Love Athena

Chapter Three

As Camila entered the royal family's private dining room, her eyes met the Crown Prince's. Their earlier moment of intimacy flashed through her mind for the forty-third time in the past five hours. She quickly ducked her head, bowing while Anders, the king's private secretary, announced her presence.

Astonishing, the prince whispered in mind link.

Her knees nearly buckled at the single word. She was in a black V-neck short-sleeved high-low dress that Freda had suggested on a hunch that she was going to be asked to stay for dinner. She had disagreed but upon seeing his reaction, she was glad she had finally given in to her assistant's pleas.

"Miss Allard, join us for dinner," the king said, pointing to the only empty seat at the table. She almost sighed with relief. The seat was between Prince Alexander's twin younger siblings, Prince William and Princess Adelaide.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for having me," she said, ensuring to school her expression and ignore the heated gaze of her mate.

She had accepted it; they were mates. There was no other plausible explanation for the unseasonable attraction between them.

"You look beautiful, Camila," Prince William said, glancing at Prince Alexander from the corner of his eyes. Immediately, his brother growled.

"Alex, honey, is there a problem?" his mother asked him in a soft tone that contrasted greatly with the amount of power she possessed as the strongest individual in the wolf kingdom. Upon meeting her mate, she relinquished her throne as the monarch with royal blood to avoid a lot of politics and societal demands. Instead of the king remaining as prince consort, she elevated him to King making him an equal and sometimes, a higher power. At 2506 years old, having ruled for 1253 years, she was ready to retire.

"William should not flirt with our guest. It may cause her discomfort," he gritted out.

"You flirted with the Norwegian Alpha's mated daughter last week at dinner," Adelaide pointed out.

"I've matured since then. Besides, I didn't know she was mated," he replied, frowning.

"Matured in a week? What kind of...", Adelaide bit back.

"Enough! Now, you're causing her discomfort and embarrassing yourselves. My apologies, Camila. It seems my children in their twenties are still growing," the King said.

"It poses no problem, Your Majesty. About the scroll you sent earlier..", she said, reminding him of the reason for the meeting.

"Ah yes, Alexander's training. I understand that you may require at least a week to prepare?" he asked.

"Negative, Your Majesty. We can commence tomorrow," she replied.

"Tomorrow? Don't you need time to prepare something along the lines of coursework of study?" he asked, shock evident in his voice.

"Yes, I have prepared all the required information. You can view it and modify it as you see fit," she said pulling out her tablet from her bag. She made to stand up but he waved her down, signaling Anders to receive and deliver the tablet.

"Camila, I am afraid I do not know how to operate your device. What do I do with this?", King Lucian said, holding the pen up. His words were expected. Older paranormals were not familiar with technology.

"You use it to move the screen and write, Your Majesty," she explained. The king nodded and touched the screen with the pen. When it lit up so did his eyes.

"Aleks, you have to try this. It's fascinating," The king handed the tablet cautiously to Queen Aleksandra.

"Oh my, it is wonderful. Luc, the little squares open up," she said, showing him the screen.