Chapter 117

Lucianne sighed as she said, “You’re an Alpha, Tate. You have a duty to fight alongside your pack. You

can’t just abandon them. And Juan, as Blue Crescent’s Alpha,” she locked eyes with her brother and

declared in a tone which left no room for discussion, “will NOT be following me to Forest Gloom.”

Before Juan could speak, Tate continued in the same gentle but firm voice, “Fine. Don’t take the Alphas

or the Lunas. Take all the Gammas, at least.” Contemplative murmurs of agreement soon filled the room.

That was actually a viable option. Their packs were strong, and Lucianne had taught more than one

warrior in each pack about strategy. So, every strong pack actually already had at least one ‘spare

Gamma’ to take charge whenever the Gamma wasn’t around. Lucianne recommended having a spare

as a precaution, should more than one Gamma be needed to strategize simultaneously in different

locations.

Lucianne smiled to herself for the first time as she shook her head, and threw Tate a smirk when she

said, “You’re actually using my own recommended precautions against me?”

“I don’t know a better way to win an argument against you.” Tate uttered as he returned her smirk,

repeating the exact same words he said to her when they were on the plane to the Jewel Pack.

Xandar felt his jealousy and insecurity return so he took his mate’s hand to peck a kiss on it to get her

attention. He looked into her bright, black orbs as he asked, “Well, baby, what do we do?” He called her

so intimately to make himself feel better since no one else had the right to call Lucianne that except him.

She offered Xandar an affectionate smile, and stroked his hand as she turned to the alliance and said,”

We’ll go with what Tate said.”

Sighs of relief eased the tense atmosphere in the room, and Toby slumped back into his seat as he

whispered, “Thank Goddess.”

Lucianne then said, “Well, Gammas, let’s get to forming temporary mind-links. We’ll need it on the

battleground without our Alphas and Lunas there.” She stood from her seat and everyone followed suit.

She went to Raden first since he was the closest. Both Gammas extended a claw and scratched a fine

line on their respective palms.

When blood started oozing from that area, their palms pressed together to let their blood mix as

Lucianne uttered, “I, Lucianne Freesia Paw, offer you, Raden Richard Stone, a temporary link to my

mind.”

“I, Raden Richard Stone, accept your offer.”

Temporary links only last twenty-four hours unlike permanent ones which last forever until severed.

When the link with Raden was formed, Felicia came next. She and Lucianne then did the same thing.

For some reason, Tate pulled Toby to a corner as their eyes glazed over.

Lucianne assumed Tate was just asking Toby about strategy for their pack. Just as she was a better

strategist than Juan for Blue Crescent, Toby was a better strategist than Alpha Tate for White Blood.

When the Gammas exchanged the last of the temporary links, all eyes fell on the Alpha and Gamma of

White Blood. Toby looked upset and maybe a little frustrated. But Tate looked stern. Without another

word, Tate walked away from Toby and towards Lucianne before he extended a claw and made a scratch

on his palm like the others.

As Tate was reaching out for Lucianne’s small hand, she retracted it as she furrowed her eyebrows and

asked, “What the h*ll are you doing, Alpha?” She emphasized his title to remind him that only the

Gammas were following her. Xandar knew exactly what Tate was doing and stood closely behind

Lucianne, his hands on her shoulders as he threw the Alpha a disapproving look.

Tate refused to meet Xandar’s hard stare as the Alpha offered Lucianne a soft smile and said, “I’m only

second when it comes to strategizing for White Blood, Lucy. Toby’s better. Our pack has a better chance

with him planning the attack.”

Lucianne’s fierce eyes bore into his unperturbed ones as she said, “You have to LEAD the attack, Alpha

Tate.”

Tate remained stubborn as he said casually, “Eh. That’s not true. For Blue Crescent and White Blood, it

was never the Alphas who led the attacks. Our Gammas did that. And calling me ‘Alpha’ is not going to

make m e back out in guilt, Lucy. I’m going to Forest Gloom with the rest of you.”

Before Lucianne could retort, Toby’s sad and strained voice came from the comer, “It’s okay, Lucy. As

long as one of White Blood’s members is with you, I’m good with it.”

His Alpha insisted that he followed Lucianne when they mind-linked between themselves. Toby tried to

fight back, arguing that the deal was to have Gammas follow his best friend. But Tate was firm in his

decision to swap places with Toby. And, of course, the Gamma had to give in to his Alpha.

Even Christian was looking at Tate in disapproval. Everyone in the room, besides Lucianne, knew what

Tate’s real reason was for tagging along. The wolves were well aware that Tate developed a romantic

interest for Lucianne when she trained him and his pack’s warriors a few years ago, not that she

reciprocated or even knew about his feelings for her.

The two royal cousins easily caught on even without that knowledge. Lucianne groaned in defeat after

her best friend gave in as she made a new-scratch on her palm and lined the minor wound with Tate’s

bleeding palm as Tate said, “I, Tate William Brownnan, offer you, Lucianne Freesia Paw, a temporary link

t o my mind.”

“I, Lucianne Freesia Paw, accept your offer.”

Xandar didn’t let Tate hold his mate’s hand for a second longer as he gently pulled it away, placing her

palm over his mouth and started cleaning the wound with his tongue. Despite being embarrassed that

her indecent beast was licking her palm in front of everyone, Lucianne’s homicidal eyes fixed on Tate as

she declared in a low voice, “If anyone in White Blood gets hurt, I will kill you for coming with us, Tate.”

Tate shrugged like it was no big deal and said, “Sure, why not?” Wanting to escape the painful sight of

Xandar’s intimate gesture to Lucianne, Tate moved on to the next Gamma to form the next link. Christian

then asked, “So, my Queen, where do you want me?”