaning forward on my desk. "I was wondering if you could send a therapist to the Academy? Or maybe like...a bunch of therapists?" Both of their faces arch into smiles, but they let me continue.

net

"Luca...clearly needs someone to talk to," I say with a sigh, leaning back in my chair, "and I love to be there for him but this is beyond my needs. And Jackson, with his childhood?" I pause a minute, letting them see where I'm going with this. "I mean...I think he's doing well now that he's out of the Community, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to have someone to talk to about it. And the stuff he's doing with Hank I know is very stressful for him, so..."