Chapter 63

“Wait,” I say at breakfast, half a piece of bacon already on its way to my mouth, “what do you mean we don’t have class tomorrow?”

“It’s Friday, shrimp cousin,” Jesse says, smirking at me. “Are you aware of these things they call weekends?”

“Don’t be cute, Jesse,” I snap, glaring at him, which only deepens his smirk. “I just didn’t know the Academy acknowledged them. I mean, it didn’t when we were candidates out in the barracks.”

“Probably to prevent brawls,” Rafe says, pouring himself another cup of coffee as Ben, between us, nods in agreement. “Can you imagine those barracks if they didn’t keep us busy every day?”

“I think we should have a party tonight,” Luca says, raising an eyebrow and looking around at us. “Get our hands on some contraband liquor? Really let loose?”

“Get ourselves kicked out, you mean?” Rafe says, immediately putting the dampener on Luca’s idea. “I will go shot for shot with you during winter break, Grant, but I am staying sober here. Too much at risk.”

“Does this mean I’m invited to the palace for the holidays?” Luca says, his brows raising in interest.

“Of course you are,” Jesse answers, instant. “You too, Ben. Bring your families, if you like, there are a thousand rooms in the palace.”

“Nice of you to invite them to our house,” Rafe says, glowering at our cousin, but then he turns his attention back to Luca and Ben. “But yes, of course you’re invited. We’ll show you a good time, and our parents would love to meet you.”

“Okay, so, sake bombs at Midwinter,” Luca says, “but nothing tonight?”

Rafe solemnly shakes his head, decided.

“Boring,” Luca says with a sigh.

“I’ll drink with you,” Ben says, shrugging and looking over at Luca. “Your room, if the Sinclairs are too straight–laced to participate?”

I burst into a grin, looking between Ben and Luca. Ben he’s always a surprise, isn’t he?

“Seriously?” Luca says, smiling at him. “Sweet, I’ll set it

1. up. See you tonight.”

“This is not a good idea,” Rafe says, sitting up to his full height and looking between them, worried.

“Oh, they’ll be fine,” Jesse says, sighing and sitting back in his chair. “I’m jealous, but I’m with Rafe on this one. Sitting out.”

“Shrimp?” Luca says, cocking an eyebrow at me.

I lean forward, eager, wondering really how much of a risk it would be –

“Shrimp,” Rafe says, darting an arm out even over Ben and pushing me again against my seatback, “is staying in, and not participating in contraband.”

I scowl, glancing at my brother, who glares heartily back to me. “Shrimp makes his own decisions,” I say, mostly to be contrary. I mean, I don’t have any real intent to go drinking in Luca’s room, even if my wolf perks up at the idea.

Rafe just rolls his eyes at me.

Even as I smirk at my brother, wondering how long I can torture him with this, I’m interrupted when a waiter comes over with a little folded note on a tray.

“For Cadet Clark,” he murmurs, holding it out to me. I murmur my thanks and take the note, peering down at my name neatly written on the front as all the boys at the table lean. forward eagerly. I look up and around at them, well aware that nothing like this has happened to any of us before.

Jealously, I clutch the note to my chest. “Away, you jackals,” I say, scowling at them all. “My note!” noveldrama

“What is it?” Rafe asks, reaching for it, but I swat at his hand and Ben takes my side, shoving Rafe playfully back as I quickly unfold the paper before Rafe can grab for it again. Luca

makes a snatch too, but I gasp and pull away, quickly scanning the contents of the note and grinning when I see that it’s from Daphne, inviting me to come down to her room tonight to hang out for an hour or two.

I grin, crumpling the note and shoving it into my pocket. “Sorry, boys,” I say, standing up with a happy sigh and stretching my arms languidly above my head. “Looks like my entire evening just got booked up anyway. I won’t be available for contraband or for hanging out in our boring room.”

Jesse grins at me, intrigued, but Rafe jumps to his feet, demanding to know what the hell is going on and making a mad grab for my pocket. I just laugh and grab my book satchel, making a mad dash for the doors to the Hall, loving that for once I have a secret that he doesn’t.

I mean, I’ll tell him, of course, I think to myself as I streak across the room, hearing Rafe jump to his feet behind me. There’s no way he’s going to let me wander off into the palace tonight all by myself. But I sure as hell am going to enjoy torturing him with the information for as long as I can.

I’m still laughing as I get through the doors of the Hall, but my laughter is cut short as I slam into a big piece of granite –

My breath is all swept from my chest as my butt hits the floor, my hand going instantly to my nose. I gasp, my eyes smarting as I wonder whether or not I’m bleeding-

“Oh my god,” a voice says, “what the hell are you doing!?”

My eyes instantly snap up because obviously, obviously it’s not a piece of granite in the hall.

It’s just my damn gigantic mate.

Jackson crouches in front of me, his eyes frantically scanning my face.

“Is it bleeding?” I ask, taking my hand away from my face. I mean, there’s no blood on my hand, but I can’t really feel anything but rampant pain in my face right now.

“No,” Jackson murmurs, studying me closely, taking my chin between his thumb and his. finger to turn my face back and forth, studying it. “You’re an idiot for running through the halls like that, but there doesn’t seem to be any real damage.”

“It would have been fine if you weren’t just lurking in the doorway,” I sigh, putting my hands on the ground to push myself up.

–

“What the “Rafe’s voice booms behind me, instantly livid. “What the hell did you do to him!?”

Jackson’s eyes go wide as he stands up in a flash, putting his hands up in front of him. “Clark did this to himself,” he insists. “I am not responsible for any of this.”

“He’s right,” I sigh, pushing to my feet and nodding to my brother. “I ran into him I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“You didn’t see….Ari, how did you miss him!?” Rafe sputters, gesturing to my mate, who is as big as my brother, if not even half an inch taller.

“I don’t know,” I moan, being kind of a baby about it because I know Rafe will let me off the hook. “My face hurts, be nice to me.” I rub my nose, scowling.

Rafe turns to Jackson, sighing and rolling his eyes but letting him know that he’s off the hook.

“Actually,” Jackson says, turning his attention to me again. “I was looking for you.”

Rafe’s shoulders go tense. I look up at Jackson with interest.

“You have an hour before class, right? And I have Friday mornings free. Do you want to get that magic homework in now?”

“Oh,” I say, my eyebrows going up. “Actually, yeah,” I say, my wolf spinning in an eager circle in

my soul. “That’s a great idea.”

“Ari,” Rafe protests, shaking his head. “Even if he has off, I don’t –”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Jackson asks, frowning.

“Well he can’t ” Rafe says, but then he snaps his mouth shut, realizing that….it will be very weird if he tells Jackson that I can’t go anywhere alone with him without my big cousin to chaperone. Rafe sighs and crosses his arms. “It’s dangerous,” he says.

“What?” Jackson says, smirking at him. “You think I can’t protect him?” He gestures to me like it’s it’ll be the easiest thing in the world.

Rafe narrows his eyes, because that is obviously not what he’s worried about.

“It’s an hour,” Jackson says, looking Rafe up and down like he’s being ridiculous. “I’ll walk him to class and everything after. It’ll be fine.”

Rafe’s mouth gapes open for a second as he searches for a reason to protest, but when he comes up with nothing Jackson just shifts his gaze to me and jerks his head towards the long hall. “Come on, let’s go outside and see if you can blow up the sun or something.”

“This is a bad idea!” Rafe calls as I hurry to Jackson’s side and start to walk with him.

“It’ll be fine!” I shout back to him, excited. But as I turn to smile at my brother, to let him see that I really do think that I’m going to be okay under my mate’s protection, my smile falters a little when I see Luca and Jesse standing at the door, staring after us.

Jesse nods and waves to me as Rafe mutters something to him about homework, but Luca?

Luca’s jaw falls open in shock, and then he snaps it shut, crossing his arms and glowering at

1. me.

My wolf yips victoriously inside of me and I have to laugh a little, because quite frankly, he deserves to be jealous. If he won’t meet me in the dream state or talk to me about this thing between us?

Well, here’s my other mate, who very much is willing to make time in his day to spend at few minutes alone with me.

I grin, and subtly take a step closer to Jackson, turning my face up to smile at him. And he smiles right back.

And so I walk out of the castle into the open air at my mate’s side, going for what I can only think of in my mind as….kind of a first date.