Athena In Gold

XXIV - Preparations

~ ~ ~

It was exactly one day before my 18th birthday.

The surprise of finding my mate had already been ruined. So now I can't think of a single thing I could possibly stress about for tomorrow.

"Not a single thing." Azula adds.

I admit, the thought of celebrating my birthday with Nicholas does seem nice.

Before I arrived in Italy I would've hated the idea of spending my birthday alone with him but now I think I would prefer it to be that way.

"Athena."

I look up to whoever it is.

"Hm?" I hum.

"I asked if you were going to get breakfast before we leave. The palace is holding a buffet, all the other guests will be there too." Thomas repeats as he leans on the vanity table on one side of the room.

"You've been zoning out for a while now, are you alright?" Lealani puts away her lipstick as she takes a seat beside me on the bed.

"Sorry, my wolf keeps talking to me." I lied. She nods dismissively as if she knew there was more to what I was willing to let on.

I give her a small smile and she returns one back.

"I better see you at the breakfast buffet." Lea's hands forced me to face her. "I didn't see you eat anything last night, and I want my sister in law to be healthy and all." She says helping me up as my mind suddenly went blank at her words.

It almost felt like excitement?

"Is Nicholas finally getting to your heart Athena?"

Help.

I tried to not think about Nicholas too much.

I was beginning to feel that restlessness that everyone talks about before they meet their mate. It felt like getting cramps before the actual period.

"Where is Nicholas?" Thomas points out as he takes a seat next to James at a round table. "And Altheo." He adds after looking around. "Have they finally dropped the-"

"Nick is still trying to stop my brother from marrying that psychopath." Saffron answers, sitting beside James. "He's probably offering Athena's services just to persuade him."

My eyes snap to Saffron in an instant.

She gives me a sighing look, "I'm only joking but you never know." She moves her attention back to her plate of food.

Lealani takes the left seat beside her, gesturing for me to sit down next to her.

"I don't think Nicholas would give up even just a seconds of Athena's time if he could." Lealani tuned in and I looked to her with a waiting expression.

But instead it was James who spoke up. "He has never waited this long for something he desires, do you really think he's going to share Athena's attention?" He looked at Saffron confrontingly.

Saffron dropped her knife and fork and raised her head back up, staring directly at me. At first her mouth had opened to speak but she never said anything as her eyes drifted behind me.

Suddenly I feel a kiss on the side of my face. And seconds later I felt the weight of his hands on my shoulders.

"How did it go?" Lea speaks.

"Frustrating as expected." Nicholas replied. "But I think he'll come to his senses soon enough." He had squeezed my shoulders. "Maybe one last try wouldn't hurt?" He says and it took a moment for me to realise that he was talking to me at that point.