The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 0384

And by the tension in his shoulders, I can tell that he's working very, very hard to embody that.

"Come here, Ariel," he murmurs, standing by the door and beckoning with one hand, the other resting on his hip.

I send one last desperate glance at Daphne before walking to stand in front of my father.

When I stand about a foot in front of him he takes a deep breath in through his nose and reaches out to brush my hair back over my shoulder. "Well, baby trouble," he murmurs. "You smell...different."

The amount of deliberate understatement in that last word makes me fight back a groan.

I bite my lip, tucking my hands behind my back. "Is it bad?" I whisper.

"No, baby," he sighs, shaking his head at me and giving me a small smile, stroking his broad hand over my hair." It's not bad, not at all. Just...not as easy for a dad. Which is something Rafe and Mark might understand one day, but fortunately for you, you never will."

my arms around my dad's waist, crushing myself against his chest. "I'm sorry," I

close. "I'm just... adjusting. You're my little girl, and now

it's not like you have to give me up," I murmur, shutting my

have to kill me before I did that," he whispers, and I grin, looking up into his

over at

it?" I ask, pulling back a little and

his wrist. He looks at me seriously. "But the Atalaxians have called a surprise meeting and...I don't think it's good. I want

against my neck and then down over my hair, just as Jesse did every morning and after every shower at the academy. Almost a knee jerk reaction, I hold

for?" I

raised eyebrow which lets me know precisely how he feels about that, "but it should be enough to

do as

a Sinclair. The Atalaxians don't need to know about your double-mate situation, and with Luca in the room too they'll

at my wrists and wondering why Rafe and Jesse didn't think of that this morning. Then I look up at my dad out of the comer