The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

"If he could," I sigh, pulling a grape off a stem and popping it into my mouth. "His uncle probably would have already done it." I pause a moment, looking my mate up and down. "So, you're okay with all of that? The whole conversation?"

Jackson shrugs. "Rafe said Luca came around and was all contrite when we were in Atalaxia. I don't like that he was hiding out in the courtyard like a coward. I didn't like the sight of you standing alone with him after he hurt you -"

"But "I protest, sitting straight.

Jackson puts up a hand, smirking at me, silently begging me to let him finish. I grin and sit back. "But," he says, putting steady emphasis on the word. "You're a powerful goddess. You can handle yourself. So, yes, Ariel, I'm good with it. As long as you are."

"Yeah, I am too,” I say quietly, beaming at him.

Jackson leans forward, capturing my hand, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. "The conversation was inevitable. And he'll try it again. You just let me know if I ever need to come in and smack him. You know I'd only be pleased to so."

I grin at Jacks and nod, stretching my hands above my head and yawning.

We spend a little more time just like that - quietly talking together, turning over the events of the past few days, adjusting to our new roles. Eventually we find ourselves curled up in the little loveseat in the corner of the room, sitting quietly, passing emotions passively back and forth down the bond as we sort through our thoughts.

I sip my second glass of wine, my mouth turning slightly down in a frown, my eyes distant as I get a bit lost in my thinking.

"What is it?" Jackson murmurs, pressing a kiss to my hair.

"Hmm?" I say, jumping a little, turning my face to him.

"You're...unsettled," he murmurs, tightening his arms around me, pulling me more completely into his lap so that we're face to face again. "You can talk to me about it, if you want to."

I sigh, thinking that...yes. That I have a question for him, and even if I haven't figured out quite how to phrase it, I may as well ask. I finish my glass of wine and put the glass on the floor before slinging my arms around Jackson's neck, looking him steadily in the eye.

"Jacks," I say, quiet. "I didn't like it, at all, when Luca suggested that I wouldn't, or shouldn't, want to raise Marigold with you because she's not the result of a goddess-blessed bond. It gave me...a very bad feeling in my stomach."

Jackson hums, considering it, watching me carefully. "Why didn't you like it?"

I sigh, my shoulders slumping. "Because it was mean. Because it implied that Marigold is...lesser. Than our other children will be."

Jackosn quirks an eyebrow. "We'll have other children?"

My face bursts into a grin. "You think we won't?"

"Ariel," he replies, laughing a little and leaning towards me. "I cannot emphasize

to you enough how little thought I have given to the question of whether or not you and I will have kids -"

"What!?" I screech, even as I laugh.

He laughs along with me. "It's not anoveldrama

no, Ariel - I just haven't thought

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about it for heaven's sake, I just, found out how kids are made like eight months ago, after I already had one, apparently. I am... behind on these conversations."

"Well, we're having them, Jacks,” I say, a bit of a snarl in my voice, even as I smile

at him. "And if you give me any flack about it I'll go full Midnight and demand eighteen pups -"

Jackson bursts out laughing at this, pulling me close, shaking his head. "Please," he says. "You're you're trying to kill me with that - I'm stil adjusting to one. Hypothetical can do, but don't hit me with a number like eighteen right now, okay?"

"Okay," I whisper, smiling at him and brushing my thumb slow over his cheek, across the soft hair of his beard. "But...I do want more kids, Jacks. Some day. Hypothetical."

"All right, Ariel," he murmurs, leaning forward, pressing a kiss to my mouth. "You got it. Are you still upset?"

I sigh, brought back to earth a bit by

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the question, and nod. I lean back against his arm, dropping my face a bit and biting my lip. "I am," I say, nodding, sure of it now. "Because ...I hate the idea that people even beyond Luca will think that Marigold will be different than our other kids. Even potentially lesser. And worse, I never, ever want her to think that."

"So, what do we do?" Jackson asks, his voice genuinely wondering. "She...she will be slightly different, Ariel. She has a different history, a different starting point. We can't change that."

"Well," I say quietly, hesitant, raising my eyes to his. "What...what would you say to the idea that I...that I become her mother?"

Jackson just stares at me, shocked.