“I’d like to know more about your father, Pelly. What was the late Emperor Kosh like?” Lucianne asked after she and Pellethia sat down on a wooden bench facing a large pond with a few papilionibus (singular: papilio) - small, blue-colored animals that each had the body of a bee and the wings of spring azure butterflies.
“Father was…strict and protective, like most fathers, I suppose. We lost mom when I was three and my governess brought me up after that. Father was often busy with royal duties,” her emerald eyes met Lucianne’s orbs.
She continued, “He really liked you, Rosalie I mean, not as an intimate partner, but as a friend or, in his words, a trusted ally. He used to say that Rosalie was someone one could turn to for the cold, hard truth. She was the one who…made him
Pellethia’s self-doubt was not only laced heavy in her voice, but emanated strongly from her bright green eyes. Lucianne wouldn’t have guessed that Pellethia had any problems with leading the empire had the empress not shown this side of herself to her.When Lucianne thought that Pellethia was strict and ferocious to her own people, the empress was actually…scared. The fear she instilled in her governing members was a defense mechanism to shield herself from her own fear of being stepped on, being overlooked, being a puppet to more than willing puppeteers.The fear was also probably another reason why Pellethia never found it in herself to channel the Empress’s Authority. Pellethia probably couldn’t draw out her power because confidence and emotional security wasn’t something that she had pr
Despite having already met her a couple of times and spoken to her, Tate was still nervous about seeing Margaret, who was still kept in a holding unit with her followers. Tate wanted to ask for more leniency in terms of freedom and accommodation by pointing out that Greg’s followers were free to go wherever they pleased and do whatever they wanted.But the difference was that Greg had proven trustworthy when he gave himself up after exposing the Kyltons, pledging loyalty to Lucianne. The duke and his followers even kept her safe during the Blue Crescent attack. Margaret and her people had not done anything close to those things, so there wasn’t a strong enough reason to satisfy granting more leniency than they were already offered.Tate wore a light green shirt and black jeans. Stella was in a white shirt and dark s
When Margaret and Tate entered through the gates, they saw Stella on the far left in a squatting position as she tried to get the best angle to take a picture of the bed of orange flowers swarming with ladybugs. The teenager zoomed in on one of the insects, muttering, “Don’t move. Don’t move. Just one second, and…”In the microsecond before she tapped on the button, the ladybird she set her sights on flew away, and the teenager groaned before falling on her bum and sulking while she silently cursed the uncooperative insect. That was the moment when the same ladybird landed on her knee. Stella tried not to get too excited, and very carefully positioned her phone at the best angle she could get before taking a perfect snap. Her lips curled up into a successful grin as she squealed to herself.Tate c
Tate sat by the fountain and gently pulled Margaret to sit next to him as he began, “Mom was a math teacher, and she’d throw a fit if I scored anything less than the highest mark in my class. When I was nine, the first time I was the second-highest in math, I erased my answer and wrote the correct one before going up to the teacher to ask for a review. That was the beginning of a very horrifying experience.”Margaret’s eyes sparkled with interest as Tate continued, “It turned out that my math teacher and my mom were friends, so when I got home, I was given an hour’s lecture, grounded on the night of a concert my friends and I bought tickets to six months prior, and, to my dismay, more math homework. There was so much that I started seeing numbers and math questions in my dreams.”Margaret chu
Tate’s heart stopped everytime Stella called him ‘dad’ around Margaret. The pessimistic part of him thought that Margaret would be angered and tell her daughter to stop acknowledging him like that. But when Margaret said nothing the first time, he felt relieved; the second time, he felt hopeful; the third time, which was now, he felt like the most blessed creature in the world. He matched Stella’s smirk when he said, “Says the one who’s trying to converge every conversation with me to only one topic.” “Which topic is that?” Stella questioned. “You’re doing it again.” “I know,” Stella chuckled, and as embarrassed as Margaret was, she couldn’t help but smile at her daughter’s happy face. There was no worry or
At around 8 p.m. in Polje, a hundred decipios led by a very excited Rafael join the werewolf and lycan monarch, ministers, warriors and rogues.Toby muttered in Lucianne’s way, “You got to admit, if they weren’t on our side, what we're seeing now is shit scary.”Lucianne murmured, “Not if you think about what’s at stake, how many creatures we have to protect.”Those words shifted Toby’s perspective, and the cold night suddenly became less cold.After exchanging bows and acknowledgments, Rafael and Toby got their species to partner-up, one decipio for every two lycans or werewolves. Rafael then threw out a stern reminder, “As I’ve mentioned before, we’
When they were far away enough, Rafael said, “May I just say that was a game well-played back there, Your High—”“It’s just ‘Lucy’, Rafael, really. And I wasn’t playing anything. Those two cousins hate each other more than anything or anyone. If they don’t improve when everyone else does, I WILL be practicing with my husband despite the risks.”Rafael took a peek at his best friend now manipulating the king and duke before he said, “I doubt the king and duke would let that happen, Lucy.”When they reached the tree, Lucianne asked, “So, who am I fighting, Rafael?”With a warm smile, Rafael said, “Me.”
As Xandar took steps towards his wife with a proud smile, Toby’s voice of mock discontentment cut through the silence, “You got to admit, that wasn’t really fair. Lucy had a rock nearby. I didn’t.”His vampire partner, Joseph, turned to him and said, “You did, Tobias. You tripped over it.”When laughter ensued from wolves, lycans and vampires, Toby accused, “That was only because you manipulated me into thinking that there wasn’t anything there, Joe.”“No, I didn’t. I was only trying to manipulate you to see your friend, Lovelace, as your enemy. The absence of a rock was the result of your self-manipulation, minister.”When Toby ran out of
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