Toby ranted about the whole Maddock situation to Lucianne for a good ten minutes through the mind-link before he could finally calm down and opted to take a nap on his jet.
Xandar was agitated, too, but the sight of his wife on his lap and their daughter in her arms soothed his internal fury. The scent he greedily took from Lucianne’s hair further calmed the storm in him as he held her close to his chest. As little Reida slept, she hugged one her father’s pinky finger tightly to her chest like it was her mini bolster, and any remaining anger in the Lycan King vaporized into the air.
When they got home, it was late evening. Mrs Parker got Reida to bed after Lucianne was done bathing and breast-feeding her. Lucianne and Xandar then had dinner with Tate and Stella. They got Stella to talk more about herself, and learne
With his fingers laced tightly together as his forearms pressed on the dining table, Tate explained, “Stella and I went to see her today. Margaret spoke to her briefly, still asking her to lie or do something to get them out. Stella fought back, as usual. Came out drained after that, so I bought her a soda before I went in next.”Tate cleared his throat and continued, “Margaret…is still not talking to me, and I tried everything I know: I asked her if she needed anything, I asked if she wanted to eat something in particular, I asked if she’d like me to take her out for a walk for an hour or so.”He ran his hand through his light brown hair as he heaved a sad but frustrated sigh, and exclaimed as softly as he could, “She’s not talking to me! She doesn’t even want to look at m
Lucianne swallowed a lump in her throat and admitted, “When she wants to be.”A pause, leaving both men confused before she continued, “Margaret is not just hurt. She is in great pain. She has been since the rejection. Over the years, she buried that pain deep under the layers of hatred for everything and everyone. The bitterness is not something that any one of us can just…tear down.”She gave Tate a moment before continuing, “This is her fight, Tate. Until she decides to feel the pain and practice letting go, she won’t improve from her current state. We can be there for her during her healing process but the work, the bulk of the healing, is a lone journey, and Margaret would only embark on it when she chooses to.”Tat
In government headquarters the next morning, NO ONE was pleased that Greg was ‘demanding’ pardon for his ninety-eight people in exchange for cooperation to track down and annihilate whoever was in on challenging the Queen’s Authority. “Lucy,” Toby began with an anger-suppressed tone, “You DO know you can just use your Authority and make him and his people comply, don’t you?” He tried not to sound condescending, and he didn’t. He just sounded angered. He couldn’t understand why Lucianne wasn’t just taking the shortcut. The Moon Goddess gave her the damn shortcut. It was meant to be used! Lucianne knew this was coming. She was surprised that whatever Toby said didn’t come from her mate first. She had been cracking her head for a plausible argument ever since Greg asked for the pardon, and she only came to one mental block after another with each argument. “It doesn’t feel right,” Lucianne said. Although her voice was softer than usual, she still held the attention of the room. “He i
The other recommendations from around the table were glaringly flimsy: strip him of his dukedom, increase sentencing, banishment, etcetera. Honestly, what would stripping the dukedom do? It won’t reverse any damage or bring back any lives that could be lost. Increased sentencing? Greg wouldn’t care less if he stayed longer in prison. If he did, he wouldn’t have gone in in the first place. And banishment? Really? Before Lucianne showed up in Xandar’s life, Greg practically self-banished when he disappeared from the kingdom for sixteen years. These weren’t going to work as leverage. Everyone went back-and-forth with no satisfactory or agreeable idea. When Toby came to terms that there was no other way but the sinister one he had in mind, he cleared his throat and raised his hand. The whole room quieted down as they waited for the defense minister to speak. Toby chose his words carefully, “I don’t think conditional pardon for all ninety-eight of them is the right way forward. Not all cr
Xandar dismissed everyone as he got up. After pecking a kiss on Lucianne’s hair, he went over to wrap his cousin in a brotherly hug. Christian hugged him back before patting him on the shoulder. Although Xandar didn’t say a word, Christian proudly announced, “I know. I know. I’m still your favorite cousin no matter what.”A mischievous smile graced Toby’s features as he said, “Yeah, we all know that. He doesn’t have much to choose from anyway.”Christian lightly punched Toby in his abdomen, and Toby mocked an anguished reaction before they fist-bumped. After the duke and the queen embraced next, effectively symbolizing that there were no hard feelings despite their disagreement during the meeting, everyone left the meeting room in better spirits.
The policewoman informed Margaret about Tate’s visit, as usual. She groaned in annoyance before she was escorted from her temporary cell to the interrogation room. She wondered why there wasn’t a limit to the number of times Tate could visit her in a day when her own daughter was only allowed fifteen minutes.When she stepped into the room, Tate was already there, leaning against the wall behind his chair. Margaret’s eyes stuck to the floor, like it did the last few times. But unlike the last few times Tate came to see her, she didn’t feel his gaze on her.She took a peek, and realized that Tate had his hands in his jacket pockets as his eyes fixed on the floor. The creases on his forehead showed that he was pondering deeply. Margaret couldn’t deny that Tate was one hell of a looker with his diamond-shap
Margaret’s eyes widened in shock, but not at her own accord. It was her wolf. It was trying to push itself forward despite the silver bracelet fastened around Margaret’s wrist. The red wolf was done persuading its stubborn human part to accept their mate. It just wanted to go over to Tate and bury itself in his chest before begging him to stay. It continued to push even though it was pointless since they weren’t immune to silver.As Margaret continued enduring being pushed forward by her own animal and the bracelet that pushed her wolf back, she couldn’t help but get even more frustrated with the naïveté of her animal that was relentlessly trying to fight a losing battle. ‘Why can’t animals possess some basic human logic?’ she complained to herself.Tate watched her look away and
In a separate interrogation room, Lucianne met with Greg, who shook her hand less awkwardly this time. Greg noticed her uneasy demeanor, and prepared for the worst.They took their seats, and Lucianne began, “Your Grace, the monarchy and the government has agreed to provide the ninety-eight creatures under your care conditional pardon for all crimes, except murder.”Greg was internally grateful that he always preferred torture to death, and he never allowed his people to kill. The long-term goal of keeping these tortured creatures alive was for them to heal and live on to spread tales about how no one should mess with Greg Claw.Lucianne registered his silence and pressing gaze before she continued, “The pardon comes with two caveats.”
Dear readers,Thank you for giving “The Rogues Who Went Rogue” a chance, and for following through to the very end. I hope that this sequel was entertaining enough to keep you engaged, and empowering enough for you to draw strength from it whenever you need the boost.I hope you can spare a few minutes to rate this novel and leave a review here and on Goodreads. It'll help a lot in seeking new readers and sharing the love!To anyone who dropped comments with encouraging words from time to time, thank you. You have no idea how helpful these have been on the days when I experience severe fatigue or writer’s block.Now, with regards to what’s in store for the next book in the Coalescence of the Five Series, it’s this - in Book Three, we’ll be acquainted with hunters and a potential duchess, but the publication date cannot be confirmed as of yet. I am discussing the contractual terms of a writing project with another platform, and if that proceeds, I would be working on that book in the s
As he gently took the baby girl from her mother, everyone braced themselves for the deafening screams that would usually follow. But what came next was just soft coos as Enora leaned against her uncle’s shoulder, resting her head there with a soft smile. After a few quiet moments, Greg glanced at the child before looking back at Xandar and Lucianne when he questioned, “What did you two feed her this morning? What sorcery is this?” Christian had a theory, which he shared as he walked over to Greg, “Maybe she’s starting to warm up to us. Let me try.” As soon as Greg reluctantly detached Enora from his shoulder and the baby realized that she was going to a different adult that was neither one of her parents, she screamed and started tearing up as she pressed herself again
The ceremony to return the title was held in the abandoned castle next to the Forest of Oderem. Pellethia had an unexplainable feeling that it had to be there, as did Lucianne. When the servants went to have the place cleaned up, all praying that they weren’t going to encounter anything out of the ordinary when they did their job, two among the sixty cleaners entered a room on the highest floor that was covered with a very thick layer of dirt and dust. When the two servants assigned to clean this particular room opened the windows to let in some air, a dash of breeze came from the forest and blew at a part of the dirt on the floor, making the poor servants flinch before instinctively holding each other as they quivered in fear. When nothing happened for the next few moments, they slowly released their hold of each other. Th
Gerella walked gracefully down the aisle, and while all eyes were on her, her sights stuck to her groom who looked like he was close to tears as he beamed at her. When she reached him, he offered her his hand to help her onto the platform. The music stopped, and the guests took their seats once more. After the marriage officiant recited from the Scriptures of Matrimony, he announced that it was time for the exchange of vows. Toby began, “Ella, from the moment we met, I knew that my life was never going to be the same again. Not only can I now boast about being the only one among my friends to get the most beautiful hybrid for a wife, your mark practically gave me the license to also gloat about being able to see a discretus when they cannot. You have no idea how much fun I’m going to have lying about a discretus’s presence when we’re training.”
7 weeks later “I’ve actually already had two. They taste pretty good.” Toby told Lucianne as they stood by the table with the trays of cupcakes. He then added, “I’m glad she decided to start a business out of this. Her baking skills are fantastic!” Hailey made those cupcakes. She was now a probationary kindergarten teacher on weekdays and a baker on weekends. She and the other mavericks still worked for Greg, but they were free to indulge in their hobbies and passions when they didn't have maverick duties. Some even pursued career paths that earned a salary the 'normal' way. Jade opened a cyber café which attracted lots of youngsters, and Hailey baked cupcakes or made pastries to sell to Jade’s customers. She offered him a small percentage of her earnings for his space. Some even came in just to buy her baked goods.
After Margaret managed to compose herself, she cleared her throat, looked into Tate’s eyes that held so much love and assurance, and began reciting her own set of vows, “Tate, when we met, I thought that our bond wasn’t going to last. I thought that a rejection would follow, from you or me, or even from the both of us. You haven’t the faintest clue of how relieved and happy I am that I’ve been proven wrong. Very wrong.” “I was wrong to think that our bond is a mistake; I was wrong to judge you based on the title you inherited; and I was wrong to think that you could never love me the way I didn’t know I needed to be loved. Never in my wildest dreams could I’ve imagined falling in love again, and never did I think it was someone as perfect as you are, Tate. I held so much hate from my past, carrying it throughout my life, even scaring away a few acquaintances with my untamable inferno, yet y
The Alpha of White Blood got cheers and claps even before the bride emerged. He was pleased to see that his pack members were not giving the vampire guests odd looks, and he was proud that, when he raised this matter with everyone weeks before the wedding, they seemed more excited and welcoming than reluctant and disapproving. What surprised him most was that the vampires didn’t sit at one place, but were scattered among the wolf and lycan guests. The Alpha wanted the integration but he definitely didn’t expect to get it this soon. Tate took a good look around to commit the sight before him to memory - the memory of his closest friends and pack members here to celebrate his and Margaret’s special day. When his eyes fell on Lucianne, she linked, ‘Margaret’s more t
3 months laterAlissa was pulling Gabriel by his arm through the rows of white, yellow and beige flowers in a nature park where Tate and Margaret decided to have their wedding ceremony. In the sea of White Blood pack members, Alissa finally found the creature she was looking for.“My Queen, this is Gabriel, my second-chance mate and husband. Gabriel, this is our queen.” Alissa said with the widest smile that Lucianne had ever seen. Alissa and Gabriel tied the knot two months ago in the marriage registrar’s office, with only the attendance of her triplets, Gabriel’s brother, Greg, Hailey, Desmond and Ivory.Lucianne smiled warmly at the nervous-looking man in a tuxedo. “Well, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Gabriel. We’ve heard a
Alissa’s furrowed brows and puzzled eyes shifted to the door, and her defensive instincts kicked in. She extracted the hard drive from her laptop and slid it into the custom-sewn compartment in her jeans. Reaching for the loaded gun and heading for the door, she tried to guess who that could be. The property was bought under an alias. Her landlady never came up in the last ten years she stayed here. Greg and the others usually gave her a heads-up before dropping by.She looked through the keyhole to see if she was able to get anything from the slit. All she saw was a sand-color shirt. She was also picking up a delightful yet somewhat familiar scent of oak and rain. The knock came again. She pressed her ear to the door, where she heard a heavy sigh before something was placed on the floor as the footsteps retreated.Alissa waite