The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy
Chapter 0202

Jackson grins at me, not denying it, but scooping me up in his arms instead and turning me in a slow circle as he presses one last kiss to my mouth. "You can slow me down anytime you want, tiny.”

I bite my lip, grinning at him, and I nudge my nose with his before I kick and wriggle, begging to be put down. Jackson laughs, but he puts me back on his feet and we begin to assess our plan and our few possessions. We quickly share the water, though I insist Jackson drink the majority of it — I got some liquids out of the fruit, after all — and then I lift my crossbow, twisting my lips at it.

“Do you think I need this?" I ask quietly. “If we're going to rush, and climb...”

“Leave it,” he says, shrugging and making a snap decision as he likewise tosses his backpack into the brush. “We need to move fast now — any extra weight is a detriment. Besides,” he bends over, scooping my discarded hat out of the dust where we left it last night and holding it out to me, “I'm your weapon now.”

I snatch my hat from him, unable to keep the smile from my lips as I wind the majority of my hair onto my head and plop the hat over top of it. Because I quite like the idea of Jackson as my weapon.

Jackson smirks, helping me tuck the last strands of my hair beneath the brim. “Where on earth did my mate go? Now there's only her boyish twin, Ari Clark, marksman and chemical mastermind...”

“Don’t forget powerful sorcerer,” I say, lofty, as we both turn away from the plateau, and start out in the blue light of the morning.

“Oh, how could I forget,” he murmurs behind me, “melter of very tiny pieces of glass...such raw power..."

I laugh, shooting a little glare over my shoulder, but I focus on my steps on the narrow path ahead of me, which is barely a path and more of a lucky outcropping of rock. I marvel again at Jackson's sense of balance, as well as the fact that he found this in the dark.

When we get to the bottom of the cliff face, a little forest stretches out in front of us, beyond which I know is the bridge surrounded by cadets. I wonder, passively, whether those guarding it have crossed already? Or they're still biding their time, hoping to take out more of their “enemies” before they shift and make their run for the mountain?

“I'm going to go check,” Jackson says, looking forward through the woods. “You...wait here.”

“Okay,” I say, turning towards the forest.

“Here,” Jackson says, frowning and grabbing my arm. “Wait here, Ari." “Um, I don’t know if not going to the bathroom is part of your supernatural prowess, McClintock?" I say, looking a little awkwardly up at my mate. “But it is...not part of mine.”

He stares at me for a second before laughing, shaking his head. Then he stills, looking around into the forest around us, clearly casting out his hearing to see if anyone is close by. “Yeah, okay. Whatever. Just...don't go far, and return right here, yeah?"

I nod, ready to obey, trusting his senses more than my own.

He stoops closer, pressing a kiss to my mouth, and then as silently as a forest animal himself Jackson moves through the trees, heading for the edge of the forest so he can better see the bridge.

I wait until I can't see him anymore before I move a few trees away, ducking behind a particularly big one and relieving myself in a hurry, silently cursing men — or maybe just men’s fashion — for making this so much easier for men to do than women. But I finish up pretty quickly, quietly mourning the lack of toilet paper, before refastening my pants and heading back to the little spot where Jackson left me.

I grin as I see a black-clad form coming through the trees.

“That was fast,” I say quietly, smiling, my head dipping so that I don't trip over any roots.

“Oh, did you miss me?”

I freeze and my head flies up as I recognize that voice.

A dark, sour voice — and certainly not my mate's.

My eyes focus instantly on Alan Wrights, on the ugly sneer on his face. “Because I certainly didn’t miss you.”

I stumble backwards, frantic, seeking a way out —

But as he raises his hand, and I see my crossbow held steady there. And I know that... this is the end.

I open my mouth and scream even before Wright's finger tightens on the trigger -

Even before the bolt flies from the crossbow, lodging itself deep in my thigh.

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