Chapter 103
Jackson stares down at the tiny woman who is…god, she could be his mate’s identical twin,
couldn’t she? Except, a little older…
“Rafe Henry Sinir,” the woman hisses, moving closer to the Prince, ring daggers into his face.
“What the fuck are you two ying at?”
“I’ll exin everything, mom,” Rafe growls softly through his teeth, turning away with Ari in his
arms. “But right n in his arms. “But right now, you need to heal her!”
Jackson stares, confused at Rafe, because.
Well, why is he calling this woman mom?
Didn’t Ari just…..
And then, as the woman shoves Rafe hard on the shoulder and they start to stride towards a door
built into the edge of the cliffside, everything suddenlyes together.
That woman
he’s seen her before, of course – seen her picture a thousand times in print and on television. E
Sinir – the Queen of the nation, Rafe’s mother.
And mother of three more children, including the eldest Princess, Ariel –
Ari –
Jackson groans, tilting his head back and covering his face in his hands, cursing himself for being
such an idiot-
God, how could he have not put that togetherst night!? It’s not like she was even being sneaky
about it! A girl named Ari, living with her “cousins,” Rafe and Jesse Sinir!? Who the hell did he
think she was!?
“Are youing?”
Jackson drops his hands from his face to look towards the door, where the Queen has stopped for
a moment to re at him while she holds it open, inviting him to follow where
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the crown Prince has carried his damn sister.
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Jackson nods once and strides towards the door, obeying his summons not because at Queen has
given them, but because his mate is inside now. And he’s not leaving her alone for one damn
second.
–
No, he didn’te this far to let someone else take control now. No, Ari Ariel she’s his. His to carry,
his to protect, and he’s not leaving her side again before he knows she’s okay. Maybe not even then
not for a long time.
Jackson steps quickly through the door and follows the Queen down a short hall to a simple room.
The Queen shuts the door behind him as Jackson turns to watch Rafeys a bloody, unconscious
Ariel onto a crisp white hospital bed. God, she looks so tiny, so delicate…
“Hey!” the Queen shouts, snapping her fingers up in Jackson’s face to draw his attention to her. “I
don’t know who you are, but you need to fill me in on precisely what happened to my daughter!”
She res at him like it’s his fault.
Jackson stands awkwardly by the door, staring at the Queen, not knowing what to say.
“Go easy on him, mom,” Rafe snaps, standing up straight as the Queen rolls her eyes and moves to
sit on the edge of the bed, taking Ariel’s hand. “He’s Ariel’s mate, he didn’t do this
he probably saved her –”
The Queen’s eyes go wide as she stares at Rafe and then turns that shocked gaze back on
Jackson, who just stands by the door, trembling a little.
starts
“Well,e on, then,” the Queen sighs, waving him over as she leans over Ariel and to look over
the wounds. To Jackson’s shock, the Queen rather callously grasps the end of a crossbow bolt and
just yanks it out.
–
Jackson gapes because I mean, aren’t you supposed to not pull the bolt out? What kind of
doctor is she-
“Rx,” Rafe murmurs, ncing at him. “Mom’s got…I mean, it’s her magic, all right? She’s going
to heal her. Ariel’s going to be fine.”
The Queen sends another nce Jackson’s way before she starts to snap out questions about
what happened, and when, and how long Ariel’s been semi–conscious. Jackson
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answers them all a
fast as he can before the Queen takes a deep breath, settling herself on the side of the bed and
taking both of Ariel’s hands in hers.
Then, to Jackson’s shock, the queen just exhales slowly and closes her eyes, looking of all bizarre
things like she’s just meditating.
Rafe exhales a long breath of relief and Jackson turns to him, gesturing towards the Queen, silently
asking if they’re all crazy.
Rafe just stares at Jackson and thenughs a little, nodding to the side, silently asking him to take a
step away. Jackson hesitates but then follows, ncing towards the door, wondering if he should
run and get a real doctor or something –
“Look, Ari’s going to be fine, okay?” Rafe whispers, ncing back towards his mom and his sister,
“Mom’s…very powerful. So just calm down, yeah?”
Jackson just stares at the Prince’s face, wondering how the hell he’s supposed to do that.
Rafe just smirks, his smile a little unsteady, but he takes a deep breath and shakes his head,
probably forcing himself to calm down too. “Thank you,” Rafe says, crossing his arms and looking
back towards his sister,ying so pale on the bed. “For taking care of her. It…it kills me that I wasn’t
there.”
“Of course,” Jackson says, instant, still staring at the Prince like he’s crazy for thinking that he
wouldn’t take care of her.
Rafe looks back at Jackson and flinches a little at the intensity on the other man’s face. And then he
laughs, just lightly. “I guess you two…..figured some things out in the woods?”
Jackson blinks for a second and then realizes that…well, that Rafe Sinir knows, doesn’t he? But
of course he does he just told the Queen that Jackson’s Ariel’s mate. “Yeah,” Jackson says after a
minute, running a hand through his hair and looking over at Ariel again, not wanting to take his eyes
away for a single second. To his shock, color has already started toe back to her cheeks.
Is it…is it seriously possible? That…
“Jacks,” Rafe murmurs, and Jackson almost jumps out of his skin when the Prince puts a hand on
his shoulder. But Rafe, to his credit, doesn’t pull it away. Jackson turns to him now,
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starting to tremble all over like a frightened animal. “Look,” Rafe says, keeping his voice Tow and
calm. “if mom gets to them while they’re breathing I mean, I’ve never not seen her bring someone
back, okay?”
The two stare at each other for a long moment, Jackson…not knowing how to understand it, or how
to believe it.
“Ariel’s going to be fine,” Rafe insists, his voice still soft, his brows knitting together in concern. But
Jackson flinches when he realizes suddenly that Rafe’s concern is…is not for Ariel anymore. It’s for
him. “You got her here in time, Jacks. You did it. She’s going to be
okay.”
Jackson continues to stare at Rafe for a long, long moment before he gasps in a long breath,
suddenly flooded with hope he hadn’t realized he’d lost.
Because he’d repeated to himself over and over again that she was going to make it –
That she’d survive, that he’d make her survive, damn it, if he had to pour his own blood into her
veins
But deep down, after she’d stopped moving? After he could feel her pulse slowing, after she started
taking the magic in lesser and lesser quantities?
God, he’d really thought he’d lost her-
And then Jackson, even though he hasn’t done it since he was a very small child, didn’t know he
even could anymore he bursts into tears. Big, wracking sobs, the kind that shake his shoulders and
make him gasp for air. Half mortified, half lost in grief and worry, he tucks his face against his
palms.
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Rafe’s face falls, but suddenly he’s there, wrapping an arm around Jackson’s shoulders. before
tugging him close. Jackson, not knowing what impulse tells him to do it because he’s never hugged
another man in his life, wraps his own arms around Rafe’s back and clings to him, burying his face
against Rafe’s shoulder, emptying his tears.
“It’s all right,” Rafe murmurs softly, patting Jackson’s muscled back with his own broad hand. “It’s
okay, let it out. She’s going to be fine. She’s going to be fine.”
Rafe murmurs it over and over until Jackson cries himself out, until the big Alpha raises his
head and wipes an exhausted hand over his bloody cheek.
Rafe helps Jackson steady himself, find his feet, and then looks him up and down. “You need a
shower,” he murmurs, and Jackson pauses before heughs, just a little, ncing again towards
the bed where Ariel…
God, she looks like she’s sleeping now, even though the Queen still holds her hands, still has her
eyes closed, a faintvender light shining around both of them.
“Yeah.” Jackson murmurs, even though a shower is the furthest thing from his mind in this moment.
“I guess…I guess I do.”
“Wee to the family, man,” Rafe murmurs, pping a hand on Jackson’s shoulder and leaning
against him just a little bit. “Wee to non–stop drama, probably for the rest of your life.”
Jackson just groans lightly at the thought, and crosses his arms, and stands steadily even if he
needs to sniff a few times and wipe again at the final tears on his cheeks.
Then, quite patiently, he stands still and waits for his mate to wake up.