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 –

want to

precisely I want him to put

to pull me tight against him as he presses his mouth hard to mine –

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

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

my cheek. “Real–Ari had my nan’s coffee cake tonight, which is

cream,” I answer immediately, “with

be in this dream state with him and be

we both very

we’re both going to know that

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

scent and the press of his muscled torso against me 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 do, just for a moment, I let myself imagine what his bare skin would feel like

hard shudder passes

he growls, leaning

head, and press my eyes

with a groan, turning and burying my face

face buried in my pillow, feeling sorry for myself, cursing myself vehemently for having a

damn it, god damn it

figment of his imagination that looks like me so he can figure out how he’s feeling. As soon as he realizes that that figment is

run screaming

duvet, considering it.

I’m just unfairly confusing him because I’m his mate underneath this boy

all of the complications of this, because Ben revealed today how tenuous my secret already is. And as much as I’m

hiding my gender at this school, because failing to do so

Chapter 12

gotten hold of the thing I never knew I always wanted: a chance at

ready to give that up with

for the chance to

in my blankets, and I close my eyes and force myself to try and go back to sleep –

wake up early, some kind of Alpha alarm clock that I

‘em, little cousin!” Jesse shouts, throwing a pillow into the open curtain of my nook. I jump and shrick when it hits me right in the

get an extra hour of sleep,” I growl, pulling the blankets over myself

want breakfast, they don’t,” Rafe says, laughing and yanking my away, making me shriek

duvet

it just come up in the dumbwaiter?” I ask, sitting up finally when I

out of the bathroom, brushing as he strides around the room in his

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