The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



Luca hesitates, starting to close down the bond a bit.

"Please,” I beg, shaking my head at him. "Don't get freaked out - this is...this is part of who I am."

Luca stares at me for a long moment but then nods, re-opening the bond.

Jackson takes my other hand and I turn my head to him, eager warmth building in me.

"What are you doing?" Cora whispers, confused and fascinated. My mom stands next to her with her hands pressed to her cheeks, thrilled.noveldrama

"Get goin', trouble," Jackson murmurs, leaning forward to press a kiss to my forehead.

I lean towards him a little, not able to help it, a little laugh sputtering from me.

But then I turn my gaze to the pile of wood in front of me - not the little log, the big one.

And I set it ablaze.

A little gasp breaks from the group as everyone turns towards it, watching the fire rage, much more powerfully and higher than it should for just that little pile of wood. And then I call on Luca's gift as well - on the wind, the breeze, the oxygen he provides.

And I add that to the mix.

The flames roar, reaching higher, and begin to turn, wind sucked in from every direction towards it. A rich, eager joy builds in my chest and with every heartbeat pulses through my entire body as I watch the flames climb higher into the air, carried on the waves of Luca's wind, powered by the energy that Jackson gives me.

My flames, my heat - my magic.

Mine.

"Whoa," Rafe whispers behind me, awed and impressed. But I don't look at him - at anyone. Don't have time for it or interest in anything else - anything but the firestorm dancing before me.

The whirlwind of flames turns,

pulsing in time with my heart. My blood sings as the vortex climbs towards the sky, dancing higher, eager and burning and full of

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It's a wild, passionate thing - a song, a dance, an eager she-wolf racing through a forest, along a cliff,

desperate to be alive and free and to

stretch her legs.

It's us, my wolf whispers, howlingly pleased and as full of joy as me. Us in our purest form, elemental.

Somewhere I feel and hear Jackson's wolf howl too, so proud and fierce he could burst.

I nod, tears in my eyes, my face turned up to the brilliant swirl of fire before me, licking at the sky, turning and turning in the wind that brings it oxygen, gobbling up the fuel that feeds it.

But suddenly I feel another wolf approach - one I've always known, since I was a little girl - which has never not been part of my life. He pads closer, drawn to the flame in my soul, warming himself by it.

"Um, I...I think I'm supposed to be

part of this," Jesse murmurs,

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stepping closer to me. I turn my head to him, taking my eyes the whirlwind of flame for the first time but having no fear that doing so will make me lose control of it. It's mine, after all. It does as I bid.

“Come on in, Jess," I say, laughing and tilting my head towards him.

Jesse beams at me but steps closer, reaching a hand out. "This is so weird, Ari," he murmurs, making me burst out laughing. But then he gently wraps his hand at the base of my neck, and together we turn towards the fire.

I feel his magic added to mine immediately, but when I pull on it - no, I don't control it, don't have the power to use it. Instead, I feel Jesse's magic move through me according to his own whims. Together, we turn our eyes to the fire blazing before us.

And both of us gasp just half a second before everyone else does.

Because the flames - they darken, taking on the shape and the tint of Jesse's shadows. The flame doesn't dampen - not at all. Instead, it just loses its bright and shining light. In shock and fascination, I watch as the darkened flames, all shades of grey and black, themselves take different shapes, suddenly

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containing the animals that Jesse's own shadows tend towards - lizards climbing through the smoke, fire birds soaring through the air and letting out wild silent screams, mighty horses, their eyes and their manes ablaze.

My breath is immediately stolen because it is...the most incredible sight I've ever seen, and by far the most beautiful.