Chapter 179

Third Person POV

Charlotte stared after Nicholas, her heart in her throat. She made a fool out of herself; she was sure of it. What had gotten into her? She had never once thought about Nicholas in such a manner, but lately, she hadn’t been able to get him out of her mind. It started the other night after everything with Alpha Kenneth and Isabelle went down... she had a dream about Nicholas. A dream where they were intimate and since that dream, it’s all she’s been able to think about.

Nicholas’s scent had been getting stronger to her; he smelled of burning leaves at a campfire and it warmed her insides. She could smell it from her bedroom, so she went to investigate, finding herself outside of her father’s study.

She wanted to remain closer to him, but it was clear he had no desire to get close to her. He left as if she had burned him and that scorched her heart a bit.

What was she expecting, really?

“Charlotte darling, is everything okay?” Luna Leonora asked as she walked around the corner. Char still stood in place, staring at the doorway that Nicholas had just walked through… no… he practically ran through it.

She blinked back tears, not sure where this sudden surge of emotions came from.

“Charlotte?” Her mother asked again, putting a hand on her shoulder and drawing her attention to the Queen's concerned face.

“I’m sorry, what?” Char asked, blinking as she tried hard not to cry.

“What’s wrong, darling?” Leonora asked, glancing at the doorway. “What were you looking at?”

Char had a close relationship with her mother, and she had never lied to her before. But she wasn’t sure how to tell her what was bothering her without making herself look foolish.

“Is it possible to discover a mate after knowing someone for a certain amount of time?” Char blurted the question, making Leonora’s eyes grow wide.

“What?” She asked, not understanding the question.

“A mate,” Char said, again, glancing at the ground, unable to meet her mother’s questioning gaze. “If you knew someone for a while and they weren’t your mate…, is it possible for them to be your mate later?”

The Queen studied her daughter for a long while, even more questions surfacing in her eyes as she pondered the question.

“There could be many factors,” she finally said after a while.

“Like what?” Charlotte urged, impatience coating her tone.

“Your actual mate could have died, and this one could be a second chance,” she said, making Char’s heart crack a little.

Could that have happened? Could she have had a mate and then lost him without ever even knowing who he was?

“Or the Moon Goddess hadn’t decided who your mate was until this very moment,” the queen interjected her thoughts.

Char looked up at her mother with surprise written all over her face.

“But I thought mates were created at birth?” Char asked, her brows raised.

“In most cases, yes,” the queen said with a nod of her head. “But sometimes the queen has internet plans for someone and doesn’t create a mate until later in life. It’s a rarity, but it has happened before. There’s also a possibility that the one created to be your mate died at birth, leaving you mate less at birth.”

Charlotte’s chest felt heavy from this information. Her wolf had been quietly pondering as well, confusion falling over them both and an unease settling in the pit of her stomach.

“Is there something you’d like to tell me?” Her mother then asked.

Char blinked, thinking about it for a moment. But then she shook her head, forcing a smile.

“No,” she lied. “I was just curious. A friend of mine mentioned they found their mate but it was someone she already knew. She only just now started to feel a connection and was confused. I told her I would find out what I could. Thank you for answering my questions.”

With another farewell, Char left.

Leonora stared after her daughter with a frown; it wasn’t like her to lie like that, but Leonora knew right away that she was.

“I thought I heard your voice,” Arlan said, stepping out of his office. “Did I hear Charlotte as well?”

Leonora glanced at the door that Char was so focused on; it led outside.

“Was there someone here a few moments ago?” Leonora asked, turning towards her husband.

He frowned but he nodded.

“Yes, I had a meeting with Nicholas. He left a bit ago,” he answered. “Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering,” Leonora said, her brows raised.

Was Nicholas the reason Charlotte was acting so strange?

…….

Xaden’s POV

“P…please, Your Majesty. I swear, I’m not working with the bears. I could never betray the Kingdom…”

I glared, my wolf surging forward and an intimidating manner, making the man before me flinch. He was bound to a chair with silver cuffs, making him weak and impossible to shift into his wolf.

“Then why did I find these photographs in your belongings?” I asked, holding up a few photos of the royal family… of my family. They were photos of my father in compromising positions that could make him look lesser in the eyes of everyone. If these photos got to, I could ruin him, and I couldn’t let that happen.

We had been searching nearly everyone in the capital these last 24 hours and exhaustion ran through my bones like a thick sweater caked to my skin. It’s been over a day since I’d last seen Maeva, and my wolf was already irritated that this task had taken us awake from our mate.

I gritted my teeth, unable to take any more of this. I wanted to end his life and be done with it, but I couldn’t just kill him based on this small evidence. I needed concrete proof or a confession and then I could end his miserable life and return home to the mansion.

“I was framed… they aren’t mine…” he pleaded. “Please, don’t kill me. I have a wife and a daughter. Y… you can’t…” his words trailed off as he was racked with sobs.

He had been beaten pretty badly so his face was hardly recognizable.

With the silver cuffs on him, he’s unable to heal properly so he was pretty badly injured. His entire body shivered as the cold dungeon air nipped at his skin leaving goosebumps across his bruises.

“Prince Xaden,” a voice said from behind me. I turned to see Beta Burke walking towards me, concern evident in his eyes. “Can we speak a moment?”

I turned back to the man who was still sobbing like a baby. I glanced at the guards and motioned towards the man.

“Put him back in the cell,” I ordered.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I turned back towards Burke and nodded towards him. Something on his face told me that he wanted to speak alone, so I excused myself from the dungeon and made my up the stairs and into the foyer of the palace. I had blood on my clothes, and I looked like someone who hadn’t slept in days. I had blood on my knuckles and arms… it wasn’t my blood.

I reminded myself that I would have to shower and change before I returned home to Maeve. I didn’t need her worrying about me or asking questions about what had happened.

Once we were alone without any of the palace staff or guards lurking around, I turned to Burke and narrowed my eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“You haven’t been to your mansion lately,” he said, studying me. “I went there to make sure everything was okay with Maeve and your staff.”

I nodded thoughtfully; I had asked him to do that, so I wasn’t surprised. With me not being there since yesterday, I had been worried and needed reassurance that my mate was okay.

“And?” I asked, urging him to continue.

“I have to ask, did you hire more guards? There are some men there that I don’t recognize. Some who claimed to be from the palace were sent there for extra security. But I don’t remember ever meeting them before,” Burke surprised me by saying.

I hadn’t asked for any extra security. The team that I had sufficed for now.

“No,” I told him. “I didn’t hire anyone new. Did my father send them?”

“They didn’t mention the King,” Burke said, his brows furrowed. “Maggie is also unsure of where they came from.”

“I’ll speak with my father and see if knows anything,” I told him. “Thank you for letting me know. How is Maeve?” I asked the most important question; the one that I’ve been dying to know since he pulled me aside.

Burke looked uneasy and for a second, he avoided my eyes.

“Burke,” I urged, my voice forceful. “How is my mate?”

“She’s not there,” Burke finally said. “Maggie thought she was in her room sleeping. I did arrive kind of early, so it wasn’t too strange. She went to check on Maeve, but when she returned… she was visibly worried. She wasn’t there and she hadn’t heard her leaving this morning.”

Panic struck me in an instant as my wolf surged forward at the sound of his words.

“What are you saying?” I asked through my teeth, my fists clenched to my sides.

He was quiet for a moment and then he sighed, his shoulders sagging.

“I’m saying… I think she might be missing.”