The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

"Cool!” I say, tucking my hands behind my back. “I left school for a little bit too. To like. Fight in the war and stuff."

"I know," she says, sighing and looking away like she hates to give me a compliment. “I think it's...really cool that you infiltrated an all-male academy and kicked the assess of all the Alphas in there and also in Atalaxia. That was really badass, Ariel."

"Thanks!" I say, perky, grinning at her.

She turns her face back to me, the corner of her mouth pulling up into a smile she can't help. I wrinkle my nose at her and nod towards the room, inviting Maryam and Hank further inside.noveldrama

The mood in the room stays high even as the conversation turns a bit, then, to more serious matters. The children, as they frequently do when they're bored with us talking about politics and "adult stuff," shift into their pup bodies and chase each other around the room, nipping and wrestling a little in the corners. I laugh as I watch them, not missing the fact that while Hank looks perfectly at ease with this, Maryam – sitting in the corner of the couch - watches with wide-eyed surprise.

Rafe settles next to her, offering her a drink that she just rolls her eyes at. He sighs and drinks it himself all in one go.

I snuggle close to Jackson's side on a little loveseat, filling my family and friends in on all the details of my experiences in Atalaxia, which takes quite some time. Jesse, Ben, Jacks, and Elias jump in on the story too, elaborating with their perspective on the experiences. Dad and Roger listen closely to the close of the story, their glances at each other letting us know that they suspected that the King was dead but that they hadn't had confirmation of it yet.

"Um," I say, a little awkward, glancing down at my wrist. "Has there been any communication from...the royal family there?" I glance at Elias here, who likewise looks at my dad. "From Prince...um, from King Gabriel?"

"No," dad says on a sigh, holding my gaze and then looking over at Elias. "Our army has the castle under siege but even without Gabriel's magical ability to create a barrier they're pretty effectively locked down."

"Why don't you just break in, guns blazing?" Jesse murmurs, sitting on the floor and leaning back against the armchair on which our moms sit, wedged in together. I smirk at Jesse, recognizing the languid way in which he's talking, thinking that he's sure enjoying his whiskey after so much yurt-life deprivation.

"Because," Roger says, smirking at his son. "We're not actually attempting to destroy Atalaxia or take it over, 'We don't want to make it a part of Moon Valley, as was Atalaxia's plan for Moon Valley f they won the war." He glances at Elias here, who awkwardly hangs his head. Ben puts a warm and assuring hand on his back, making me smile.

"So, what are you trying to do?" Maryam snaps out. "Just...violence for violence's sake?"

"Yes," Jesse replies, baring his teeth at her for the fun of it. "We wolves just need blood gallons of it every day -"

He stops and laughs when his mother scowls and smacks him over the head with the flat of her palm.

"We have plans," my dad says, looking at Maryam with a soft smile, "to work with Atalaxia's new King to establish better relations between our two peoples so that our nations can be mutually supportive in the future."

"And the humanitarian crisis there?" Maryam asks, arching an eyebrow at the King, not backing off an inch. Rafe sits weirdly straight at her side, not looking at her, but every inch of him attuned to the conversation. I frown as my eyes pass over him because...why is he being so serious?

"We're working very hard to solve that," my mom says, her voice soft and pleased. All heads turn to her. "We're sending crisis troops in now to help anyone who wishes to leave Atalaxia to do just that. But the ideologies under which Atalaxia exists are well entrenched, we can't simply force people to see rights and culture the way that we do. They have to want to change."

Maryam twists her lips to the side and nods, accepting this answer and the complexities it implies. She sinks contemplatively back into her pillows. Rafe, to

my surprise, lets out a long relieved breath and takes another long sip of his drink - the one he's refilled twice now.

My frown deepens as I study my brother because...honestly, why on earth is Rafe being so weird?