The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



I take a moment to memorize the location of the enemy soldiers before I set my binoculars aside, pulling my gun over to me. When I put myself in position to fire and again look down the scope, I find the soldiers quickly, moving down the ravine towards the river, not bothering to try to be sneaky anymore. I guess since they made a great deal of noise taking out the other team, they know that there's not much point in stealth.

No, speed is much more important.

Still, none of it's going to do them any good at this point.

"Any notes?" I ask Rafe and Jackson, centering my scope on the man in the lead.

"Fire at will, Cadet," Rafe says, pride already ringing in his voice.

I smile, take one final moment to aim, and then pull my trigger.

A bright spot of neon blue appears on the chest of the man in the lead. He skitters to a stop and then curses vehemently, punching a fist down towards the ground in his frustration. The men behind him skid to a stop too, trying to process what happened, but I'm already pulling my trigger before they can figure it out, blue splattering across the second man's chest as well.

The three behind him panic, but I'm ready for them, shifting my gaze and my aim a little higher and taking out the man in the back of the line next as he makes a run for the treeline, paint appearing suddenly across his back. This has the effect I wanted, with the last two men nearly tripping over themselves, not knowing who I'm aiming for next and blocked by the man who stops in front of them.

One spins, looking for me across the river, while the other makes a mad dash to the left -

But it's too late. Before either can really process what has happened, I've hit them too.

"Five down," I say, pleasure sweeping through me at my accomplishment and my wolf pouncing victoriously inside me, emitting vicious little yips of joy.

“Nicely done, trouble," Rafe growls. Jackson doesn't say anything, but inwardly I hear his wolf howl his pride. It makes me break into a ridiculous smile, even though I know our job isn't done.

I set my rifle aside, marking the KO of the men on the map before picking up my binoculars again, scanning for more movement.

My earpiece beeps and then Rafe's voice comes back on. "Ariel, what are you seeing?"

"Rafe!" I gasp, horrified at the use of my real name, my binoculars fumbling from my hand.

"I'm alone, dummy, and it's a private channel - just me you and Jacks - just...tell me what you're seeing."

I scowl, thinking that he probably could have divulged that information as soon as he switched, but I scan the treeline ahead of me and report what I see. "Honestly it's quiet, Rafe. Why? What's up?"

"It's just fucking weird," Rafe says, thoughtful. "Jacks? Do you feel like this is.....”

"No, you're right, Rafe," Jackson says, his voice deep and wary. "It has been way too quiet. There should have been much more action so far." "What do you think is happening?" I ask, suddenly wary myself.

"No clue. Just...keep us abreast of anything unique you see, Ariel. And if Jackson tells you to get down to the base you go - fast, all right?" "You got it."

"Switching back to the main terminal," Rafe murmurs, and then the earpiece beeps again.

The time passes slowly after that;

and as Rafe said, not much

happens. The most interesting bit is when a whole troop of Ambassador cadets appear at the riverside, carrying white flags of peace,

1

moving forward towards us. Lwatch them curiously down my scope as Rafe and Jackson discuss how the third team, captained by two Cadets whose names I don't recognize - invested in a large Ambassador contingent as part of their strategy.

My mouth falls open when, after a short bit of discussion, Rafe orders me to take them all out.

"What!?" I gasp, horrified. "Rafe! I can't kill the ambassadors!"

"It's not real, Ari," he counters, growling. "Follow your damn orders -"

"But they might come with good terms!"

“We haven't lost a single soldier, Clark,” Jackson cuts in, smooth. "They don't have any prisoners and we don't need any supplies. There's nothing to negotiate. Take 'em out."

"But -"

"It's an order, Clark," my mate snarls. I smirk a little, liking that tone a little too much for...maybe the wrong reasons, in a battle scenario.

"Yes, sir," I sigh, refocusing my sightnoveldrama

and then quickly taking out all eight

of the ambassadors before me with

as

many shots. They groan,

frustrated and angry before turning

away, back towards their base.

UMS

I sigh, reporting my kills before setting my gun aside and picking up my binoculars, listening to Jackson and Rafe talk over the earphones as I scan the walls of the ravine across from me. The earpiece beeps once, letting me know that we're back on the private channel.

"What's that full count, Jacks?" Rafe asks, sounding worried.

“Ariel's taken out thirteen, including...I think every ambassador except Ben and our guy," he murmurs. “Your team took out three more...” he

hesitates, and I can tell that something's wrong.