The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

"I was under the assumption, Ella," Dominic says, leaning forward towards her, "that you would see Ariel and realize that she needed to be taken to a major medical facility for rehabilitation. Not a spa. It's - god, Ella, but it should be impossible for her to be sitting on a couch drinking a glass of wine and laughing at her friend's jokes!"

"But she is, Dominic," Cora says, shaking her head at him. "The girl is a wreck but she's nowhere near close to that description. Could it be because the bond was newer? You and Lydia were together for years

"No," Dominic says, shaking his head as he looks at each of them in turn. "I've spoken to others who have experienced breaking a mating bond - it's always the same no matter the length of time. The physical effects are always devastating as well as the emotional."

"What the hell is going on," Ella breathes, looking towards the door and running an anxious hand through her rose-gold hair. "Why is my girl different?"

"Have you considered..." Roger hesitates now, glancing down at Dominic.

Dominic looks up at his brother, clearly inviting any insight.

"Look, I did a lot of research on mating bonds back when we were young and Dominic and Lydia's formed theirs," Roger says, glancing at each of his listeners in turn. He sighs. "We don't need to go into the reasons why I was devastated."

Each of the listeners nods, remembering that Roger and Lydia had been engaged when Dominic turned sixteen and his bond with Lydia snapped into place.

"But I do remember," Roger continues, "reading about rare cases in which bonds weren't fully broken but instead...bruised? Or drawn quite thin? Shredded and damaged but...intact."

Ella gasps a little, a hand flying to her mouth.

Dominic curses low under his breath, turning back to the camera and glaring hard into it. "If that boy didn't even have the courage to give her a clean break," he snarls, "I'm going to kill him, revive him, and kill him again just for the pleasure of it."

"D-do you think you can tell, Ella?" Cora whispers, looking at her sister. "You've checked on her bonds before -"

"Yes, I can try," Ella says, passing the tablet to Cora and striding for the door. "You stay here and...let me see what I can suss out."

Cora sighs, anxious, and watches her sister pass through the door.

"All right, chickens," Ella says with a happy sigh, hiding her worry under a kind motherly smile as she quickly crosses the room to stand behind Ariel on the couch. "Have we thought about what we want for dinner?"

"Oh, cut it, mom," Ariel says, anxious, looking up at her. Ella's face bursts into a real smile as she looks down at her daughter, reaching out her hands to stroke over her pretty hair. "We know something is up, the way you skittered off to speak in private."

"Nothing's up, trouble," Ella

murmurs, continuing to pet her baby. "Your dad's just worried and we didn't want you to hear him getting all snappy. You need a calm and relaxed atmosphere. Plus, he didn't want you drinking any wine and

had to tell him how I felt about that. You didn't want to see mommy and daddy fight, did you?"

"I know you're lying," Ariel sighs, rolling her eyes.

"No, I'm not, I've never lied a day in my life," Ella coos, gently using her fingers to turn Ariel's face back down. "Now your beloved papa is very concerned and wants me to do another magical sweep to make sure you've got no more cuts and bruises. Is that okay?"

"I mean, I'm fine," Ariel says with a sigh and a shrug. "But all right."

"That's my good little peanut," Ella murmurs, shutting her eyes and letting the lavender light of her gift spill

out of her, sweeping down into Ariel's being and looking for anything amiss.

"I'll never get used to this," Daphne murmurs, quite awed.

"Yes, you will, she'll be giving you your own scans every two weeks now that you're part of the family," Ariel murmurs. Ella smirks at this truth but doesn't comment, looking further and deeper beyond Ariel's physical body, searching her soul.

And...there. Yes, right at the center,

Yelnoveldrama

where she knew they'd be, are Ariel's bonds - stretched long and silver in several directions. The faded and sleeping bonds that are standard between a child and her parents are there so vivid in early life but

dormant as the child grows. And

then the unique ones with her

brother and her cousin. And then, beyond those...

Ella fights the urge to gasp at what she sees.