The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



Luca's face bursts into a grin, I think loving the confidence with which I declare that none of our little group are going into battle without the others by our side.

"What, you don't believe me?" I ask, grinning at my mate.

"You just..." he shrugs, smiling and shaking his head at me, "have absolutely no authority to make that kind of claim."

I sit up straight. "I am a Princess of this nation," I say, tilting my head a bit.

"But you're not in the line of command," he says, holding out a hand to me. "Listen, Ariel, I have utter faith in you - you just...have no grounds on which to make that call."

I twist my lips to the side, considering this. “Well then," I says quietly, mostly to myself. “Looks like I'm going to have to get some grounds." Luca hums his support, nodding to me, and I heave a little sigh and turn my eyes up to him. "Is that all the news you wanted to tell me about?" "That's the gist of it," he says with a shrug. "I'm sure Rafe and Jacks will have more to fill you in on in their own way."

"Okay,” I say, my eyes glittering now with a bit of devious excitement. "You ready to do Faiza's homework with me?”

Luca quirks his head, picking up on my strange shift in mood. "I don't know, Ari – am I?"

I laugh, leaning forward and grabbing his hand, pulling him up to his feet. “You are – just trust me,” I say, beaming up at him when he stands straight. "This is right up your alley. You're going to love it."

"I kind of already do," he says with a smirk, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Anything that's got you this excited is bound to be interesting." "To say the least," I say, grinning and heading towards the door, grabbing his hand as I do. We stop to scoop up our bookbags as we hurry out. "Where are we going?" Luca asks, laughing as I pull him along the hall.

"To Daphne's room!" I call over my shoulder, giving him a grin.

My mate looks at me with surprise but then hurries his steps, as eager to hear what I'm planning as I am to show him.

A few minutes later, I rap excitedly at Daphne's door.

She opens it quite quickly - almost as if she was waiting for me. "Hey!" Daphne says, her eyes as bright and eager as her smile. "Come in!"noveldrama

"Hi hi!" I say, laughing and wrapping my friend in a hug. "Did Faiza come up?"

"Yes, I met your terrifying teacher," Daphne says, giving me a hug and then moving to give Luca one after he closes the door.

"Terrifying!?" I gasp, looking around at the few boxes that Faiza dropped off here. "She's not terrifying, she's nice."

"You...have a different definition of terrifying, Ariel," Daphne says, giving a little laugh and crossing her arms as I look up at her with a surprised grin. "think it may come from the fact that you grew up calling the scariest Alpha in the nation dad' and being bounced on his knee."

"My dad is not scary,” I say with a frown, defensively crossing my arms over my chest.

Daphne opens her mouth to object,

but Luca beats her to it. "Trust me, gorgeous," he says, crossing his own arms and giving me a level gaze. "Your dad is scary. Terrifying actually is the right word."

"He's very nice in repose," Daphne eagerly qualifies, holding out a hand to me. "But...I don't think anyone wants to cross him.”

Luca's face pales at some memory but I just roll my eyes at both of them and turn back towards the boxes. "You guys are crazy, dad's a big softie. What's in these?"

"I don't know, I didn't open them," Daphne says, coming over to me as I sit down between the boxes, starting to dig in.

"Have you no curiosity?" I ask my friend, my eyes glittering with excitement.

"Oh, I have plenty of curiosity," she says, folding her legs elegantly as she sinks to the floor next to me, peering into the box I've started to open. "I also have a job."

"Job schmob," I mutter, waving Luca over to us. He, too, takes a seat on the floor.

“What's all this?” he asks, likewise peering into the boxes.

“Disguises!” I say, laughing as I pull out a silky black wig that looks a great deal like Faiza's own hair - why on earth would she need this?

"Ohhhh," Daphne says, beginning to eagerly dig into the box, pulling out article after article of interesting clothing. "Oh, there's some good stuff in here..."

"What on earth is all this for," Luca murmurs, pulling out a short candy-pink wig and peering at it, baffled.

"My assignment," I say, pulling out

more objects of clothing and

accessories. "It's my new

assignment, while Faiza takes some time off. She wants me to

el.ne

concentrate on being able to blend into my environment, to change my personality to become...whoever I want people watching me to think I am."