The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 0248

Neumann laughs at my inappropriate remark, shaking his head. “I was hard on you to push you,

Clark. You work harder when you’re terrified. Someone has to herd you along towards your potential, after all,” he looks around the room now, glaring a bit at my friends and my family, who all beam at me. “These ones, I suspect, pet you a little too much.”

“Thank you, sir,” Rafe says formally, coming forward, but Neumann just waves a hand at him, turning his attention back to me. I grin, a little pleased to have a professor pay more attention to me than Rafe, who is usually the golden boy.

“Don’t listen to what those other Cadets said at the final test, either,” Neumann says, stern.

“Do you

hear me on that? Half of them failed anyway, so they don’t know what they’re talking about. You’re very promising, and we’re incredibly excited about your future in the department. Not every successful cadet needs to be a bastion of physical force in order to be useful to the nation’s military. Understood?”

I nod eagerly, tucking my hands behind my back and straightening my shoulders, bolstered by the fact that he believes in me. And, quite frankly, the fact that half my classmates failed

out.

Jerks.

me now, conspiratorial, “if any King has any particular objections on the matter, you can tell him that I said that.

open a little as I realize that Neumann… knows. He

disappoint me,” my professor finishes, giving a sharp nod and then turning away and striding down the hall. “I wish you all a happy winter break!” he calls to us, “get it out of your systems, children! When you return in the spring, I will expect you

shock and thrill

around at the group of Alphas standing in the quietly beaming at me, waiting for me to

room, all

the air, my eyes squeezing shut in

the room and suddenly I’m swept off my feet.

cheeks, and tells me how wonderful I am and how they’re not at all surprised. I laugh the whole time, barely able to process it, almost knocked out in my wonder and surprise and joy.

by the joy of it, when someone clears their throat at the

to see Jackson standing there, frowning around at us. What’s going

that he’s

he says, slowly, looking around at