The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy novel Chapter 540

“Okay, buddy,” I say with a grin. “Juice me up.”

“Don’t call me buddy,” he mutters, “or Jacky. Or anything that ends in -ie.”

“Yes, puppy,” I sigh, my grin deepening. But Jackson just rolls his eyes before he closes them and begins to concentrate again. Immediately I feel the energy fill me, a warm buzz of power that floods into me like an ocean wave. But as soon as it gets quite near the point where I start to feel full of it – like I can’t hold anymore - I concentrate on my hand in Rafe’s, on the bond I have with my brother which I know has always been strong.

And suddenly I feel it happen – feel the energy start to siphon off like a stream from a wide lake. I grin, turning to Rafe, watching, waiting…

And when he starts to feel it, his eyes go wide. I give a little push, letting it flood into him a little, and Rafe gasps, his hair nearly standing on end.

“Holy shit, holy shit!” Rafe stutters, dropping my hand and scrambling away from me. “Are you…are you serious!?”

“Whoa,” Jackson says, his eyes going wide, the energy still flowing into me but now with nowhere to go.

Laughing, a little desperate to put the energy somewhere before I get overfilled, I reach out for Jesse, giving him a bunch of power in a single rush.

Jesse gives a little shriek, jumping away from my touch and scrambling, like Rafe, away from me and towards the headboard.

I laugh, dropping Jackson’s hand and falling back into his arms, which he wraps obligingly around me. “See?” I say, desperately pleased and eager as I look towards my brother and my cousin, who just gape and stare back at us. “Now we’re all awake.”

“Hooooly crap,” Rafe breathes, looking between me and Jackson. “Ariel – Jacks – this is…this is huge. This is…” he shakes his head, dazed. “Why – why can we do that?”

“Dad always said the three of us have a bond, like a literal one,” Jesse says, gesturing towards me and Rafe. I turn to listen to him, but my eyes go wide at what I see. “I mean,” he continues, little puffs of shadow starting to spill from his mouth as he goes, “I guess Ariel and Jackson can share because they have a bond? Which means we…”

Jesse sees all of us gaping at him.

“What,” he asks, immediately starting to get freaked out. “What’s going on?”

“Um, cousin?” I say gently, leaning forward and gesturing towards my own mouth. “You’re…leaking. A little bit.”

“Quadruple,” he sighs, bending down and giving me a little kiss on the forehead, “if I have to supply energy for those two as well.”

“Only in times of desperation,” I whisper, grinning. “Every other day, I get to be selfish.”

“Let’s go!” Rafe whoops, jumping out of the bed and striding across the room, Jackson’s energy burst apparently doing its job for him as well. “Let’s do this run and then call our moms, tell them all the weird shit that just happened!”

Jesse whoops too, dashing for the bathroom.

None of us mention the little trail of shadows that chase him there, though Jackson looks at me with a bit of a grimace.

I just laugh, standing on my toes and tilting my head back, begging for another kiss.

Which my mate, ever gracious, willingly provides.