Fated is overrated
Chapter 69

Lola

POV

Tom hasn't even noticed yet as he seems to be deep in thought, floating in the water. I walk towards the riverbank and dive straight in. I don't want to be seen in my black lace set by anyone if I can avoid it.

The splashing seemed to have startled him as he is looking at me with eyes as wide as saucers when I come up for air about 2 yards from him. "I thought you didn't want company?" he asks.

"Yeah, well, I didn't think I would feel bad for any guy ever again either but here I am" I grumble. "You don't have to swim with me out of pity..." he starts, but I stop him before he can finish" it's not like that". And honestly it's not. "But that doesn't mean I don't feel bad for being a b*tch to you. I wast thinking of having a swim anyway". He chuckles lightly "you weren't.

I'm sure you have your reasons". He looks at me with a gentle smile and with a few wet strands of hair clinging to his face, which honestly makes him look even more playful and gentle.

"So why did you come to the lake by the way? Do you come here often?" I slap my hand across my face. "Wow, that sounded like a bad pickup line..."

I add, shaking my head. He bursts out laughing, showing his perfectly white teeth. "Yeah it kind of did. But no worries, I know you didn't mean it like that. I do, actually.

It's my favorite spot in the kingdom, it's beautiful here". "I agree, this has to be the best part I have seen so far". We float in silence for a while before he speaks again "how about a race? End of the lake and back?". "What does the winner get?" I ask. He blushes and averts his gaze. The blushing catches me off guard as it is really endearing for such a big masculine warrior. Some with fewer trust issues - might even call it cute. "Whatever you want" he answers after regaining his composure. Hmmmm. Well, the food in the palace is great and all. But after being in unclaimed land for 2 weeks, I am dying for some greasy fast food. Loser buys the other a hamburger?" "you're on" he beams with a wide smile that lights up his face. "GO!" I shout and give myself a head start. I hear him yelling "hey! Not fair!" but I am too busy swimming for the life of me. It's not about the hamburger honestly, I just like to win. We're halfway through the lake when Tom has caught up and is now swimming ahead of me. I'm actually not the fastest swimmer - why did I agree to this again? Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my chest. It's like a silver dagger poking around my chest, f*cking up all my organs in its wake. I have had my fair share of beatings, but this pain is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It's crippling my body and I lose control of my limbs, and I am struggling to stay afloat. It is hard for me to breathe with this pain and I gulp for air in between screams.

Tom abruptly turns around and starts swimming back towards me, when I feel another sharp jab to the heart and the pain causes me to drop underwater, causing my lungs to fill with water fast. The pain keeps jabbing and, combined with the water in my lungs, my body gives out and everything turns black.

** a while later **

I wake coughing up water, my entire body is throbbing in pain from what happened. I blink my eyes a few times, clearing the haze in them. When it's finally cleared I see dark brown eyes looking back at me.

"Tom?" I croak out with a cracking voice. "Thank goddess Lola! What happened?!" I was going to ask you the same thing. All I remember is being in excruciating pain, and then I dropped under water and everything went black.."

I look into his eyes and he seems extremely relieved that I am among the living again. The sincere look on his face brings a small smile to my face, until I remember that I jumped into the water with nothing but a very revealing lace set. I look down at my body and am covered in a huge shirt to my big relief.

I release the breath I was holding and Tom steps back to give me some space. "Well you were drowning, and I had to dive down to bring you back up. You lost consciousness and I had to revive you..

I was scared sh*tless" he runs his hands through his hair, the distress evident on his face. I give him a reassuring smile and say "thank you, thank you so much Tom".

I don't even mean just saving my life. I was in my most fragile state and completely at his mercy. He could have done anything with me. And yet, he chose to cover me in his shirt. "Maybe some people are worth trusting after all" I smile at him.

He smiles back hesitantly. "So what was the pain about?" he asks. "I have absolutely no idea... I was fine one moment and the next it felt like a silver dagger was on a road trip through my body.

I thought I had a high pain tolerance, but it was excruciating" I shiver, thinking back to the immense pain. "This might be a bit personal, but erhm.. Have you met your mate? It sounds a lot like betrayal pains". Betrayal pains are the excruciating pains you get when your mate is cheating, so I have heard.

And apparently, I have also experienced it now. F*ck me. Those manwh*res f*cking around could cause me pain like this?! I gulp down the lump in my throat.

There will be a lot of this to come if that's the case, considering their reputation. "I take that as a yes.." he answers his own question, with a disappointed look on his face. Suddenly, I get an overwhelming urge for revenge and I have an idea how I can ask him my question without giving away that I do have a wolf.

"I don't have a wolf, so I wouldn't have known - is it possible to feel the pains even if you haven't recognized your mate?". He seems relieved, but frowns "I wouldn't know actually, but I guess you could, yeah". I look him in the eyes as I slowly approach him and say "well, let's give him something to remember me by then".