The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy novel Chapter 441

“What is it?” Sinclair asks, his smile fading.

“I trust Jackson,” Hank murmurs, still lost in his thoughts. “But I…do not think that the Community is done with him.” He blinks and looks at his sovereigns, shaking his head with worry. “A boy like that – an incredible physical specimen? They will be angry to have lost him. I’m not a gambler, but if I were it’d be a pretty sure bet to say that they’re going to try to get him back.”

“Get him back,” Ella says with a frown, “how would they do that?”

“I don’t know,” Hank says with a shrug. “Come and…snatch him, or something?”

Ella just laughs, shaking her head and glancing up at her mate, the only person who is a rival for Jackson in terms of sheer physical prowess. “Trust me, Hank,” she says, dry, “no one is making Jackson do anything he doesn’t want to do. Except maybe Ariel.”

“Or you,” Sinclair murmurs, stroking a hand down the length of Ella’s hair. “He’s very devoted to you too, love.”

Ella shrugs, not denying it but focusing on Hank.

“Either way,” Hank says. “He is not…free of the Community by any means. I have long suspected that the Community has…unique and objectionable practices when it comes to children – it’s good to have Jackson confirm that so we have grounds on which to make a move against them. Still…”

He hesitates and Sinclair raises his chin at his friend, urging him to continue.

“I would suspect,” Hank says, feeling a little awkward about it, “that someone like Jackson has been…planned. That his height, his sheer physical prowess, his intelligence, and his abilities – his magic, if he has it – is the result of generations of careful…breeding, for lack of a better word.”

Ella stands straighter at this, a little horrified. “Breeding? Like…stock? Cows and horses?”