The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 165

I perk up, curious. I didn’t know that Rafe kept anything at all from Jesse – I mean, the three of us are very close, but I’m well aware that the bond between Rafe and Jesse is particularly close-knit.

“Of course,” I say instantly, meaning it. If my brother asks me to keep a secret, I’m going to do it.

“There was a point a couple of years ago when dad caught me…with a girl.”

I gasp, delighted. “Who was it!?” I ask, leaning forward towards him.

“Not the point of the story,” Rafe says, giving me a tiny glare before I grin and he moves on. “Anyway, dad wasn’t mad at me or anything, but we sat down and he told me some stuff that really…stuck with me. And I’m going to say it now to you – and you can do what you want with it but I hope you’ll listen.”

Fascinated, I nod.

“He told me,” Rafe sighs, pressing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, “that when Aunt Cora and Uncle Roger brought me to the Goddess to have me baptized as a baby that…they saw that I have a mate.”

“Rafe!” I gasp, leaning further forward and smacking him on the knee, “that is amazing! Oh my god! Do you know who it is!?”

He shakes his head, dropping his hand from his face and looking evenly at me. “Dad didn’t want to give me any details because he wants me to live my life as normally as I can. But he saw how much I liked this girl and…” he shrugs, trying to figure out his words, “he just wanted me to think about what it might mean to fall in love when I know that I’ve got something big coming my way that would…interrupt that.”

I sit back against the couch now, seeing where he’s going with this.

“I know you…like Luca,” Rafe says softly, and my heart swells to see how much my brother is working to care for me. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. But just…take care of his heart and yours, all right? Jackson is…”

Rafe looks towards the door, hesitating.

I smile a little, seeing him work to try to understand my complicated, taciturn other mate. Jackson has been around a little bit more, but he hasn’t exactly ingratiated himself with the group over the past weeks – and honestly, I know that Luca has been a large part of turning him away.

But Rafe, I can tell, doesn’t dislike Jackson. He just doesn’t get our connection, not yet.

“Jackson’s important,” I say quietly, nodding, understanding where Rafe is going with this. “I get it. But Rafe,” I slowly shake my head, silently asking me to trust me on this too, “Luca’s important too, all right?”

Rafe sighs and, to my surprise, moves closer on the couch, wrapping me in his arms and hugging me tight. “I know,” he murmurs, giving me a kiss on the head in much the same way that dad does. “I just don’t want either of you to get your hearts broken, okay? Just…be careful, little sister.”

“I will,” I sigh, allowing myself to relax against my brother’s warm side for a moment, letting him worry about me in a way that makes me feel comforted and protected. I fight the desperate urge to just spill everything now, to reveal all the details.

But…we’re just so close to finals and the Examination.. Spilling to him that I’ve got two mates, and that Luca is one of them? It’s going to blow up Rafe’s world and completely freak him out precisely when he needs to concentrate.

Rafe and I stay close like that for the next hour or so, sitting on the couch and studying separately even though I feel closer to him in this moment than I ever have before. We both jump a little, the stillness of our moment interrupted, when Jesse and Luca come back into the room covered in sweat, Ben looking relaxed as he follows behind.