The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



"Ariel!" The word bursts from Jackson even as he grins, I think swept away by my laughter even as he's confused by the direction of my thoughts. "Seriously, what are you talking about? What on earth makes you want to do that?"

"I was jealous!" I say, throwing my hands out, my laughter subsiding. "When you were teaching Luca - it was so interesting! And I - I don't know any of it! And it's very clear that you all have this like, cool, super useful knowledge of battle strategy that I don't have - and I want to know it, and I feel left out!"

"Ariel," Jackson says with a sigh, taking a second to run his fingers through my messy hair - which he had a great deal of involvement in messing, I mentally note - sorting it out and tucking it back behind my ears. "You don't need to know that stuff -"

"I do too!"

"And when would you even study it?" he asks, frowning at me. "I mean, I'm happy to teach you how to read the maps and about the old battles - I would love to do that. I just...you're already so busy with studies. When would we fit it in?"

“WellIII,” I say, grinning a little wickedly as I look around at our surroundings. "What about here?"

Jackson just stares at me for a second. "Seriously, Ari?" he asks. “You have a magical dream state where you can take your mate and do literally whatever you can imagine...and you want to use it to...study?"

"Well, considering you won't have sex with me," I say, sitting up very primly and giving him a neat little glare. There's a beat and then Jackson roars with laughter when he realizes that I'm right.

"Yes, Jacks!” I say, laughing too and giving him a shove on the shoulder that brings his attention back to me. "You can just teach me a little bit every night - and we can cuddle while you teach me and then make out after."

A slow smile takes his lips. "And...how do you propose that we do the actual studying? We don't have the maps."

I twist my mouth to the side and then look up into the sky, holding my hands out.

Suddenly - much faster than I expected – a heavy weight hits my hands and Jackson flinches back a bit, staring at the textbook that just materialized there.

"What...what the hell," he says, staring at it with wide eyes.

"I mean, it's empty," I murmur, opening the book and letting him see the fresh white pages. "But I figure...maybe you can fill it in? You know it all by memory, don't you?"

Jackson stares at the book for a second and then reaches out a hesitant finger, touching it. The page ripples almost like the surface of water and I squeak in surprise as, suddenly, a map materializes on the page.

"This is insane," he whispers, baffled and - I can tell - just a little bit thrilled that this is even possible.

"It's so cool!” squeak, holding the

book closer to him with one hand and staring at the map. "Okay, so

like, what do these marks mean? et

And these numbers?" I trace my fingers over the map, trying to the action and decode the

hollow

meanings.

"Ariel," Jackson murmurs, gently taking the book from my hands and setting it aside. Then he loops his arms around me, folding his hands together behind my lower back so that I Can lean against them and still look into his face. "Do you think that you're... pushing it, a little bit? With everything that you've got on your plate already?"

"Jackson McClintock," I snap, whipping a finger into his face, "if you even try to tell me what I'm capable of handling -"

But my words stop mid-sentence when I feel Jackson's wolf give a little warning rumble. Jackson raises one eyebrow, and tilts his head at me, silently asking me to listen.

I just stare at him, my mouth open a little.

"I am not telling you anything," he says quietly, even. "I'm just asking you to consider your limits. If you tell me you're not passing them, I'll believe you."

I blush a little to have jumped to conclusions and I let my finger drop, biting my lip as I consider his question.

etnoveldrama

"You fall asleep in like half a second tonight, Ari," Jackson says quietly, looking over my face, considering me. “And you basically fall asleep with a pen in your hands, because you study up until the moment you go to bed. Then you wake up early for sniping practice... is it worth it, to add more when it's not necessary? Should you save this for another time and use the dream state just to

rest?"

I tilt my head to the side, considering his words. "Well, it's not like I get a ton of rest in the dream state," I murmur, scootching a little closer to him and wiggling my butt a little in his lap to make my point.