The Hidden Luna Queen 2

If she touched me, my pregnancy would no longer be a secret-!

"Stop-please," I urged, keeping her hands away from me while being as polite as possible. My face heated up, mortified. "Why are you telling me any of this?" I questioned. "Oh, well... don't you need help wooing Prince Xaden?" she asked,

cocking her delicate head to the side, further baffling me. Where on earth would she have gotten that idea? "I want to help you with that-because he and I used to... you know..." They used to-?

All of a sudden, something dark and twisted gnawed at my stomach. Whatever this girl was trying to say... I just got the worst feeling that it was something I did not want to hear, not from her or anyone else, but at the same time, I found myself yearning to hear the words straight from her mouth. "Used to... what...?" I repeated weakly.

I hoped it wasn't what I thought it was.

"We used to have s-"

"What on earth are you doing here?"

Startled, both Delaney and I spun around to face Xaden, whose gaze was very decidedly not locked on me, but instead on this strange girl who kept wanting to speak to me for whatever reason. His normally stoic, kind face seemed to pale with dread in the midst of her unrelenting presence, which I knew would not happen if this was the first time he had ever laid eyes on her.

He looked at her as if he knew her... and that made me sick to my stomach. Because it hinted that perhaps she was telling me the truth.

"Prince Xaden!" she exclaimed, apparently blind to the dark expression on his face. "It's been quite a-"

All of a sudden, his lofty, threatening figure flew from my side to tower over her, effectively rendering her silent. I had no idea of the expression that marred his face when he looked at her, nor that of hers, but the ensuing silence that came from her was louder than any words could express. "Go away-NOW."

With a small squeak and without saying another word, she left us alone.

And then, he whirled around on me, his wide-eyed gaze boring into me." What did she say to you?"

These were not the actions of a man who wanted to protect me from peculiar strangers, I realized with slowly creeping horror. This was a man who had something to hide. My heart sank as I shakily fell back. "Maeve-"

"Why?" I dared to counter, facing him despite the quiver in my voice. It took every ounce of my effort not to fall apart in the middle of the banquet hall, surrounded on all fronts by strangers of the upper crust, but I forced myself to stay strong. "Are you worried she might've said something you didn't want me to hear-" I pushed, ignoring the slight flinch he made, "that you thought I should never find out about?"

He set his jaw, staring at me intently. "Please-" he begged, "you cannot believe a word that came out of her mouth."

"Do you mean to say she was lying?" I felt more frantic with every second.

"I mean to say you shouldn't listen to her."

"Then you tell me the truth," I insisted, not wavering. "Did you sleep with her?"

"I'm not with her," Xaden assured firmly, decidedly not answering my questions. "I'm with y-"

"Did you sleep with her?"

He gulped, his shoulders slumping in defeat, and something in me cracked before he could even get the words out. "Yes," he admitted, shattering my heart into a million pieces as the world beneath me crumbled. "But this was-" "Then there's nothing left for me to say to you right now," I whispered, not trusting the integrity of my voice.

"Maeve," he begged, looking pitiful, reaching out for me despite being in public. "Please-"

I recoiled before his beseeching fingers could touch me. "Forgive me, Prince Xaden," I muttered, trying to ignore the painful pang in my heart as hurt flashed across his face. “I have neglected my 'fiancé' for too long now."

And with that, I briskly turned away, moving ever so closer to Burke, who had also returned. I felt his gaze wash over me, and I desperately hoped that he would not reject me. Thankfully, he did not utter a word or protest, though I saw him make a small gesture to Xaden out of the corner of my eye, likely to appease or reassure him or something.

I didn't care. I was just relieved he let me sit beside him while I fermented in my bitter emotions.

Of course, Xaden had been with other women. That much was obvious, even to me. Perhaps not during the time I'd been with him, but this was my first exposure to his past.

And-oh, how beautiful she was. She was every bit the woman that a

dashing alpha prince like him deserved to have. No matter how many times he would try to say otherwise, I knew I was by no means attractive, not compared to women like her. Part of me dared to hope that maybe I was special. That it truly was fate that we had found each other that night...

But maybe I was only the latest in a long line of women.

THIRD PERSON POV

Heavy footsteps strode into the threshold of a certain packhouse, somewhere beyond the walls of the capital. Long, slow, and creaking with exhaustion in every step. It had been quite an eventful day-not to mention, week-for Nicholas, and he was sure this was only just the beginning.

That night on the border that night had, admittedly, been hell.

He was no stranger to battle, but at the same time, he'd never fought when nearly every possible odd had been stacked to the skies against him. It had begun a mere patrol, which, according to protocol, meant that they could only have so many men and, to top it off, they had been caught off guard by a multitude of those hulking shifters lurking in the shadows.

Tonight should have been a breeze compared to surviving that ambush. Who would have thought it would leave wounds that stung far worse?

As Nicholas ventured further into the lavishly decorated foyer, he was greeted by an omega servant. "Welcome back home, Master-oh my," they trailed off as their gaze lowered. "It appears to be time to redress your wound."

He blinked, glancing down at his abdomen where, sure enough, droplets of blood had begun to seep through his gauze. A small trinket he received during the battle, where a sly bear snuck a lucky shot with a powerful swipe of his massive paw while he had been distracted.

"Oh... I hadn't realized," he said, still partially distracted as he rolled his shirt further up his toned torso while the servant quickly gathered the necessary first aid from a nearby closet. "My mind still seems to be stuck at the banquet."

"I'm sure you were marvelous this afternoon, Master Nicholas," the servant praised with pride as they carefully unwound the bandage. Though, in that sense, it must have been just like any other banquet you've attended."

Any other banquet... Nicholas mused, holding out his arm while the servant redressed his wound. Indeed, that was how it had begun-just like any other banquet.

From the time he stepped foot inside the palace, he had been cornered into conversations with fellow alphas to discuss either what had happened on the border or their thoughts on what to expect from their enemy in the future. It had been important work, indeed, but there was only so much talk a man could take before it got tedious. So he could not help it when his eyes began to wander the room.

Time almost seemed to stop, however, the moment he laid eyes on this black-haired girl, sitting all alone in the middle of that banquet hall. From afar, he could see her light eyes glow with this refreshing innocence unlike anything he'd seen in other women. He was not a teenager. Not to mention, alpha blood coursed through his twenty-five-year-old body. He was supposed to be a force to be reckoned

with.

There were all of his accomplishments, both in academia and on the battlefront, which had now garnered not only the attention of his fellow soldiers but that of the royal family, as well. All of his hard work to make a name for himself, entirely separate from that of the glowing patronage of his esteemed pack. He wanted to be an alpha worthy of the title, not just in blood, but a man others could look up to.

But now it seemed that all that hard work, all those hours of study and training was a complete waste of his time and effort. He was despicable. Pathetic.

Because here he was-smitten by a woman who already had a fiancé.

Nicholas was appalled with himself, grunting as he practically collapsed into a blue, tufted wingback armchair once the servant finished. Utterly disgusted. This couldn't be what he amounted to.

Growing up the son of a widely renowned alpha in the Werewolf Kingdom, he'd known his father regaled in the attention it brought him from all corners of the land. He was someone to be coveted by anyone and everyone-all alphas envied him... and all women adored him, and for good reason.

In his youth, his father was quite a force to be reckoned with, beholding strength and ambition nearly rivaling that of the royal family. Even the almighty Alpha King himself had no choice but to acknowledge this, which led him to become alpha to one of the most prominent and largest packs in the entire kingdom.

His father, despite all of his outstanding qualities, had one fatal flaw that Nicholas could never find in himself to forgive.

No matter how happy he might have been in his family life, he could never seem to be fully satisfied. He was always looking for something, which kept him away from home quite often when Nicholas was but a toddler... more often than anyone would like to admit. He would have given anything to have his father around, to have those memories and that relationship to think back on, but there would always be this... empty spot where his father was supposed to be.

His absences began to subside by the time Nicholas was five, almost six. His ambition never wavered, though, and despite later finding more time to spend with his family, he never bothered to explain or apologize for his neglect in his younger years.