Chapter 137

“Luca, I’m so sorry for not even thinking about your family and making you come to see mine,” I murmur, taking little handfuls of his shirt in my fists as I lean my weight against him, looking up into his face. Luca smiles at me, his arms loose around me.

“Don’t be sorry,” he murmurs, “I wanted to meet your whole family. It was important for me too.”

“Good,” I say, nodding. And then I hesitate. “And are you…ready? For the fight?”

“I will be,” he says, nodding. “Though it’s important for me to see my uncle – he trained me, after all. He’ll get me back in the right headspace over the next day or so – don’t worry. But will you come tomorrow? Come see my gym, and then come to my gran’s house? Meet everyone? I’m dying to introduce you.”

“Oh!” I say, surprised but then thrilled at the idea. “Yes!” I say instantly, beaming at him, but then I remember that I’m a princess again and I glance back at the door, wondering what my parents have planned for me.

“It’s okay,” Luca says, lifting a hand to my cheek and turning my gaze back to him. “I already cleared it with your dad – he says you can have the afternoon off from Princess-ing.”

“Oh,” I say, a little surprised at this. But then, I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that – Luca’s very thoughtful, isn’t he? And proactive. “Okay, then yes, I’ll come. Of course I will. I can’t wait.”

“And you’ll come to the fight too, right?” he says, giving me a little frown.

“Of course!” I say, laughing up at him, because why would he ever think that I wouldn’t?

“Good,” he murmurs, dipping his head and pressing a warm kiss to my mouth. “I’ll need my best girl there for moral support.”

“Nowhere else I’d be,” I murmur back, my lips still brushing against his, letting my hands sink into his hair, pleased at the idea that my presence would help him.

Luca smiles at me again, and then kisses me deeply, pulling me tight against him like he can’t let me go. We stay like that for a long while – long enough that I lose myself in him, that I forget where I am, and that there’s a room full of people behind me probably waiting for me to come back inside so they can go to bed.

But eventually, his arms loosen. “You make it very hard to say goodbye, Gorgeous,” Luca sighs, shaking his head at me.

I just laugh, standing on my toes to press one final kiss to his mouth, and then I push him away. “Get out of here, then!” I say, playful. “You’re the one sticking around.”

Luca just laughs, pulling me close for one last peck before letting me go and stepping away.

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” I call as Luca walks backwards down the hall, unable or unwilling to take his eyes off me.

“I can’t wait,” he replies, dimples flashing. And then he turns, and jogs off towards the front of the palace, and I sigh as I push open the door behind me and head back into the living room.

My eyes of course fix immediately on Jackson, who doesn’t look sleepy at all.

“In in,” mom says, opening my bedroom door and flapping her hand towards me and Daphne, herding us into my bedroom. “Daphne, we’ll have another room made up for you tomorrow, we just didn’t know how many were coming tonight – and I thought you might want to be in with Ariel anyway, on your first night in a strange place.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Sinclair, this is perfect,” Daphne says, turning once she’s walked into the room to smile gratefully at my mother. “It will be nice to have some girl time, one-on-one.”

“Oh, don’t be too grateful, Daphne,” I say, turning to glare playfully at my mom as I follow my friend into the room. “Half the reason she’s putting you in here is so that my mates don’t sneak into my room in the middle of the night.”

“My little girl is so clever,” my mom says, wrapping an arm around me and giving me a big kiss on the cheek as Daphne and I laugh. “You two go straight to bed! And call me Ella, Daphne, please!” Mom smiles and waves as she pulls the door shut behind her. “I love you! See you for breakfast!”

“Your mom is so nice,” Daphne says, flumping down onto the twin bed that’s made up for her next to my own big fluffy Princess bed. “I thought the queen would be…I don’t know, stuffier? More rigid and judgmental?”

I grin at Daphne, moving over to my dresser and pulling out a set of pajamas to change into. “Mom doesn’t have a stuffy or judgmental bone in her body,” I say with a smile. “She’s the best. Do you need some pajamas? I have like…a million sets. Mom’s a shopping addict – she just buys everything she thinks is cute and it appears in my wardrobe like magic. Dad told her to stop but…she just laughed at him.”

“Nah,” Daphne says with a big yawn, reaching for her suitcase and lifting it up onto the bed to flick it open. “I brought my own.”

We get ready for bed pretty quickly, with Daphne’s face cracking with yawn after yawn. We chat a little bit, winding down from our day as we brush our teeth, get changed, and climb into bed. I’m even a little jealous when I flick off the light, because Daphne’s eyes are already fluttering shut. I’m pleased because I think that this means that she enjoyed herself, but also…damn, I wish I was sleepier.

My mind is still buzzing with everything that happened today. Not only did my mates bizarrely come to an agreement to tolerate each other this morning, but then I had an identity swap and became a girl again, and left the Academy behind, and got to see my huge insane family that I love so much. I sigh, content but eager for tomorrow. It will be so exciting to meet Luca’s family and see where he came from, but I also want to spend some time with Jackson, make sure that he’s fitting in here okay.

Having two mates – it’s a great deal of work, isn’t it?

As I lean back against my pillows and close my eyes, I sigh, ready to settle in for the night. But even as I begin to do that, I feel a little nudge in my soul.

My eyes fly open because…well, what the hell was that?

My wolf, eager, jumps to her feet. It was Jacks! She says, her tongue lolling a little as she spins in a circle, looking for the source of the little bump. I go still, trying to figure it out, when it comes again. My wolf gives an eager yip, excited.

He…hello? I say in my mind, passing the words down the bond. Jackson and I haven’t figured out the mechanics of speaking mind-to-mind to each other the way that Luca and I have, but we’ve had much less time to practice, haven’t we?

There’s a pause, and then another nudge comes, accompanied – of all things – by the mental image of the outside of my own bedroom door.

I send a request for patience down the line, wordless and emotional, as I grin, getting excited. I look over at Daphne, but she’s curled up neatly in her little bed, breathing peacefully, so I decide to risk it. I do my best to be sneaky and silent as I scootch to the end of my bed, and swing my legs out, and then patter over to my bedroom door.

When I pull it delicately open, my face bursts into a grin when I see my mate standing there, leaning against my doorframe and looking impossibly sexy for someone who is just…leaning against some wood.

“What are you doing here!?” I hiss, stepping out of my room and pulling the door shut softly shut behind me, a move that conveniently brings me so close to him that I can feel his body heat even though we’re not touching. My eyes flutter half shut as I’m overwhelmed by his rich, heavy scent.

“Are you tired?” Jacks murmurs, looking down at me and running a hand over my hair, tucking it back behind my ears. “Were you sleeping?”

Grinning, I shake my head no.

“Well,” he says, giving a little shrug. “I’m not sleepy yet either. So…let’s hang out.”

I laugh a little, silently, and then press one finger to my lips as I grab his hand and pull him along with me down the short hall to the living room of our family suite, where we had the party tonight. The room is dark and still messy from all the fun – mom will clean it up in the morning, I know – and luckily silent. I stop at the doorway, peering around for a second, casting my wolf hearing out to the door on the far side of the room that leads to the Royal Suite where mom and dad sleep.

But luckily, there’s nothing. I grin up at Jacks and then pull him across the room to the hall door, where we slip out. But once I close it behind us, I know that speed is more important than stealth.

“Run!” I whisper, spinning and starting down the hall at a sprint.