Chapter 13

On the plane, Lucianne sat with Tobias like she always did when they traveled by plane. And he was

always nice enough to offer her the window seat.

“How is he to you?”

“Hm? What?” Lucianne asked. Toby chuckled and asked, “Your mate. Does he treat you well?” She

smiled shyly and said, “Yeah, he does. He tries really hard.”

“That’s good.” Toby said with a smile. “You know Raden almost committed suicide when he told the King

not to hurt you? And on the very first night, I might add.”

Lucianne couldn’t believe what she had just heard. “He did WHAT?”

Toby rolled his eyes at Lucianne’s exaggerated reaction. “Calm down, Lucy. You’re like our sister. He just

didn’t want to see you get hurt.” He then looked at Lucianne’s hands on her lap for a moment before

muttering seriously, “None of us do.”

Lucianne’s eyebrows furrowed with worry. “I’m almost too afraid to ask. Did Xandar do anything after

Raden said that?”

Toby seemed to have lightened up and chuckled. “According to Alpha Zeke and Raden himself, the King

looked pissed. But Raden survived. Unlike before, I’m quite confident in our chances of survival with His

Royal Highness. He seems very careful not to upset you.”

OUT

Lucianne smiled at how true Toby’s words were. “Yeah, he is.”

“I don’t want to get emotional but uh…I’m really going to miss you after you’ve become our Queen.

Battles are gonna be different without you.”

Lucianne bolted up from her relaxed position in surprise. She never thought about that. Perhaps it was

because she had always stubbornly insisted that she was not a Queen, she also dismissed what she had

to give up should she decide to accept Xandar as her mate.

“Why do you look like I’ve just told you something you didn’t already know?” Toby asked in confusion.

Lucianne muttered sheepishly, “I didn’t think about that.”

“Really? Everyone’s already thinking about it.” He said, not that it made her feel any better.” Some Lunas

were almost in tears when we talked about it.”

Lucianne was close to tearing up, too. This was her life. Fighting and collaborating with ally packs were

the things that kept her alive. “Do I really have to give it up?” She didn’t trust herself to not break down so

she averted her eyes from Toby when she asked.

Toby was shocked at Lucianne’s glistening eyes. If he knew she would be this upset, he wouldn’t have

brought it up, especially not before a battle with the rogues. “Uh.. I don’t know. I guess? I mean, you’ll

turn into a Lycan after you’ve mated and marked our King to be our Queen. And uh…I’ve never heard

about a Lycan Queen being on a battlefield.”

“I don’t want to be like them.” Lucianne spat in despair. For all their lives, werewolves knew that the

Lycans had it easier in life. Conspicuously easier. Being the species superior in size and strength, they

never had to work or train as hard as werewolves to keep their species alive. It wasn’t fair. Before Xandar

ascended the throne, werewolves would oblige any Lycan i n front of them. But on the inside, there

wasn’t a werewolf who didn’t hate them. They were conceited, self-entitled, inconsiderate and, in some

cases, petty and ignorant. In extreme cases, some Lycans have never even heard of a rogue attack.

Apart from the governing body, i t almost seemed like the majority of the Lycans didn’t live in the real

world.

“Woah woah woah. Lucy, slow down. What do you mean? What are you saying?” Toby asked,

Lucianne shook her head and declared firmly, “I don’t want to be like them. There’s no way I’m going to

give up this part of my life.”

“Lucy, calm down. Don’t say anything rash.” Toby was pleading now. He knew that Lucianne was

considering rejecting Xandar to avoid turning into a Lycan and having to give up fighting alongside the

werewolves.

“There’s nothing rash about it, Toby. I’ve been doing this forever. And I love it. I’m not giving it up over a

mate bond.” She said confidently.

“You’re talking about a mate bond, Lucy! The most sacred gift from our Goddess.” Toby argued.

Lucianne smirked sadly, “I never asked for this. If anything, I asked for the opposite. Besides, I survived

five, what’s one more?”

“Goddess, he’s gonna kill me.” Toby muttered ominously to himself.

Lucianne said, “Don’t worry, Toby. Xandar will have to go through me before he gets to you.”

Toby whisper-yelled, “I was talking about my own Alpha, Goddess dammit! The King is YOUR problem!”

“Gee, thanks.” Lucianne said sarcastically.

Toby took a moment to calm down before he said, “Lucy, listen. I’m not in a position to decide for you

but…” he sighed and added, “You might want to give that a little more thought. He seems to be good to

you. We all see it, and you just said so yourself. I’m not saying this to avoid a war with the Lycans or for

Alpha Tate not to kill me. As a friend who’s known you for… arguably long enough, I really think you

should really think about it. You won’t lose us, not completely.”

Lucianne sighed. Toby was right. Xandar was good to her. But she had only known him for

two days. Was she expected to throw her entire life away just because he was her mate? It sounded so

unfair. He got to keep his life if she chose to be with him. No, she won’t give in! She didn’t care if she lost

him. She was a wolf before she was a mate or a Queen. She could fight. She could protect packs and

save lives. She was not going to give all these up for some stupid mate bond that she explicitly asked not

to have.

But there was a part of her choice that made her sad too. She had grown fond of Xandar. If she were

being honest with herself, she would admit that she started falling in love with him when they talked in his

villa. He made her feel comfortable to speak freely about the most painful parts of her life. In the past,

she never allowed herself to tear up or cry when she talked about her rejections with her friends, not

even with Juan and Hale. She always tried to speak about it lightly and quickly, not wanting to make

them feel uncomfortable. They already knew she was hurt, so she didn’t see why she had to show them

any more than they already knew

With Xandar, it felt different. He made her feel safe to express her emotions, even if she herself found it

uncomfortable. He made her feel valued and worthy, not just as a warrior but a sa person, with or without

her fighting skills. On his lap, she didn’t feel the need to keep her guard up. The way he touched her and

held her made her feel loved and wanted in a way that she had never experienced. His kisses were as

electrifying as they were soothing. Then there were those things he said to her which made her heart

skip a beat.

But she also knew that since they met, she had been holding back. She had been cautious with him for

fear that her heart could not take another rejection. Seeing that he was the Lycan King, she was certain,

dead certain, that he would reject her for a whole litany of reasons. She wasn’t a Lycan, she didn’t have

Alpha blood; she wasn’t very beautiful even for a wolf. And then, there was that mouth of hers which

tends to speak whatever she felt and thought, regardless of how it affected the listeners. She didn’t care

what people think of her, which was why she dared speak to all three Cummings and to Greg the way

she did. She wouldn’t intentionally walk up to a Lycan and pick a fight. She wasn’t stupid or reckless. But

i f they brought the fight to her, she would not hesitate to defend herself. 1

Lucianne chuckled darkly as she thought about how the mate bond had successfully possessed the

King, the most powerful creature of both species. ‘Oh, Moon Goddess. You’ve

probably because she had enough practice resisting the mate bond from the five mates before Xandar.

Her heart felt heavy at the thought of losing him to keep the part of her life she didn’t want to give up.

When she recalled Xandar telling her that he loved her the night before, she could no longer stop the

tears from streaming down her cheeks. She wiped them away hastily, and turned her thoughts to the

Jewel Pack. She had to focus on the fight. The whole pack was counting on them.

‘Lucy, what’s wrong?’ Juan mind-linked.

She looked in his direction, and saw that he and Alpha Tate next to him were looking at her i n concern.

She smiled meekly and linked back, ‘It’s nothing, Alpha Juan. I was just thinking about the warriors that

the Jewel Pack just lost.’

‘Nothing else?’

‘No.’ she lied.

Juan sighed out loud before he and Alpha Tate came to sit facing her and Toby. Toby looked a little

surprised. But when he glanced at Lucianne and saw that she was unperturbed, he knew she had

something to do with their Alphas’ presence.

“Lucy,” Alpha Juan’s tone demanded her to look at him. “Talk to us. Tate knows what he saw.” 1

Lucianne narrowed her eyes in Alpha Tate’s direction, and Tate said, “You can’t expect us to not ask,

Lucy. We‘re a family. You said it yourself. Like it or not we’re all children of the Moon Goddess. We’re

siblings.”

“Really? You’re using my own words against me, Tate?”

Tate shrugged and replied, “I don’t know a better way to win an argument against you.”

She sighed, and assured the Alphas, “It’s nothing, I promise. It won’t affect the fight.”

“Toby,” Tate turned to his Gamma and asked sternly, “What happened?”

Before Toby could speak, Lucianne said, “Leave him out of this, Tate. It’s just me. I just…need t o think

about what I want to do with the mate bond.”

Juan’s eyebrows furrowed. “Meaning?”

She glared at him and said, “You know what I mean. After five rejections, Juan, you know exactly what I

mean.”

“Does she mean…” Tate suddenly looked alarmed as he took in Juan’s reaction. Juan pressed the

bridge of his nose before sighing in frustration.

Tate then asked Toby, “Did you have anything to do with this?” The Alpha’s eyes were already boiling

with anger.

Toby opened his mouth but before he managed to say anything, Lucianne said firmly, “No, he didn’t.

Toby only told me what was already circulating among the wolves. Nothing more. Leave him out of this.”

Tate then said, more gently than he did with Toby, “What has been circulating among us are not even

bad things. Why are you so upset?”

wolf.” He looked at his childhood friend and his closest confidant. Lucianne’s glistening eyes

confirmed his suspicions.

Her voice was shaky when she whispered, “It’s not fair, Juan.” She swallowed a sob before she added,

“Why would I have to give up.. my whole life…to be with him but he gets to keep his whole life…and me

if I chose to accept him?” 1

Juan then squatted in front of her and looked at her seriously as he said, “Lucy, talk to him. See if you

can find a middle ground. Don’t do anything rash. You seem to like him, and we can all see that he is

already deeply in love with you. Don’t end this if you don’t have to.”

Lucy nodded ominously before Juan hugged her. Lucy pushed him back after a few seconds, and asked

Juan sadly, “What if he just sees me the way he does because of the mate bond?”

“If you think that’s true that you’re just being naive. You have five previous mates to compare him with.

Which one of them has ever looked at you the way the King now looks at you, or treated you the way he

is treating you?” Juan questioned without hesitation. He was right. As far as Lucianne could remember,

none of them showed her a level of affection that Xandar had shown her in the past two days, not even

close.

She pressed her lips and averted her eyes from Juan before muttering under her breath, “I’m scared. I’m

not a Queen.”

Juan then scoffed softly, bringing her attention back to him. “Lucy, I’ve always told Hale that i f I ever had

to give someone else in our pack my Alpha title, it would be you. You’ve been a leader long before you

want to admit. I was pissed and hurt when you didn’t accept my offert o be my Beta but that never

stopped us from giving you as much discretion as you were willing to take.”

“Gammas are cooler. Why would I want to be a Beta?” Lucianne retorted like a little girl.

Tate chuckled from the side, and Juan smiled at her response. Juan added, “Talk to him, Lucy. He really

wants to make this work with you. As much as your past gives you a reason to do what you’re thinking of

doing, bear in mind that the King may be different. We can all see that. You need to see it too, okay?”

She nodded obediently. “Thanks, Juan.”

He smiled and ruffled her hair. “Anything for my little sister.”

“Hey!” Lucianne complained. Now she had to retie her hair as Juan and Tate chuckled. Toby let out an

audible sigh of relief when it was all over.