Chapter 512

Rafe sighs, clearly all worked up, and Jesse groans, turning away from me after giving me a quick glare.

"All right!" Jesse snaps, striding back towards his bed and fishing, bizarrely, for something behind his headboard. "Family meeting! We're all having a drink and we're talking this through. And if murder needs to happen, at least we'll be well lubricated."

My eyes go wide as Jesse produces a bottle of liquor that he's clearly smuggled into school - and from its label, I can tell that he swiped it from dad's personal collection. "Jesse!" I gasp. "We're not allowed to have that!"

"Oh, get over it, princess, you goody-goody," Jesse says, giving me a little glare and pointing towards the couch as he strides for the bathroom, presumably to grab a couple of little paper cups to drink out of. "We have bigger problems tonight."noveldrama

I sigh, and look at Jacks, who shrugs. Then, moving almost simultaneously, I push up off the bed as he moves away from the door. We reach the couch at the same moment and he wraps his arms around me, pulling me tight as we sit down together.

Rafe looks almost longingly at the door for a second before he sighs, resisting the urge to just go commit murder before he turns in for the night. He walks over to us and flops into his arm chair as Jesse reappears from the bathroom, setting out four little cups and pouring four drinks. Privately, I say a little prayer of thanks for Jesse's more wayward habits, because even the break of pouring us each a tiny glass has given everyone the moment we need to collect ourselves, gather up lost tempers, and get ready to talk.

And I have to admit, as I sip the whiskey, it does go a long way towards settling my nerves.

"How long have you known about this?" Rafe asks, looking evenly at Jackson as he holds his empty cup out to Jesse, who obligingly refills.

"Long time," Jackson says seriously, meeting his eyes. "Before I knew Ariel was a girl, I felt...protective of her anyway. I guess I justified it to myself because Ari was just a shrimpy guy who was nice to me," Jackson glances at me here, "and I didn't want to see him being creeped on by this old professor. But, now I guess I'm more aware that it was the mating bond urging me to take care of her."

I grin up at him, a little delighted at that I mean, I knew that he felt the urge to protect me even before he knew I was his mate, but it's nice to hear it again aloud. Jacks gives me a fond little smirk before turning back to Jesse and Rafe.

"So, what happened," Jesse asks, still quite serious as he lounges back in his chair, "beyond the creepy looks."

I take a deep breath but then tell them about the day that Alvez called me to his office, how he...made a move on me, for a lack of a better term. Made it very clear that he wanted it to go further, and that he held his knowledge of me being a girl above my head as a way to keep it a secret, but that Jackson's interruption clearly saved me.

Both Rafe and Jesse slump in their seats, their faces devastated, as I finish the story.

"You should have told us, Ari," Jesse says, hanging his head. "We would have...done something about it. It's a disgusting misuse of power, and I hate that that happened to you. I hate that you couldn't trust us to help you, either."

"But I was fine," I say, holding my hands out, begging them to believe me and feeling incredibly guilty. "If I told you two, you would have gotten Alvez fired or killed - and it would have come out that I was a girl. And Jackson said he wasn't going to let me be alone with Alvez again, so...it was fixed."

Rafe just shakes his head, looking guilty in a way that breaks my heart. "You should have let us deal with it."

Something about that - the way my brother insists on handling my problems for me, even after all of this - makes me sigh, sadness creeping into my heart. Because even if I do appreciate that he wants to protect me, and I love him so much for that...will Rafe ever have enough faith in me to let me handle my life on my own?