The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy novel Chapter 691

“They’re positioning all of our year of Academy Cadets here,” Rafe says, tapping the map again with his finger. We all lean forward, studying it – even Jackson, who I know was in on the meeting with Rafe and saw this all before. “With our little group in the center of it.”

“Wolf pack,” I murmur, nodding.

“What?” Tony asks, looking over his shoulder at me.

I blush slightly. “Something Neumann called it,” I respond, refocusing on Rafe as he continues explaining, either not having heard me or ignoring me.

“I don’t hate it,” Tony replies, giving a shrug and turning back to the map.

“The whole point of calling us up is sheer numbers,” Rafe explains, drawing his finger now across the entire line of Moon Valley troops. “Roger wants a big assault on this cliff-side entrenchment, says we’ve got to get the Atalaxians out of there and on flat ground, either in front or below it.”

“He’s not wrong,” Jackson adds, giving a steady nod.

Rafe nods too, continuing on. “So it’s a big assault. The problem is, every time they’ve considered or tried it before the Atalaxians see it coming and route the forces from behind. So we’ve basically got to surround them in a semicircle so they have no way to get around us. Then we tighten in, like a fist.”

He uses his own hand to demonstrate. I gulp.

“Academy Cadets are in the least important strategic position,” Jackson says, leaning around me to tap at our location on the map again. “We’re unlikely to be the focus of the attack – and the hope is that the Atalaxians don’t notice all the fresh faces and terror in our eyes, so they won’t know we’re vulnerable there. We’ll just be troops like all the others.”

“Oh,” I say, sitting back a little, feeling better.

“Yes, the hope is that we’ll just be bodies,” Rafe says, quite serious, looking around at all of us, his eyes pausing on Daphne as she keeps her eyes on the ironing, her mouth firmly set against whatever it is that’s pounding in her heart. “That we won’t see any big battle and we’ll be back at school in a few days.”

“Okay,” I say with a sigh, sitting back against the cushions. “That…that sounds like it could be worse.”

The group all nods with me, even as the dumbwaiter bell rings, signaling the arrival of dinner.