Dragon Fire Academy 1 First Term an RH academy romance - Rachel Jonas Page 0,63

was no missing that she was self-conscious, not having the chance to style it like she usually did. But honestly, I’d never thought she looked more beautiful.

“I’m ready,” she said softly when we only managed to stare, instead of speaking actual words.

“Uh, great. We can head to my jeep then,” I rushed to say, hopping to my feet. Paulo and Rayen did the same, hardly taking their eyes off her.

The sensation of static moving over my skin let me know one of the guys was attempting to break into my thoughts to speak.

‘Dude … here’s hoping your feeling was right,’ Rayen joked as Noelle—in all her perfection—passed between us. ‘Talk about being the luckiest bastards on the planet,’ he concluded.

And I couldn’t have agreed with him more.

***

Noelle

I don’t think I’d ever been around nicer people. I mean, genuinely nice people. The guys I’d had the pleasure of meeting the night before, but I was admittedly nervous to be introduced to their mates. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly they took to me after only a matter of seconds at the barbecue.

Kalea—who hosted with her mates, the Auroras, set the tone. Starting when she completely bypassed my handshake for a hug. Her sisters, as she called them—Nayeli and Lehua—followed her cue and squeezed me tight. They hadn’t even let the guys tell them who I was fully, waving my guardians off dismissively before taking me by my arms and hauling me over toward the pool where they posted.

I sat there, feeling incredibly intimidated with so many strangers surrounding me. There were children everywhere—coming down the slide and splashing into the water, playing on the swing set, chasing each other around the yard, and even more near the edge of a lagoon a good distance away.

Everyone was just so … happy. And not the fake, staged happy. This was real.

Feeling someone’s stare burning a hole through the side of my face, I turned to find Nayeli watching me with a half-smile. Realizing she’d been caught, she laughed.

“I’m sorry to be such a creeper, I just can’t get over how pretty you are,” she said freely, prompting the others to agree, raving about how clear my skin was, or how they admired the thickness of my hair. Honestly, it made me blush a little.

“Thank you,” I said shyly. “The guys didn’t have a blow dryer, so I made do.”

“It’s perfect,” Kalea assured me, dropping down onto a lawn chair after grabbing each of us a bottle of water from the cooler.

“So, this is our first time meeting you, but things have certainly evolved within the Omega Hive,” Lehua said with a smile. “Who are your people? Are you from the east or west side of the island?”

I was honestly flattered she assumed I was a native. They were all so beautiful. “Actually, I’m a mainlander,” I explained, using their term for anyone who wasn’t born here. “But to answer your question, my mother is Queen Evangeline, and my father is—”

“They landed themselves a princess?” Kalea said, cutting me off with a hand pressed to her chest. The gesture matched the surprised expression she wore. “Wow! And your parents are okay with you merging with the Omegas?”

There were several things I needed to address regarding Kalea’s statement, but mostly I was confused.

“Merging with the Omegas?”

Now she seemed confused. “Becoming their queen,” she clarified. “Have you told your family yet?”

“I—no,” I stammered. “Because there’s nothing to tell.” Now there was awkward silence as the Queens stared with bewilderment in their eyes. “I’m not the Omega’s mate. I’m just a student at the academy.”

Their expressions made it clear that this hadn’t been the explanation they expected.

“I’m sorry if someone told you otherwise,” I apologized. “I think your men got confused when I showed up with the Omegas to the orphanage last night. I was only there to help.”

“But you are staying with them, right?” Nayeli asked. “I mean, that’s cool if you are and it’s just a casual thing, it’s just that … Firekeepers don’t do ‘casual’, so we just assumed—”

“What my sister is trying to say is, we’ve just stuck our big feet in our mouths,” Lehua interrupted with a grin bailing Nayeli out when she thought she’d said too much.

“It’s fine,” I assured them with a bit of a nervous laugh.

“But still! We have a real live princess in our midst,” Kalea piped. “Not many on the island keep up with what goes on on the mainland, but your mother is basically