Chapter 138

Third Person POV

King Arlan was furious, and he was completely blindsided. He felt lied to. Just when he accepts the idea of Xaden marrying Maeve, he finds out that she’s nothing but an illegitimate child.

He even spoke to Lucas earlier that morning and convinced him to speak with Mia and get their engagement back on track.

“I don’t think it’ll work, Dad. She hates me and she made it clear that she’s going after Xaden,” Lucas had told him that morning.

“Well, you need to figure something out, Lucas,” Arlan said through his teeth. “I don’t think Xaden will leave Maeve for Princess Mia, even if for the good of the Kingdom. As one of my sons, the youngest prince of the werewolf kingdom, you have a duty to the royal family and to the nation. If we unite the vixens and werewolf kingdoms, our armies will become an unstoppable force. We need this union. Plus, if we break the contract then it’s grounds for war.”

“Isn’t there another way?” Lucas asked, feeling defeated. He knew Mia wasn’t going to change her mind; she’d made that painfully clear when he tried to talk to her not long before this conversation with his father.

“I signed a contract with the Vixens; It’s out of my hands. If we don’t go through with this merger… it could start a war with our allies. The only thing worse about not having them fight along our side is them fighting against us,” King Arlan told him. “For right now, I have Xaden keeping the princess busy and calm. I’m trying to appease her and she’s requesting time with Xaden. I don’t expect Xaden to want to marry her… but she’s persistent. What I expect from you is to convince her that you are the better choice. You need to woo her and get on her good graces,” he told his son firmly. “I’m not going to argue with you any further about this, Lucas. You have until the scheduled wedding day to fix this.”

Lucas ran his fingers through his hair and nodded; he knew there was no getting through to his father.

“Yes, Father,” he murmured before he turned on his heel and left his office.

King Arlan thought back to that conversation, his mind still whirling as he discovered way more about Maeve than desired. Alpha Kenneth and Isabelle remained seated in front of his desk, watching his every facial expression.

Isabelle had a worried pit in the middle of her stomach, not sure if this plan would truly work. She was worried that it would turn around and bite her in the butt like all her other plans.

But this was different; this was her father’s plan. She’s not fully involved; therefore, Henry can’t be that mad at her.

“Do you really want someone like that as you’re the Luna Princess?” Kenneth asked, shaking his head as he studied the King’s face. “I truly think you should reconsider, Your Majesty.”

“You’re right,” Arlan said after a long pause. “I don’t want someone like that to be my daughter-in-law. I knew something was off with her the moment I met her and now I suppose it makes sense….” His lip curled up in disgust as he spat, “Illegitimate mutt.”

“Princess Mia seems to have her eyes fixed on Prince Xaden,” Kenneth continued to poke the wolf. “I know she was meant to marry him originally. Do you think there’s promise there?”

The King’s aura darkened as he glowered at Kenneth.

“Yes,” he replied. “I think there is very much promise there.”

…..

Maeve’s POV

“Thank you for coming with me to this shop. I’m not very familiar with this area and it’s nice to have someone who knows a little bit about it,” Emily said as we walked into yet another clothing store.

I kept looking over my shoulder, hoping that Princess Mia and Xaden would appear, but like always, I was left disappointed. We had been in the city for several hours, and the second we got here, Emily wanted to go to a few stores, different than the ones Mia wanted to go to.

Mia suggested that she and Xaden went one way, and I went with Emily another way. I didn’t want to part from Xaden, but he told me that we would meet up for an early dinner soon enough. He demanded that we take some of his guards with us as we parted ways.

I didn’t think this would take as long, but Emily was insistent on walking into almost every store. It almost felt as if she was doing this on purpose to keep me away from Xaden.

I was getting hungry and Xaden promised that we would go to my favorite restaurant in the capital for dinner. It was the only thing I was truly looking forward to as the evening came closer, my stomach began to grow even more violent.

“Do you think we should find Xaden and the Princess?” I asked. “I’m getting hungry and it’s starting to get late.”

Emily glanced at her watch and sighed. She stared down at all the bags we were holding; I only bought a couple of things while Emily bought a ton of stuff.

“Yeah, let’s bring this stuff to the car and then we can see where they are,” she finally relented.

I was relieved to hear her say this. Together, we walked out of the store and down the street. We walked for what felt like 30 minutes; I hadn’t realized we strayed so far from the city center but by the time we reached the parked car where Burke remained, my feet were aching, and my head was throbbing due to how hungry I was.

I barely ate during breakfast this morning and I didn’t get to eat at all during the day because I thought we were getting an earlier dinner. But the sun was setting, and I was becoming increasingly tired.

“Has the Princess returned yet?” Emily asked as Burke stepped out of the car.

“About an hour ago,” he answered. “She was dropping off some bags too.”

Burke glanced at me with a frown and added, “Xaden was with her. They both took off afterward.”

I nodded and turned to Emily.

“Maybe we should start walking to the restaurant?” I suggested. “Maybe they are waiting for us.”

She nodded in agreement; after we dropped our bags off, we said goodbye to Burke and left for the restaurant. Thankfully, it wasn’t a far walk and the closer we got, the more my stomach started to growl hungrily. Once the restaurant came into view, I started to pick up the pace, but then I immediately slowed down when I saw Xaden and Mia walking out of the front door.

They were both laughing at something someone said, and her arm was draped around his arms. She was leaning close to him, and he was saying something that made her laugh. My stomach tightened and I felt my feet halting. Emily stopped beside me and followed my eyes over to spot Princess Mia and my mate.

Xaden, having felt my eyes on him, shifted his gaze and met mine. His smile started to drop slightly, and I could see the look of guilt all over his face as he untangled his arms from hers. She was resistant at first, but once she saw me standing nearby, she scowled and dropped her hands from his.

Xaden quickly walked over to me, his expression softening and a smile beginning to light up his face. This was a different smile than the one he gave her. This smile was meant only for me, and it warmed my heart a little. However, I could still see the guilt in his eyes as he looked at me.

“Hey,” he said, stopping in front of me. “I was starting to worry when we couldn’t find you earlier.”

I frowned.

“Sorry, I wasn’t aware that you were looking for us,” I told him. “Emily wanted to see a ton of stores. I’m really hungry though. Can we go inside and eat?”

Xaden frowned and that guilty look only intensified; he looked over his shoulder at Mia who was now privately talking to Emily and giggling about something. He then turned to look at me again.

“We waited a little while for you guys to show up, but Mia was really hungry…” he said, his voice dropping to a whisper.

I knew where this conversation was going, and my heart sank deep into my stomach.

He had dinner with Mia…

“I’m so sorry, Maeve,” he told me softly. “But we already ate. We just finished.”

He pointed at the restaurant over his shoulder.

“You ate without me?” I asked, hating that I sounded like a child who didn’t get her way. But I couldn’t help myself. I was hungry and upset. “At my favorite restaurant?”

“They were really backed up and there was a long wait for to-go orders. We can grab some food for you on the way home,” he told me, putting his hands on my shoulders. “I’m so sorry. Please don’t be upset. I promise I’ll get you some food.”

Tears filled my eyes, and I quickly blinked them away before they could be shed.

“Okay,” was all I could manage to say.

“Come on,” he said, draping an arm around my shoulders. “Let’s get you some food and then we can go home and spend the rest of the night together.”

I nodded, not bothering to say a word. I was really hurt and upset over this situation.

We joined Mia and Emily before we started towards the waiting car.

“I hope you aren’t too upset with us,” Mia said as she walked beside me. “I was so hungry and Xaden was such a gentleman.”

“I’m not upset,” I lied.

“Good,” she said excitedly. “And I hope you aren’t upset that I’ll be accompanying Xaden to an auction tomorrow. He was so sweet to ask me out.”

My heart sank even further, and I felt my steps faltering as I glanced up at Xaden, who seemed tense.

“You are taking her… as your date?”