Chapter 108

I’m well, well aware that I’m supposed to quail under the look my father is leveling at me now – that it’s sent many big tough Alphas running for the hills.

But, well, I’m my father’s daughter, aren’t I?

And I am not giving in that easily. No way in hell.

“I’m going back, dad,” I growl, my voice matching his own even though it’s several octaves higher. “You can’t stop me.”

“The hell I can’t –“

“I have worked too hard!” I shout, getting up on my knees and leaning towards him now. “I have been busting my ass at that school, proving myself! I –“

“And it almost killed you, Ariel!” my dad shouts back, leaning in so that our faces are only inches apart.

“I survived, didn’t I!?” I whip my finger up between us, a move I’ve seen my mom make a thousand times, but my dad just swats it away. “I’m proving myself, dad. I already beat twenty percent of the candidate class getting into the school, and now I’ve beat forty percent of the men who have been training just as hard as me! You cannot discount me and say that I haven’t earned my spot!”

“You were carried over the finish line bleeding and barely breathing, Ariel,” dad says, and his anger snaps a little as he speaks the words. He groans again as he pictures it, straightening up and closing his eyes against the mental image. “I cannot, in good faith, send you to your death – you are not built, physically, for this world –“

“So, the only people who are worthy of the education,” I say, sitting back on my butt and crossing my arms as I glare at him, “are big guys, like you?”

His eyes fly open to stare at me, and then they narrow. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

“In this school I am not your daughter – I’m Ari Clark, who is a boy,” I argue, knowing perhaps that it won’t make as much sense but needing to make the point anyway. “He’s small, but he’s smart. And he’s earned his place there. You can’t take this away from me not when I…” I hesitate now, biting my lip. “Not when it’s the only life I think I’ve ever really wanted, dad!”

He groans again, pressing his eyes shut as he whips his head to the side. And despite his actions, I know he’s hearing me – I know he’s listening. He just really, really doesn’t like it.

“She’s not wrong, Dominic,” my mom says softly, and a rush of joy runs through me when I hear her support, though I don’t turn to look at her, keeping my eyes on him. “You’re being more of a dad than a military commander right now – if she was a boy; or, hell, if she was anyone else’s girl…you’d let her go back.”

“Quite frankly, Dom, if you keep her out you’re just being sexist.” My eyes go wide as I turn to stare at Aunt Cora, and my dad and mom do the same. She just shrugs, her chin high as she stares him down. “I’ve said from the start that this school was on the wrong side of it to only let in boys. It’s been running for more than twenty years now, and you finally have a girl Cadet who has genuinely proven that she’s better than half the boys who showed up and tried.”

Cora gestures to me here, and another rush of joy pulses through me.

“Again,” my dad says, his teeth gritted. “She nearly died.”

“But I didn’t,” I say, seeing my opportunity. “Dad, check the rulebooks. If there’s a rule that says that you have to cross the finish line of your own power, then…” I bite my lip, not wanting to say it, but taking the gamble anyway, “then…I’ll go back to the Palace with you. But if other cadets have passed the Examination when they were carried across the line…you have to let me stay.”

Dad sighs, closing his eyes, and I clench my hands in hope because I know he sees the logic in that. I know that he’s a fairer man than he’s being right now – that he is, as mom says, acting on his dad instincts more than anything else.

“Let me talk to your brother,” dad growls, each word slow and distinct. “I need…more information about how the rest of the time at the Academy has been. Although, I’m going to put him through a meat grinder the moment I see him, so he’s not going to be able to get any words out.”

“You can ask Jesse, then,” I offer, more cheerful than I have a right to be, because I can see dad’s determination starting to crumble.

Dad just glares at me. “Don’t think he’s not dead too.”

“Please,” Cora says, her voice dry, “murder your own children. Leave mine to me. I’ve got special plans for that sneaky little rat – a long, slow death, I think…”

Dad glances towards Cora, opening his mouth to retort, but we all go silent and turn towards the second door in the room the moment it opens and Rafe reappears with a certain tall, freshly-showered Alpha by his side.

Rafe’s eyes go wide when he sees the collection of his loved-ones gathered on the poor over-burdened bed and he puts out a hand, smacking Jackson in the chest and stopping him in his tracks.

I can’t help it, though – Jackson, in a fresh cadet uniform, his hair all wet and slicked back?

God, but he looks so good.

He grins, feeling my emotions down the bond, passing his own relief and joy back to me. But then his eyes flick to my dad, and he stills, realizing…

Well, realizing precisely who is sitting before him.

My dad slowly gets to his feet, scenting the air, a vicious growl building in the back of his throat as he recognizes the scent of this cadet as the scent that is all over me.

“Dad,” I say, my voice worried as I shoot a glance between him and Jackson, grabbing for his sleeve. But my dad just brushes me off, moving slowly as he stands, his eyes moving between Rafe and Jackson. “Dad, don’t –“

“Who the hell are you?” dad asks, his voice very, very dangerous. “And why is your scent all over my injured daughter?”

“Dad,” Rafe says, stepping in front of Jackson, his eyes wide.

“Enough!” dad snaps at my brother, glaring daggers at him. “Step aside, Rafe, let this man speak for himself.”

Rafe sets his jaw and stays still for a moment, clearly deciding what to do. But then, to my surprise, he steps to the side, letting Jackson handle this himself – some Alpha instinct letting him know that this is between my dad and Jacks.

To my surprise, unlike the vast majority of men who would fall back a few steps and beg forgiveness or start spouting an explanation in the face of my father like this, Jackson stands his ground. He sets his jaw and curls his hands into determined fists. His shoulders slump forward, just a little, in what I think is a sign of non-aggression, letting my dad know that he does not want to fight. But he doesn’t give up a single step of the space between them.

Instead, Jackson just flicks his eyes to me, asking silently what I want him to do. Letting everyone in the room know that his next actions are at my command, not Dominic Sinclair’s.

“Oh,” Cora says, her voice a little breathless with awe and surprise next to me. “Oh, so this is…the one you were talking about, Ella…”

“Dominic,” my mom snaps, and from the corner of my eye I see her rise to her feet.

My dad stills just a second before turning towards her. Slowly, she shakes her head. “You’re making the wrong assumptions, Dominic,” she says, her words cold and filled with warning. “That boy did not hurt Ariel, he saved her. Jackson is the one who carried her across the finish line – he’s her mate.”

My dad goes absolutely rigid with shock as I turn to stare at my mom.

Because as my father’s growl fills the air and he turns his murderous gaze back to Jackson, I am desperately, deeply unsure that that was the right thing to reveal in this moment.