The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy novel Chapter 308

He’s standing there holding the breakfast room door open with one broad hand, frowning around at all of us, looking like a god damn model. Somehow, he got his hands on a really nice pair of jeans, and a blue button-down shirt that looks like it was made for him, rolled up to his elbows. His look is all very simple, which suits him, but it’s very clearly expensive and tailored. And it suits his body completely, making him look…honestly, almost a little unreal, unnaturally perfect.

But the real coup is his hair. Jackson has always had a longish, shaggy mess of hair that really worked for his brutal, controlled-ferocity sort of vibe. But some genius has transformed that into a style, cropping Jackson’s hair closer on the sides and trimming the ends so that they’re more even. Now his hair falls into his face in a soft curtain of silky brown, and he just looks…

God, he looks like I want to jump him right now.

But if Jackson notices the effect his new appearance has on me, he doesn’t let me see it, instead quickly surveying the room and realizing that something is wrong.

When his eyes fall on me, and he sees the trace of devastation left on my face, and puts together that something happened to me?

His response is immediate.

“What is it,” he growls, slamming the door shut and striding into the room so that he stands across the table from me, leaning far across the wood to lock his eyes with me, smacking his hand down against the surface. “Who did this to you? Are you all right? What happened?”

Jackson absolutely ignores everyone else in the room and a swell of joy and pride rises in me, pride for my big scary Alpha mate who is ready to tear the world apart because something made me sad.

“I’m okay,” I say, putting a hand out on the table like he’s doing, not reaching for him but wanting to be closer. “I promise, Jacks, I’m okay.”

Incrementally Jackson relaxes, standing taller and starting to look around the room. I do the same, a little entertained by the shock on almost everyone’s faces. But some people aren’t shocked, or don’t show it. My eyes move first to Rafe, Jesse, and my dad, who look stern and pleased, like this is precisely the reaction they were expecting from him.

And then to my mom, who I see is bursting with pride for Jackson as well, not at all startled by a huge man storming around and slamming his hand on tables, demanding answers. That’s just a normal Tuesday morning for her, after all.