The 5-time Rejected Gamma & the Lycan King novel Chapter 8

Chapter 8
In the car, Xandar suddenly had a question. “Hey, Lucianne?”

llHm? H

“You mentioned that the third and fourth were Alphas.” He asked uneasily, “Are they here? In

this collaboration?”

“The third, yes. Alpha Brandon from Red Night. The fourth, no. He and his Luna were killed in one of the rogue attacks last year. Alpha Zeke from Blood Eclipse took half of his pack, and the other half went to Luna Lovelace from Midnight.” She answered simply.

Xandar looked even more uneasy. “Wouldn’t it get awkward with Alpha Brandon?”

Lucianne then laughed. “No. Like I said, our severance was consensual and amicable. It was awkward at first but then we warmed up to each other as allies and as friends. His Luna did take a little more time to offer me a smile. But we eventually hit on, mainly because we both had an interest in burning down the patriarchy.” She chuckled and continued, “I mean, it would’ve been awkward if the fourth mate survived. He uh…he’s very pinned on the fact that h e rejected me because I wasn’t good enough so he may have caused a scene at the

collaboration. But I would’ve stayed away if I saw him there anyway.” “Did he cause a scene last year?” Xandar asked in concern.

“He almost did, on the very first night too. But Alpha Juan threatened to challenge him for his pack if he ever bothered me again so he never tried to do anything after that.”

Xandar’s heart was heavy with guilt. Why didn’t he know this? If he had paid more attention a t the meet-and-greet last year, he could’ve defended Lucianne. He uttered in remorse, “I can’t believe that happened and I wasn’t there to defend you. No one should even think of causing

a scene at this collaboration.” She shrugged. “If it makes you feel any better, you weren’t my mate yet.”

“That,” one hand stayed on the steering wheel as the other reached for Lucianne’s hand, lifting it to his lips to plant a kiss before he continued, “Does NOT make me feel any better. Knowing that someone else was more deserving of you than I was is just a stab in the heart.” He parked his car in his reserved lot before he locked eyes with Lucianne. 1

“Nothing like that should’ve happened on my watch. Not to you or to anyone else. I’ll be better. I’ll pay more attention, I promise.” He pecked another kiss on her hand.

Lucianne tried to ignore the sparks as she said, “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Xandar. You were on the other side of the room, occupied with Lycan ministers. It would’ve been

impossible for you to know what was happening at our end.”

Xandar was almost too afraid to ask but he had to, “Did we- Did we meet last year?”

‘No, we didn’t.” She shook her head. ‘After you spoke to the ministers, you left the room. We didn’t meet for the rest of the month either. As a Gamma, I only had business with the

Defense Ministers so I never saw the point to come up to you. You did seem rather busy, and n o wolf in their right mind would think of interrupting.” 1

Xandar slammed his head onto the headrest, frustrated. ‘I am beyond incompetent.” ‘What?” Lucianne asked in confusion. What did she say that made him feel like that?

He took both of Lucianne’s hands, and with guilt and embarrassment in his eyes, he said, ” Sweetheart, I’m going to be honest with you. Up until I met you, I hated the annual meet—and- greets.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded as she recalled his demeanor the previous year before she said, “That much was clear.” Xandar closed his eyes tightly in embarrassment for a second before Lucianne said apologetically, “I think I’ll just let you finish talking first.”

He then smiled at her sincerity, and kissed her cheek before he said, “You don’t have to hold back. I deserved it. You only gave me the facts. So uh… I’ve long hated the meet-and-greets, and I always found a way to leave as early as possible. I’m not my father. He would’ve happily stayed and socialized with his ministers late into the night. Personally, I find it to be a complete waste of time. I would’ve rather locked myself in my office and gone through a few files. At least then, I’ll be able to be at ease when I go to bed, knowing that I’ve done…

something.” 1

Lucianne was listening attentively in silence. Xandar then stroked her hand as he prompted, ”

Lucianne, say something.”

“Uh… I’m not following.” She admitted. “How are you ‘beyond incompetent”?”

He began, “IfI had taken an initiative to speak to anyone other than the ministers, I would’ve been more aware of how the werewolves had been faring. After hearing yours and Gamma Tobias’s speeches, I can’t help but feel that I’m no better than Alfred Cummings.” He stared deep into her eyes. “As officials, we had the power to send help but we didn’t. And I didn’t even seem approachable enough for Gammas to come up to me with their concerns.” He shook his head, and scoffed as he stared blankly ahead, “What have I even accomplished

these years as King?”

Lucianne was biting her bottom lip, stopping herself from speaking. Xandar caught this, and

his thumb reached out to smoothen her lip as he whispered, “What is it? Tell me.” 1

Lucianne hesitated before she said, “I don’t know if what I’m about to say is going to make

you feel any better.” “1 don’t care. I want to know.” Xandar stubbornly insisted.

She took a deep breath. “You are doing better than your father.” She gauged his reaction before continuing, “King Lucas, he… he never thought about us when it came to legislation.

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Hunters could kill us as they pleased. Packs were not allowed to apply for financial relief after a rogue attack. We never had medical help beyond our ally packs during his reign.”

Lucianne was looking nervously at Xandar, whose eyes showed that she had his undivided attention as he waited for her to continue, so she did. “It almost felt like we didn’t exist. There was even a time when I wondered why we called him our King. Of course, I later learned that i

t was purely fear that forced wolves to obey without question. But when you ascended the throne, things started changing.”

She looked at him gratefully. “When we first received word that wolves were entitled to seek relief after an attack, we thought it was a joke or a scam. It took a lot of discussion among pack leaders before one Alpha was appointed to ask about the validity of the relief offered.” She chuckled at the memory. “We just didn’t think that it was possible for there to be a Lycan who would bother to take care of us wolves, let alone the Lycan King. For as long as my kind can remember, we were just happy to not get killed.” 1

She chuckled again before she continued, “Then the laws started to change, bit by bit. A few years later, Alphas were invited to meet and submit their concerns at conferences for the first time in history. Then three years ago, these meetings started to include Gammas. Gammas are even given the chance to share the stage with Lycans this year, which has never been

done.”

Lucianne reached for Xandar’s face, and started tracing his eyebrows. His expression softened under her touch as he purred and leaned into her small hand. She uttered, “You don’t know how grateful we are to have an opportunity to be included in discussions, a chance to speak, and a way to seek help. The systems aren’t perfect yet but at least it was

I! I

better than what we had during King Lucas’s reign.

He reached for her hand on his face, placing it over his mouth as he planted a deep kiss on her palm. Xandar inched closer to Lucianne and pecked a second kiss on her forehead before

whispering, “That did make me feel better. Thank you.” He was leaning into her neck but

Lucianne held his face and said, “We should go in. We’ve been in here long enough.”

He pouted and muttered, “This won’t take very long.”

She smirked. “Well then, I guess I’ll meet you inside.” After saying that, she unbuckled her

seatbelt, and Xandar groaned playfully. She ignored his protest and got out of the car. He followed quickly behind. His arm went around her waist as soon as he caught up to her.

“Decided to come down so soon?” She teased.

Xandar complained, “Don’t even start.” And she giggled in response. His animal was wagging

its tail in his head, unable to control how happy it was to hear Lucianne laugh.

They entered the hall, and everyone present bowed in their presence. Lucy froze on the spot, feeling discomfort with the scene. Xandar’s voice rang through the hall, “Good evening, everyone. I hope this day has gone well for all of you so far. If you have any suggestions on

how we can improve, be it the ceremony this morning or the food being served, do not

esitate to let me know. Please enjoy the rest of the day.”

then everyone stopped looking their way, Lucianne’s discomfort eased. As they were alking to the buffet table, Xandar asked casually, “Do you think you can get some pack

eaders to open up to me about their problems? I’ve spoken to a few of them but they seem eluctant to tell me the full extent of what they need.”

here was a cheeky glint in Lucianne’s eyes when she said, “That’s because you’re the big, zary Lycan King.”

e smirked, and gently squeezed the flesh on her waist. She giggled and asked, “So, who do J11 want to meet first? Those who need help in terms of finances, pack training, )I’1StI1.1Ctl0I’1, or something else?”

e froze in his spot. He didn’t think‘ the problems could be categorized so clearly. It was as if s many packs had these problems that the categories existed. Sensing that Xandar could not ecide, she smiled and asked, “Which do you prioritize more, Xandar? Safety, or expansion ad development?”

e smiled in return, appreciating that she understood his predicament, and responded ithout hesitation, “Safety.”

tlright.”

fter taking their food and placing it on a random table, Lucianne said, “I’ll be back in a bit. on’t wait for me to start.” She motioned to his plate.

wasn’t like Xandar’s animal would allow him to eat when their mate hadn’t started yet so h merely waited. After a short moment, Lucianne returned with three people walking closely ahind her. Xandar was already up on his feet, ready to greet his guests.

Iandar, let me introduce you to Alpha Wainwright, Luna Willa and Gamma Sylvia of the rirnson Pack.” As soon as she said that, the three of them bowed and greeted Xandar in

tiison, “Your Highness.”

t’s a pleasure to meet you, members of the Crimson Pack. Please have a seat. I would love to

ear from you.” Xandar said amicably.

hey all took their seats nearer to Lucianne. The empty seats next to Xandar made him feel rat he had a lot of work to do before the werewolves were willing to open up to him.

ucianne then looked to her left at Alpha Wainwright and said, “Alpha, please tell our King bout the rogue attack last month, the way you told me at tea earlier.” 2

he nodded encouragingly at the hesitant Alpha, who cleared his throat before he looked at andar and said, “Your Highness, it’s an honor to speak to you. As Gamma Lucianne

ientioned, the Crimson Pack was attacked last month. Although we managed to eradicate ie threat, our borders have been destroyed when the rogues tried to tear their way through. Iur finances have dried up when we used it to rebuild a quarter of pack homes after a fire

iree months ago. And we had to resort to placing more warriors to protect our borders now.

The uh…” he looked at Lucianne, who smiled and nodded, encouraging him to go on.

“The problem, your Highness, is that we wa nted to submit a claim for financial relief after the fire but since there wasn’t a designated category for this, we couldn’t proceed with the application. We submitted an enquiry regarding the matter to the Defense Ministry but we haven’t heard from them. And after the rogue attack last month, we applied to Minister

Cummings but it seems that our application hasn’t been reviewed as of yet.”

Luna Willa then spoke in a calm and careful voice, “We were hoping, your Highness, that we could have a small loan to speed up rebuilding the border. Our warriors are strained from having to stand guard daily instead of taking shifts. And perhaps we could discuss the terms of repayment. If possible, we hope that you’ll give us time to return the funds.”

Lucianne looked at Xandar, who was holding her hand the whole time. His expression was hard, and he contemplated in silence before he asked, “What’s the cost of rebuilding the

border without compromising the quality of the materials?” –