Chapter 133

Maeve’s POV

I sat at the table, staring at the meal I had made for Xaden and I. Maggie offered to cook the meal, but I wanted to surprise Xaden myself. I hadn’t seen him all day and I missed him like crazy. He was supposed to be home 30 minutes ago, but he wasn’t, and I had to admit I was a bit worried about him.

I glanced at my phone several times to see if he left me any messages, but he hadn’t.

Maggie popped her head in periodically and glanced around, expecting to see Xaden in sight, but when she didn’t see him, she had a frown on her face.

“I’m sure he will be home any minute, Miss Maeve,” she assured me.

I nodded, not wanting her to see how worried I truly was.

After an hour went by, the knot in my stomach started to tighten. What if something was truly wrong? What if he wasn’t okay??

I grabbed my phone and sent him a text.

Me: Hey, when will you be home? I have a surprise for you.

I waited with bated breath for a while, but when he didn’t reply, the knot in my stomach only tightened.

The food on the table was beginning to get cold and the sun had completely set; another half hour had passed and there was no sign of Xaden. He hasn’t texted, he hasn’t called… and he hasn’t come home.

I’ve tried calling him several times, but his phone keeps going to voicemail.

“His phone must have died,” I murmured to Maggie who was now seated at the table with me. She had a concerned frown on her lips.

“I’m sure there’s an explanation,” she told me gently. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. He will come home.”

I nodded and bit my lower lip, that unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach only growing stronger with each passing second.

Several hours had gone by and the food was practically inedible. I stared down at the meal that I worked hard on, and I felt sick to my stomach. I no longer had an appetite. Maggie was half asleep at the dining room table because it was nearing the middle of the night. Xaden’s phone was still turned off and he still hadn’t returned home.

“Maggie…” I spoke slowly, my voice coming out barely a whisper. “You should get some sleep. You don’t need to stay here all night with me.”

She lifted her head to look at me.

“You should get some sleep too, Maeve,” she said softly. “Let me clean this up and—”

“It’s okay,” I said, stopping her words. “I’ll take care of it. I’m going to stay up a little longer.”

She watched me with concern still in her eyes and then she sighed, knowing that I wasn’t going to give up. She glanced over her shoulders at the guards that were stationed by the doorway.

“You’ll stay with her,” she told them.

They nodded in return, and she stood to her feet, turning back to face me.

“If you need anything, you know where I am,” she told me.

I felt numb; I could barely even feel my head nodding. She soon turned and left the dining room, leaving me with my thoughts.

At some point, I had fallen asleep, and I hadn’t realized that I did. I felt a warm hand on my cheek, and I let out a sigh, thinking it was Xaden. He had finally come home.

But when I opened my eyes, I was startled, and extremely gutted, to see Maggie standing over me in her nighttime attire.

“Maeve, have you been here all night?” She asked.

A crease formed in the middle of my forehead and glanced around at my surroundings for a moment with a frown. I was still in the dining hall and the meal was still on the table. The only difference was when I looked out the window, I saw the sun rising.

I sighed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes before stretching.

“I guess I have,” I murmured. “Is Xaden in our room?”

She frowned and then glanced at the guards who stood at the door. They both shook their heads, already knowing the question behind Maggie’s look. My heart fell deep into my stomach, understanding all too well what the hidden meaning behind their look meant.

“He hasn’t come home…” I whispered; it wasn’t a question.

“There has to be an explanation,” she murmured, sitting in the empty spot beside me. “Don’t panic too much. I’ll try calling him again and seeing where he is.”

I wrapped my arms around my body, feeling sick to my stomach. I hadn’t eaten all night, and I knew that was bad for the baby, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel hungry. At least not until I knew Xaden was okay.

“His phone is off still,” Maggie said with a sigh.

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “I’m sure he spent the night at the palace. Maybe his phone died…” I murmured, staring down at my hands.

Maggie reached over to grasp my hands in hers.

“I’m going to make you some breakfast. A guard will escort you upstairs so you can shower and freshen up,” she told me.

I shook my head, feeling my eyes stinging with unshed tears.

“I’m not very hungry, Maggie,” I admitted.

“You are eating for two. You need to keep up with your nutrition. If not for you then for your baby,” she reminded me.

I knew she was right, I put my hands on my belly, feeling my baby boy kicking within me. I sighed and nodded. I stood to my feet and walked with one of the guards to my bedroom. He stayed outside the door while I did my business.

For a moment, I felt pause as I stared at the neatly made and untouched bed. It was cold because it hadn’t been used all night and it only made my heart grow heavier. Xaden hadn’t taken any spare clothes with him last night, so I didn’t think he was planning on spending the night at the palace. In fact, he told me he would be home rather early last night so we could spend the rest of the night together.

But he lied to me.

Or maybe something had happened, and he was hurt.

He was my mate though; if something terrible happened to him, wouldn’t I have felt it?

I tried to brush the thought out of my head while I took a shower, but it was difficult to not think about all the possible scenarios or what had happened to him.

By the time I finished with my shower and changing clothes, I had already made up my mind that after I forced some food into my stomach I would go straight to the palace and find out for myself where he had gone.

It was mid-morning when I descended the stairs and when I reached the foyer, that was when I heard the car door slamming shut and the scent of my mate filled my nose.

He was home.

Which meant, he was alive and well. This also meant that when he didn’t return my calls and he didn’t come home last night, it was a choice.

My worry turned into rage within seconds. These pregnancy hormones were something else. One minute I’m fighting back tears, and the next I feel as if I might explode from anger. When the door opened and Xaden rushed into the foyer looking disheveled, I realized I was fighting the urge to bite his entire head off as he froze entirely.

“I know this looks bad…” He began to say.

I was stunned speechless; I stared at him, my heart thudding violently against my chest and words failing me completely.

“Please, don’t be upset with me, Maeve…”

He stepped closer to me as if he was trying to calm a wild beast. I could only imagine how I must have looked to him at this moment. I probably looked exactly like a wild beast. Then something hit me, and my heart shattered into a million little pieces.

His scent was off… it was a mixture of scents, and I knew with certainty that it was another woman.

I stepped away from him out of instinct, as if he had just struck me and he froze again, a worried frown on his lips.

“Maeve…”

“Who is she?” I asked through my teeth; I was unable to keep the tears out of my eyes. They blurred my vision, making everything around me distorted.

“Who is who?” He asked, his brows pinched together.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Xaden…” I said, my tone was shaking. “Who is the woman you were with last night?”

His expression softened and I could see the remorse in his eyes; it destroyed me.

“It’s not what it seems like…” he said softly, trying to reach out to touch me but I flinched away from him. “Maeve, I promise you. Nothing happened last night. We only talked—”

“Who is she?” I said again slower and louder.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

“It was Princess Mia…”