The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Rafe's eyes fly wide as he stares at his cousin, shocked.

What...what the fuck is this?

"Hey, guys!" Jesse says, his voice tight and falsely cheerful as he strides over to his family, all of them staring at him, agape. Jesse keeps his smile fixed on his face even as he glares around at his parents, his uncle, and his favorite cousin, silently demanding that they play along. "This is my mate, Midnight! She's really fantastic and I'm sure she'll be glad to meet you soon but she...she did not like the helicopter."

"Infernal machine," Midnight hisses, lifting her face. Cora gasps at the sight of the hollow pits of darkness the place of the girl's eyes, the shadows that stream from the dark ruin of her mouth. "Cursed metal bird - carrying people in its belly like eggs! We are lucky to have survived! It should be destroyed - I will destroy it!"

She spins then, casting shadows out from her hand that streak towards the helicopter. Rafe gasps as the pilot's eyes go wide, but Jesse turns and grabs at the shadows himself, almost like grabbing a cat by the tail, hauling them back.

"Mids," Jesse growls down at the girl still in his arms. "What did we agree on, regarding the destruction of vehicles?" The shadows suck neatly into his outstretched hand, obedient and trim.

Midnight's face turns down in a trembling little frown, her personal shadows receding almost completely from her visage so that Rafe can see that she's not some kind of monster just...

Just a girl. A really, really frightened, tiny, skinny girl with big brown eyes and a sweet, heart-shaped face that has masses of dark curls tumbling around it.

"We agreed to temporarily contain the urge for destruction," she whispers. "Until we have more information and can make an informed decision regarding whether or not it a vehicle or...a foul beast that needs to face a bloody end."

"You got it," Jesse says, grinning at her, laughing a little bit. When he turns his face back to his family, Rafe is shocked to see a little more of his cousin there now more relaxed, more full of humor.

But one glance around at all of his family's faces assures Rafe that everyone else is just as freaked out about the Goddess's choice for Jesse's mate as he is.

"So," Jesse says, grinning around at everyone. "Can we...go inside?"

Twenty minutes later Jesse's family is gathered in the living room around a crackling fire, watching Midnight work her way through her fourth bowl of ice cream. The Atalaxians begged to be let to rest and so Ben was charged with showing them to their room and ensuring that they settle in.

Ella, predictably, softened towards Midnight the moment she heard even the barest outlines of her story, gasping and ushering the girl to a warm seat by the fire, covering her with blankets and ordering her up a great deal food even before she took the time to wrap Jesse in a warm hug and tell him how glad she was that he's safe and home, how very much he was missed and worried for.

Not to Jesse's surprise, Cora is...taking a bit more time in her assessment of Midnight.

"So," Cora murmurs, sipping a cup of coffee and standing close to her son while Dominic, Roger, Rafe, and Ella talk to Midnight, getting to know her and being incredibly kind - as Jesse knew they would be. "What's what's really going on there?" She raises an eyebrow at her son, letting him know precisely what she's asking.

Jesse sighs and smiles, shaking his head as he crosses his arms.

"It's...very complicated, Ma. Midnight really is the best and incredibly important to me, but I had no idea, really, how... intense it would be meeting my mate. But she's still very much a child in her heart and her mind and I worry about her a lot. I want the best for her – and so a romantic connection...it's not even on my mind."

Cora hums consideringly as she turns her eyes back to the poor girl, though inwardly her heart sings with pride for her son, for his restraint in tucking away any romantic impulses he might have towards his mate, putting her needs first. "I'm very proud of you, Jess," she says, soft.

“Aw shucks, ma,” Jesse says, his face breaking into that pretty smile that reminds Cora so much of his father. "You're going to make me blush."noveldrama