The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 42

I blink in surprise and a little bit of wonder, my mouth falling open a bit. What the – what the hell is this?

Luca, to his credit, responds much more ably, dropping his arm from my shoulder and putting his hands on his waist, grinning at the three other guys with the easy confidence of a man who can punch their lights out in a second.

Which, granted, he probably can.

“I’m sorry,” Luca says, his words easy though his tone carries just the barest edge, “looks like our reputation, naturally, proceeds us. But I can’t say the same for you, as I have no fucking clue who you are.”

“Alan Wright,” the tallest says, stepping forward and glaring into Luca’s face. A little bit of me is pleased that he has to look just slightly up to do it. “And you should know me, Grant – I’m ranked higher than you.”

I tilt my head a little in surprise because I do recognize the name – it’s consistently in the top ten, alongside my two mates, my brother, and my cousin.

“For now,” Luca says, giving Alan an easy smile. “And these two?”

“Perry Gibson and Graham Wright,” Alan growls, and I quickly put together that the slightly shorter pale-skinned guy is related to Alan somehow, though I’m not sure it matters how. “And none of us are pleased with the way that your little pet here has been getting perks because he’s connected to the royals, even though he’s clearly the weakest candidate here –“

“Hey!” I protest, stepping forward with a frown because I mean – I’m shit at a lot of stuff, but I have definitely held my own in marksmanship and the intelligence exam –

“Don’t be so jealous Alan,” Luca says, stepping forward with some venom in his voice. “It’s not Clark’s fault that your own pets are so damn ugly.”

I smother the tiny absurd laugh that tries to burst when I hear him say that, and Alan stares at us in shocked surprise, having no idea how to respond.

“Yeah,” Luca says with complete confidence, glaring down into Alan’s face and then flicking his eyes to Perry and Graham – Alan’s pets – who look equally surprised. “Nothing to say? That’s what I fucking thought.”

Alan is still speechless with a confusion when Luca grabs my arm and pulls me into the van with him.

“What the hell was that!?” I hiss, following Luca to the back of the van, where we take the back bench.

“It doesn’t matter what you say,” Luca murmurs to me as we watch the other three climb into the van after us. “As long as you do it with the authority and get the last word. That guy has no idea what just happened – it will keep him thinking all night, which is what we want.”

I shake my head at Luca and laugh a little, kind of impressed with the way he lets his sheer confidence carry him through the word. Honestly, he didn’t do much, but he definitely got the upper hand in that conversation. Why can’t I do things like that?

“That’s good,” Luca says, smiling and laughing along with me, his words whispered. “Let them see you laughing – don’t let them see that they rattled you.”

“I mean, they didn’t –“

“Well maybe they should have a little bit, Shrimp,” Luca says, raising his brows and looking forward at Alan, who glares back at us over his shoulder for a moment. “Because that guy could definitely kick your ass, and he definitely wants to.”

I purse my lips a little considering it. “Well then I guess I’m lucky that I’ve got my pretty boy body guard to keep me safe,” I say, turning to look up at Luca with complete innocence.

His face bursts into a grin as he looks down at me. “Pretty boy, am I?”

“Oh, come on,” I say, my eyelids dropping a little in disbelief, “it can’t be the first time you’ve been called a pretty boy, has it, Grant?”

“I’ve endured that particular slur all my life,” he sighs, tilting his head back and staring at the roof of the van like it’s a great burden he’s had to bear. “It’s just been so hard being this good looking…”

“Poor baby,” I laugh, shaking my head. I open my mouth to tease him more, but I don’t get the chance, because our Lieutenant climbs into the front seat of the van and starts to drive us away from the barracks and out into the wilderness.