Chapter 54

She snorted before asking, ‘You caught up to me within sixty seconds from when I took off, didn’t you?

You just let me think that I was winning.’

He smirked as turned their bodies gently so that Lucy’s wolf had its back against the ground and his

Lycan’s body hovered above hers, his hands on either side of her head. There was a glint in his eye

when he said, ‘No. I never said anything. You came up with that thought yourself.’

His nose nuzzled hers and she giggled through their link before he continued, ‘And if I said that I caught

up to you within thirty seconds from the moment you left me behind, do I get a reward?’ His arousal

continued to fill the air.

The reward your animal is implicitly asking for is quite a demanding one, your Highness.’

‘Hm…I wasn’t going to ask for that.’

‘Well, what a gentleman you are.’

His Lycan’s nose made contact with her neck as it greedily took in her scent. He then linked,’ Careful, my

love. I’m in control now. But if you keep talking to me like that, I’ll have to wrestle with my animal for

dominance. And we don’t want that now, do we?’

Lucianne made herself hold back a moan from the hungry manner Xandar’s animal was taking in her

scent before she asked, ‘So, wh-what were you going to ask for, dearest?’

His Lycan’s tail was wagging in happiness as he asked excitedly, ‘Can I take a good look at your tail?’

‘Oh, that. Be my guest. If you can tell me if you’ve heard any myths or legends about what it’s supposed

to be able to do.’

Now who’s the demanding one?’ Xandar linked rhetorically with a chuckle as he released his cage on

her. She got up and sat on the ground near the riverbank and lifted her tail upwards for Xandar to have a

look.

He studied the white and grey part of his mate. Instinctively, he looked at her body and her paws but

noticed that they were all white. She seemed to have read his mind, ‘It’s just the tail. There isn’t a trace of

grey anywhere else on my body. I don’t know why. No one does.’

After a short moment, Xandar anxiously linked, ‘D-Do you mind if …t-touched it?

ass

Lucianne was surprised but she shyly whispered, ‘Okay.’ 1 His large Lycan hands fell cautiously on the

white and grey fur of her tail, gauging his mate’s reaction. He then gently stroked the entire length, which

made Lucianne purr softly.’ Adorable’, Xandar thought to himself. As he continued stroking in slow

motions, he linked, ‘I wonder why the thickness of each grey stripe is subtly different.’

‘Wait, what? Is it?’ She lifted her tail off the ground and right out of Xandar’s hand, and Xandar was

surprised by how much strength he felt from her tail. His mate was using the reflection from the water in

the river to study the stripes.

As he was recollecting what he felt, she linked, ‘I guess I never noticed it because I’ve only used water

reflections to see what my wolf looks like. I’ve never used a mirror. And with the

ripples and the coursing of streams, I never took a hard enough look at them to notice the difference in

the thickness of each stripe. Hmm…the number of stripes are still the same though. It has only ever

been five.‘

‘Sweetheart,’ Xandar began, ‘How strong is your tail?’

‘What do you mean?’ She asked, cocking her head to one side as she looked at him.

Xandar tried not to get distracted by how adorable her wolf looked when it did that as he explained,

‘When you took your tail from my hand, it felt like it had more strength than it should

She looked surprised and bewildered. She dove into her thoughts before she asked, ‘Do

normal tails have less strength?’

‘I don’t know about wolves but when I catch Christian’s tail or any other Lycan’s tail in combat, I don’t

normally feel that high degree of force when they pull their tails away from m y grip.’

‘Huh.’ She responded meekly as she continued to ponder.

He came to sit with her and started stroking her back lovingly with his Lycan paws as he asked gently,

‘Have you ever used your tail when you fight?’

‘Yeah, all the time. It’s easier to trip our opponents with it.’

‘Do the others do that, too?’

She thought hard before she linked, ‘Yes, but…not many of us can. Very few Alphas and Lunas can do it.

Juan himself can’t. Neither can Zeke nor Zelena. Tate can but it took him a few years of practice.

Gammas…Hmm…I tried to teach Toby, Raden, Sylvia and a few others but they aren’t able to trip larger

rogues yet. The smaller rogues also have to be unstable before they can actually trip them that way.‘

Xandar continued stroking her as he helped her ponder deeper on the matter, ‘Have you ever had

problems tripping the larger rogues?’

After Lucianne recalled the times she fought with her tail, she uttered, ‘No, I guess not.’ Her head turned

to the back to study the mysterious part of her wolf as she said, ‘I always thought it was because I

trained it longer. Since there are others who could do it, I didn’t think the strength was anything special.’

Xandar scoffed, ‘Darling, every part of you is special. The Moon Goddess is probably

scratching her face in madness and frustration right now with what you’re saying. She’s already given

you so many gifts for you to stand out from your species and mine yet you still think that you’re less than

extraordinary.’

Lucianne rolled her bright blue eyes and linked sarcastically, ‘Oh yes, I’m very extraordinary. Who else

have you heard went through five mate-bond snaps?’

He pulled her body closer to his as he linked gently and sincerely, ‘Exactly. No one else could have

survived them. The pain would have been too much for a normal creature. The fact that you’re alive and

well now is only further proof that you are anything but normal, Lucy. Christian was shocked when he

heard it. Many of us were. Not the fact that you were rejected but the fact that you’re still living and

thriving after the five snaps.’ 1

Xandar lowered his head to meet hers, and his nose nuzzled against hers, making her giggle a t the

ticklish contact before he looked deeply into her sapphire eyes and linked, ‘You keep telling me that I’m

more than what I think of myself, Lucy. I’m telling you right now, you’re so much more than what you think

of yourself. He nuzzled her forehead like he was pecking a kiss there before staring back into her eyes

as he uttered, ‘You’re amazing, Lucy. Don’t let anyone tell you differently, not even yourself.’ She purred

at his words, and got up to move into his chest before she snuggled in his core. It was his animal’s turn

to purr in bliss.

For the first time, Lucianne didn’t dash back to the hotel when dawn broke. She sat in her mate’s arms

and his paws gently stroked her back as he held her close to his chest. After a long moment of quietly

enjoying each other’s company, Lucianne linked, ‘Xandar, can you tell me more about your family? Who

you’re close to, who you love, that kind of thing? I mean, I already know about Christian and Annie but I’d

like to know more.’

Xandar chuckled, ‘I’m close to you. And I love you!

Lucianne argued in an irritated tone, ‘Xandar, I’m serious!’

He responded firmly, ‘So am I, Lucy!’ Lucianne groaned, and was about to leave his arms before he

strengthened his grip around her body, ‘Aw, sweetheart, don’t get mad. It’s not like I wasn’t going to tell

you. But since we don’t have any training today, how about I tell you over breakfast at a nice café?

Lucianne looked into his lilac eyes gleaming with anticipation. She smirked, ‘Well played, my King. Well-

played.

He held her closer to his chest and pouted, ‘Oh, come on, baby. Just say yes.’

‘Why do I get the feeling that this date is going to stretch over lunch and dinner as well?

He gleefully admitted, ‘Maybe it’s because I was hoping you’d say yes to those, too.’

She shook her head slightly with a smile, ‘Like I said, Xandar. That was well-played.’ She managed to

wriggle out from his grip and leaped out from his arms. But he caught hold of her body again and lifted

her off the ground with ease. He looked deep into her eyes as he linked excitedly, ‘Is that a yes?‘

‘Put me down, Xandar.’

‘Not until you say yes.’

Lucianne rolled her eyes and she said, ‘I was already going to say yes when you first asked anyway.’