The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 18

I’m almost too exhausted to notice how fast the next week passes. Jesse wakes me up early every day, and I scowl at Rafe. who snores peacefully while Jesse drags me out the door for our run. He seriously puts me through my paces, too, not even relenting when I try to bribe him.

“Please.” beg. “I’ll give you my crown –”

“Why would I want your crown. I’m a duke –”

“But dukes,” I pant, “don’t get anything pretty to wear on their heads –”

But Jesse just laughs, and makes me run harder.

The candidate lessons are no less brutal. Every other day is spent running through that damn obstacle course, and even though Jesse and Rafe make me work out every night I still can’t climb that damn chain. I mean, I am getting better, which is satisfying, I can pull myself up about three feet of it now. But still, every day, after ten minutes of trying, the Lieutenant at that point on the course blows the whistle and lets me climb the ladder, putting a further demerit on my time.

Even Ben gets up faster than I do now, looking down at me with apology in his eyes as he does. But I just scowl and wave him off.

Rafe and Jesse really put the time in with Ben and I every evening, which has actually become as fun as it is useful. Ben has proven himself to have one hell of a sense of humor, and he makes me laugh so hard it feels like my sides will split. Even Rafe, as he pushes us around and tells us to get back to work, can’t help but smile.

Still, it’s nice to have made a real friend.

Every day the four of us eat our meals together and every morning our eyes go immediately to the ranking list to see what the previous day’s exams – if any have done to our numbers.

And while I’m never, ever going to beat out the big guys like Rafe and Jesse – I have to say, I’m holding my own.

This morning. I grin when the numbers come up to see that I’m ranked at 75 – a personal high spot. for me. Jesse slaps me on the back, laughing and grinning.

“Nicely done. Ari!” he says, smiling at me with true pleasure. “Looks like the marksmanship competition yesterday did its work.”

He’s not wrong. There are still enough hand–to–hand bouts that while my win against Jackson and my second place on the logic exam pulled me out of the cut zone above 96, I’ve been hovering right on the edge for days. But yesterday, when they finally put a crossbow and then a gun in my hands?

Then I really showed them what I could do. Because even if dad didn’t let me train like Rafe did, he always made sure I could handle myself with a gun more than handle myself, really. I came in

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Chapter 18

second, talling only behind Rafe ben beating Jesse, who came in at

little as 1 digitory pancakes. But

I am celebrating, and I

as my eyes fly back to the hoard, where Ben is ranked at 100. Four

really are getting faster, Ben,” I say, nodding

hand around at us. “I’m fine. Seriously, it’s fine, it’s way better than 119, where I was So Progress is a

stomach. Because there are only 5 days left until the final ranking, and both of us are still in a great deal of trouble. None of our runs of the obstacle course have counted yet, and the one on the last day? It counts as

our extra credit work after hours

at it.

I sigh, wondering how much better we can even

encouragingly, prancing around inside me. We are strong and brave!

I run a mental hand over her fur, grateful for her high

Academy, she babbles, we can get a private room! And invite our mates over to

and brushing her away, ignoring her

words.

stop thinking about our mates, I have to admit…the lure of the Academy itself? It’s

there. It just sounds amazing – you get sorted into a discipline, and then you get to spend months learning the

to hell that I get sorted into the espionage track. Because while I am clearly not a warrior – I don’t have the brute strength for that the hours spent learning how to spy, or to craft poisons, or become an expert sharpshooter, or a master of any variety of tiny, obscure

sounds just like…everything I’ve always wanted to do and never knew was even an option.

Chapter is

squeeze as Luca sits down next to me. He’s frequently a 5(th) at our meals, or at least stops by once a day to say

and teases me, and drops little hints about things that know. And I swear to god,

what I can’t believe he hasn’t already sense’s

–

even if he doesn’t

anything to my mate as he reaches out to give Jesse and Ben high–fives. He offers one to Rafe, who just gives him a little glare, but Luca laughs it off as he takes his

and sigh as I turn to look at him. And seriously, it’s not that I don’t want to look at him

my face, and can’t help

stupid, ridiculous girly

He grins at me with that perfect face, his dimples flaring, his pretty brown eyes

he’s my mate and I’m unendingly attracted to him on a soul level? Oh, and tripled by the fact that over the past

sits back on

and fork to avoid the insane urge to reach out and run my fingers through

dry. “I noticed I kicked your