The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 33

I’m almost too exhausted to notice how fast the next week passes. Jesse wakes me up early every day, and I scowl at Rafe, who snores peacefully while Jesse drags me out the door for our run. He seriously puts me through my paces, too, not even relenting when I try to bribe him.

“Please,” I beg, “I’ll give you my crown –“

“Why would I want your crown, I’m a duke –“

“But dukes,” I pant, “don’t get anything pretty to wear on their heads –“

But Jesse just laughs, and makes me run harder.

The candidate lessons are no less brutal. Every other day is spent running through that damn obstacle course, and even though Jesse and Rafe make me work out every night I still can’t climb that damn chain. I mean, I am getting better, which is satisfying. I can pull myself up about three feet of it now. But still, every day, after ten minutes of trying, the Lieutenant at that point on the course blows the whistle and lets me climb the ladder, putting a further demerit on my time.

Even Ben gets up faster than I do now, looking down at me with apology in his eyes as he does. But I just scowl and wave him off.

Rafe and Jesse really put the time in with Ben and I every evening, which has actually become as fun as it is useful. Ben has proven himself to have one hell of a sense of humor, and he makes me laugh so hard it feels like my sides will split. Even Rafe, as he pushes us around and tells us to get back to work, can’t help but smile.

Still, it’s nice to have made a real friend.

Every day the four of us eat our meals together and every morning our eyes go immediately to the ranking list to see what the previous day’s exams – if any – have done to our numbers.

And while I’m never, ever going to beat out the big guys like Rafe and Jesse – I have to say, I’m holding my own.

This morning, I grin when the numbers come up to see that I’m ranked at 75 – a personal high spot for me. Jesse slaps me on the back, laughing and grinning.

“Nicely done, Ari!” he says, smiling at me with true pleasure. “Looks like the marksmanship competition yesterday did its work.”

He’s not wrong. There are still enough hand-to-hand bouts that while my win against Jackson and my second place on the logic exam pulled me out of the cut zone above 96, I’ve been hovering right on the edge for days. But yesterday, when they finally put a crossbow and then a gun in my hands?

Then I really showed them what I could do. Because even if dad didn’t let me train like Rafe did, he always made sure I could handle myself with a gun – more than handle myself, really. I came in second, falling only behind Rafe but beating Jesse, who came in at 5.

“Thank you,” I say, preening a little as I dig into my pancakes. But when my eyes fall on Ben’s blank expression, I feel instant guilt. Because here I am celebrating, and I didn’t even look to see how he did.

“We’re going to get you there, Ben,” Rafe says as my eyes fly back to the board, where Ben is ranked at 100. “Four spots. That’s nothing.”

“You really are getting faster, Ben,” I say, nodding to him encouragingly.

“Don’t fuss over me,” Ben says, his face breaking into a smile as he waves a hand around at us. “I’m fine. Seriously, it’s fine, it’s way better than 119, where I was. So. Progress is a good thing.”

I smile at him, nodding, even though a knot twists in my stomach. Because there are only 5 days left until the final ranking, and both of us are still in a great deal of trouble. None of our runs of the obstacle course have counted yet, and the one on the last day? It counts as double any of the rest of the tests, because we’ve practiced it so many times.

And Ben and I? Even despite our extra credit work after hours with Rafe and Jesse – we’re still crap at it.

Inwardly, I sigh, wondering how much better we can even get, or what the other exams will be.

We can do it! My wolf yips encouragingly, prancing around inside me. We are strong and brave! No one can stop us!

Smiling, I run a mental hand over her fur, grateful for her high spirits and constant support.

And then, once we’re in the Academy, she babbles, we can get a private room! And invite our mates over to visit us –

I sigh, shaking my head and brushing her away, ignoring her crazy words.

But, even if she can’t stop thinking about our mates, I have to admit…the lure of the Academy itself? It’s starting to sound better and better.

Chatter has been going around, of course, about what life is like inside. And honestly…I can’t wait to see it – presuming, of course, that I get there. It just sounds amazing – you get sorted into a discipline, and then you get to spend months learning the most in-depth, obscure, secret things about whatever that discipline is –