Althena Book 2

10. Lifts

Tadita talks about a cheer competition during practice. I guess we're doing that. It should be fun. We have to do fundraisers. That doesn't sound fun. Then me, Amber, and Lila go to the gym.

"Why are we in here?"

"I want to watch Josh practice. He is so hot."

I check out the guys. "If by hot you mean, sweaty and stinky. Then yea. I guess some of them are sexy though."

Lila holds up her phone. "We can do this with the 3 of us." 2 girls are holding another up while she does a cheer kick.

"You know what else we can do?" Amber smirks. "We can try to figure out who likes her."

"It doesn't even matter."

Lila flips to another video. "She has Conner. And like 5 other boys."

I crack up laughing and Amber stares at me. "What is going on with you, Conner, and Drogon? That's confusing. You're marrying Drogon and dating Conner?"

"Look." Lila puts her phone in our faces again. "She has multiple mates. They're both hers."

"Don't tell anyone. People will think it's weird, and I'm not even old enough to carry their marks yet."

"I get it. I won't say anything. Mike too?"

"Yea."

"Figured. That boy would stare at you while we were practicing at your house. He is totally in love with you. And since he lives with you, that makes sense. What about Cyrus?"

"Not mine."

Lila stops and stares at me. "I thought he was. Are you sure he's not? He acts like it."

"He's not mine. We have a little history, but we're not doing that again."

"I get it. Let's try this." Lila pulls me up.

"Where? They are playing on the court."

Amber gets her phone. "Their practice is almost over. Then we can try that on the court."

"Fine." Lila plops back down. "So, tell us about this history."

"You can't tell anyone." I cross my legs. "We made out some, and I fell asleep with him. But no s*x or anything like that. Don't tell my boys."

"Like you spent the night with him?"

"I spent lots of nights with him. But only 1 in his bed. When I was hidden during the war, I was with him in Eldervale."

"It was smart to not be in Darkburn. Was Clayton evacuated with you?"

"He was evacuated, but not with me. I don't know where he was taken."

Amber smirks. "I would have spent the entire time staring at Cyrus. He is nice looking."

I nod. "He really is. But I was freaking out for most of it. I couldn't talk to my boys. I didn't know if anyone was ok. Cyrus got me through it somehow. He found ways to send my boys messages and took care of everything."

She shakes her head. "Are you sure he's not yours?"

"He's not mine. When I left, he didn't speak to me at all. He didn't even want to say bye."

"He looks at you like he loves you. Maybe there was more going on."

"Yea, my mate showed up to pick me up, and he stopped leading me on."

"Maybe he was scared."

"Doubt it. He was ready for me to leave."

"Has he said anything to you since?"

"He said he was sorry. I told him not to be. That's it."

"I think there's more. You should try talking to him."

Lila smiles. "When we woke up after your party, he was sitting outside our door. Then he stared at her boobs. It was a little weird. But Clayton was staring at mine. We should put on bras before we come out next time."

"That's a good plan. But Clayton loves boobs. He would probably still stare."

Amber cracks up laughing. "Typical man."

Lila leans towards me. "What was the sister thing you were talking about?"

"He used to date a girl named Eleanor. It was more of a formal thing. We have to have dates for certain stuff. I don't think he liked her very much. He could never even remember her name. But anyway, we were at a garden party, and he ran off with a girl to make out with her. He comes back talking about boobs. Turns out it wasn't Eleanor. Well, Eleanor shows up and punches him in the face. It just happened to be her sister. She was so pissed."

The girls, Josh, Akmae, and another player laugh.

"The worst part was, he still had to do things with Eleanor. He had to take her to the ball and concerts and everything. But she hated him after that."

Akmae smirks. "Why didn't he switch and go with her sister?"

"He didn't like her." They burst out laughing. "It was a mess. Then the girl's parents kept trying to get him into a marriage contract. He flat refused."

"It sounds like a mess."

"It was. I haven't seen Eleanor in a long time. I guess she finally got out of being his date for everything. I know she's happy about that."

Lila puts her eyebrows up. "They tried to get him into a marriage contract?"

"Yea, people do that for royals. My dad blocked and refused every single one, except Drogon, while he was alive. Now, it's up to us."

Josh crosses his arms. "You have to marry Drogon?"

I smirk. "I don't have to do anything."

Lila pulls me up. "Enough talk. Let's try this lift."

We change places with the boys and they sit down.

"No. You're going up." Amber shakes her head. "You're the one who wants to try this. You can fall on your head if it doesn't work."

I crack up laughing and stand by Lila's side. We get her hoisted up and hold her by her feet. "We should have watched that video a few more times."

Amber nods. "We can't hold you up forever, Lila."

The boys jump up and Lila seems to panic. "I don't know how to get down. Don't drop me."

They get her down and she smiles. "Thank you. Let's watch that video again."

Amber points at the door. "They don't seem happy."

Drogon, Cyrus, Clayton, and Conner are coming towards us. Conner's in a t-shirt. The other 3 are in suits.

"What did you do?" Lila scratches her head.

"We're about to find out."

Drogon scoops me up and holds me. "Woman, don't hide from your guards. They panicked when they couldn't find you. They made everyone panic."

"I'm in the gym. I didn't hide. We came here after practice."

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Conner crosses his arms.

"I don't have it. I left it in my bag."

Clayton nods. "This is the guards' fault. They lost her. She's not hidden. We found her in five minutes."

"They have to alert us immediately, Clayton."

"They're still not here. They haven't found her yet."

"Idiots." Conner calls someone.

Cyrus takes a break from glaring at the boys to look at me. "What were you doing here?"

Amber crosses her arms. "Making out with boys. What else are we supposed to do here?"

That pisses the 3 of them off. Conner's still on the phone. Thankfully.

Drogon looks at my eyes and I shake my head a little. He winks at me. "Well, now I have stomach issues. What were you doing, baby?"

"Lifts. We nearly dropped Lila this time."

Lila nods. "I nearly fell to my death. We also learned about Eleanor and her sister."

They crack up laughing. Even Clayton shakes his head and laughs. "She knocked me on my ass. Then Thena sat there clapping."

"It was a good hit." They lose it. "You deserved it anyway. You did that to yourself."

"You're supposed to help me if a girl is kicking my ass."

"I wasn't getting in her way. She was pissed."

Drogon puts me on my feet and rubs his eyes. "Let's get out of here."

"What were you doing?"

"We were about to end a meeting when the guards called. We jumped into the helicopter. Mike's here too, but I think he's in the office." Drogon winks at me.

Conner shakes his head. "He's threatening to take the guards' heads off. He'll meet us in the helicopter."

Amber about jumps on him. "Can Mike help us with the lift?"

"You'll have to ask him."

"Let's go." She grabs Josh and drags him towards the door.

I shake my head. "She doesn't even know where he is."

Lila smiles. "I guess we're coming over for dinner."

Drogon nods. "At least there are not 45 of you this time. Let's go find Mike."

Akmae puts an eyebrow up. "45?"

"2 cheerleading teams and the ice hockey team."

20 minutes later, we're sitting around the dining room table eating spaghetti with meatballs. Having those omegas here is amazing. I should probably learn their names.

Monte comes in with Granny. "Hello. Conner never told me the date for the choir concert and Monte needs healed."

"What happened?"

"Don't know the date." Conner shakes his head. "I'll let you know when I figure it out."

"Mistakes were made."

"What mistakes, Granny?"

"I tried to make a truth serum, and it seems to have glued his mouth shut."

"Stop trying to drug him." I roll my eyes and take his arm.

"Sure." She sits down.

"ANYWAY. THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO DO." Amber shoves her phone in Mike's face. "Can you help? We nearly killed Lila today."

"Yea, but you'll need to be in the pool until you get better at it. And I want to watch it on a screen that's not in my eyeball."

Monte winks at me. "Thank you."

"No problem."

Josh pulls her down beside him and laughs. She seems happy. She cuddles under his arm. Then we move to the living room and watch it about 10 times. Lila calls the rest of the girls and they show up.

"Why are you trying to drug him anyway?"

"To see how things are going in his life. He's not on the Packland as much anymore. He keeps missing things."

"I'm just going to therapy. You could have asked. You don't have to drug me."

Conner cracks up laughing. "You take all the fun out of it. How is that going?"

"Fine. He told me to talk to girls I like."

"We're pretty. You can talk to us." Lexi smiles at him.

Jenna sits back on the couch. "My therapist told me to stop blowing guys."

We collectively stare at her for a second. Then nod. "That's some good advice."

Mike rubs his face. "Girls, std's are real. You should not be doing anything without your mate."

"Time to get in the pool." Lauren pulls me and Lila up. "I'm not listening to this speech. Monte, I guess you can get in with us because we're pretty." She shrugs her shoulders.

He laughs and comes out behind us. "I'll sit over there and watch."

The boys and granny watch us. Mike and Drogon tell us what to do. Cyrus and Clayton record us. After about an hour, we have each been lifted a few times and figured out how to drop. Then everyone goes home. I pass out on Mike right after our shower.