The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 69

“Fine.” I say, yawning into my wine. “Just for you, Daphne. I’ll bite the bullet and make out with Luca Grant someday and tell you all about it.”

She laughs with me, but…well, my wolf turns in an eager circle in my soul, desperately hoping that I do.

“Thank you, what a martyr you

what a martyr you are,” she says, sarcastic, but then she sighs and glances at the clock. “I think it’s time to get you back, though.”

My jaw drops open as I look up at her clock too. “That’s impossible,” I murmur, shaking my head.

“Deeply unfair,” she agrees, putting her wine down and reaching for mine, which I hand to her. “Will you help me make some deliveries on the way up?” she asks, gesturing towards some boxes by the door. I murmur that of course I will – I’m a gentleman cadet, after all and she laughs as we both fill our arms with boxes.

Daphne leads me through the back corridors of the castle and, true to her word, we don’t meet a single soul. I’m fascinated by the passages, which are so different from the ones I traverse every day – much darker, smaller, and more secret. We take a freight elevator upwards and I’m a little surprised when the door opens directly into the corridor where the majority of the cadet dorms are. Ben, I think, is somewhere on this floor.

“Oh,” I say, surprised as we step out of the elevator and the doors close, blending seamlessly with the stone wall. I run my fingers over the place where the door just was, fascinated. “God, you’d never know it was there…”

“I know,” she says. “Cool, right? Come on,” she nods towards the boys‘ doors and we quietly walk along, dropping boxes outside of doors and giving a little knock before we move away. to the next one. Calls of thanks follow us down the hall but Daphne moves quickly so that there’s no time to respond.

When our boxes run low towards the center of the corridor, though, Daphne curses lightly under her breath, looking down at the one in her hands.

“What?” I ask.

“I brought the wrong one,” she sighs, looking up at me and then back towards the elevator. “Do you mind? We have to go back and get it

“That’s okay.” I say, smiling at her. “You go on – I’ll drop off these two,” I say, nodding to the ones in my hand, “and then continue upstairs.”

Daphne bites her lip, looking over at me, clearly remembering her promise to Rafe.

“I’m two flights of stairs away from my room, Daph,” I say, grinning at her. “I think I can take the risk.”

nods. “Okay. But if his Highness asks, I walked you all the way to the

worries,” I say, and then I reach out to give her a quick hug before she scurries back towards

door as I go. God, it was just so great to be able to talk freely to someone. I mean, I can talk to Jesse and Rafe, but

“Hey!”

spin in the hall towards the voice behind me,

see Alan Wright standing over the package that I just

the hell are you doing with my uniform!?” he

a few steps back. “I

are you

just helping! I –”

I gasp in surprise and then grab his wrists, baring my teeth and kicking at his

and hauling me forward so I don’t have the room to

you alone,

into my face. “I’m glad I finally got you

choking a little and scrabbling at his wrist, scratching and smacking at it, trying to hurt him enough so he’ll

that I my head snaps back on

though I’m truly concentrating on

all about that stunt you pulled in the obstacle course! You and god damn McClintock what did you do, pay

didn’t do anything!”

DID!” Alan

down the hallway, faces popping out as Wright shoves me away from him and raises his fist like he’s going to beat me to a pulp. “You cheated, and you weaseled your way into this

flinch back as Wright moves towards me, because this man –

back now as I turn

–

is telling me to run. I turn just in time to see Lucal grabbing Wright by the arm, hauling him

of me!” Wright shouts.

him, hard, so that he stumbles

into his fangs at the threat of a real fight, “these god damn royals getting whatever they

Wright now, “carned his spot here, just like