The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy



“What's going on, Daph?" I ask, frowning, genuinely concerned for her. After all, I want my friend to be happy, especially when we discuss her relationship with Rafe.

"To begin," Daphne says, straightening her shoulders and looking right at me. "Can we pretend, for a little bit, that we're not talking about your brother? That could get...weird."

"No problem," I say, nodding eagerly, understanding as I hold my mug of wine tight in my lap.

“Um,” she says, running a hand through her long auburn curls in what I think is an anxious habit. “Things just have been...progressing, lately. In a way that I'm not sure I'm comfortable with."

"What like, emotionally?" Ben asks, totally casual, taking another sip of his wine. "Or like... physically?"

"Mostly emotionally," Daphne answers on a sigh, "but...yeah. Also physically."

I go a little stiff, not sure if I'm ready to hear the details of this. Daphne glances at me and then laughs, shaking her head, raising her glass to her lips and taking another long sip. I take her point, doing the same, as Ben chuckles at us.noveldrama

"Look," Daphne says on a long sigh, smiling at Ben and me. "It's not like he's pressuring me to do anything I want to do - we just haven't had sex, and things are progressing towards it. And I can tell that he's getting deeper and deeper into his feelings and I'm just...not sure I want to go there." She gives a little shrug, looking down at the floor, I'm not sure knowing precisely how she feels.

"He really likes you, Daphne," Ben says gently. "So... if you're afraid he's just using you or something, I don't think that's the case."

"No, I believe that," she says. "Even if...well, if I can't quite believe that Rafe Sinclair likes me."

"Oh, that's nonsense," I sigh, smacking her on the knee. "You're amazing!"

"Yeah, but he was like, my preteen crush, Ari," Daphne says on a laugh, turning her pretty blue eyes up to me. "It's the sort of thing where you see someone in a magazine, and think they're so cute, and fall asleep dreaming about what it would be like to meet them. It's not supposed to become your life but...for me it did." She gives a little shrug like she can't believe it.

I nod to her, understanding.

"So, what's going on?" Ben asks, doing an amazing job of just being chatty and interested even though I feel quite tense and eager to know her answer. "It sounds like you're holding back."

"I am," she says, nodding and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, looking down into her wine glass. "And part of it is...the mate thing. Like, I know he has a mate coming at some point," she says, looking up at me now, perhaps for confirmation.

I give a little shrug, not denying it, knowing she deserves the truth.

She nods and looks back down at her wine. "So, even if I did let myself go further with him - emotionally - I...know it would be dangerous. Because it has to end some day, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but that day could

be... decades from now," I says

quietly, tilting my head. "This is why mom is angry at dad for telling Rafe he has a mate - she didn't meet hers untit she was in her thirties, and she says her entire life would have been different if she was waiting every day for her mate to come strolling around the corner. She doesn't want Rafe to hold back on love and experiences just because a mate is coming along. I mean, Cora and Roger knew I was going to have two mates, and yet they still were going to let me marry that jackass I left at the altar."

Daphne and Ben suddenly grin at me, I think having forgotten all about that.

"Yeah, but it's different for Daphne," Ben says, tilting a glass towards her. "She's not the one who has the mate coming down the line - Rafe is. So, she'd hypothetically be the one left in the dust...right?" he asks, peering at her with interest. "Unless...your baptism indicated..."

"Didn't have a baptism," Daphne says, a little hasty, shaking her head. "Mom and dad...they couldn't afford the donation to the temple when I was born. Mom said diapers were more important." She grins a little, but I can tell she's more embarrassed than she lets on about it.