Chapter 44

44 Love and Conspiracy

Lucien held his breath unintentionally.

Looking at the shocked expression on her brother’s face, Annalynne’s beautiful face crumpled into a heap of mess. She felt like a huge failure. An embarrassment to her family if not her whole pack.

What would her father say? And her mother? Her mother might beat her up for her shamelessness.

“Big Brother...”

Annalynne threw her arms around Lucien’s neck and leaned against the latter’s body. Lucien in turn put his arms around Annalynne’s waist and pulled her into a hug. It was one of the rare moments in the siblings’ adult life.

Moments when Annalynne was vulnerable and sought her brother’s warmth and protection.

“Lulu, it is so unfair,” she lamented.

“We are born identical, but he only has eyes for you. It is ironic. He loves you so much, but you don’t even like him,” she added with a hint of resentment.

Annalynne sniffled in her brother’s arms and whined like a little girl from years ago, “I am so ugly.”

.....

Lucien pinched at Annalynne’s earlobe playfully.

“Hey, did you just say that I am ugly?”

“No, I said I am the ugly one,” Annalynne mumbled. “Lulu, you need to clean your ears.”

Her brother scoffed and pinched at her cheek. Annalynne screamed from the pain.

“Didn’t you just say that we were identical? If you are ugly, then so am I.”

A displeased growl escaped Annalynne’s mouth. Back to leaning on Lucien’s body, she rubbed at her reddened cheek and muttered darkly, “That’s not what I meant and you know that very well.”

Lucien said nothing. He merely caressed Annalynne’s hair repeatedly. If Kinnon had bullied Annalynne somehow, Lucien would have stood up to her defense and fought Kinnon. Beat him black and blue. But an unrequited love was something else. Lucien could not blame Kinnon for something like that.

Especially not after Kinnon confessed to him and he simply started dating Ronan without properly rejecting him.

Lucien pursed his lips, ashamed of his younger self.

Really, he could have just said thank you and told Kinnon that he already fell for someone else.

“Anna,” he softly called, kissing the top of her head. “Do you remember that time at Alpha Camp when you were crying by the lake?”

The body in Lucien’s arms froze up almost immediately. “Yes...?”

“Did you confess to Kinnon and he rejected you?”

Annalynne sat straight next to Lucien and shook her head.

“I overheard his confession to you.”

Lucien raised an eyebrow.

“Fine,” Annalynne pursed her lips because Lucien did not buy her statement. “I followed him and listened in on your conversation.”

That was more like it.

Kinnon had asked Lucien to come to the running track in the evening. The track and field team already finished their training for the day. Other than the two young men, no one was around.

“You knew, and you still offered yourself to him?”

Lucien narrowed his eyes at his foolish little sister. Before Lucien started again with his lecture about the pride and dignity of an Alpha’s daughter, Annalynne decided to come forward with the truth.

“Lulu, you rejected Ronan within two days of receiving his proposal but you took your sweet time to answer Kinnon’s proposal. Everyone who has two functioning eyes can see that you are stalling, trying to buy your time.”

“So what if I am?”

“So I thought... You will never be dedicated enough to be his Luna. We look so alike, and I... I can even give birth to his children.”

As opposed to Lucien. Annalynne turned red when she stammered out the last sentence.

“I didn’t mean that I was better than you!” she quickly followed up. “I am just saying that I will not be that bad of a substitute!”

Lucien groaned.

“Anna, listen to me. You are you. You are not my substitute or anyone else’s substitute. Do you hear me?”

Annalynne nodded. She heard him, but she did not necessarily agree with him. Oh, the curse of love...

“Did he reject you?”

Annalynne’s tears dropped again. “He did! He said that he was not after your face. We might look alike, but we are different in his eyes!”

“...”

“Anna, maybe he just... Maybe he just likes men. Have you ever thought about it?”

A miserable look spread on Annalynne’s face. “Lulu, he had girlfriends after his wife died! He never had boyfriends!”

“...”

Lucien was speechless. If someone had told him months ago that his only sister had been actively stalking Kinnon Youngshaper’s private life, he might have written the person off as a lunatic.

This was his sister. His very own sister.

So in love with Kinnon Youngshaper and the latter proposed and confirmed his love to Lucien instead. Things could not get messier. The mere thought was enough to give Lucien a week-long migraine.

“Anna, go back,” Lucien decided. “Let me handle this matter.”

Annalynne pulled a grimace. “I can’t.”

Lucien turned to her and gave her a puzzled look. “Don’t tell me that you still don’t want to give up.”

“No, that’s not why I can’t go back. You see, Kinnon got injured because of me. I asked him to come with me to a remote spot to talk, and then we got attacked by a bunch of werewolves.”

Lucien widened his eyes in horror. The Alpha of the Night Prowler Pack was injured in Annalynne’s presence??? While both packs were in the middle of post-war negotiation???

Before Lucien had time to assume the worst, his sister told him the news in a straightforward manner.

“Lulu, the Night Prowler Pack assumes that this attack is orchestrated by the Silent Walkers Pack. I am technically a prisoner in here.”

“How do I not know about this?” Lucien demanded angrily.

“Well, the attack happened yesterday night. You were heading here anyway so Kinnon strictly demanded his whole pack to not pass any judgment or contact the Silent Walkers Pack until you arrive,” Annalynne explained. She was more sorry than ever.

“So you see, Lulu, you also can’t leave here. Not until the Silent Walkers Pack is cleared from all charges.”

Great. Wonderful. Magnificent. More and more good news are coming, Lucien thought to himself sarcastically.