The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Rafe takes a deep breath after he swallows another gulp of whiskey, looking around at his family and friends who are mingling around the room on Ella's little drink break. God, but he was grateful for that. Every time Maryam opens her mouth he's terrified and his wolf is thrilled - just trying to balance the two conflicting states takes absolutely every ounce of his energy. He can hardly pay attention to anything else.

He glances down at his glass, thinking that the whiskey certainly is helping, the fuzz in his mind likewise keeping his wolf fuzzy. But he can't stay drunk his entire damn life. His eyes stray - as they keep doing - to where Maryam is standing with her father, chatting casually with Cora.

"You good?" Jackson asks, stepping close, sipping at his own glass of whiskey, half a sandwich in his hand.

Rafe smirks, looking between Jackson and the food. "How much do you have to eat?" he asks, laughing a little. "To get back to where you were, weight-wise?"

"Way more than this," Jackson murmurs, taking another big bite of the sandwich and seeming to swallow it whole. Rafe laughs. “But seriously, are you good?" Jackson repeats, his brows knitting together just slightly as he looks Rafe up and down.

Rafe frowns. "I'm fine. What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that Jesse and Ariel scampered out of here a little bit ago to talk about how weird you're being," Jackson murmurs, finishing his sandwich in one more big bite.

Rafe's mouth falls open and then he snaps his head to the side, his eyes flashing around the room to see...god, to see everyone looking at him a bit askance. His mom quickly draws her gaze away, looking up at the ceiling, pretending she wasn't just staring worriedly at him. She smacks Dominic on the arm and he, too, stops staring at his son a moment later.

"Oh my god," Rafe breathes, returning his attention to the big Alpha next to him. "Does...does everyone think I'm being weird!?"

"Yes," Jackson replies, completely casual, scanning the room for another tray of sandwiches. "But only because you're being weird so...it's not really their fault."

Rafe groans and grabs Jackson by the wrist, hauling him towards the closest door, which just happens to be the entrance to his parents' bedroom. "Where are we going!?" Jackson gasps. "Rafe, the food is in here -"

Rafe just snarts, pissed at himself for thinking he could handle this. He pulls Jackson inside and then slams the door behind him. "What did you notice!" he barks out, leaning Close to Jackson and baring his teeth. "Did did she notice!?"

God, he's been such a fool - if Maryam -

If Maryam was like everyone else and noticed that he was being weird... God, she already hates him, how much worse is it going to be if he's also acting like a complete jackass all night?

"Who!?" Jackson asks, freaked out, taking a step back and guarding his glass of whiskey like Rafe might knock it out of his hand.

"Mary -" Rafe nearly shouts but then he catches himself, standing up straight, realizing that Jackson...

Jackson doesn't know what's going on beyond the fact that Rafe was acting strange. Or at least he didn't know. Rafe groans as he realizes his mistake.

"Maryam?" Jackson asks, looking at Rafe with wide eyes. "This is about Maryam? That.....that human girl? Dr. Hank's daughter!?"

Rafe clenches his teeth, his mind whirling for some sort of excuse, but god - his

mind is just too fuzzy - he should have gone easier on the drinks -

"Are you like..." Jackson turns his head and laughs a little. "Are you into her, Rafe?"

Rafe doesn't say anything, looking away.noveldrama

"Rafe," Jackson says, pity in his voice as he reaches out to put a hand on the prince's shoulder. "You should.. rethink that. She's really pretty but as a human she is very

delicate I'm a little worried you

—

would like...kill her, if you

"Would you shut up?" Rafe snarls, whipping his head back to glare at Jacks. "Of

course I wouldn't hurt her - I would never hurt her - she's -"

Jackson goes still, staring at Rafe, realizing that the Prince's language is a great deal like that he uses to talk about Ariel. And the way that Rafe is acting...god, when his wolf had first smelled Ariel in the academy? He had been just as erratic and frantic.