The 5-time Rejected Gamma & the Lycan King novel Chapter 47

Chapter 47

In the car, Xandar drove a bit before starting the conversation, “Lucy, Christian asked me to thank you.”

Lucianne blinked in confusion, “For what?”

Xandar explained sadly, “For not asking Annie why they don’t have kids.”

Lucianne then shrugged and said, “There’s no need to thank me for something like that. The absence of kids is only for two reasons. One is because they don’t want them, in which case, who am I to question their decision? Or two, it’s because…unfortunately, they can’t have them. If that’s the case, then why bring it up to hurt them even more?” 15

Xandar laced his fingers with hers and kissed the back of her hand as he uttered, “You’re amazing.”

Xandar drove a bit more before he said, “I was supposed to let you know about the…delicate subject of kids for Annie before you met her but…Christian and I forgot to brief you beforehand. We only remembered when Russell came up to you when we arrived. By then, we thought it was too late. But when you didn’t ask them about not having their own children at all, even when Annie herself started talking about kids, Christian was more assured that you weren’t going to bring it up throughout our stay. And he really appreciates it. It’s not something that he and Annie… are comfortable talking about. What surprised us though is today was the first time in a long time that we saw Annie talk about kids with zero strain. She spoke about your interaction with Russell like she was just explaining what she saw. There wasn’t any sorrow in Annie like there was in the past whenever the subject of children came up. Neither Christian nor I know how you encouraged Annie to talk about your interaction with children without her breaking down but, sweetheart, keep doing it.”

Lucianne frowned as she whispered, “What happened…to Annie?”

Xandar took a breath before he said, “In the first year of their marriage, when they both visited a cafe one day, someone laced Annie’s coffee with a drug that suppressed pregnancy indefinitely.”

Lucianne was shocked. She thought that even if it were infertility, the cause would be a natural one. Xandar’s explanation had shocked her to the bone.

Xandar gave her a moment before he continued, “We worked around the CCTV footages and caught the culprit but before the interrogation could start, he committed suicide. It was a dead end from there. Christian and Annie visited every doctor and healer we know but they all said there was no cure.”

Lucianne digested the information before she asked cautiously, “Is that why Annie never attends government events with Christian?”  

Xandar kissed Lucianne’s hand again before he said, “That’s one of the reasons.” He sighed in despair before continuing, “Lucy, you already know that not everyone in that room has good intentions when they come up to you. Greg and his supporters, especially, tried to make Annie feel uncomfortable when we weren’t around to defend her. Even with them gone, Annie still doesn’t feel safe being there so Christian never tried to persuade her to go to these things with him. If anything, he and I encouraged Annie to steer clear of events with those hypocrites.”

When his mate remained silent, he stroked her hand to get her attention, “Baby, you okay?”

Lucianne was holding back her tears. It felt so unfair. Christian and Annie were good people. How could something like this happen to them? “Yeah, I just…” she sighed, “I just feel helpless that I can’t do anything to help them.”

Xandar smiled and said, “Sweetheart, by not bringing up the subject, you were already helping them.”

She groaned, “No, I mean really help them.”

He kissed her hand again and whispered, “I know.” They stayed silent for the next few minutes before Xandar said, “You have no idea how relieved I felt when I witnessed you stand up to Greg. In front of everyone, no less. The second time you did that on the training ground, I was just in awe. But the first time, I was purely and genuinely relieved. And so was Christian.”

Lucianne shrugged, “The two of you gave me a heads-up. Greg was caught off guard.”

Xandar groaned in frustration, “Stop trying to downplay everything you do, Lucy. Greg never slips, even if he is caught off guard. You made him uncomfortable in a way that I’ve never seen before myself. No one has ever been able to put Greg in his place, not even Christian or m e. But you did it. You rendered him speechless on your very first encounter with him. It’s like you used his own weapon against him.”

Lucianne replied softly, “Because I knew what he used to put people down. He takes the most painful parts of someone’s life and uses it to his advantage. So I just did the same thing to him.”

Xandar got curious, “But how did you know he didn’t feel worthy though? I’ve known him forever but even I couldn’t guess that. He walks around with so much arrogance that no one ever mentions or even suggests that he felt…unworthy.”

Lucianne scoffed, “Greg wasn’t the first person to use my past rejections against me. After the first few people, I saw the pattern. Those who taunted me with that had their own insecurities that they were never able to make peace with. Greg is no different… Well, apart from the fact that he’s a Duke, there really is no difference.” Xandar chuckled.