The 5-time Rejected Gamma & the Lycan King

Chapter 8
In the car, Xandar suddenly had a question. “Hey, Lucianne?”

llHm? H

“You mentioned that the third and fourth were Alphas.” He asked uneasily, “Are they here? In

this collaboration?”

“The third, yes. Alpha Brandon from Red Night. The fourth, no. He and his Luna were killed in one of the rogue attacks last year. Alpha Zeke from Blood Eclipse took half of his pack, and the other half went to Luna Lovelace from Midnight.” She answered simply.

Xandar looked even more uneasy. “Wouldn’t it get awkward with Alpha Brandon?”

Lucianne then laughed. “No. Like I said, our severance was consensual and amicable. It was awkward at first but then we warmed up to each other as allies and as friends. His Luna did take a little more time to offer me a smile. But we eventually hit on, mainly because we both had an interest in burning down the patriarchy.” She chuckled and continued, “I mean, it would’ve been awkward if the fourth mate survived. He uh…he’s very pinned on the fact that h e rejected me because I wasn’t good enough so he may have caused a scene at the

collaboration. But I would’ve stayed away if I saw him there anyway.” “Did he cause a scene last year?” Xandar asked in concern.

“He almost did, on the very first night too. But Alpha Juan threatened to challenge him for his pack if he ever bothered me again so he never tried to do anything after that.”

Xandar’s heart was heavy with guilt. Why didn’t he know this? If he had paid more attention a t the meet-and-greet last year, he could’ve defended Lucianne. He uttered in remorse, “I can’t believe that happened and I wasn’t there to defend you. No one should even think of causing

a scene at this collaboration.” She shrugged. “If it makes you feel any better, you weren’t my mate yet.”

“That,” one hand stayed on the steering wheel as the other reached for Lucianne’s hand, lifting it to his lips to plant a kiss before he continued, “Does NOT make me feel any better. Knowing that someone else was more deserving of you than I was is just a stab in the heart.” He parked his car in his reserved lot before he locked eyes with Lucianne. 1

“Nothing like that should’ve happened on my watch. Not to you or to anyone else. I’ll be better. I’ll pay more attention, I promise.” He pecked another kiss on her hand.

Lucianne tried to ignore the sparks as she said, “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Xandar. You were on the other side of the room, occupied with Lycan ministers. It would’ve been

impossible for you to know what was happening at our end.”

Xandar was almost too afraid to ask but he had to, “Did we- Did we meet last year?”

‘No, we didn’t.” She shook her head. ‘After you spoke to the ministers, you left the room. We didn’t meet for the rest of the month either. As a Gamma, I only had business with the

Defense Ministers so I never saw the point to come up to you. You did seem rather busy, and n o wolf in their right mind would think of interrupting.” 1

Xandar slammed his head onto the headrest, frustrated. ‘I am beyond incompetent.” ‘What?” Lucianne asked in confusion. What did she say that made him feel like that?

He took both of Lucianne’s hands, and with guilt and embarrassment in his eyes, he said, ” Sweetheart, I’m going to be honest with you. Up until I met you, I hated the annual meet—and- greets.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded as she recalled his demeanor the previous year before she said, “That much was clear.” Xandar closed his eyes tightly in embarrassment for a second before Lucianne said apologetically, “I think I’ll just let you finish talking first.”

He then smiled at her sincerity, and kissed her cheek before he said, “You don’t have to hold back. I deserved it. You only gave me the facts. So uh… I’ve long hated the meet-and-greets, and I always found a way to leave as early as possible. I’m not my father. He would’ve happily stayed and socialized with his ministers late into the night. Personally, I find it to be a complete waste of time. I would’ve rather locked myself in my office and gone through a few files. At least then, I’ll be able to be at ease when I go to bed, knowing that I’ve done…

something.” 1

Lucianne was listening attentively in silence. Xandar then stroked her hand as he prompted, ”

Lucianne, say something.”

“Uh… I’m not following.” She admitted. “How are you ‘beyond incompetent”?”

He began, “IfI had taken an initiative to speak to anyone other than the ministers, I would’ve been more aware of how the werewolves had been faring. After hearing yours and Gamma Tobias’s speeches, I can’t help but feel that I’m no better than Alfred Cummings.” He stared deep into her eyes. “As officials, we had the power to send help but we didn’t. And I didn’t even seem approachable enough for Gammas to come up to me with their concerns.” He shook his head, and scoffed as he stared blankly ahead, “What have I even accomplished

these years as King?”

Lucianne was biting her bottom lip, stopping herself from speaking. Xandar caught this, and

his thumb reached out to smoothen her lip as he whispered, “What is it? Tell me.” 1

Lucianne hesitated before she said, “I don’t know if what I’m about to say is going to make

you feel any better.” “1 don’t care. I want to know.” Xandar stubbornly insisted.

She took a deep breath. “You are doing better than your father.” She gauged his reaction before continuing, “King Lucas, he… he never thought about us when it came to legislation.

scanned Wllh cams nnnn er

Hunters could kill us as they pleased. Packs were not allowed to apply for financial relief after a rogue attack. We never had medical help beyond our ally packs during his reign.”

Lucianne was looking nervously at Xandar, whose eyes showed that she had his undivided attention as he waited for her to continue, so she did. “It almost felt like we didn’t exist. There was even a time when I wondered why we called him our King. Of course, I later learned that i

t was purely fear that forced wolves to obey without question. But when you ascended the throne, things started changing.”

She looked at him gratefully. “When we first received word that wolves were entitled to seek relief after an attack, we thought it was a joke or a scam. It took a lot of discussion among pack leaders before one Alpha was appointed to ask about the validity of the relief offered.” She chuckled at the memory. “We just didn’t think that it was possible for there to be a Lycan who would bother to take care of us wolves, let alone the Lycan King. For as long as my kind can remember, we were just happy to not get killed.” 1

She chuckled again before she continued, “Then the laws started to change, bit by bit. A few years later, Alphas were invited to meet and submit their concerns at conferences for the first time in history. Then three years ago, these meetings started to include Gammas. Gammas are even given the chance to share the stage with Lycans this year, which has never been

done.”

started tracing his eyebrows. His expression softened under her touch as he purred and leaned into her small hand. She uttered, “You don’t know how grateful we are to have an opportunity to be included in discussions, a chance

I! I

we had during King

mouth as he planted a deep kiss on her palm. Xandar inched closer to Lucianne and pecked

make me feel better. Thank you.” He was leaning into her neck

“We should go in.

muttered, “This

guess I’ll meet you inside.” After saying

ignored his protest and got out of the car. He followed quickly behind.

down so soon?”

“Don’t even start.” And she giggled in response.

tail in his head, unable to control how happy

their presence. Lucy froze on the spot, feeling discomfort with the scene. Xandar’s voice rang through the hall, “Good evening, everyone. I hope this day has gone well for all of you so far. If you have any suggestions

be it the ceremony this morning or the food being

let me know. Please

everyone stopped looking their way, Lucianne’s discomfort eased. As they were alking to the buffet table, Xandar asked casually, “Do

their problems? I’ve spoken to a few of them but they seem eluctant to tell me

when she said, “That’s because you’re the big, zary

and asked, “So, who do J11 want to meet first? Those who need help in terms of finances, pack training, )I’1StI1.1Ctl0I’1, or

He didn’t think‘ the problems could be categorized so clearly. It was as if s many packs had these problems that the categories existed. Sensing that Xandar could not ecide, she smiled and asked, “Which do you prioritize more, Xandar? Safety,

in return, appreciating that she understood his predicament, and responded ithout

tlright.”

their food and placing it on a random table, Lucianne said, “I’ll be back in a bit. on’t wait for me to start.”

would allow him to eat when their mate hadn’t started yet so h merely waited. After a short

the rirnson Pack.” As soon as she said that, the three of

tiison, “Your Highness.”

of the Crimson Pack.

from you.”

The empty seats next to Xandar made him feel rat he had a lot of work to do before the werewolves were willing to open up to

left at Alpha Wainwright and said, “Alpha, please tell our King bout the rogue attack last month, the way you told me

he looked at andar and said, “Your Highness, it’s an

the rogues tried to tear their way through. Iur finances have

And we had to resort to placing more warriors to

he looked at Lucianne, who smiled and nodded, encouraging him to go

designated category for this, we couldn’t proceed with the application. We submitted an enquiry

it seems that our application hasn’t been reviewed as of

calm and careful voice, “We were hoping, your Highness, that we could have a small loan to speed up rebuilding the border. Our warriors are strained from having to stand guard daily instead of taking shifts. And perhaps we could discuss the terms of repayment. If possible, we hope that

was hard, and he

quality of

smile yet again, prompting him to continue.

has quoted the price at $100,000, your Highness. But we’d appreciate even a loan that covers 10% of the amount. We’ve already borrowed $70,000 from all

be very grateful

he could finish, Xandar said, “You can return the borrowed funds to your allies. I’ll speak to the Finance Minister, and get her to have the $100,000 transferred to your pack account by the end of the week. This isn’t a loan so there’s no need

repayment.”

them gasped in shock. Luna Willa was the first to recover when she said, “Your Highness, that’s a very generous gesture b-but we can’t just

waved his hand in refusal. “No,

the welfare of our people is being looked after. This is not a generous gesture, it’s a duty that we must fulfill. I hope you understand, and will accept the

were still lost for words, clearly in

Wainwright, “Alpha?”

as he tilted his head to bow to the King and said, ” Thank you,

from the mishaps of the

and asked in curiosity and

fire?”

Wainwright sighed sadly, “There was a wiring defect in one of the older electric generators.

nnnn er remaining generators. Thank goddess we did! There were

malfunctioning.”

that a quarter of homes had to be rebuilt. He had to check the finances, and hear out the other packs before providing relief for the fire.

might only be able to contribute a percentage of losses that didn’t result

rogue attack.

plates in their hands. Xandar offered a smile and waved them over. “Your Highness, it’s good to

Hale bowed to Xandar.

Alpha Juan, Luna Hale. Please, join us.”~Xandar said as he patted Juan’s

the King just greeted the pack leaders of the

a smile and said, ‘Always nice to see

see you too, old friend.” Wainwright snapped

Juan’s hand.

her plate down before walking over to Willa, who had already gotten up as they embraced, “We didn’t see you last night. We thought you both weren’t attending

miss this.” Willa said in all

Lucy a

“Yeah. Until

with a giggle,

hands covering her eyes, Juan