Margaret answered Tate’s question casually, “Blue Crescent slaughtered ten of our elders about nine years ago. A year after that, Blood Eclipse killed about fifteen. We ran into Midnight completely by accident and lost another eight. White Blood killed seven out of eight. The last one came back severely traumatized. And the last run-in we had with a pack was with the wolves from Forest Gloom three years ago. We lost two.”
Wow. Every alliance member made it to the list. Tate scratched the back of his head and was thinking hard on the best way to respond.
“There’s really no hard feelings,” Margaret noted when she noticed Tate’s uneasiness. After registering Tate’s confusion, she explained, “The ones you guys killed were stupid to say the least. They do no research because their ego
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Everyone looked at Tate in confusion and disapproval, even Margaret herself. Phelton was ready to shift and attack if Tate decided to help his mate escape.Tate ignored everyone and uttered in his mate’s way, “I appreciate you opening up to me, truly. But I haven’t been completely honest with you. The truth is…” Margaret’s eyes turned wide as she waited. Tate swallowed a lump in his throat before saying, “The truth is that I knew you were rejected by an Alpha, not because Stella told me, but because I’ve been listening in on every one of your conversations in the station since the first day.”Margaret blinked before she said, “And you’re choosing to tell me this right now? You have a serious timing issue, Alpha. I’ll deal with you later. Now, if you’ll exc
Margaret followed Tate’s sights to Azalea, and she scoffed before saying, “No. Azalea is an old friend. So is Zane, the one in front of her. Azalea and I were lone rogues before we ran into each other. We found Zane about a year later. Inseparable ever since.”“That’s nice.”“Hm. They are the more trustworthy ones. They’ve even helped look after Stella when I’m sick or out hunting.” Margaret stopped herself from saying anything more. She trusted Azalea and Zane more than anyone in the pack, but she never learned to trust them fully. She never trusted anyone fully after her rejection.Tate studied the ponytailed blonde woman and the olive-skin man pointing out the window with large smiles, and he found himself matchi
Greg sprinted to Ivory and shielded the man as he uttered to the police in a cold voice, “He’s with me.” Officer Katie snarled, “Step aside, Your Grace. This man has b—” “Katie, everyone, let them through. He’s one of the 98,” Lucianne’s firm voice cut through the space, and every policeman lowered their pistol or baton in compliance to their queen’s order. But their fierce eyes stayed on the rogue and the duke. As Greg and Ivory approached Lucianne, Greg hissed at his man softly, “What did I say about using contact lenses whenever you aren’t in the Den?” Ivory adjusted his eyepatch as he said, “Well, we are meeting the queen, Your Grace. It didn’t seem good to disguise my true face.”
Lucianne’s brows furrowed as she asked, “What do you mean ‘approved’ thesis, Ivory?” Ivory chuckled apologetically, knowing all too well that the duke was probably going to give him a full hour lecture later, and Alissa gave him an encouraging pat on the back while she held back a teasing smirk before Ivory responded, “Dessa wrote another two prior to that, but they were rejected by the faculty.” Please, no more questions. Please, no more questions. Please, no more questions. Prayers denied. Lucianne asked, “And what topic were the rejected theses on, Ivory? Prisoner reentry into society in our Kingdom?” Eyes bulged wide and eyebrows raised from everyone around her, except Greg. The duke wasn’t surprised tha
Lucianne’s eyes widened before they narrowed in suspicion as she asked Alissa, “What did he do?” Greg snorted again as one hand covered his mouth to hide his wide smile. This was actually becoming quite entertaining for him and his animal. Xandar’s hand went from Lucianne’s waist to her shoulder, where he pressed her body to his as he pecked a kiss on her hair and hid his own smile while taking a whiff of her scent. This wasn’t so bad for the king as long as he mentally blocked out that black sheep cousin of his. Alissa seemed encouraged when even the duke was trying to mask his own amusement, so she continued speaking animatedly, “Oh, that’s quite the story, ma’am. Let me tell you. So, we met and found out we were bonded at a local grocery store. We both had someone at that time but as soon as we met, he dumped his girlfriend on
After Alissa felt a little better, she loosened her grip over Lucianne, and the queen got the cue to let the woman go. After Alissa met Lucianne’s comforting orbs and offered her a firm nod and a smile as a sign of gratitude, Lucianne returned her gesture before turning towards Desmond.Desmond approached her with a wide grin and extended his hand before he said, “Sup, queen? The name’s Desmond Derulos.”Xandar’s eyebrows raised for two reasons. One, for the informal way Desmond was speaking to Lucianne, who was, in Xandar’s eyes, the most powerful creature in the kingdom. Two, for the very reason that Desmond Derulos was the infamous con artist who posed as a CEO of a ghost company that sucked money out of investors.The king’
Upon hearing that Desmond didn’t get everyone he was out to con, Lucianne frowned and commented, “Well, that’s a bummer.”Greg snorted and Desmond chuckled before the latter said, “Yea. Tough playin’ superhero when ya play alone, ya know what I’m sayin’?”“I do,” Lucianne gave a firm nod with a smile, and glanced at Ivory, Hailey and Alissa before she added, “Good that you have a team now, then.”“Oh, this ain’t the team, ma’am. We’re just the top four. Boss’s team is huge!” Desmond said with pride.Lucianne turned to Greg before she said, “I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less.”
Lucianne gave Xandar a moment before she continued, “Creatures with the right moral compass have the ability to feel anyone with accuracy, Xandar. Those of us with a firm set of principles and values have an innate ability to detect both good and bad intentions, from one’s choice of words and actions, if not from one’s presence. When we allow our animals to guide us in meeting new people or gauging a new situation in an unknown environment, some part of us just…knows how to differentiate between good and bad.”Xandar’s smile broadened by the second, and he planted a deep, long kiss on her fingers before pulling his car to a stop at a red light, where his eyes locked with hers as he said, “You’re amazing, Lucy.”The usual warmth crept up her cheeks as she tried but failed to press