Chapter 131

Third Person POV

“Wait a minute, where are you going??” Lucas asked as he sprung to his feet. Mia was storming away, clearly pissed off at him.

“Anywhere but here. I refuse to marry an asshole like you,” she said, keeping her head held high.

“Well, I don’t think you have much of a choice. You need us just as badly as we need you. If you want this union, you’ll need to marry me.”

She froze and then spun around to face him; her eyes red with anger as she put her hands on her hips.

“Like hell, I will,” she scoffed. “I will never marry you!”

“What happened to duty? I thought you cared about your kingdom,” Lucas said, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Of course I care about them…” she murmured.

“Then, you can’t back out of your duties,” he retorted.

She smirked as she looked around at his stupidly handsome face.

“Who said anything about not doing my duties?” She asked, raising her brows. “I only said I wasn’t going to marry you. I’m going back to the original plan. It was stupid to change them in the first place.”

His brows furrowed in confusion.

“What are you talking about?” He asked.

“I’m going to marry your brother, Xaden, instead, and that is my final decision.”

He stared at her in shock for a moment.

“What?” He gasped. “You can’t do that!”

“And why not?” She asked, folding her arms across her chest. “It was the original plan, was it not?”

“Well, yes. But—”

“And he is older than you… and wiser…. And much kinder. He has a promising chance at winning the throne. I am a princess and require someone more suitable for me,” she continued.

“Xaden doesn’t want to marry you!” Lucas said, his own jealousy and anger taking over.

Mia let out a laugh and rolled her eyes. She thought that was ridiculous; she was beautiful, and everyone wanted the chance to have her hand in marriage. Xaden would be no different, even if he was a prince.

“Of course he does,” Mia said, waving away his concern.

“No, he doesn’t,” Lucas said through his teeth.

“And why exactly would he not want to marry me?” She asked. “Look at me…”

“He’s already marrying someone else!” Lucas blurted before he could stop himself. He immediately regretted speaking those words. Mia looked shocked and stared at him for a long while, processing what he had said. “And she’s pregnant with his child…” He said, digging an even deeper grave.

Nobody outside of the family was supposed to know that fact, but Mia was relentless and wasn’t going to give up unless he gave her a proper answer as to why Xaden wouldn’t marry her. When he thought he’d see disappointment on her face, he was surprised to see the determination crossing her eyes.

“No matter,” she said, waving off his words. “He’s not married yet, which means I have every right to go after him. He was technically mine first.”

Lucas was stunned by her candidness.

“Did you not hear me?” Lucas asked her, his brows pinched together. “I said his fiancé is pregnant. He’s not going to leave her for you.”

She smirked.

“Challenge accepted.”

He gasped.

“Are you insane? You’ll break up a family?” He asked her.

She let out another laugh and shook her head.

“They aren’t a family yet,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Sure, the baby complicates things. But just because he knocked her up, doesn’t mean he won’t leave her. Plenty of children are born in a broken home. I don’t mind being a bonus mom if it means that much to him to keep the child in his life. I will have plenty of his children of my own and we can be our own family.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Lucas asked; he couldn’t believe how thought-out this was. Was she for real? She was going to try to take Xaden away from Maeve?

“I hear myself just fine,” she said, her tone hardening as she glared back at him. “I have a right to pursue him. If he chooses me over her, then that’s his choice and not my problem.”

“You are shameless!”

“I’m a princess and if I want something, I go after it,” she said, smirking. “Now I’m leaving. I need to speak with your father about our little arrangement.”

Lucas didn’t stop her this time; he watched in shock as she stormed away and back to the palace. Mia walked with grace through the palace grounds with her warriors trailing behind her. When she reached the King’s office, the guards standing at the doorway bowed in respect to her. One of them knocked on the King’s office door and poked his head inside to announce Mia’s visit.

After a moment, the guard opened the door wider and allowed Mia to enter the office.

“Your majesty, may we speak?” Mia asked him.

He looked up from his paperwork and smiled at her.

“Of course,” he said, quickly standing to his feet. His main priority was ensuring Mia was satisfied; if she wasn’t, it could mean war between the wolves and the vixens. “How about we go for a walk? It’s a bit stuffy in here and I could use a break.”

She nodded and waited for him to gather his stuff and walk around his desk. Once they were out of the office and walking down the corridor, the King turned to Mia and gave her a polite smile, which felt foreign on his lips.

“Have you spoken with Lucas?” He asked.

She was quiet for a moment while she thought about her conversation with the young prince.

“Yes,” she breathed. “He’s rather interesting.”

“He’s young, but he will make a good husband to you,” King Arlan assured her.

“I’m not so sure about that,” she murmured.

The King frowned.

“I don’t understand,” he stated, glancing at her. “Did you not like him?”

“We didn’t get along,” she admitted. “I caught him speaking ill of me and I don’t think he’s a good man.”

The King was shocked by her words; that didn’t sound like Lucas at all.

“I assure you, there must be some kind of misunderstanding. I’ll have a word with him and—”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Mia said, turning her body to face him. They had stopped walking, and the King noticed that Princess Mia looked quite upset. She wrapped her arms around her body like she was holding herself together and she wouldn’t look him directly in the eyes.

“Has he said something to offend you?” He finally asked.

“He said a lot of things to offend me,” she murmured. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. I want to go back to our original plan.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t seem to be understanding,” the king said, his brows furrowed. “Original plan?”

She nodded thoughtfully.

“Yes, I originally planned to marry your other son, right?” She reminded him. “Xaden. I want to go back to that and marry him instead.”

The King gave an awkward chuckle knowing that Xaden would never marry her as long as Maeve was still with him and carrying his child. Then again, there was a chance that wasn’t even his child. If that were the case, Xaden would end the engagement and then it wouldn’t be an issue because he’d be able to marry Mia. But there was a part of him that knew that the child in Maeve’s belly was indeed Xaden’s, and he would never leave her and his little family. It wasn’t in his nature.

“I don’t think that’ll be possible,” the King finally said, meeting Mia’s eyes.

She didn’t seem phased by his words; instead, she raised her brows and continued to stare at him.

“You signed a contract with my father, agreeing to marry me into your family so we can form a union. Is it to be assumed you are backing out of that contract, Your Majesty?” She stunned him by asking.

“Of course not!” He gasped. “The contract will remain, but you will need to marry Lucas and not Xaden.”

“I don’t want Lucas,” she said simply. “I want Xaden, and I need you to make that happen for me.”

“I can’t do that,” The King told her, his voice hardening.

“Then, I suppose the contract has been breached. I’ll alert my father right away,” she said, turning on her heel. She was secretly hoping he would stop her because her father would be furious with her for what she had done.

Thankfully, the King did stop her from getting too far.

“Please, Princess. There must be something else we can do,” he said to her, hoping to get her to see reason.

“I’ve already told you what I wanted, Your Majesty,” she said, turning back around to face him. She folded her arms across her chest and pressed her lips in a thin line. “Convince Xaden to choose me over his mate, and our union will commence.”

The King was quiet for a while.

“I will see what I can do. But I can’t promise anything,” he told her.

“That’s all I ask,” she said, smiling with satisfaction. She turned and began to descend the stairs to return to her room so she could tell Emily the good news!

Neither of them noticed Kenneth lurking in the shadows, a smile lighting up his features when he heard the conversation between Mia and Arlan.

This couldn’t have been working out any more perfectly.