Chapter 0189

I stare at Jackson like he’s an idiot now. Because…honestly I really kind of did think that he’d

figured it out, at a least a little bit. Or that once I told him, all the pieces would snap into place.

But the way he’s looking at me…Jackson does not know.

He bought, hook line and sinker, the lie that I’m Ari Clark, royal cousin who has some strange and

elusive tie to his mate.

“Jacks,” I growl, shaking my head. “No, it’s…it’s me. Your mate is me.” And with that, I whip off my

cap, revealing the hair braided in a coil on top of my head, letting my true scent free.

He continues staring at me, uncomprehending. But I see him stumble back a step, his eyes going

wide the moment my scent hits him.

“How…” he murmurs, his voice trembling. “How can you…you’re a Cadet…you’re male…”

“Oh my god,” I groan, dipping my face into my hand for a second before dropping my hat and

grabbing the hem of my shirt, tugging it up halfway as fast as I can so that he can see the shape of

my body beneath, my wider hips, my trim waist. “Jacks, no, I’m a girl.”

I stand there, my shirt fisted against my breasts, staring at him, breathless.

Realization hits Jackson like a bus.

His eyes go wide and he stumbles back a step, not breathing, his face going deathly pale in the light

of the moon. I stare at Jackson, watching him struggle to make sense of the newly disparate pieces

of the world. His eyes move fast over me again and again before, always, returning to my face.

But he just stares back at me, slack-jawed, not saying a word.

And then, after a long, long moment of staring at each other, Jackson just…turns on his heel.

And stalks away.

And I stare after him in…absolute shock.

Jackson’s tall form disappears quickly into the darkness and I stare, my mouth hanging open, into

the black night for way, way too long.

And then I groan a long, slow groan, standing up straight and burying my face in my hands,

wondering what the hell I just did.

It’s okay, my wolf says, a little frantic, it can’t be bad – we told him the truth…the truth can never be

bad…

Yeah, I reply, deeply sarcastic, unless the truth completely upends your world in the middle of an

insane trial. And your core reaction is to just run and leave your mate stranded on a cliff

somewhere.

My wolf murmurs comforting things about how that can’t possibly be what’s happening, that he just

needs a minute alone to process because he’s the solitary sort, but eventually she runs out of

pleasant, hopeful sentiments as we both just stare into the darkness waiting for him to come back.

But…he doesn’t.

I curse, slowly and fluently, and turn towards the little overhang of rock where I’d been sitting with

the water. I sink into that spot, sitting hard on my butt and ignoring the pain as I rest my elbows on

my knees and then prop my miserable chin into my hands.

Because, I mean, what did I think was going to happen!? That he was just going to be like, “Oh,

cool! How nice! What a relief, now I can stay!”

No, of course, my weird outdoorsy Alpha mate reacted to his panic by going completely back to his

roots. He probably shifted into his wolf and is now prowling around the cliffside in the moonlight, not

even thinking human thoughts anymore, just letting his animal instincts take over and forgetting all

about me.

I scowl a little because…well, because as sorry as I feel about losing my temper and blurting it all

out in a rush…

It did hurt my feelings, a little bit, that he just…walked away.

I mean, did he…did he reject me?

Does he hate me? Did he realize that I’m a girl and think, immediately, “ew”?

Oh my god…does Jackson think I’m ugly?

I groan, putting my face back into my hands and shaking my head, hating that these are my

thoughts right now. I mean, I hate not knowing, I hate that he’s not here to talk this through with me,

to hear my apologies and my reassurances, but I also hate that I’m dealing with mate drama while

I’ve got less than twenty-four hours now – or thereabouts – to get to the top of a mountain so that I

can keep my place at Alpha Academy.