The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



“Okay, buddy," I say with a grin. "Juice me up."

"Don't call me buddy," he mutters, "or Jacky. Or anything that ends in -ie."

"Yes, puppy," I sigh, my grin deepening. But Jackson just rolls his eyes before he closes them and begins to concentrate again. Immediately I feel the energy fill me, a warm buzz of power that floods into me like an ocean wave. But as soon as it gets quite near the point where I start to feel full of it - like I can't hold anymore - I concentrate on my hand in Rafe's, on the bond I have with my brother which I know has always been strong.

And suddenly I feel it happen - feel the energy start to siphon off like a stream from a wide lake. I grin, turning to Rafe, watching, waiting... And when he starts to feel it, his eyes go wide. I give a little push, letting it flood into him a little, and Rafe gasps, his hair nearly standing on end. "Holy shit, holy shit!" Rafe stutters, dropping my hand and scrambling away from me. "Are you...are you serious!?"

"Whoa," Jackson says, his eyes going wide, the energy still flowing into me but now with nowhere to go.

Laughing, a little desperate to put the energy somewhere before I get overfilled, I reach out for Jesse, giving him a bunch of power in a single rush. Jesse gives a little shriek, jumping away from my touch and scrambling, like Rafe, away from me and towards the headboard.

I laugh, dropping Jackson's hand and falling back into his arms, which he wraps obligingly around me. "See?" I say, desperately pleased and eager as I look towards my brother and my cousin, who just gape and stare back at us. "Now we're all awake."

"Hooooly crap," Rafe breathes, looking between me and Jackson. "Ariel - Jacks - this is...this is huge. This is..." he shakes his head, dazed. "Why - why can we do that?"

"Dad always said the three of us have a bond, like a literal one," Jesse says, gesturing towards me and Rafe. I turn to listen to him, but my eyes go wide at what I see. "I mean,” he continues, little puffs of shadow starting to spill from his mouth as he goes, "I guess Ariel and Jackson can share because they have a bond? Which means we..."

Jesse sees all of us gaping at him.

"What," he asks, immediately starting to get freaked out. "What's going on?"

"Um, cousin?" I say gently, leaning forward and gesturing towards my own mouth. "You're...leaking. A little bit.”

Jesse looks down and jumps a little

when he sees the little cloud of shadow forming in front of him. "Shit," he mutters, and then he takes a deep breath, closing his eyes and continuing to breathe deeply. As we all watch, the shadows slowly slip back into him. When he opens his eyes a few seconds later, they're all gone.

Rafe frowns between us, still a little freaked. "Yeah. We need to tell mom."

I look up at Jackson. "Do you think that was because..."

"Probably," he says, looking down at me.

"Hey," Jesse says, giving Jackson a kick. “No cryptic mate-speak when it involves my magic. What's going on?"

Jackson sighs a little, looking at the

clock before he looks back to Rafe and Jesse. I can use my magic to boost Ariel's," he says. "Probably has the same effect on yours. Sorry man we should have... thought of that before we experimented."

"No worries," Jesse says, giving a little shrug. "No harm done. I think." He looks down at himself again, like he's double checking.

"All right, enough magic play for one

et

morning. Let go for our run," Jacks says, lifting me easily off the bed and setting me on my feet before getting to his own. "And then see if they will send the breakfast up here. Because I am starving now

"Triple breakfast for Jackson, I suppose," I say, smiling up at my mate, wrapping my arms around his waist.

"Quadruple,” he sighs, bending down and giving me a little kiss on the forehead, "if I have to supply energy for those two as well."

"Only in times of desperation," I whisper, grinning. “Every other day, I get to be selfish.”noveldrama

“Let's go!” Rafe whoops, jumping out of the bed and striding across the room, Jackson's energy burst apparently doing its job for him as well. “Let's do this run and then call our moms, tell them all the weird shit that just happened!"

Jesse whoops too, dashing for the bathroom.

None of us mention the little trail of shadows that chase him there, though Jackson looks at me with a bit of a grimace.

I just laugh, standing on my toes and tilting my head back, begging for another kiss.

Which my mate, ever gracious, willingly provides.