The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 1003

Ariel moves ahead of Jesse, quietly opening the bedroom door and then the front door, clearing the way. Jesse passively bids Jackson and Marigold goodnight as he goes, but his mind is distracted. He doesn't even see if Marigold is still awake.

Instead, he just keeps his eyes on the grass in front of him, aiming for Midnight's new little cabin, wondering what the hell he's supposed to do now - what he can say to convince his little mate to trust them, to free her wolf of the darkness.

"Oh!" says a surprised voice.

Jesse whips his head up and stops in his tracks, his eyes fastening on the red- headed young woman standing in the path before him, a basket over her arm.

Midnight opens her eyes, turning her gaze towards the girl, a growl sounding in her chest.

Jesse just...freezes. Completely without anything to say for one of the first times in his life.

“Um,” Daphne says, her worried eyes flicking between Jesse's face and the sad little demon in his arms. "I'm so sorry - I didn't mean to intrude - I was just... Cora asked me to leave some prototype designs in her new house so I...I'm...I'm so sorry..."

She blushes furiously, her shoulders going up around her ears as she looks down at her basket.

"Be gone, whore," Midnight snarls, her voice deep and vicious.

"Midnight!" Jesse gasps, coming back to himself, hoisting her higher in his arms and snapping his eyes down to see that she's gone full shadow ghoul again, with pits for eyes and that hollow of a mouth leaking clouds of shadow. "Apologize, right now! You're being so rude -"

little squeak of terror

tightening around her. "You are not allowed to be mean

turning back to normal, and she turns her grief- filled little face up

down at her, livid. "She's lovely. And an employee of this Academy! You are not allowed

in his soul, angry in turn that he'd be so cruel to his tiny mate when she's having such a

her eyes, and rests her head back against his chest. "I'm sorry," she whispers. "My instinct is

not a whore,"

path to the little cottage,

for more traces

But still, he knows that even she'll

she was frightened that

now, he needs to get Midnight to bed. "At least we know your shadows still work, even when

Midnight says, going a bit stiff with surprise in his arms,

heels of her paths in against her eyes, wrapping her shadows around her for comfort as she's always done. Stiff, she doesn't allow herself to slam the mental door on her wolf's

deeper in the corruption, devastated and

soaking up the darkness like a feather

lip at this,

she never even knew her wolf had

she been born