The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 42

“What, is your subconscious homophobic?” I ask, continuing to be frustrated and a little annoyed at him for not believing me even though I’m telling him the truth and spilling a serious secret for his own good.

Because honestly! I could make out with him here! And I would be the only one who knew that it was real!

I’m doing this for him, to be fair, and yet he persists in not believing me! It’s very rude.

“It might be,” Luca says with a shrug, still looking down at me. “I wouldn’t think that it was, but here you are, still not kissing me, even though I keep trying. Honestly, Ari, being shut down by the figment of my own imagination is very annoying –”

“I’m real!” I insist again, this time through my teeth.

“Prove it,” he says, shrugging.

“Ask me anything!”

“That won’t work,” he says, turning his head to the side. “Anything you say is something I already know or think I know. No way to verify that it’s true.

“Fine,” I say, crossing my arms and lifting my chin. “Ask me something tomorrow, in real life – something impossible, that you’d never predict. I’ll give you the same answer here as I do then.”

Luca turns his head a little, considering. “That could work,” he murmurs, but then he turns back to me with a sly smile. “But in the meantime, you and I could, you know, fool around a little…”

In the distance, my wolf howls with delight.

“Whoa,” Luca says, turning to look for her. “What was that?”

“It was my wolf,” I sigh.

“Really?” he asks, and then the turns back to me, smirking. “Your wolf does…not sound adverse to the idea.” He leans more fully against the tree now, bringing his body closer to mine and kind of pinning me back against the trunk in a way that…

12:49 Sun, 10 Mar

Chapter 42

That I do not mind at all.

“Luca,” I sigh, and honestly I have to close my eyes as I turn my face away from him, because if I spend even a moment longer looking up at the shadows his long lashes cast against his cheeks…I am definitely going to do something I regret.

“What?” he asks softly, cupping my cheek in his palm and turning my face back to his, his hand and his voice both impossibly gentle. “What do you want, Ari?”

And his question…I know instinctually that there are layers to it. That he’s asking me what I want, but also what I like –

to be kissed.

want him to

or not I want him to pull me tight against him as he presses his mouth hard to mine – which I decidedly do

back against the tree in a way that feels….god, it feels fucking amazing, his body pressed flush against mine. “I want you to

fly open, already glaring. “Not that kind of question,”

along the skin of my cheek. “Real–Ari had my nan’s coffee cake

cream,” I answer immediately, “with whipped cream.”

– because I stand by what I decided last time. It is not fair to be in this dream state with him and be the only one knowing

both very

we’re both going to know

Luca asks, teasing – because, I mean, it is a very girly desert. “Of course

for one last second. I hesitate, but then I lift my hands, and let my palms press against his sides, feeling the lines of his obliques as I

for a moment, I let myself imagine what his bare skin would feel like

hard shudder passes through Luca’s

he growls, leaning in

turn my head, and press my eyes shut, and will the dream to end.

open in my bed and I clench my teeth with a groan, turning and burying my face into a

sorry for myself, cursing myself vehemently for having a sense of ethics and the willpower to

it I

just wanted to kiss the figment of his imagination that looks like me so he can figure out how he’s

screaming from the

mean, at least I think he will. I sigh, curling up in my pillows and wrapping myself up in my soft white duvet, considering it. Because Luca – he still thinks

that I’m just unfairly confusing him because I’m his mate

tenuous my secret already is. And as much as I’m fine with Ben knowing… Luca? My mate? It’s a different story – an unpredictable level of exposure that I’m just not ready for yet.

school, because

Chapter 12

just gotten hold of the thing I never knew I always wanted: a chance at the Espionage Track at Alpha

am not at all ready to give

even for the chance to make

sigh, turning over again in my blankets, and I close my eyes and force myself to try and go back to

Alpha alarm clock that I was not

the open curtain of my nook.

of sleep,” I growl, pulling the blankets over myself and

laughing and yanking

duvet

ask, sitting up finally when I realize they’re not going to leave me in

he strides around the room

direction as he takes Jesse’s place in the bathroom. I sigh and grab it, yawning so wide my jaw cracks. As I pull my boot on I hope that there’s coffee with breakfast – because while dream states do happen while you’re dreaming, I’m