Althena Book 2

76. The Ring

I jump out of bed and run downstairs. The boys and Chris are in the living room. Even Drogon's here. I didn't notice he wasn't in bed. I can't stop smiling.

"What?" Conner kisses my head and gives me a hug.

Chris crosses his arms, then he jumps. "A RING." He runs over and takes my hand. "This is beautiful."

"I love the heart diamond." I squeal and point it out.

"I love the light blue accent diamonds in the white gold. Why blue?"

Drogon smiles. "Her eyes."

"It's perfect." I run over and sit on Drogon. "I love you."

"I love you too, babygirl."

Conner smirks. "Glad you finally got the balls to ask. Took you long enough."

Mike nods. "Did he ask you at the restaurant?"

"No." I turn to Drogon. "Is that why you kept turning red?"

He laughs. "Yes. I was going to ask you at the fountain too. I started sweating so badly, it was pouring out of me."

I spin the ring on my finger. "This isn't the first time that's happened."

All of them crack up laughing.

He hugs me. "I've had the ring for a while. But every time I made a plan to ask you, I would have a panic attack or something. I was scared you'd say no. I figured everyone would be watching. It was always in public. I did better when it was just us."

"You did perfect." I snuggle against him and stare at it. "I would never have said no."

He kisses my head and hugs me. "My girl."

Chris pulls me up and towards the door. "Let's go. We'll get fancy. You can get a matching dress. We'll go places where the press will photograph us. We'll get the rumors going."

Mike yells, "EAT SOMETHING FIRST."

"I need a shower and clothes too." I run for it before Chris can complain.

30 minutes later, we're in the helicopter headed to Central District. Chris sits back with his finger on his lips. He's concentrating very deeply while I eat a breakfast sandwich.

Then he pulls me into Safiri. The door guard puts an eyebrow up and watches him drag me by.

We barely get in the door and Chris yells, "HERE. FOCUS ON ME, PLEASE."

About 10 sales people run over. I'm still eating.

"Thank you, all. She needs a light blue, chiffon, princess cut, off the shoulder, sleeveless, floor length, slit to the hip, A-line, and natural waist dress. For shoes, I'm thinking of a nude colored strappy heel with a little shimmer. White tip nails in a natural shape. We will need accessories. As well as hair and makeup. Easy on the rings, we want to show off a ring on a certain finger."

They run over and grab my hand while I shove the last bite of my food in.

"It's beautiful."

"I have the perfect dress."

"Congratulations."

"When's the wedding?"

I swallow hard. "Thank you. Everyone. We haven't discussed dates yet."

"We can start on your nails and hair. Right this way."

"We'll do bouncy curls with a side part."

"Would you like some juice or water?" The girls guide me away and keep talking.

Chris directs everything and still has time to get his hair, nails, and makeup done. We stand in front of the mirrors at the end, and I am amazed. I look amazing.

"They did well with the jewelry. I didn't want them to take away from the ring, but at the same time, you can't have that neckline on a dress without a necklace."

I drag my freshly manicured fingers over the diamond necklace. "It's just the right amount of sparkle."

"It really is."

"Chris."

"Yes?"

"When we were talking about Akmae on the phone, you said you would play in your mom's clothes when you were little."

"I did."

"But you don't wear dresses or..."

He cuts me off. "I still worry about things. The world doesn't seem ready for that."

"The world may not be, but I think you should be you. The people who care about you won't care. We just want you to be happy and healthy. Who cares what the rest think? You have to be true to yourself."

"While I do agree with you, harassment, violence, assault, hate crimes, and discrimination are all very real. Living my truth would put me at risk."

"Don't put yourself at risk. I don't want anything to happen to you." I stare at our reflection. "This is confusing. I want the world to see who you really are but..."

He smiles. "Someday. But for today, let's just worry about showing off this new ring. Maybe I'll wear a dress to your engagement party."

"You would be safe there... Just don't wear the same dress I do."

We look at each other and laugh. "Since it's your only request, I promise not to wear a matching dress."

"Thank you." We leave Safiri looking a hell of a lot better than when we got here. "We could wear matching shoes though."

He nods and looks at the door guard. "Where are the press?"

"Probably at the casino, sir."

We fly to the landing pad and take a limo to the front door. He was right. The press is here again.

He gets out first and helps me out. Then I smile and pose for the press. They scream out all kinds of questions at me. I don't answer anything. Then we go to the coffee shop.

Akmae gives us a double take then stares at Chris. "I put the salads in the cooler yesterday. I wasn't sure what else to do back there."

"Yea, we left it a mess. We'll sort it out. But not today. We need coffee."

Drogon wraps his arms around me. "My beautiful fiance. Did you tell anyone?"

"No. I'm not sure who I would tell. The press took pictures though. I wanted them to see it."

"They saw it. I'm sure." Chris hands me a coffee.

"I doubt it. I should have shown it better. Did you tell anyone?"

"I called my mother. She'll probably be here in 3 seconds."

I laugh and hug him.

Chris holds his phone up and pushes play. "You and your ring made the news."

"Darkburn Queen Althena Sage stepped out looking stunning late this morning. But what is catching everyone's attention is a beautiful diamond heart ring on a certain finger. The speculation is high that King Winter has proposed."

"We are searching for the designer of the ring. So far, we know it's a 3 carrot heart diamond. Surrounded by a heart of rare light blue diamonds. All set on a white gold band." A very zoomed-in image of my ring shows up.

"They got a good picture of my ring."

"It's a good picture of you, baby." Drogon kisses my head. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Drogon's mom runs up to us and gives me the box. "Congratulations."

"No." His dad follows her in. "You need to wait for the engagement party."

She snaps at him. "Already gave it to her. You're too late."

Drogon laughs and hands it back to her. I glare at him.

"FINE. WE'RE HAVING THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY NEXT WEEKEND." She slams her foot down on his.

Chris nearly spits out his coffee. "I'm helping. Let's go plan it."

Drogon hops around. "That's kind of quick to plan a party isn't it?"

Chris's eye twitches. "I HAVE BEEN PLANNING THIS FOR 17 YEARS. STAY OUT OF OUR WAY."

I stomp on his good foot. "YOU CAN'T GIVE MY PRESENT BACK."

Clayton cracks up laughing. I didn't even know he was here. "It's gonna be the present thing all over again."

Drogon's dad steps in the middle of everyone. "Go plan the party for next weekend. You'll get the present next weekend. Drogon, sit somewhere. Clayton, stop laughing."

"She's going to try to run off with all the presents." He can't stop laughing.

"We'll plan it now." His mom sits at a table with Chris.

Chris gets out his phone. "Where is it going to be?"

"Our packhouse."

"I need to see it to visualize."

"Let's go do that. I'll call Mary and her grandma. They'll want to help." They get up and walk out.

Clayton yells, "LILA'S GOING TOO."

Cyrus hugs me. "What's everyone doing?"

"They left to plan the engagement party."

"You going, baby?"

"There is no way in hell I'm getting in Chris's way."

Clayton pushes me out of the way so he can look at Drogon better. "Bachelor party."

Drogon smirks and that's all it takes. I jump at him with my fingernails first. I'm going to rip his damn eyeballs out.

Cyrus holds me around the waist in midair. "Never bring that up in front of any bride."

"Sorry."

Drogon stands up and fixes me. Then he kisses my head. "It's a party, babygirl. I'll never do anything that jeopardizes what we have."

Clayton nods. "He knows he'll lose his eyeballs and his d**k if he does."

Akmae smiles. "You'll get a bachelorette party too."

I slowly pull my phone out. Drogon and Cyrus crack up laughing.

Drogon's dad rolls his eyes. "That stuff doesn't come until closer to the wedding. Let them plan out this party first. They're on a deadline."

"Fine." Clayton pouts and leaves.

I heal Drogon and give him a kiss. Then he hugs me. "What are you going to do, baby? Mike and I are going to run through the paperwork for the last 2 days. You brought in a lot of money."

Storm nods. "This was an excellent opening weekend."

"I'm going to steal Cyrus and spend a day on the beach."

"That sounds fun. We'll join you later." He kisses my head and leaves with his dad.

Cyrus is staring at me. He's got tears in his eyes. I give him a hug. "I need to love you better."

"You're perfect, babygirl."

I take his arm and pull him with me. "No, I'm not. It shocked me when I found out we were mates. But I loved you already. I always have. I'm not sure what happened."

"It was a shock. It was sudden. I should have listened and waited."

"No. You wanted what was yours and were done playing games. No more games. No more shock. I'm yours. I'm going to treat you like you're mine now."

He kisses my head and blinks away tears. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'll see if that room is open with the private beach."

"See if they'll make us lunch."

"Ok." He holds the door for me.

"QUEEN ALTHENA, CAN WE SEE THE RING?" Damn press is still perched right outside the door.

I smile and hold my hand out. Cyrus and 2 of my security team nearly die when one of them runs at me with a camera. Then he takes a picture of the ring from about 3 inches away. "That is a beautiful ring."

"Thank you."

"Do you have a date picked out?"

"We don't. We haven't discussed that yet."

"How did he ask you?"

Cyrus pulls me away. "No more questions." We get in the limo, and he turns to me. "That guy was way too close to you."

"I think he just wanted a good picture of the ring." I snuggle against his side.

"It is pretty."

"Thank you. He did good. Do people get married in Eldervale?"

"Some do. It's a personal preference. If they want gifts or more acknowledgment of their relationship, they do."

"What?"

"Bonding and marking your soulmate is the ultimate commitment. But it's also private. It's done privately, nobody knows. Men show up to work marked and never say a word. It's the way it is."

I giggle. "They don't tell?"

"They'll tell their friends and family eventually. But she'll become his family that day. It's fast and over. A wedding prolongs the process. They'll still bond and mark each other, but they get to have parties, introduce each other around, get to know their new family, accept presents, then have a big wedding celebration at the end. By then, every person will know they found each other. It's not private that way."

"What do you want?"

He shakes his head. "My mate. Go to work one day marked and know the search is over. That's the true commitment, anyway."

I smile and snuggle him. "We're going to see how this goes before I know what I want. I may end up having 4 big weddings."

He laughs and shakes his head. "I will give you a big wedding celebration if you want one. It's up to you, babygirl." He helps me out of the limo and into the helicopter.