Chapter 154

Xaden’s POV

Realization flashed through Maggie’s eyes, and she let out a deep breath.

“You knew about this?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. “For how long did you know, Maggie?”

She looked startled by my question, and I realized I was raising my voice. I was upset and worried and I was taking it out on her. It wasn’t fair especially when I didn’t know the full story.

“She found out yesterday,” Maggie said, folding her arms across her chest. “She went straight to the palace to tell you about it, but something happened there, and she returned home upset. She said she was going to bed early and I hadn’t seen her for the rest of the night. I made dinner, but she refused to open the door and eat. I decided to just leave it alone for the night and make her eat in the morning but when I went to her room she wasn’t there.”

What could have happened that upset her so badly that she wouldn’t tell me about the test results? I couldn’t fathom her withholding such vital information.

“Maybe she went back to the palace to tell your family about it,” Maggie suggested with a shrug. “I mean, you haven’t been here all night. So maybe she thought you were still there, and she went to tell you about it this morning.”

“You said it’s been hours though,” I said, shaking my head. “Realizing that I wasn’t there, wouldn’t she have come back?”

Maggie looked uncertain for a second as she nibbled on her bottom lip.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I don’t have the answers. I wish I did. I’m so sorry. This is my fault. I should have kept a better eye on her…”

“No, it’s not your fault. If she wanted you to know where she was going, she would have told you,” I said, shaking my head. “I think something might have happened.”

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts until I found her name. I pushed the green “call” button and pressed the phone to my cheek. I waited with bated breath while it rang.

Maggie furrowed her brows and glanced around the room with a timid frown.

“Do you hear that?” She asked.

I frowned and looked around the room, trying to see and hear what she was seeing and hearing. That’s when I heard it… a vibrating sound.

“It’s coming from the bed,” she murmured as she walked over to Maeve’s side of the bed. She pulled back the covers and gasped when she saw what was on the bed. She grabbed it and held it up for me to see. In her hand was Maeve’s phone.

It was vibrating because I was in the process of calling her.

It wasn’t like her to leave her phone behind, and now that she had, I was even more worried about her. I hadn’t marked her yet, which meant there was no actual way besides a phone, for me to contact her.

If she didn’t have her phone, I was completely out of touch with my mate.

“Why would she leave her phone?” Maggie asked, staring at the phone timidly.

“I…I don’t know…” I said, shaking my head. “Maybe she went to the palace and didn’t think to bring it. I’ll go there now and see if she’s there. Maybe Charlotte has an idea where she could have gone.”

“I’ll stay here just in case she comes back.”

I nodded as I headed towards the door.

“If you hear from her, call me right away,” I said to Maggie over my shoulder.

I didn’t wait around to listen to her reply; I quickly left the room and ran down the stairs. Prime Beta Burke was there to take me to the palace. When he saw the worried expression on my face as I quickly slid into the backseat of the car, he turned the engine on and started to peel away from the palace.

“Something happened?” Burke finally asked once we were on the road.

“Yeah,” I muttered, still not believing this was happening. “The baby is mine and Maeve is missing.”

“The baby is yours?” Burke asked, glancing at me through the rearview mirror. “She got the results back?”

I held up the results for him to see; I wanted to throw the truth in my father’s face. I wasn’t sure how the other results came back negative, but I was going to find out.

When I reached the palace, I quickly rushed through the front doors and took in a whiff, trying to get Maeve’s scent. It lingered, much like it did at my mansion. This meant that Maeve hadn’t been here in a while; my heart sank.

“Xaden, darling?” I turned to see my mother walking towards me with a timid frown, Char right beside her. “What’s wrong? Why are your eyes glowing?”

I hadn’t realized that my wolf was at the surface. I was so wrapped up in finding Maeve that I was ignoring his strong presence. Now that I tuned into him, I could feel how worried and manic he was for our mate. He knew something was wrong… this was unlike her. If she wasn’t in the mansion and she wasn’t in the royal palace, then where was she?

“Had either of you seen Maeve?” I asked, trying to get my canines to retract.

My mother and Char glanced at one another with worried expressions.

“Not since yesterday,” Char said. “She came to the palace, but I only saw her as she was leaving.”

“Did she say anything to you?” I asked.

“About what, Xaden?” My mother asked. “What’s going on?”

“Maeve left last night, and she hasn’t returned. Maggie hasn’t seen her since she came home yesterday. She went to bed early and then just disappeared. I can tell she hadn’t been at the mansion since last night… which meant she spent the night elsewhere.”

A worried look flashed through Char’s eyes as she processed my words, but my mother only looked confused. I could tell that Char knew something but was hesitant about telling me.

“If you know something, Char. You need to tell me. She’s my mate,” I said through my teeth, my wolf fighting to take control, but I kept pushing him back.

Char narrowed her eyes at me and folded her arms across her chest.

“Oh, now you want to act like she’s your mate,” she said through her teeth. “You spent all week ignoring her and spending all this time with Mia. You barely noticed how you were destroying Maeve.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Are you saying she left me?”

“I’m saying, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did!”

Charlotte!” My mother scolded. “Mind your words.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s about time that Maeve took a stand and did something for herself. If she left… then I’m glad, she got out. Xaden has been nothing but a dick to her…”

“What are you guys talking about?” Lucas asked as he joined us in the main foyer.

“Maeve is gone,” Char said, narrowing her eyes at me. “I was telling our big brother that I didn’t blame her for leaving.”

“Yeah, she was pretty gutted last night,” Lucas said, shaking his head sadly.

I whipped around to glare at my little brother.

“You saw her too??” I asked.

He nodded and then shrugged.

“She was here and then she left in a hurry,” Lucas said, glancing at Char. “We both saw her at the same time.”

Char nodded in agreement.

“What did she say?” I asked. “Why was she gutted?”

“Do you really have to ask?” Lucas asked, shaking his head at me as if he knew the most obvious thing in the world. “No one wants to see their mate spending time with another woman as much as you spent with the princess.”

“I was doing a duty that Father asked of me because you were incapable of doing said duty,” I nearly growled.

“Yes, but you also forgot the fact that you are already mated,” Lucas said, folding his own arms across his chest. “After she left, I went in the direction she came from and I saw that you were outside with Princess Mia, talking pretty intimately. I’m sure that sight broke her heart and that was why she left.”

My heart felt heavy in my chest from his words. Did she see me with Princess Mia? Did she hear me too? I was saying things to make Princess Mia dislike me… giving her fake answers to her questions to turn her off. If Maeve heard any of what I said without the appropriate context, she could have gotten the wrong idea.

“Why didn’t you try and stop her?” I asked, turning my frustrations to Lucas. “Why didn’t you explain it to her?”

“Explain what?” Lucas asked, his brows pinched together. “She’s not blind. None of us are. We can see how close you’ve gotten to Mia…”

“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation,” My mother tried to say, aiming to calm us. “Maeve wouldn’t just up and leave like that…”

Though even I could see the uncertainties in her eyes. There was something she wasn’t saying and it turned my stomach into a giant knot.

“Did I hear my name?” Another voice asked from the doorway. We turned to see Mia walking in with a couple of her warriors and Emily in tow.

I suddenly felt a surge of rage coursing through my veins as I glared at her.

“Because of you, Maeve is gone!” I found myself growling.

She froze, her face paling.

“What?” She asked.

Her warriors looked as if they were about to jump in and defend her, but she waved them off, making them stand down.

“My mate left because of you! Why did you need to take up my time with nonsense when you knew I had a mate and a baby on the way?!”

“Woah, Xaden. That’s not fair…” Lucas said, trying to jump in.

I turned around to glare at him.

“Don’t even get me started on what’s fair. If you only did your duty and did as Father asked, none of this would have happened,” I said angrily.

“What the hell is going on in here?” My father roared as he stormed into the room, his Alpha powers rolling off him in waves.

“Don’t even get me started on you,” I said, remembering all my father had done to keep me away from Maeve because he was under the impression that the baby wasn’t mine. Remembering that I had the test results in my hands I stormed over to him and shoved the results in his chest, making him grab them. “Because of you my mate and baby are both missing.”

I was well aware that I shouldn’t be speaking to the king like this, but I was manic.

He narrowed his eyes at me and without looking at the results, he jabbed a finger on my chest.

“Watch how you speak to me. You may be by son, but I am still the king!”

“You might have cost me everything and all you care about is yourself,” I said through my teeth.

He narrowed his eyes at me and then glanced down at the paper.

“How is this possible?” He asked. “The results were negative…”

“Well, they were wrong. Or fake,” I said, shaking my head at him. My sister and mother both gasped at the news as they rushed towards my father to look at the results. These results had a raised seal on them, which proved that they were authentic whereas the others did not.

I stepped away from my father as if his presence had burned me.

“If anything happens to either of them… it’ll be on you.”