The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

This gets his attention, and he snaps his face to mine, snarling and baring his teeth. But I just cross my arms, glaring up at him. “Would you listen to me? I know things, all right? And she’s not here.”

Jackson goes still, just staring at me.

“I’m not tricking you, Jacks!” I shout, frantic myself now, wanting to get a move on, wanting to get his mind back on the correct problem before he wastes more time than he already has. “Do you think I’d lie to you? Seriously, after everything we’ve been through in the past few months – I know I’m still keeping things from you, Jacks, but do you honestly think I’d turn you away from your mate if she really needed your help!?”

Jackson’s face softens slightly as he stares at me, his teeth still bared.

And I nod once when I see his eyes clear, see him believe me.

Because, despite everything, over the past few months we have become friends. I have earned some of his trust, and he knows I won’t betray him.

Jackson stares at me for a few moments longer and I hold his gaze, willing him to take my side.

And then he just turns, covering his face with his hand as he tilts his head up to the sky, groaning as he shakes his head. “God, Clark, what the fuck is going on?” he murmurs against his palms.

And I sigh, shaking my head, wanting desperately to tell him, to make this easier on him.

“Can we just go, Jacks?” I say on a sigh, exhausted by all of this – by the Examination, by the sight of my mate so upset, by the fact that another cadet just tried very hard to murder me.

And god, we’re not even an hour into this bullshit.

Slowly Jackson turns, sighing himself, meeting my eyes. “I don’t understand this, Ari,” he whispers, and the fact that he’s using my name now – not Clark – warms me.

“I know,” I say in reply, taking a step towards him. “I’m sorry.”

He just shakes his head, closing the distance between us and wrapping a broad hand around my arm. “Is she okay?”

I exhale sharply, looking up at him. “She’s fine.”

He stares at me, confused, but I look to the right, along the ridge. Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“Come on,” I say, taking a step forward and pulling him with me. “Jacks, we have to go. We can’t stay here – we have to get to the end.”

He tightens his hand, not letting me get away. “Do you promise?” he breathes, and I turn back to him, my heart aching at his sincerity. “Do you promise she’s safe?”

“She is now,” I say, steady.

Jackson takes a deep breath, nodding once, and then drops his hand from my arm. I nod back, steady, and then I start again, adjusting the crossbow slung over my back, and I don’t look back to see if he’s following. Because I know that he is.

My mate – of course he’s at my side. Of course he is. And with him here, I actually have a shot at surviving this.

Jackson and I walk for a long time in silence, and I give him the space to pull himself together. I don’t miss, out of the corner of my eye, that he sends worried looks over his shoulder and I swear at one point that I hear a very wolfish whine of worry come from his throat.

But I just breathe out and concentrate on moving forward and paying attention to our surroundings, because one of us needs to be attentive to the world around us. A thousand things could happen now, the most dangerous of which would be getting attacked by another larger group of cadets.

As we walk, though, I calm, and I feel Jackson next to me do the same. Passively, I wonder if that’s just normal empathy letting me know that he’s calming down and starting to concentrate on the situation at hand, or if it’s the connection between us, growing deeper.

After about twenty of minutes of walking, Jackson pushes a canteen against my chest, making my jump a little. “Drink,” he murmurs, and I glance to the side to see him pulling his own map out of his pocket, looking over it. “Let me see your map,” he murmurs. “I want to make sure that they’re the same.”