The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

"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?"noveldrama

"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."