♚ Zayn's POV ♚

I had a bit of a dilemma when I woke up the next morning.

Odette was fast asleep curled up into my side. Her arm had unconsciously wrapped around my shirtless middle, and her legs had intertwined with one of mine.

It didn't take long for me to learn that Odette tended to hug whoever was in the same bed as her, and once you were caught in that trap of tangled limbs, you weren't getting out anytime soon. I mentally debating calling her my little octopus rather than little swan, the former seemed to fit her death-grip hugs much better.

I was about to start negotiating my escape when soft raps at the door were heard. I softly called out for the person to come in, Falene stepping in holding a huge cardboard box. She smirked at me upon seeing Odette and me in bed together, to which I rolled my eyes at. She stepped over to the bed to allow me to see the contents of the box, some streamers and decorations for the party already collected.

"It's a start, but we'll need more." Falene informed me quietly, my mind racing with ways to get more without Odette noticing during the day. This wasn't going to be a tiny surprise party, we were going all out, so we had to ensure all the decorations and presents were well hidden.

"Take Odette on a shopping trip for the whole day. That way I can gather more supplies and get presents without her noticing." I ordered Falene, whose eyes lit up at the idea of a shopping spree with an unlimited budget. I cringed, the extensive meaning of my words only just setting in.

"Don't worry, I won't spend too much." Falene smirked, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She knew very well it wasn't Odette I was worried would break my bank account, it was her.

"Yeah, right." I spoke a little too loudly, Odette mumbling something unintelligible while hugging me closer as she fell back into a deep sleep.

Falene only winked before setting the box down and rushing out, probably getting her shopping list ready. Odette and I were alone again, and I sighed as I took the time to admire my sleeping beauty.

Her lips were pouted and slightly open as she breathed heavily, her soft heartbeat felt as I traced swirling patterns on her back. The action seemed to relax her death-grip hug on me, her limbs loosening their hold on me. She scrunched her nose up as she turned the other way, her back facing me. My little swan must have gotten too warm in the covers, her legs soon kicking the covers off. It was then I noticed something peculiar, an abnormal imperfection on her otherwise blemish-free skin.

Her nightdress had scrunched up a little after she kicked the covers off, revealing some of her upper thighs to me. Small jagged stretch marks littered the skin on the sides of her thighs. I'm not quite sure but it made her seem less like a perfect angel and more tangible and real. I loved it.

My fingers traced the small lines absentmindedly, Odette's grip loosening completely as she woke up. She seemed a bit drowsy and out of it for a few moments, a whine escaping her as she cuddled back into me. I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her up so she rested over me.

"What's wrong, baby?" I asked, smiling as she shut her eyes tight to try and go back to sleep.

"Too early..." She mumbled, her head resting on my chest. I hoped she couldn't hear how fast my heart started beating.

"Are you sure you don't want to get up? I planned something for you to do." I tempted her, and I watched humorously as both of her hazel eyes opened immediately.

"What?"

"An all-expenses paid shopping trip. Get whatever you want, it's on me." I told her, pressing a kiss to her disheveled hair. She didn't seem as excited as I hoped, though.

"Do you have work again today?" She asked solemnly, and I sighed as I nodded. In actuality I did have work to do, along with the party planning. Ivy had instructed me I was to oversee the Elites for their end of the year evaluation, even though we both knew there was one that would be missing from the exam.

Isla would accompany Odette in the shadows. I wasn't taking a chance at anything happening to her.

"I'm sorry, Odette. I want to come, I really do. But you'll have Falene and Seamus with you." I tried to comfort her, but I saw right away the smile she tried to give me was fake. She was upset. Why wouldn't she be? We hadn't been spending a lot of time together other than when we were both home, which was very rare.

"Hey," I cooed, my hands smoothing her hair. "I promise we'll be able to spend some time together soon. I promise, okay?" I kissed her forehead, a soft sigh being heard from Odette.

"Okay."

***

Odette had left with Falene and Seamus about thirty minutes ago, and I was already missing her. It was hard to focus on anything else but the sad look she had given me that morning. And that was saying something, considering I had ten Elites performing unthinkable fighting maneuvers in front of me, vying for the chance to stay an Elite.

A boy of about nineteen was fighting a girl who looked no more than eighteen, and it was surprising how evenly matched they were. Both were clad completely in black, sewn-in high tech armor protecting them. The guy had physical strength but the girl was quick, dodging attacks that would have knocked her out flat. I watched on in boredom as the girl managed to knock the guy's legs out from under him, that is, until strands of her fiery red hair were caught in his fist, painfully yanking back. The girl cursed, flipping back and rubbing her prickling scalp.

"That's not fair, Bellamy! I didn't know we could pull hair." The girl complained. I didn't really what the big deal was, considering half of her head was shaved, the other half consisting of fiery Phoenix locks falling just below her chest.

"Shut up, Vesta. Ivy never set rules for duels. In a real battle, would you stop just because someone pulled your hair?" The boy sassed back at her, unruly blond hair sticking up from their wrestling.

"Oh please, do you know how long it took to straighten this?" Vesta rolled her eyes. "Besides, I wouldn't stop in the middle of battle. I would just kill them."

And then in the blink of an eye, Vesta had launched several hidden knives, missing Bellamy by a few centimeters, but leaving dents in the targets on the wall behind him in the shape of his head.

"Oops. I missed." She spoke slyly, whipping her hair around as she left the arena. A trickle of blood fell from Bellamy's ear as a tiny scratch from the knives became visible. The blond's attention was soon turned to Ivy, who was standing next to my chair.

"So who won?" He asked, blue eyes wild and cunning.

"You, Vesta knows no weapons are allowed in hand-to-hand combat duels." Ivy explained, Bellamy not looking particularly excited or happy that he won. I figured it was a pride thing. Bellamy may have won, but Vesta got the last hit.

Bellamy was my father's Elite, Vesta was my mother's. I decided both were suitable to resume their protection.

Ivy flipped through charts on the remaining Elites when a familiar face stepped in.

Isla seemed exhausted as she walked in, dropping her bags in front of me before giving me a weak bow. She looked strange in normal clothes, not her usual black combat uniform.

"Here are the presents you told me get, your Majesty." Isla sat down on the cold metal floor, exaggerating her tiredness as she flopped back on the ground.

Ivy seemed less than happy with me.

"Presents? Presents? Here I am thinking you have one of my best Elites out to protect Odette, and instead she's buying her presents? Unbelievable." Ivy rambled on, my eyes rolling at her attitude.

"This was her final exam, she can resume her post as an Elite." I easily explained. Isla's long hair was frazzled a little, half of her face covered by the dark strands like usual.

"Odette's on her way back, your Majesty. I left as soon as they decided to come back." Isla huffed as she sat up. I stiffened in my chair. Odette was already on her way back.

I excused myself from the Elites and Ivy, grabbing the bags from expensive brands and rushing down the halls to our room.

A quick glance in the bag confirmed that Isla had gotten everything I had asked her to: makeup (the only thing I recognized was lipstick, I didn't know what everything else was), clothes, shoes. I would have to go to the jewelry store later for her last present though.

Now, where was I going to hide this stuff?

Under the bed? No she would find it if one of the bags peeked out.

In my cabinets? No, I wasn't too sure if Odette would go through them one day.

I was running out of places to hide, when I heard Falene's loud and cheerful voice echoing down the hall, her voice mixing with Odette's as they chatted while coming to my room.

I panicked for a second, bags still in hand, wondering where on earth I could hide these. My eyes flitted to the closet, and by that time I could hear Odette's voice crystal clear.

I rushed over to the closet, flinging the doors open and stashing the bags underneath some dress shirts and clothes that lay on the floor. Hopefully she wouldn't go messing with my stuff, most of her clothes were still in her closet in her room.

I had just closed the closet door when a happy Odette waltzed in, more bags in her hands than lay at the bottom of my closet.

"What were you doing in here? I thought you had business to attend to?" She asked curiously as she set the bags down on the floor.

"Oh um...I thought I left some important papers in here and wanted to get them." I fumbled over my lie, rushing over to my bedside cabinet and pulling out old school papers from years ago that I had never thrown away to make my lie seem more truthful. Odette didn't seem to think anything of it, shrugging her shoulders before telling me she was going to take a quick shower and then lounge about in the library if I needed her.

That was close.