The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy novel Chapter 553

“Well, what is that going to be?” Rafe asks, casting out a frustrated hand. “Nothing’s worked so far.”

“Actually,” Cora murmurs, leaning forward and peering between us all. “I kind of…have a theory about that.”

“Really?” Rafe asks, eager. “Well, what is it?”

“Oh, we’ll discuss tomorrow,” Cora says with a sigh, standing up and stretching her hands up over her head. “I want to take the evening to compare notes with my sister and co-Professor.”

Mom’s eyes go wide. “We were supposed to take notes?”

Cora laughs, reaching a hand out for her. “Mental notes are fine, Ella. Come on, let’s go eat dinner and get some rest, check in with our husbands and let them know the heir, the spare, and the profligate duke are alive and well.”

“The wordplay,” Tony murmurs from his spot on the couch, looking between Cora and Jesse, “makes more sense now.”

“You haven’t met his dad,” Jackson replies, dry. I grin and press myself more completely to my mate’s side as Cora crosses to mom, holding a hand out.

“Why do we have to go?” mom whines, looking around at all of her favorites. “We were having fun – we can have dinner here!” she nods eagerly, looking around at all of us. “Maybe call Daphne up? I haven’t seen her in…”

Mom’s words fade off as Rafe looks bitterly away, as the rest of us – Tony excepted – go quiet.

“Who’s Daphne?” Tony whispers to Jackson. But Jackson just quickly shakes his head no and Tony gives a little grimace.

“Ella,” Cora says, raising an eyebrow and further extending her hand. “Time to leave the children alone. They have a draft to do in the morning and these two -” she points between Rafe and Jacks, “have a lot to think about.”

I whip my head to Rafe, my mouth hanging open because – is that seriously tomorrow!? I groan again, angry at myself, because – as the Captain rightly pointed out – it’s my job to ensure that I know these details.

I grin, though, delighted to have him here, and I lean closer to him, knocking into him with my shoulder. He stumbles to the side a little, laughing, and I’m quite gratified that he moved at all. Tony is lankier than the other Alphas in our group – slimmer and less muscled, though still quite tall. “We like you, Tony.”

He looks down at me with a grin. “I like you too, Ariel. And the rest of them. Although…” he frowns a bit, looking towards my brother. “Rafe, I think, is not sold on me yet.”

I look around at the rest of the group as well, noting the way that Jesse stands close to his mom, an arm casually around her shoulder as they chat, clearly deeply connected in their own way despite her pranks and his swears of revenge. And then to Rafe and my mom, and Jackson standing with them, the devotion between all three. Happiness and pride swells through me at the sight of them all.

“Rafe is protective,” I say with a shrug as mom shifts her attention from Rafe to Jackson, standing on her toes to give him a hug as well. “Just…give him time.”

“If you say so,” Tony says with a sigh. But then, as mom releases Jackson and turns towards Tony, he gives me a wink and moves forward to shake my mom’s hand. He laughs, though, when she swats his hand away and wraps him up in a hug as well.