The Hidden Luna Queen 2

"What... what changed your mind...?" she managed to ask between moans.

I dragged my teeth gently over her neck. "Someone with dark hair like midnight, blue eyes like the morning sky... and who looks like a dream when I f**k her until she can no longer speak..." I rolled into her once more, savoring the choked-off cry she let out, "just like that..." With a soft gasp, she pulled me back up to her face and reconnected our lips with fervor, pulling me in like I was oxygen. I didn't mind in the slightest, wrapping myself around her body until it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. Within moments, we were lost in each other's bodies once more, writhing and moaning and slick with sweat. If it were up to me, I would have stayed like that with her forever.

At some point after our third round, however, we fell asleep. What blissful sleep it was.

Maeve was mine... and I couldn't wait to make it official.

"Can't we just stay home today?" Maeve asked, biting at her lip, but decidedly not in a way to seduce me.

Morning had come, which also happened to be the morning she began etiquette lessons with my mother, and she was a nervous wreck. This had been the fifth time in a very short period that she tried to convince me to turn the car around, but I would not give in, regardless of how adorable she looked.

"Not a chance, little seductress," I teased, making her blush. "You already have a prior engagement with my mother."

"I-I know... but..."

She didn't have to explain anything to me. I knew better than anyone else just what she was afraid of. "She's going to love you, Maeve," I swore. "I wouldn't be sending you off alone if I didn't think so."

That seemed to do little to appease her, but she didn't ask again. Soon enough, we made it to the palace, where I kissed her goodbye as she went off toward my mother's parlor, and I made a quick stop to request Maggie's new identity card, as promised. With my palace errand done, I returned home, where Burke awaited in my office, ready to begin work for the day.

"Good morning, Prince Xaden, sir.”

"Burke. Have you made any progress into that investigation on Burton?"

"I'm trying my best, but he's done quite a remarkable job to ensure he has a clean record. I have only found reports and correspondence here and there detailing his pluck and ambition as a young alpha.

My face pinched in confusion. Ambition? In that measly wolf?

The image of his pathetic form bending in submission before me, in front of his entire pack, burned in the forefront of my mind. However formidable a force he might have been all those years ago, he was merely but a shadow of that alpha now. Still, I couldn't help but wonder if something had happened to spark that change.

And if so, was Maeve connected to any of it?

"How peculiar," I muttered pensively. "Dig further, if you can. There's something odd about that man."

"Of course."

"And what of the necklace? That strange pendant with the purple crystal?"

That question befuddled him. “There's nothing that signifies the production or use of such jewelry in our kingdom. I've looked into every jeweler merchant and every fashion fad, and I have yet to find a single object that resembles that pendant. To access the complete chapters for free, visit Job nib. c Om. I suspect it originated from... elsewhere, Prince Xaden."

I was worried that would be the case. That would make investigating it that much more difficult. "Alright... put a hold on that for now, then. Let us focus on Burton for the time being."

"As you wish."

Before Burke could leave, however, I stopped him. "I... want your input on something else," I admitted.

He must have detected the uncertainty in my tone because he moved to sit across from me, and waited patiently for me to open up. Right now, he was not my Prime Beta or a servant of my father's. Right now, he was just my friend.

"I haven't quite wrapped my mind around Orenda Gorre's words. Please, be as frank as you'd like."

"Ah... about you and Maeve being fated mates?"

I faltered, knowing how crazy it sounded. "Yes. Do you believe in such a thing?"

... I'm not one to believe in the mystic arts, but it's impossible to look at you two and think anything else," Burke said, crossing his legs. "You've been hooked on this girl since the night you met. That's never happened before." I was well aware of that fact.

But I couldn't decipher what feelings were mine, versus what came from this... mystical bond, and that troubled me.

Seeing my uncertainty, he frowned pensively. "Here's my honest take: there's no point in worrying about what some old, insane wolf-lady said. Who cares about any of this fated mate stuff? You love Maeve, and that's all you need to know," he said, clear and straight to the point, making me freeze.

Love...?

I knew my feelings for her were strong, but was he right? Could I have already fallen in love with her?