The four ministers felt the tension the moment they stepped foot into the hall. With their heads held low, they knelt on one knee before the royals as they uttered, “Your Highnesses. Your Graces.”
Lucianne smiled graciously as she spoke in a much gentler voice, “Yarrington, Weaver, Pamela and Vanessa, it’s so nice that you four could join us tonight, despite your current workload.”
Her warmth was contagious, and the atmosphere of the room took a 360-degree turn, their mood easing with the Queen’s mellowed voice. Xandar matched his mate’s smile as he said, “Stand, ministers.”
They stood, all looking less fearful than before. Yarrington then handed a grey folder to Christian as he started explaining, “We’ve negated the last two complaints made against you, your Grace. I’
Lucianne took a moment to digest whatever Xandar had just told her before she blinked to bring herself out of her daze and asked, “Is there even such a thing?”Xandar’s thumb tried to smoothen the lines on her tense forehead as he explained, “Not in a long time, sweetheart.”After another moment of thinking, Lucianne said, “That makes no sense. I am not even a Queen, at least not in technical terms.”Xandar smiled wider as he whispered excitedly, “That’s the thing! You’ve been our Queen long before anyone knew! Lucy, this is amazing!”“Are you sure, Xandar? Don’t you have to mark me before I even stand a chance to get that power?”
Livia was undaunted despite Greg’s hostility. She flicked her high ponytail to the back to expose her bare shoulders, and leaned towards the table between her and the Duke. Her red-colored, sweetheart neckline dress did everything to advertise her cleavage as she said, “I came with a proposition, your Grace.” “Not interested. Get out, Livia. Don’t make me tell you again.” Greg snapped, and took another sip from his glass as he averted his eyes from her and started staring into space while he waited for her to leave. Livia simpered, and leaned back into her seat as she signaled the bartender for a drink before returning her sights to Greg. His eyes had turned onyx, and it was nothing close to lust. Livia was well-aware of that this time. “That’s it.” Greg signaled his m
“You’re still plugged in to the rumours in the Kingdom, Lance?” Greg asked with furrowed brows. Lance’s fingers stroked the sun tattoo on his arm, something he did when he was nervous as he responded, “I am, your Grace. In a family of drug mules, it’s rather impossible not to be. We have to stay on top of things to avoid getting caught.” “What’s the latest news on the Queen?” Greg’s finger circled the rim of his empty glass as he waited for Lance’s answer. “Uh…the last we heard, she was questioned by journalists and reporters about her presence at the royal family’s doctor.” Greg gritted his teeth. Doctor. That meant the arrow injury that Livia mentioned was more harmful than he thought. He swallowed a lump
Greg rolled his eyes as he responded to Kelissa Kylton’s inauthentic hospitality, “Like I had a choice.”“Good that you know who’s in-charge here.” Kelissa smirked bumptiously.“No, I don’t. I just know that it’s not me.” Greg lied with ease. This was going to be easier than he thought. Whoever was harming Lucianne already assumed that Greg had voluntarily surrendered superiority the moment he made the call and cited the code. But nothing could be further from the truth.Greg Claw was inferior to no one. No one! …Alright, fine. No one, except Lucianne.Kelissa scoffed darkly at Greg’s response and asked, “So, are you saying that I d
On Saturday morning, Lucianne woke up to Xandar pulling her back into bed the moment she tried to get out. After two minutes of persistent whining of needing to use the bathroom, Xandar finally released her. They went for their usual run and spent some time in the shower together before having breakfast.Xandar then drove them to the government headquarters. Upon entering through the high metal gates, Lucianne saw that the headquarters was a large estate on its own, and the endless rows of empty parking lots showed the numerous employees working in the white and grey building. If it weren’t for it being the weekend, those lots would’ve been filled with vehicles.After Xandar parked in his reserved lot, they got out of the car and hand-in-hand, Xandar led Lucianne to the entrance. The large automatic glass doors slid open
Vanessa entwined her fingers together on the table as she explained, “Ministerial positions had only ever been held by Lycans, which I dare say is the main reason behind the neglect of the welfare of our cousin species. Some Lycan children don’t even know what wolves are. Most Lycans shun at the thought of having to share the room with one. I’d love to say that the government is by far the most liberal and welcoming body when it comes to our cousin species, but the events from the last two weeks have shown otherwise.” “Although there have been notable improvements in how we treat them over the decades and recent years, I must say that it is far from enough. And as much as I acknowledge the Queen’s presence, I’m of the humble opinion that one wolf alone will not enable us to meet the needs of our cousin species as quickly as it could be with more wolves guiding us. What I’m recommending is r
After flipping his light brown ponytail tied with a maroon ribbon to the back, Riven cleared his throat and spoke, “Your Highnesses. Your Graces. I am of the view that any replacements should only be temporary. Deciding otherwise would just be the government coming to its own verdict for our arrested colleagues before the courts deal with the crimes themselves. And, as much as it pains me, I must say that wolves are nowhere near ready to help run the Kingdom. I am not saying that there should be an indefinite bar of their species but it is dangerous to include them in discussions in the near future.”“Dangerous how, Riven?” Xandar asked as he tried his best to control his temperament.Lucianne’s sarcasm came to mind but Riven knew better than to insult the Queen. So, he chose to say, “Well, there m
Annie thought for a moment before she met Harold’s gaze as she said, “Yes, minister. I am.” The Duchess’s non-apologetic answer and confident tone made Christian smile. Lucianne and Xandar were proud to see Annie standing her ground as well.The Duchess continued, “Despite my absence, I know what has been going on in recent weeks. Cummings and Whitlaw have proven to be incompetent in defending a significant population of the Kingdom. Caunterberg is a perpetrator of the very offence he was expected to safeguard the Kingdom from. One of the two sons of our Finance Minister saw it fit to make false sexual harassment complaints for slanderous motives. What’s worse is that this son of hers even hoped to succeed his mother.”“I recommend a review of all current ministers. We should have every
Dear readers,We’ve come to the end of “The 5-time Rejected Gamma & the Lycan King”. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who has given this book a chance, and for following through to the very end.I hope you can spare a few minutes to rate this novel and write a review here and on Goodreads. And hopefully, you liked the story enough to drop a Gem or two (or more) :)When I started typing away on my iPad, I told myself that I wanted to give readers not just a story, but an experience. I wanted the characters to be felt, not just imagined. I hope that some of the characters have inspired you, and touched your heart in more ways than one. Perhaps you’ve even developed a crush in the course of the story XDThat being said, and without giving too much away, I hope that:i) Lucianne has exemplified strength, resilience, self-worth, and has shown you the upside of opening up to new possibilities;ii) Xandar has exemplified how important it is to let those
Tears trickled from the corners of Lucianne’s eyes as the congregation clapped when Xandar came to the end of his wedding vows. Most of the women found it so heartfelt that they were already all teared-up. Even Christian pressed away the tears from his own eyes.After Xandar’s thumb wiped away his mate’s tears on her face, Lucianne cleared her throat and began reciting her vows which went through infinite drafts before this day, “Xandar, when we met, I was so blinded by my past that I almost gave up the best thing that was presented to me. You’ve always expressed how lucky you felt to be bonded to me but from the way I see it, I’ve been the lucky one.”“You asked me for a chance, a chance to show me that you’re different but you’re not just different, dearest. The way you lo
Six weeks later, the royal wedding took place, and it was the largest wedding in Lycan and werewolf history...because werewolves were never invited to a Lycan’s wedding, let alone the Lycan King and Queen’s wedding. In the confinement units of prison, the police once again tied each Kylton to a chair and placed the same televisions from the coronation day in each of their units, courtesy of the King. They taped the heiress’s mouth after her first scream this time. Xandar decided that he would use the short period of time after the wedding and before the honeymoon to tell Lucianne about forcing the Kyltons to watch her coronation and their wedding. He didn’t tell her when he sent out the order because he didn’t want Lucianne to blink her doe eyes and talk him out of doing what he wanted to do. It wasn’t as if he
Yarrington caught the Queen before she fell, handing her to the King as soon as he reached her side. Xandar rushed her to Dr Yeil’s medical centre. Christian, Annie, the alliance, Ken and Janice all waited along the corridor outside the doctor’s room.Xandar was looking at his mate’s unconscious body on the examination table in dismay. He felt her blacking out from across the hall, and the next thing he knew, he was witnessing her petite figure falling before the Education Minister caught her in swift motion.Dr Yeil extracted some blood, and got one of his nurses to go have it analysed. Two minutes into the body examination with his second nurse, Lucianne let out a moan. Xandar rushed to her side without a second thought and asked frantically, “Baby. Baby, can you hear me?”
A week later, the wolves flew to Lycan territory again to attend Lucianne’s coronation. Every living creature from Blue Crescent flew over, and they left the safety of their pack to the warriors from an ally pack.Every Lycan and werewolf who wasn’t at the ceremony turned on their televisions or went online to watch the live broadcast, even the prisoners. Greg sat in the cafeteria with a few new friends he made, beaming as Lucianne’s face came on screen.In a separate prison, the Aphaels and Tanners stared at the screen with zero enthusiasm. Livia was the only one with a scorn when Lucianne’s face came into view.In each of their solitary confinement units, the Kyltons were barking expletives when the police brought in high resolution television
Lucianne sat up and held her breath, as did everyone else. On the side, Greg seemed like he couldn’t care less what happened to him but it did concern him that Lucianne looked worried. She shouldn’t be under any stress given how hard the past few weeks had already been for her. He was only stealing momentary glances of her before but he was finding it difficult to look away now, until his cousin threw him a glare.Greg rolled his eyes just to annoy his cousin one more time before reluctantly looking away. Lucianne felt Xandar’s jealousy, so she pecked a quick kiss on his jawline to calm her beast. Xandar’s face softened, and he closed his eyes to take a whiff of her hair, indulging in her scent.Judge Cook cleared his throat and continued reading the judgment, “By law, the Duke’s act of poisoning t
The next three weeks passed in a blur, with the Kyltons’, Aphaels’, Tanner’s and Greg’s lawyers trying their best to save their clients. Some of the arguments and rebuttals got so ridiculous that the judges held their heads like they were getting a migraine. One day before the verdict was scheduled to be delivered, every pack leader and Gamma boarded flights to the Kingdom and stayed over in hotels before making their way to court the next day.When the wolves saw each other in court, they embraced and chatted. The noise died down when the accused persons were brought into the courtroom. Almost everyone scowled at the Kyltons, Aphaels and Tanners, emitting low growls as they walked past with police escorts to be seated in the area designated for them. When Greg was brought in, however, no werewolf or Lycan made a sound. They
Ken’s face was still as hard as cold metal when he turned to Janice, and exploded, “I knew I should’ve killed Idris’s b*stard son when he looked at Lucy like she was a piece of meat! How dare he try to take my daughter’s choice from her!”Upon hearing that, the four of them holding their breaths relaxed visibly. He was mostly mad at Jake. Thank Goddess!“OUR daughter, dear.” Janice corrected her husband. She wasn’t comfortable after listening to the tale either.“Sick b*stard!” Ken spat. He then scowled at Juan and shouted, “And what the h*ll was Faint Moon’s doctors doing?! How could they not have enough blood on hand?!”Juan
At Blue Crescent, Lucianne dashed to the packhouse first while Xandar, Juan and Hale took a little more time. She wanted to butter-up her overprotective adoptive father before he met her mate. Ken and Janice didn’t live in this packhouse after retiring as Alpha and Luna but they stayed here for the past month to babysit the grandkids. Juan and Hale’s kids were still in school, so it was just the adults and the two servants in the house now.Ken was already waiting at the entrance when Lucianne ran into his open arms as she called out “Daddy!” like a little girl. After squeezing the girl he raised as his own, he managed a small smile and asked, “Buying brownie points for your mate, baby girl?”Lucianne showed her doe eyes and said, “Xandar is really nice, dad. And I really love him. Promise to