The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 145

I burst into a grin because instantly, instantly I have an answer to why Luca didn’t come to the dream state last night.

Both Luca and Ben are sitting at our table with full plates of food in front of them, their faces green. Ben rests his head against his folded arm and gives up halfway through giving us a wave of greeting. Luca just sits with his eyes closed, massaging his temples and looking like he’s going to vomit at any minute. But his eyes fly open when Ben murmurs his hellos.

Luca is instantly on his feet, passing Rafe and moving directly for me. Before I can stop him, he takes my face in his hands, looking down into my eyes with such sorrow and regret that my mouth falls open.

“I am so sorry,” he murmurs. “We –“

“Would you cut it out!?” Jesse hisses, hitting Luca hard on the forearm and knocking his hands away. Luca jumps a little and steps back, looking guiltily towards Jesse and then to Rafe, who thankfully had his back turned.

But my heart goes out to Luca, whose emotions I can feel down the bond – such guilt, and worry, and the idea that he let me down –

I just shake my head at him, smiling, passing feelings of calm and content down the bond. Because I get it – it was a mistake. He and Ben got caught up drinking – it’s really not a big deal.

“Wow,” Rafe says, laughing as he looks first at Ben and then at Luca as we all take our seats, me by Luca’s side as usual. “You two…you look like crap.”

“Thank you,” Ben says, smiling half-heartedly at Rafe, “for your kind words. I am far from crap. I aspire to be crap. I am…much much worse.”

“What the hell were you drinking?” Jesse asks, helping himself to the full carafe of coffee on the table and pouring me and Rafe a cup as well.

“Vodka,” Luca sighs, as if the very word pains him. “At least, they said it was vodka. One of the older cadets probably made it in their bathtub – that’s what it tasted like.”

“Ew,” I say, grabbing a blueberry muffin from the basket on the table.

“Will you eat one of those for me?” Luca asks, longing at the muffin longingly. “They look so good, and I’m so hungry, but even the idea of food…” He exhales sharply, his cheeks puffing out as he shakes his head.

“Poor baby,” I murmur, taking a big bite and chewing with relish. “It’s your own fault, rule breaker.”

“Oh please, little miss sanctimonious,” he murmurs, low enough to get away with the feminine address but making me sit up sharply anyway.

“What?!” I ask, laughing.

“Don’t try to pretend you weren’t drinking red wine last night.”

I gasp, sitting up straight, because…how did he know!?

“Ari was what?” Rafe asks, frowning between Luca and I.

“Drinking,” Luca says, pointing at me with an accusatory finger and ratting me out. I gasp again at the betrayal. “Wherever he was before I found him in the hallway about to get murdered? He had wine.”

Rafe narrows his eyes a me. “Seriously, Ari? Wine, with Daphne? You’re risking it all for a glass of wine?”

“No one was ever going to know!”

“Who’s Daphne?” Luca asks, suddenly desperately interested.

“My girlfriend,” I snap, glaring at him, which makes him burst into laughter.

“Don’t play with fire, Ari,” Rafe says, still disappointed in me, and I sigh and nod, silently making a sibling promise between him and I that I won’t do it again.

But then I glare at Luca, who just laughs at me, teasing. I just shake my head, wondering how the hell he knew that…

But then words echo in my head, clear as day, in Luca’s voice: I could taste it on you, he murmurs, a caress in my mind.

And I gasp despite myself, delighted and a little scandalized at once.

Mind-to-mind!? We can speak mind-to-mind!?

I grin at my mate, and he smiles back with a wink. But then he flinches like even that hurt him in his hungover state, and I laugh, thinking that he deserves it for telling on me.