Chapter 94

Chapter 94

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…”

hat

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

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Chapter 94

And I stare after him in…absolute shock.

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

into the black night for way, way too long.

open.

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.

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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. top of a mountain so that I can keep my place at Alpha

Academy.

I mean, could there have been a worse moment to admit the truth to my mate?

“God, I have such shit timing,” I mutter to myself.

to get to the

My wolf lays down in my soul, stretching out her long, sorry nose, burying it under my mental hand,

wanting to show me love at the same moment that she begs for a little. attention. I turn towards her,

giving her a little scratch, marveling again at the softness of

her fur.

It will be okay, she assures me, her eyes wide and limpid and sad. No matter what happens… it will be

okay.

I hope so, I say, smoothing her fur back lovingly. She lets her eyes drift shut, holding on to the hope for

both of us.

But she sits up at the same moment I do at the sound of footsteps pounding back towards

1. us.

My breath hitches because…

I mean, is it Jackson? Coming back?

Or…I mean, we weren’t precisely quiet, were we?

Despite our earlier decision to be stealthy and quiet, to hide up here all night and sneak

back out at dawn we just por into a shouting match that other nennle were bound to notice.

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So….could it be someone else? Could it be someone coming…coming to hurt me?

Anxious, I spin, looking for my crossbow. I reach for it, snatching it up into my left hand. my right

working anxiously at the quarrel, wanting to get it loaded before whoever is approaching actually gets

here.

But it’s too late – I’m not fast enough.

And when I look up, and see who it is, the crossbow falls from my hands anyway.

Because those shoulders, that height, that steady stride sleep, in my dreams.

–

I’d recognize it anywhere. In my

Anywhere.

My breath hitches as Jackson stalks across the little plateau towards me, his face stern.

“Jacks,” I murmur, taking a step back, but there’s no time for anything else..

Suddenly, he’s there, in front of me, and he doesn’t even pause his as he dips low, one arm going

around my waist while the other hand wraps around the back of my thigh, lifting me suddenly and

steadily up against him as he continues forward until my back is pressed against the wall of the cliff

behind me.

And then, before I even realize what’s happening, Jackson is kissing me.

My physical reaction to Jackson is immediate, and visceral, and vivid. I cling to him, my legs wrapping

instinctually around his waist as he moves his lips against mine, bidding my mouth open, dipping his

tongue inside to lick me, to taste me.

I’m completely frantic both with shock and the immediacy of wanting him. My hands seem like they

move everywhere at once as I gasp against him, my eyes pressed shut. My fingers are in his hair, and

then down his neck and his back as his hand untucks my shirt, pulling it out of my pants like it was

stupid that it was ever in there in the first place. And then hist palm is flat against the skin of my back

and it makes me tilt my head back with a deep moan. God, Jackson’s skin against mine, suddenly it’s

all all that I want.

Jackson takes immediate advantage of my bared throat, dragging his mouth down the length of it,

taking a long, slow breath of my scent as he goes. He drags his canines across

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my skin when his mouth gets to my shoulder, pressing his teeth delicately against the tendons there in

a way that makes me shudder, hard.

God, fuck, but I want him – immediately I want him. I pull my head back up and use my hands to lift his

face, putting my thumbs beneath his heavy jaw and moving his mouth back to mine. Jackson

immediately complies, kissing me fervidly, with utter abandon – taking my mouth with his, tasting me

however he wants to. And every inch of me responds, pressing him closer, wrapping myself tighter

around him.