The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Jackson's silence is long. Too long.

I whip my face back to him, my mouth a grim line.

His expression is...carefully blank.

"Oh no," I whisper, slumping down, my hand whipping up to cover the mark. "You hate it —"

"Ari," he sighs, scowling and swatting at my forearm, attempting to knock my hand aside. "Don't do that - I don't hate it -"

"You do!" I protest, a little more devastated than I thought I'd be, even if I knew this was coming. I mean, he can't like it, can he?

"I don't hate it!" Jacks insists, laughing at me a little as I stubbornly keep the mark covered and frown at him, leaning away. "Seriously, Ari, it's fine."

"It's fine?"

He laughs again, giving up the attempt to pull my hand away and leaning back against the pillows. "Do you want me to lie and say I think it's my new favorite feature?"

I narrow my eyes. "Well then tell me what you really think."noveldrama

Slowly I drop my hand and Jackson leans forward a bit to peer again.

"I stand by my words. It's fine."

"Jacks!" I groan, lashing out a leg and kicking at him. "You can't possibly think it's fine!"

"Yes I can!" he says, laughing and grabbing my leg, using it to haul me closer to him. "Besides, when I was at your place for Midwinter, Seraphina told me -"

"Seraphina!?" I screech, a little shocked. "How the hell did she come into this!?"

"If you'll listen," he growls, gathering me further into his lap, even as I go limp in protest to make it hard for him. "I'll tell you."

I grumble noncommittally but allow myself to be fully ensconced on his lap and wrapped up in his arms. "Sera told me," he murmurs, pressing a kiss to my hair. "That if I don't have anything nice to say...I shouldn't say anything at all. So. It's precisely fine. That was very wise, by the way, how did a little girl come up with something like that?"

I laugh a little but then groan at the realization of the truth - that he really doesn't like it. I mean, not that I expect or want him to like it - I just

- I mean

—

if he hates it, he's the

one who has to look at it every day for the rest of his life.

"Oh no," I moan, covering it again with my hand. "It's very ugly."

"It's not," he murmurs, cuddling me closer and dropping kisses to my hair. "It's simply...not to my taste." "That phrase has Ella written all over it," I grumble.

"Yes, a very useful one for when people try to feed me duck liver," he murmurs, "or mark my mate with an uneven bite very high on her neck because they're arrogant and need everyone to see it -"

I burst out laughing and smack Jackson on the shoulder, and then I sigh when I take in the full meaning of his words - that it truly is not to his taste.

But Jackson keeps me tight in his arms. "I'm serious, Ari, you shouldn't be worried about what I think," he murmurs. "Feel how you want to feel about it. I think that it is precisely fine."

I sigh, shaking my head, wondering how he can be so good - so even tempered and sweet despite the Alpha impulses that must be hating, every second, the idea of another man's mark on my body. Honestly, when the Goddess chose Jacks for me, she must have known what she was doing.

"Plus," Jacks murmurs. "It helps that it's faded."

I go a bit still. "Faded?" I ask, looking up at him.

He frowns down at me and nods. "I guess because of the rejection. Yes, it's...faded."

"What?" My face twists in confusion.

"Go look," he says with a shrug, nodding towards the bathroom. I do as he says, climbing swiftly out of his lap and moving into the bathroom to peer in the mirror. Jackson walks in behind me a moment later, ducking a bit to peer at the mark as well.

My breath catches as I look at it truly

for the first time - the indelible

impression that Luca left on my body. It really is high, like some Luna's marks are, meant to be worn proudly for everyone to see. My stomach sinks as I realize that, for me, that's not precisely the case.

But I push past the thought, leaning close to the mirror, trying to see what Jackson means about it being... faded.

"I don't get it," I murmur, glancing up at him, "what's faded."

"You can't see it?" he asks, curious. "Look at the mini mark."

My frown deepens as I straighten up and glance down at my finger, where Jackson playfully gave me my mini mark on the day I lost my virginity. A day that feels...so, so long ago. But as I stare down at it my mouth forms into a little "o" of surprise.