The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy novel Chapter 569

“It is clear, little daughter, that you and your mates do not understand. So I will say this once to ensure that I am perfectly clear: I did not give you these mates simply because it pleased me to grace you with abundance. I did it because it was necessary to your gift – and because your gift is necessary to this world. Far, far more than you currently realize.”

She stares into my eyes, willing me to understand, and fear creeps into my soul.

“Why…why me?” I whisper, shaking my head. “Why give me this gift?”

“Because you please me,” she murmurs, reaching out and cupping my chin in her hand. I can feel her fingers like frost or morning dew against my skin as she slowly tilts my face from side to side, looking at all of its angles. “And because I saw it from the moment you were conceived – that the shape of your soul – your courage, your spirit, your slight tendency for recklessness,” she smirks here, “was the right match for this gift. Little fireheart.” She whispers the last few words and then releases my face, moving further away, just slightly.

I marvel, for a moment, that this woman – a Goddess, my grandmother – could have seen so much in me.

“Do not let the petty jealousies of those boys control your destiny, daughter,” she continues, straightening and folding her arms over her chest. “I gave them to you, and you are owed their marks as part of your birthright. You must claim them.”

“Why?” I whisper, shaking my head, not understanding. She raises an eyebrow at the temerity of my question, but I put my hands out to her, placating and pleading at once. “Please, I’m not questioning you, I just don’t understand – why do I need their marks with such urgency? Why can’t we wait?”

“Because,” she says, the fire in her eyes fading a bit, “your gifts will not fully develop until you have them. And many depend on the development of those gifts – all of us. It is not a small fate to which I have tied you, Ariel.” Something twists in me to hear the Goddess say my name and my eyes fill with tears. “You must rise to meet it. Demand from your mates what they owe you – and if they do not give it,” she shrugs and looks aside, her mouth tightening, “then…I will have to replace them with mates who will.”

My eyes flare wide as I leap from my spot at the desk, my chair skittering out behind me as I do, clattering to the ground. “What!?”

“I am not kidding, granddaughter,” she says, turning that fiery gaze upon me. “You will receive the marks or I will take my grace from these men and find you new mates deserving of you. It is your right and it is important!”

“But!” I sputter, glancing down at Jackson, horrified. “I can’t just – just – demand that they do it tonight! I –“