Chapter 120

Maeve’s POV

“You are the man who was watching me through the bathroom window,” I breathed, my voice coming out as nothing more than a whisper. Panic and fear consumed me as I wrapped my arms around my body, staring at him through the rearview mirror.

A smile spread across his lips, and he still said nothing, which gave me an even uneasier feeling.

“Please… tell me the truth. Where are you taking me?” I asked him, my tone quivering as I fought to keep the tears away. The queen had once told me that I couldn’t act weak in front of others and that I needed to be strong no matter what. I needed to put that into practice.

“Away,” he finally said, no longer sounding like the sweet man who offered to help take in groceries.

“P…please,” I stammered. “I’m pregnant. You wouldn’t hurt me… would you?”

“I’m not interested in hurting you,” he muttered. “But we also aren’t going to the castle either.

I let out a scream as I attempted to open the car door, but it was locked; it wouldn’t unlock no matter how hard I tried. He did something with the locks to make it impossible to maneuver. As I begged for him to let me go, the car drove even faster and suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach.

…….

Xaden’s POV

“We will double up on our patrol and make sure there are no other leaks in our security,” King Arlen said, staring at each of his sons, and then his eyes fell on Nicholas who also stood close by. He arrived at the castle to speak with the king about the security breach. A bear shifter passed through the border and took out one of Nicholas’ men, but thankfully the bear was taken down before he got any further. “Find out which of your men allowed this bear to pass the borders and take care of them immediately.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Nicholas said. “I will report to you any of my findings.”

The meeting had run much later than planned and even more so since Nicholas appeared with this news. The only thing I really wanted to do right now was to go home and spend the rest of the night with my mate, but I knew this kind of thing couldn’t wait. This was important and we needed to get on top of things before theirs another attack.

“Xaden, go with him,” my father ordered.

“Yes, father,” I replied without hesitation.

The last thing I wanted to do was hang out with Nicholas any further, but I had to admit that he was good at his job, and I was also curious about this security breach.

“You boys are dismissed,” my father said, leaning back in his seat.

One by one, we left. Henry started to mutter something about the incompetence of the security team while Lucas just listened and nodded along with him, not really sure what to say. Nicholas started to walk towards the front door, ignoring the bantering going on behind him. I followed him after him until we reached outside.

“Do you believe there’s a leak?” I asked, making him pause and look over his shoulder at me.

“I don’t wish to believe that my warriors are traitors,” he murmured. “But I suppose anything is possible. People would do anything out of greed.”

“Are you willing to do what you need to do? Even if it means eliminating one of your own?” I asked him, narrowing my eyes.

I saw a flash of anger in his eyes as he turned to face me fully; his Alpha aura pulsating around him, though it did nothing against my own Alpha Aura.

“I had sworn my allegiance to this King long ago and I put my life on the line to protect the werewolf nation,” he said through his teeth. “There is no question about my loyalty. I know you don’t trust me, Prince Xaden, at least not when it comes to women, but I need you to trust me when it comes to the Kingdom.”

I opened my mouth to reply but was silenced when I heard my phone ringing in my pocket. Nicholas glanced at my pocket and scowled.

“You should probably get that,” he muttered. “I don’t need you distracted while we are working together.”

I sighed and grabbed my phone out of my pocket, frowning when I saw Maggie’s name flash across the screen. I swiped the talk button and pressed the phone to my cheek.

“Maggie,” I nearly grunted. “It’s not really a good—”

“Has Maeve reached the castle yet?” She asked, interrupting my words.

“What?” I asked, a nervous feeling forming in my chest. I looked at Nicholas who was looking at his own phone with a frown. I turned away from him and lowered my tone. “She went home a couple of hours ago. She wouldn’t be here right now.”

“She left saying there was an urgent matter at the castle. A King sent a servant here to fetch her…”

“I had been with my father for the last several hours and he never sent anyone to fetch my mate,” I said through my teeth; a furious rage began to rise through me. My father would never send a servant of all people to fetch anyone for him; it would always be a guard. “Are you telling me she left with a servant?”

I could hear Maggie’s shaky breath and then she said, “Yes… oh, my goddess!”

I immediately hung up the phone and called Burke.

“Get me the security tape of outside the castle,” I barked into the phone. “And gather some of the mansion guards. Someone took Maeve!”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Burke said before hanging up the phone.

“Everything okay?” Nicolas asked just as Lucas joined us outside, both reading my sour expression.

“Yeah, I need to be going,” I said, turning to Lucas who saw the plead in my eyes. “It’s an emergency,” I said out loud for Nicolas.

“I’ll accompany Nicolas then,” Lucas said, nodding his understanding.

I thanked my brother and ran from the castle before Nicholas had a chance to ask me anything. Maeve was in trouble; someone had her and I wasn’t going to rest until I had her back and safe.

I got into my car and rushed to the mansion, my hands trembling as my grip around the wheel tightened. As I reached the mansion grounds, I saw some of my guards patrolling the area and Maggie sitting on the front porch with her hands covering her face. Her body was trembling, and I knew she was crying.

I got out of the car and rushed over to her; she lifted her head, and I saw her eyes were all bloodshot and her lips were trembling.

“Your Majesty…” she cried as she hurried to her feet. “I’m so sorry… I should have paid closer attention. I knew I didn’t recognize him—”

“You didn’t recognize him, and you allowed him to take Maeve away?” I asked; I knew this wasn’t Maggie’s fault and I shouldn’t be yelling at her like this, but I was so worried and frustrated with the whole situation that I couldn’t help myself. Someone needed to face my wrath and that someone ended up being Maggie.

She continued to sob as she bowed her head.

“I wanted to go with her, but she was in such a rush to leave. I think she thought something had happened to you. He said there was an urgent matter at the castle and that the King was summoning her personally,” Maggie explained. “I’m so sorry for allowing her to go without calling you first. I shouldn’t have left her alone like that and I shouldn’t have let him take her…”

Before I could say anything more, my phone rang. I reached into my pocket to pull it out and I saw that Burke’s name was flashing across the screen.

“Tell me you have good news, Burke,” I said into the phone.

There was a brief silence on the other side; just long enough for my stomach to twist into a tight knot.

“Your Majesty,” he said, his tone sounding grim. “We found her… but it’s not completely good news.”

“Why do you sound like that, Burke? What the hell are you talking about?” I asked through my teeth. “What happened.”

“The guy who took her crashed the car. Maeve is about to be rushed to the hospital. She was conscious but now she’s unconscious. Before she passed out, she was inquiring about her baby…”

“Tell me our baby is okay,” I said, trying to keep the raw emotions out of my tone.

“I don’t know, Sir,” Burke said, releasing a shuddering breath. “The ambulance isn’t here yet, but I’m sure they will do everything they can to make sure both your mate and son are okay.”

I let out a furious growl.

“That asshole better have died in that car crash!!” I hissed.

“No, sir. He was very much alive and trying to escape the scene of the crime. We have him detained,” Burke answered.

I heard the sounds of the sirens in the background, and I knew Burke was directly in the middle of the scene. He was most likely standing by Maeve as we spoke, and I was relieved to know that at least she wasn’t alone but pissed that it wasn’t me who was there with her.

“I’m heading to the hospital. Make sure that jerk is sent to the royal dungeon,” I ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Burke said. “The ambulance is here. I’ll head to the hospital once I’m finished dealing with this mess.”

I didn’t bother responding, I hung up the phone and ran back to my car.

“Your Majesty, has she been found?” Maggie asked, rushing after me.

“Get in the car,” I told her as I slid into the driver’s seat. She didn’t wait for me to ask again; she was in the passenger seat within seconds.

“Where are we going?” She asked.

“To the hospital,” I told her as I peeled away from the mansion. “Maeve was found. Now we just have to pray that both she and the baby are okay.”