The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy novel Chapter 967

“If he could,” I sigh, pulling a grape off a stem and popping it into my mouth. “His uncle probably would have already done it.” I pause a moment, looking my mate up and down. “So, you’re okay with all of that? The whole conversation?”

Jackson shrugs. “Rafe said Luca came around and was all contrite when we were in Atalaxia. I don’t like that he was hiding out in the courtyard like a coward. I didn’t like the sight of you standing alone with him after he hurt you –“

“But –“ I protest, sitting straight.

Jackson puts up a hand, smirking at me, silently begging me to let him finish. I grin and sit back. “But,” he says, putting steady emphasis on the word. “You’re a powerful goddess. You can handle yourself. So, yes, Ariel, I’m good with it. As long as you are.”

“Yeah, I am too,” I say quietly, beaming at him.

Jackson leans forward, capturing my hand, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. “The conversation was inevitable. And he’ll try it again. You just let me know if I ever need to come in and smack him. You know I’d only be pleased to so.”

I grin at Jacks and nod, stretching my hands above my head and yawning.

We spend a little more time just like that – quietly talking together, turning over the events of the past few days, adjusting to our new roles. Eventually we find ourselves curled up in the little loveseat in the corner of the room, sitting quietly, passing emotions passively back and forth down the bond as we sort through our thoughts.

I sip my second glass of wine, my mouth turning slightly down in a frown, my eyes distant as I get a bit lost in my thinking.

“What is it?” Jackson murmurs, pressing a kiss to my hair.

“Hmm?” I say, jumping a little, turning my face to him.

“You’re…unsettled,” he murmurs, tightening his arms around me, pulling me more completely into his lap so that we’re face to face again. “You can talk to me about it, if you want to.”

I sigh, thinking that…yes. That I have a question for him, and even if I haven’t figured out quite how to phrase it, I may as well ask. I finish my glass of wine and put the glass on the floor before slinging my arms around Jackson’s neck, looking him steadily in the eye.

“Jacks,” I say, quiet. “I didn’t like it, at all, when Luca suggested that I wouldn’t, or shouldn’t, want to raise Marigold with you because she’s not the result of a goddess-blessed bond. It gave me…a very bad feeling in my stomach.”