The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 0509

Ben leans closer to Jesse, probably explaining quite patiently that Jesse's completely misinterpreting the entire situation, as I tug on Luca's sleeve, feeling his anger surge, trying to draw his eyes back down to me.

"Luca, please," I say quietly, a little desperate, glancing between him and Jackson. "I can explain."

To my surprise, Luca snaps his eyes shut and forces himself to take a long, deep breath. And I realize that this is not at a performance - that he's actually working, really hard, to control his temper and to not flip out, even though everything inside of him is telling him to do that. After a few long moments, Luca opens his eyes again, settling them on Jackson, who sits very still on the couch, watching Luca's every move.

"What are you doing here, man?" Luca asks, and even though his voice trembles a little bit with his anger, I can tell that Luca is working incredibly hard to be casual, to appear cool.

Jackson, I can see, senses this too. His reply is just as even. "I'm having dinner," he says quietly. "Ariel asked me to come."

another deep breath and shifts his gaze to me. "Okay. Could

taking his

he's going to stand up and come with us - like he's worried at me. I look

there's no risk here - Luca would never hurt me, and he's working so hard to contain his temper, he doesn't need

my mate and

his hair. "So, are you like, aware of the deal that Jackson and I struck?" he asks, confusion mixing with his dulling anger now. "Because...we kind of made a deal that he wasn't supposed to be here for

my hands behind my back and forcing myself to meet his eyes, determined to do right by Luca and tell him the full truth as plainly as I can. "But...I don't like how you and Jackson made that decision without asking me, Luca. I told him this as well, but I'd like to be consulted, in the future, when you decide how

soon after the words leave his mouth. I can feel that, down the bond. "We weren't trying

much - how hard Luca is working to control his temper. "Okay," I say quietly, nodding so that he sees I understand as he lifts his eyes to meet mine. "But...

can feel Luca go rigid

dinners and study time," I say quietly, forcing myself to continue, to make my point heard.