Chapter 140

Xaden’s POV

I stared at Maeve who was as white as a ghost; her entire body trembling and her knuckles were growing whiter by the second as her grip on the phone tightened. Neither of us knew what to say at that moment139

There had to be some mistake.

With my heart heavy in my chest, I finally found my voice to speak.

“There’s a mistake,” I said as calmly as I could. “We need to take a retest.”

“I’m afraid we took multiple tests,” the doctor said gently. “I used state-of-the-art machines to perform this test. There is no mistake, Your Majesty. I’m sorry that these are not the results you were hoping for. But these are the results that I have. I took the liberty of faxing you the reports along with faxing your father the same reports per his request.”

My blood ran cold from his words; my father has these results and it wouldn’t be long before he was reaching out to me, wanting to discuss this. My eyes found Maeve’s; she was speechless and stared at me with her bottom lip trembling.

“I don’t know how it’s possible,” she whispered hoarsely. “I… I…”

“If there’s anything else I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to call,” the doctor said on the phone after neither of us said a word. Soon, the line went dead but Maeve refused to put the phone down. Her eyes remained on mine, and I was feeling all sorts of confused.

There was no doubt in my body that the baby was mine… Maeve was carrying my son. So, why would the paternity test state otherwise?

Could I have been a fool to believe Maeve?

Was she truly with another man and then lied to me about it?

No… she wouldn’t have done that.

I’m not sure how long I sat there, but after a while, my phone rang. I didn’t answer it because I was shellshocked. I stared down at the screen and saw that my father was calling. I’m sure he saw the paternity test results by now and wanted to gloat that he was right.

But he couldn’t be right. It wasn’t possible… that baby was mine.

He had to be mine.

Tears filled Maeve’s eyes; she wasn’t saying anything, and I think that was driving me even more crazy. Why wasn’t she saying anything? Why wasn’t she reassuring me and telling me that the baby was mine? Why was she completely silent and staring at me with tears filling her eyes?

“I need to get out of here,” I finally said after a long pause.

I stood to my feet; she remained frozen, though her eyes followed my every movement. I walked into the bathroom and took a quick shower; though, it didn’t do anything to help with the mental block going on in my mind. After my shower, I dressed and quickly left the room. Maeve was curled up in the bed, her body still trembling as she hugged a pillow to her chest. Tears were now streaking down her pale cheeks, and she was chewing on her bottom lip until I swear, I saw blood.

I wanted to go over to her and wrap her in my arms, telling her that it was going to be okay. But my body wouldn’t allow me to do it. My wolf was anxious and upset about this whole ordeal; he wasn’t sure what to believe and I could feel that he was on edge. There was nothing more dangerous than an Alpha wolf on the edge. I needed to get out of here before I did or said something that I regretted.

I started towards the door, leaving Maeve by herself.

When I got downstairs, I was greeted by a few guards along with Maggie.

“Good morning, Your Majesty,” she said politely. “I made breakfast and—”

“I need to leave,” I said sharply, stopping her words. “Maeve is still here, so keep an eye on her. I’m sure she will eat when she comes down.”

“Oh, okay,” Maggie said to my retreating back. “Is everything okay?”

I didn’t answer her; I needed to get out of this mansion, I needed air.

Though, even when I reached outside, the air felt thin and unwelcoming.

“What’s wrong with you?” Burke asked as I got into the car. I mindlinked him while I showered and told him to come right away. I was pleased to see that he was outside waiting by the time I was ready.

“I found out something disturbing and I’m not sure what to believe,” I murmured, slamming the car door shut.

Burke furrowed his brows as he started the engine and drove towards the palace.

“Want to talk about it?” He asked, glancing at me through the rear-view mirror.

I shook my head; I wasn’t sure I could speak the words out loud if I wanted to.

“I’m not sure,” I murmured, my head feeling fuzzy. “Maybe later.”

Burke nodded and fixed his attention on the road.

“I’m not just your prime Beta…” he reminded me. “I’m also your friend. I’m here for you if you need anything.”

I nodded, my heart heavy in my chest. I wouldn’t break down right now; I needed to be strong. I was a Prince for crying out loud. There had to be some mistake; I couldn’t fathom the thought of Maeve ever being untruthful.

But the words of my father kept replaying in my mind.

What if she used some kind of power to make me believe she was my mate and she had lied to me this entire time to get into the royal family?

Would she stoop that low?

My wolf growled angrily at me for even thinking such a thing and I sighed. He was right; Maeve would never do such a thing… so why was this knot in my stomach growing even more with each second?

When we reached the palace, I was immediately greeted by my father and my mother. My mother had a concerned look on her face while my father just looked smug with his arms folded across his chest. No doubt he had already told the entire family that he was right the whole time.

“Let’s speak in my office,” he said, turning on his heel and walking towards his office across the palace.

My mother stood beside me, grabbing my arm gently and turning my attention to her.

“There has to be an explanation,” she told me softly. “Maeve wouldn’t lie to you like that.”

I nodded.

“I know, Mom,” I replied. “I’m just confused.”

“Big brother!” I heard Char exclaiming as she ran towards me, throwing her arms around my neck and letting out a sob. “I heard the news. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe this is happening. Do you think it’s true?”

“Charlotte, give your brother some space,” my mother said, narrowing her eyes. “He can answer your questions later.”

Charlotte stepped back and wiped at her moist eyes.

“I don’t think Maeve would do something like this,” she said, keeping her tone low. “Don’t give up on her, Xaden.”

I nodded, feeling numb. I didn’t want to give up on my mate; it was honestly the last thing I wanted. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be talking about any of this right now.

“We’ll talk later,” I assured her before I turned and followed my father to his office.

Once again, he was already seated at his desk when I entered.

I shut the door behind me, and I stepped further into the room, noticing Kenneth standing in the corner. I sighed, truly not in the mood to speak with Alpha Kenneth as well.

“Xaden, take a seat,” my father said, motioning for an empty chair.

I did as he ordered and remained silent as I stared up at him.

“We were just discussing the test results,” my father began as he shuffled some papers in front of him. I knew they were the paternity test results; I still hadn’t been able to look at them but knowing they were only inches from me made my stomach tense even more than it already was.

“I’m sorry for the unfortunate news,” Kenneth said from the corner. “I had the doctor do the test a couple of times just to make sure. But they both came back the same… negative.”

Despite hearing his words, I still wasn’t sure if I believed them to be true. There was no way this baby wasn’t mine.

“Given the circumstances, I think we should start thinking strongly about the future of our kingdom,” my father said, placing the results down on his desk and leaning back in his seat. “It’s time for you to get serious about your future. I’m quite pleased that we never announced Maeve or the baby to the Kingdom. Now we can pretend that whole ordeal never happened.”

My jaw clenched from his words and my wolf was close to breaking through the surface of my mind. He was speaking about Maeve like she was worthless and not worth a second thought, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I think it would be best for everyone if you agreed to leave Maeve and start pursuing Princess Mia,” my father continued.

“I’m not giving up on my mate,” I said through my teeth, hardly able to contain my anger any longer.

“You’re still on that?” My father asked, narrowing his eyes at me. “Be serious, Xaden!”

I stood up quickly.

“I am serious, Father. Despite these results, she is still my mate. I’m not sure what happened or why the results are negative, but I can feel it deep in my soul that the baby is mine,” I told him firmly.

I wasn’t backing down from that.

My father sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose like he was getting a headache.

“May I make a suggestion, Your Majesty?” Kenneth asked, glancing between my father and me.

“Very well,” my father murmured. “He won’t listen to me. Perhaps he will listen to you.”

“How about a compromise?” Kenneth asked, his brows raised as he turned to look at me. “Spend some more time with the princess and see if you can start to like her even more. I know you were already spending time with her these last couple of days and from your father I heard you are taking her to the jewelry auction tonight. That’s a start. Keep an open mind and don’t fully commit yourself to Maeve just yet. At least not until you know the truth. In the meantime, we can use the resources we have at the palace to do a little digging and see what information on her we can find. She’s been hiding a lot of things, so I don’t blame your father for not trusting her. You need to understand that he not only cares about the Kingdom but your wellbeing as well.”

I frowned, not liking the idea of people digging through Maeve’s personal information.

“I order you to spend time with Mia and get to know her better. Lucas is no longer going to marry her, so now it’s up to you. You have a duty to your Kingdom that you must fulfill,” my father said, agreeing with Alpha Kenneth.

I sighed and ran my finger through my hair. I was too tired and dumbfounded to argue with him any further. Maybe taking a little bit of space away from Maeve would be a good thing for right now.

At least until we can figure out this whole mess.

I was just so confused and tired. I needed to sort out my thoughts.

“Okay,” I finally said after a long pause. “I’ll keep entertaining Mia and ensuring that the vixens are happy for right now. But Maeve is my mate. Don’t forget that she’s the one I’m with, and that’s not going to change anytime soon.”