The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy
Chapter 0288

"It wasn't...hard," dad says, leaning back in his chair and thinking about it. "But it was different. It wasn't like yours - I met your mother long after I met Lydia, and we had enough trouble figuring out that your mom was a wolf before we ever figured out that she was my mate. I think that had I met them at the same time..." he hesitates and then grimaces at me. "I think it would have been...insane. Mostly because they would have torn each other to pieces."

"Yeah," I say, grimacing too as I lean back in my chair. "We had...a bit of that."

"No!" dad says, grinning at me and leaning forward, clearly wanting to hear more. I smile at my dad, because as much as he pretends he's so serious, he loves gossip as much as the rest of us. And so I launch into the story, telling him about the night that Jacks and Luca found out about each other, and how they shifted, and how Jesse and Rafe had to intercede, and how Ben knocked me out of the way and probably saved me from some serious harm.

"Wow," dad says when it's all done, looking a little pale as he runs a hand through his hair. "You were...lucky, Ariel. That could have been way worse. And I like this Ben character even more than I did before." "Yes, Ben's a gem,” I say, smiling. “But Jesse and Rafe have been amazing,” I continue, keeping my voice soft. "They really helped me to negotiate the whole thing, and calm Luca and Jackson down, and helped me advocate for myself when emotions were running high. I'm very lucky to have them."

Dad nods, thinking it through, and then we proceed to have a very long breakfast in which he asks for more details about my bonds with Luca and Jackson - nothing intimate, just the basics of how they feel, any abilities that come along with it, the politics of having to manage them.

And then, to my surprise, he tells me the long story of his first mate. Of how she had been engaged to Uncle Roger, and the torture of discovering that she was his mate when he reached his majority, and how she made it worse for years by insisting that he keep it a secret until Grandpa Henry finally decided to declare dad his heir, not Roger. And then Lydia had shocked everyone by revealing her mating bond with my dad and leaving Roger for his younger brother.

"Wow," I say, kind of shocked. "She sounds...not nice."

"Lydia was...complicated," dad says on a sigh, lifting his eyes to mine. "And it wouldn't have bothered her, at all, that people didn't think she was nice. She cared much more about being powerful, and refined, and in control. She was a whirlwind of a woman - very easy to get caught up in, not at all concerned with the destruction she left in her wake."

I go quiet for a little, studying my dad, wondering how someone like that could be his mate. Because mom...mom is the opposite of all of that. And dad and she match so well.

"I was a different man when I was younger, Ariel," dad says evenly, intuiting the direction of my thoughts and telling me the truth even though I can see it pains him a little to do so. "I was...angry, and desperate for Lydia after so many years pining for her. And Grandpa Henry was...a different man too. He was still mourning the loss of mom and his political position." Dad sighs, shaking his head. "It almost killed Roger and my relationship - we only got back on track after Cora and your mom came on the scene. They changed our entire world for the better."

I smile a little, liking that part of the story. "So, how did you change?" I ask quietly, really wanting to know. "How did you becoming...someone who matches mom, instead of Lydia?"

"Grief," he says, quite honestly, meeting my eyes. "It was a dark time, realizing that Lydia wasn't the right match for me. Rejecting her - it almost killed me, Ariel. And I mean that quite literally - almost killed me in a physical way. The claim that a fated mate has on you, body and soul," he sighs, looking down. "It is no small thing to reject them. It took me years to recover, but I think the crucible of that pain...allowed me to become the man who was worthy of your mom."

He looks up again, studying me. I look back at him quite seriously.

"Does that make sense?" he asks, his voice quiet.

Slowly, I nod. But I don't say anything.

"What is it, daughter?" dad asks, leaning forward and taking my hand. Because he can tell something is wrong.

And then, my voice soft in my fear, I tell him about Luca and Jackson's decision - their request that I eventually choose one of them, and not just have them both. Because now that I know, at least second- hand, what it's like to reject your mate?

God, could I even do it?

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