Chapter 23

Lola's POV
Every now and then, life throws nasty things at you and it's just how things are, you can do nothing about it. You have to grab your shit together, man up, and deal with it. Some might feel defeated and surrender to whatever is thrown their way, not realizing the inner strength they hold whereas others show strength through endurance and patience.
We usually lack the ability to see the good in the bad, notice the positive in an all negative situation, and understand that maybe some things happen for a reason.
It's ironic how life take an alternate route so easily, turning what you least expected into reality. But from what I learnt, there's a ray of sunshine after every storm
The storm being the crappy days Jake and I went through and the sunshine is just how much deeper our relationship has become.
I don't know how I survived the past couple of days, knowing that Vera's still in the castle ready to pounce at her prey, Jake
She did push her luck way too far, but Jake turned her down every single time. I won't hide the fact that it took me a lot to keep my nerves in check while seeing her seductively smiling at my boyfriend –honestly, she looked like a bloating fish.
Of course, I hadn't been next to Jake when this happened, if I were I would have torn out her eyeballs, but I admit that I was watching from a near distance. I never felt like smothering him with a thousand kisses more than that exact same moment
Don't take it the wrong way, I was neither following nor stalking him, being there was pure coincidence.
Mia didn't believe a word I said and now thinks I have turned into one of those creepy girlfriends that'll chop a girl's head off if she neared Jake –with an axe.
She has a unique imagination to say the least, and the fact that Mark was sitting next to her while she rattled about movie scenes where the ex turns nuts and practically goes voodoo most likely made Mark scared for his life.
"I'm afraid she'll kidnap then torture you and when Jake comes she'll spare your life only if he makes her his queen. But that'll be so cliché, I mean there are so much better scenarios." Mark propped a hand under her chin, her brows furrowed as she intently stared at the floor
"You really know how to lift one's spirit up." I muttered dryly, placing aside the need to throw a raw lettuce at her.
"Hey! I'm only trying to help Lola, I don't want miss batshit crazy that'll do whatever it takes to reach the throne to attempt murder by poisoning your food." Mark snorted, choosing to interfere
"Babe stop scaring the poor girl. Vera's stupid but she isn't that stupid. Besides, nothing's going to happen to her because she has an extremely sexy and strong bodyguard besides her." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, flashing me a Colgate smile you only get to see on TV.
"And you have an extremely sexy and hard headed girlfriend that you need to keep an eye on incase she decides to let evil spirits roam the castle." He whistled as I gave him a pointed look
"Touché."
"I'm not going to summon spirits! Maybe pull a couple of pranks on she-bitch down the hall but nothing serious." Mia took another sip of her Dr. Pepper and picked up the gossip magazine on her bed.
"Mia, if you even think of doing that I'm locking you inside this room until you regain your sanity." I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on and noticed Mark's arms drop from my shoulder
"Mia." The seriousness of his tone and warning in his eyes reminded me a lot of Jake. She wasn't being serious of course, just expressing her demonic thoughts but Vixen didn't take her alleged pranking lightly
"Sheesh, I'm kidding Mark." She scowled, looking between the both of us before dipping her head yet again into the scandals she was reading.
"Sure." He drawled out, curiously eying Mark, a hint of suspicion in his tone. Mark only rolled her eyes, but the small smile playing on her lips didn't go unnoticed
She somewhat loves that Mark reads her like an open book –maybe because she's actually an open book. She's horrible at hiding her feelings, always the blunt straight to the point kind of girl, the perfect match for Mark
I'm good at playing cupid, aren't I?
"Did Jake tell you about the council meeting today?" Mark asked, turning to look at me. That was enough to spike Mia's interest more than the celebrity articles
"What council meeting?" Mia and I asked in unison. We wore the exact same blank questioning face, our lashes fluttered upwards. I tried to recall Jake telling me about a council meeting but nothing scratched my memory
"The council meeting that's taking place today." His deep voice rumbled and all three sets of eyes lingered on an amused looking Jake
"My father called for the meeting to announce that I found my mate, though I doubt they haven't heard of us yet, news travels fast around the kingdom." He looked at the black steel watch clasped around his wrist.
"It's in an hour." He casually sauntered in, drooping his arm around my shoulder
It hit me like an ice bucket and I stood unmoving as I processed the given information. I'm going to be introduced as Jake's mate –the future queen of the werewolf kingdom –that so happens to be the princess of demons and witches
No pressure, don't hyperventilate Lola. Meeting bulky scary most likely dangerous alphas is not a big deal
"What?!" I demanded, my voice rising to a screech
"Woah, calm down sweetheart. No need to go into panic mode. All you have to do is stay by side, my father will do all the talking." He explained smoothly
"Couldn't you have told me this beforehand, Jake! I look like I've been ran over by a bulldozer –why the hell are you smiling like that!" I glowered
"You're sexy when you're mad." He smirked leaning closer to kiss the corner of my lips before pulling away, his smirk getting bigger by the second seeing my flushed face. But when he let out a deep throaty chuckle, I scowled annoyingly.
He did that on purpose.
"Jake, this is serious. You could have given me a heads up to prepare myself." Mentally and physically, I wanted say.
"Love you're beautiful. Scratch that, you're stunning. You don't need to put anything on your face to look good, you already are to die for. And there's no need to be nervous Lola, you have a positive aura that attracts all people around you and makes them instantly fall in love with you –just like I did." His eyes softened, staring at me with so much love that I melted right away, my heart swelling with immense admiration.
I wanted to hug the life out of him and kiss him till tomorrow, too bad Mia and Mark were in the room. I bit my lip tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear knowing that my face will crack if I continued on smiling like this.
"Fine I'll do it, but please next time tell me ahead of time." He nodded sighing in relief. The excitement in his eyes intensified, he looked eager to introduce me as his mate, too eager.
"I believe I deserve a kiss, don't I?" His eyes glimmered in mischievousness, his hand circling my waist, tightening his hold on me and bringing me closer to him. I stood on my tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
Snap.
I directly pulled away hearing the click of a camera. Mia was staring at her phone smiling smugly.
"Oh my God you're so cute, seriously couple goals." She gushed.
"Seriously Mia?" I raised a brow ignoring Jake that was chuckling besides me.
"Shut up Lola. The best pics are the ones taken spontaneously."
I can't argue with that.
Jake squeezed my hand reassuringly, "We got this love."
My bundle of nerves waned all so suddenly and I breathed in a deep breath in order to keep myself composed. Jake pushed the door open, our hands still interlocked as we walked inside. King Jaylden as well as nine other men sat each on a huge seat, but of course the King's chair was the largest.
The aura of the room overflowed with power radiating from the alphas, Jake's and the King's being the most dominating.
"Alphas," Jake acknowledged, nodding his head in a greeting. They nodded respectively but their stares were rather fixed on the unknown girl standing next to the prince.
"Obviously, there's a much more significant purpose as of why I called for this meeting." Uncle Jaylden spoke, a broad smile appearing on his handsome face. They were certainly discussing other matters before Jake and I entered.
I shifted uncomfortably feeling the men's curious gazes.
Uncle Jaylden got up from his throne, his footsteps tapping lightly against the marbled floor, echoing through the pin drop silence of the room.
"Alphas, I'd like you to meet princess Lola. As you all know she's like a daughter of my own, so I'm very happy that fate chose to her to be my son's mate." He grinned, the fatherly love inThe curiosity in their gazes changed to looks of surprise then contentment, their faces breaking into a genuine smile.
I breathed out a sigh of relief hearing the series of congrats, the stiffness of my shoulders ultimately relaxing.
"Told you they'll love you." Jake whispered in my ear sending pleasant shivers down my spine. A black haired guy slapped Jake on the shoulder and smiled broadly. I recognized him as Jaxon, Jake's cousin and the king's right hand.
"Congrats man, you sure know how to pick em." He sent me a flirtatious wink. I bit the inside of my cheek trying to hide the smirk threatening to surface as Jake growled lowly, sending Jaxon a warning glance.
Jaxon barked out a laugh, clearly finding joy in stirring Jake's jealousy.
Turns out the alphas weren't as intimidating as they seemed to be, although we didn't really talk a lot but they were friendly. Jake and I left the headquarter and headed to the garden, both of us falling into silence – not an awkward silence, more like a comfortable one.
"Since I promised to tell you everything not an hour prior to it occurring, there's another thing I need to tell you about." I waited for him to continue.
"My parents may throw a party to celebrate finding my mate." He scratched the back of his neck and I groaned.
"Please tell them not to."
"That's one thing I can't promise love. You know how my mom can get, she takes those kinds of things way too seriously." Dear lord, parties are sacred to Aunt Linda, I doubt Jake will be able to convince her not to throw a celebration party.
"We have no other choice don't we?" I asked, desperation coating my tone.
"I guess not." He chuckled dipping his hand inside his pockets.
"Lola, there's another thing." I scrunched my nose in confusion at his abrupt change of expression.
"Which is?"
"Marking."