Chapter 13

Jake's POV
I paced my room, back and forth, getting more infuriated by the second as I waited for Jaxon. With the whole chosen deal, I knew no one could help me but Jaxon so I talked to him first thing after I hung up with Lola.
I told him of my plan, returning to their kingdom and explaining the chaos to Lola. A flight back to their kingdom would've been too risky, it couldn't be arranged without my father knowing.
Luckily though, Jaxon had a lot of connections. He's close acquainted with a powerful witch that could help me reach the kingdom in a blink of an eye. And how so, though a portal.
"The fûck's taking him so long." I growled taking a look at my watch. It was half past eleven. Only half an hour until midnight, and Jaxon is still nowhere in sight. I swear I'm going to knock his head of someday because of his belatedness.
I couldn't stand waiting for him any longer like a damsel in distress. Not when there's just half an hour left till the clock ticks twelve.
Just as I was about to storm out of my room, the door opened and Jaxon stepped inside, an apologetic look on his face.
"Took you look enough." I growled, narrowing my eyes. '
"Yeah, sorry about that, I lost track of time. Anyway, the witch is in the room right across the hall waiting for us. We should get going." No shit Sherlock.
I sighed and walked beside him. There weren't any signs of night shift guards, so the coast was clear. Jaxon definitely had a hand in this, probably giving them the night off and being their beta, they had to comply.
Turning right, we crossed three rooms and stopped at the fourth.
"Here we go." He glanced at me for a moment before turning the knob and opening the door. Stepping inside, I was engulfed with darkness. The only light source in the room were the candles lit on the table along with a glowing globe.
Sensing us approaching, a woman with dark red hair raised her head setting her eyes on Jaxon. Slowly, a small smile played on her thin lips.
"Prince Jake, this is Nika, the witch I told you about." Jaxon introduced, sitting down opposite to her. A strange aura surrounded her, making me thinking twice of whether or not she was covering her scent.
But I had no time to demand answers. I glanced at my watch again growing impatient, twenty minutes left.
"Your highness." Nika stated, removing a hand from under her dark cloak and ushering me to sit down. I took a seat and without saying any other word, she began chanting spells in an unfamiliar language.
The candles flared and the globe started glowing bright red, a gust of white haze dancing around its edges.
As she raised her hands, the four candles' fire elongated and swirled upwards, meeting in the middle. I watched silently, my eyes wide in shock. It was the first time I witness a witch actually casting a spell, or in my case, opening a portal.
To my utter disbelief, the haze started moving upwards, dancing with the fire until it turned to a pale blue. From the corner of my eyes, I spotted Jaxon gawking. And I couldn't blame him; this was out of the ordinary.
Like a lightning bolt it struck, creating a passageway in the middle of the wall. The pale blue changed into darker shades but nonetheless shimmered magically.
"This is the portal, your highness." I heard Nika say.
My legs moved on their own accord, standing up and sauntering towards it.
"When you want to return, talk to me through the mind-link so Nika can reset the portal." Jaxon explained his hand firmly gripping my shoulder.
"I owe you one."
"You sure do." I chuckled as his grip on my shoulder loosened. Taking a deep breath, I stepped foot into the blue passage, with only one person on my mind.
Lola's POV
The forest in the middle of the night is a hell lot of creepy. Everything was pitch black, and for some strange reason, the moon didn't light my path. I had no other choice but to turn on the flashlight of my phone so I could at least see the way.
My steps were careful, too petrified to make a sound in the forest's dead silence. My heart beat quickened hearing a crack of twigs to my left, but I sighed in relief when a squirrel appeared carrying a hazelnut.
"Calm down Lola, it's only a squirrel." I said to myself, hoping to relax a bit.
It didn't take much longer before the rumbling of the waterfall became loud and clear. From a near distance, I could see the water glimmering underneath the moonlight.
At the edges of the rocks, a large sandy brown wolf stood tall.
"Jake?" I asked softly, my eyes lingering on the wolf.
He turned his head and I was met with those green orbs that I fell in love with. He retreated behind a tree and by the cracking of bones, I assumed he changed into his human form. Moments later, Jake emerged wearing a pair of shorts and a loose shirt and pulled me into his warm embrace.
As much as I wanted to remain still, I couldn't. Relaxing into his arms, I breathed in his musk and pine scent. Gosh, I missed him.
To my displeasure, he pulled away, only to stare deep into my eyes, the corners of his lips tugging up in a smile.
"Do you know how much I missed you love?" His hand caressed my cheek. "More than you could ever imagine." He said softly, placing a kiss on my forehead.
I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes and enjoying the warmth spreading across my cheek. But remembering the sound of that girl on the phone brought me back to reality.
"Jake, you know why I'm here for." I swallowed hard fiddling with my fingers. I should've shown more confidence, for I was the one who wanted answers, but I was scared.
Scared of knowing the actual reason behind that girl calling him my prince. I assumed a lot of things and mates was the most logical. Thinking about that the entire time yesterday, I dwelled in my sadness knowing the worst is yet to come.
At first, all I felt was jealousy. I had no right to be, but I was. I couldn't accept the fact that he's going to care for her, protect her, love her. My heart shattered into a thousand pieces as my mind played scenarios of how his life will be and how mine will go down the hill.
"You're right, I told I'll explain everything tonight, and I will. But you have to hear me till the end." I nodded waiting for him to continue.
"When my father first called, he said that I have to return to the kingdom to discuss border control and rogue attacks with the alphas. I had a feeling there was something fishy about it since he can easily solve the problem but either way went there to fulfil my duties as prince.
My coronation is in a couple of months, and according to my father, a king is more powerful with a mate by his side." He frustratingly ran a hand through his hair, pain flickering in his eyes. I suddenly felt the oxygen getting cut out of my body and a lump forming in my throat, knowing exactly what he's about to say.
"Since I didn't find my mate, he picked me a chosen." I felt the tears prickle down my cheeks, not being able to hold them off any longer. Everything came crashing down, including my heart.
"Lola – please." He came closer but I took a step back.
This has to end right now. I was right from the start, falling for him would only break my heart. And it did.
"No – stay away." My voice came out hoarse and I bit my lip hard to stop myself from breaking down in front of him. All I wanted to do was to curl up in a ball and cry myself to numbness.
"I'm not going to give up, Lola. I already rejected her –" I was having none of it.
"Stop, just stop. This is why I told you I didn't was us to be together, because I knew something like this would eventually happen. You can do nothing about it Jake, you're going to be king, you have to do this." I raised a trembling hand to my lips, trying to cover the sob that threatened to escape.
"Dammit Lola, listen to me and stop being stubborn!" He yelled, throwing his hand in the air.
"And stop believing in the impossible." It was my turn to shout.
I clenched my fists, suppressing the anger bubbling inside of me, the tears of disappointment becoming that of anger. I wanted to lash out at him, tell him how I spent my night because of him.
"You want to know how I felt when I heard a damn girl calling you my prince, huh? I felt like someone stabbed me right here." I banged my fist onto my heart, stepping closer to his stiff posture.
"I was jealous; you want to know why? Because the only person I feel something special for was slipping away from my reach. Because I can't stand the thought of you being with someone else and treating them the way you treat me. Because it was you from the start, no one else. Because I love you." I shouted, looking straight into his eyes.
In a flash, he was in front of me, gripping my arms like the world depended on it.
"And I love you too."
He yanked me to him and slammed his lips onto mine. Right then, sparks flied and tingles spread all over my body. It was nothing like the fireworks they described in movies but more, to an extent I felt like my whole body was on fire.
I couldn't describe the feeling, the sparks, the tingles, too overwhelming.
His lips were soft, tasting like mint, moving against mine in a steady rhythm. It was slow yet held an undeniable amount of passion and desire. I clasped my hands around his neck, my eyes fluttered shut enjoying the strange but magical feeling.
His grip on me loosened, but his hands moved to caress my cheeks. Leaving a soft peck on my lips, he pulled away agonizingly slowly.
I gasped when I saw his eyes consumed by the color of his wolf's.
"Mate."