Chapter 139

Xaden’s POV

My blood went cold when I saw Maeve’s face. I didn’t want her to get the wrong impression. It was my father’s idea to take her to the jewelry auction tomorrow evening.

At first, I was going to decline, but then he reminded me that if I didn’t, it could cause a war between our territories, and I wouldn’t be the one responsible for causing such a disruption.

I was going to tell Maeve about it later this evening, but I wanted to be the one to do it. I was furious that Mia went ahead and told her instead. She even worded it poorly, giving Maeve the wrong idea.

Maeve looked completely broken and I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her that it didn’t mean anything because it didn’t. I wasn’t sure what kind of bullshit the princess was trying to pull, but I wasn’t going to let it tear me and my mate apart like this. I thought Mia was a friend, but what she did was anything but friendly.

Though, I want to give her the benefit of the doubt. She’s not from around here and I’m not sure if the vixen mating is anything like the wolf mating. Maybe she didn’t know or understand the impact she was having on Maeve.

“It’s not what it seems like” I assured Maeve; hoping she believed me. “My father thought it would be a good idea to take her to the auction. I guess the Vixen King has been wanting this rare moonstone necklace that’ll be there. That’s the only reason why we are going.”

Maeve nodded, but she didn’t seem relieved by this information.

I was glad when she didn’t pull out of my arms; I held her even closer to me as we continued to walk along the sidewalk.

My wolf was angry that I was upsetting our mate, but I needed to think about the Kingdom, and keeping Mia happy was the best thing right now. Maeve had to understand that; she was going to be the Luna Princess soon and she would sometimes have to do things for the good of the Kingdom as well.

It was the duty of a royal.

But what about my duty to my mate, my wolf constantly reminded me.

We stopped to grab some food on the way home; the entire drive, Mia was babbling about her excitement over the auction and what a wonderful day she had with me. I tried to listen, but I couldn’t put my heart into a thing she was saying when my mate was seated beside me, stewing in her own misery. My chest tightened as Maeve clenched and unclenched her fists, staring out the window and saying nothing to anybody.

I reached over and put my hand on her leg, rubbing reassuring circles around her flesh, hoping to provide her with some extra comfort, but she barely paid any attention to it. She was in her own little world, and it worried me more than anything.

We dropped Mia off, but of course, it wasn’t that easy.

“Walk me inside, Xaden,” Mia said as she slid out of the car. I sighed and turned to Maeve who would barely look at me.

“I’ll be right back,” I assured her.

She bit her lip but remained silent. I kissed the side of her head and quickly got out of the car. I tried not to waste much time inside, but the second I got inside, my father was there to greet me.

“We need to speak in my office,” he told me firmly before spinning on his heel and walking back towards his office.

“I had a lovely evening,” Mia said as she turned to face me. Before I knew what was happening, she wrapped her arms around me and once again, rubbed her scent all over my clothes. I immediately stepped out of her embrace, her touch practically burning my skin as my wolf fought to take control. He was pissed at her audacity, and at this point, I couldn’t blame him. Mia knew I was mated and still, she chose to test the waters and provoke me. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” She beamed, not seeing how furious I was, as she walked away with her warriors and Emily in tow.

I ran my fingers through my hair and went to see my father in his office. I took deep breaths before entering, trying to calm myself and my wolf down. My father was seated at his desk, and he glared at me with a deep frown on his face.

“It seems your mate had been keeping some things from us,” he said through his teeth. “Did you know she was half-human?”

I raised my brows.

I figured out already that Victoria wasn’t Maeve’s real mother, and that Burton had an affair. But I didn’t know a lot about it or who her real mother was.

“A human?” I asked, raising my brows. All humans had been killed by my father and his men, so they didn’t exist anymore. The thought of Maeve being half-human was certainly shocking, but it didn’t make me feel any less for her. She was my mate and the mother of my son after all. “That doesn’t matter,” I said with finality.

“I’m not having a human be a Luna Princess,” my father growled, his Alpha aura dark with rage as he slammed his fists on the desk.

“She’s not a full human—”

“That doesn’t matter!” He raged. “She’s still half a human; I knew there was something off about her from the beginning. Now, I get it. She’s not fit to be the Luna Princess or your wife.”

“Then, I don’t know what to tell you, because—”

“If you go through with marrying her, then you are out of the running for Alpha King!”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

“What?” I gasped. “You can’t do that…”

“Of course I can!” He bellowed. “Do you really think I can trust you to run an entire Kingdom when all you can do is think with your dick and not with your brain?”

“Father, that isn’t fair…” I said, shaking my head. “Maeve is my fated mate.”

“You can’t trust that,” he said with his lip curling. “She could have some kind of power to make you think she’s your mate.”

“She doesn’t,” I said without hesitation. “She’s carrying my child… your grandson.”

“Has the paternity test proven that yet?”

“Well, no…” I murmured. “But I know she hasn’t been with anyone else.”

“Until that paternity test proves otherwise, we don’t know for certain. If that test comes back negative, you are to break up with that mutt and marry Princess Mia instead,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

“What?” I gasped. “What about Lucas?”

“He chose not to marry her. They don’t get a long and it’s been brought to my attention that she’s shown interest in you. If you care about this kingdom, you’ll do what you can to keep the peace and strengthen our armies.”

“Father—” I tried to say, but he held up his hand, stopping me.

“You are dismissed. I’ve said what I needed to,” he said, turning away from me.

The moment I lost his attention, I knew the conversation was over. I felt defeated and I had no idea what I was going to say to Maeve.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been speaking with my father, but when I returned to the car, Maeve was sleeping.

“She was upset,” Burke told me with a sad look on his face. “You were gone for a while. Princess Mia, keeping you entertained?”

“As if,” I muttered. “My father wanted to speak with me.”

He nodded, understanding.

“Well, you should explain that to her when you get home.”

I nodded and wrapped my arms around Maeve, pulling her into me. In her sleep state, she snuggled into me and slept the entire way home. I carried her into our bedroom and tucked her into bed. I stripped off my shirt and climbed into bed with her; I just wanted to hold my mate tonight. She rested her head on my chest, and I inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo. For the first time all day, I felt content, and so did my wolf. We were both in agreement that this was where we were meant to be and who we were meant to be with.

I spent most of the night relishing with her in my arms and I admittedly only got a few hours of sleep. When I woke the next morning, Maeve was sitting up in bed with her arms wrapped around her body and her eyes red with unshed tears.

“Good morning,” I said, sitting up beside her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded but then it turned into a head shake.

“Are you going to leave me for Princess Mia?” She asked, shocking me.

“What? Of course not,” I told her, wrapping her in my arms. “I would never leave you, Maeve. You are my mate and the mother of my child. I will never leave you.”

I meant every single word of it; if I had to take Maeve and run away with her, then I would. But I knew with certainty that I wasn’t going to leave her for anyone.

I didn’t care about being Alpha King, I only cared about my mate, and I would never hurt her. I planned to tell my father just that later today.

“You were gone for a while last night,” she murmured. “I thought maybe you—” her voice trailed off, unable to finish speaking.

“My father called for me,” I explained. “I was talking to him in his office for a while. It was nothing more.”

Her body relaxed and she looked relieved. Before I could say anything else, her phone started to ring. She grabbed it off the nightstand and frowned when she saw the unknown number.

“Hello?” She said into the phone. Then, her face lit up as she looked up at me. She immediately put the phone on speaker. “Hello, doctor. Thank you for calling.”

“I’m calling because I have the test results for the paternity test,” he explained. “Are you alone?”

“No, I’m here with Xaden,” she said.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her.

“Hello, Doctor,” I replied, making my presence known.

There was hesitation for a moment and then the doctor cleared his throat.

“Miss Maeve, you might want to speak with me alone. Is there a better time to call?” He asked.

She frowned and a worried crease formed between her brows.

“Doctor, if this is about the paternity test, don’t you think I should be here too? It concerns me as well. I’d like it if you just told us the results.”

There was silence again and then he sighed.

“Very well,” he murmured. “Um… well, we received the paternity test results and I’m sorry to say that the results came back negative. Prince Xaden… you are not the father of Maeve's baby.”