Chapter 45
Chapter 45
They sat at a huge dining table that the servants had to take out from the basement when the three families moved in. Ellia and Ben were happy to see Lucianne again. And Ellia introduced Lucianne to her assistants and their families. Brigetta Reese and her mate, Barton Reese were newlyweds, and had a six-month-old child named Beatrice. Oscar Wildrow was mateless for now, and lived with his sister, Olivia Wildrow
They all sat at the same table and ate the same food as the Duke and Duchess. Russell insisted that he sat with Lucianne. After knowing about Xandar’s jealousy, Lucianne made sure she stroked Xandar’s arm affectionately after she had given Russell any form of attention. Xandar’s animal beamed in pride whenever Lucianne touched him in front of so many people.
When Lucianne asked the families whether they had received any threats, everyone was relieved that they all uttered a resounding ‘no’ Then again, the three colleagues did leave their phones in their homes after deleting almost all the information inside so that they couldn’t be tracked. So technically, there wasn’t a way to threaten them.
Oscar then asked between mouthfuls, “Apologies, my Queen. But may I ask what happened?” He gestured to her 5-inch scar on her arm.
Lucianne glanced at her scar and said simply, “Oh, it was from a rogue attack on one of our ally packs five or six years ago. Many warriors have something like this.”
“You’re a warrior?” Oscar asked in astonishment.
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“I am.” Lucianne answered humbly with a polite smile. Christian then added, “Oscar, if you want to know about our Queen, you can’t ask her personally. Her humility doesn’t permit her to give you the full information. She’s the Gamma of Blue Crescent, one of the strongest packs in existence. And she is the fiercest of her kind, like a Gamma of the Gammas. In combat this morning, she beat the best Lycan warrior and our General in the same match all on her own. Less than ten minutes later, she beat our King here within eight minutes.”.
There were shocked gasps from all the adults in the room as their sights turned to fix on the Lucianne. Lucianne was already covering her face with her hands, embarrassed. Xandar did not help when he gently peeled her hands off her flustered face. He was proud to show off his beautiful mate who had just kicked his ast in the morning.
Ellia was the first to snap out of her shock as she asked, “My Queen, is that true?”
Lucianne was still flustered when she said, “Well, I’m only better in combat with Lycans in our human form. My wolf form is still no match for a Lycan’s.”
“Yet.”Xandar smirked encouragingly as he kissed her temple.
Oscar then told Olivia, “I must say, I feel very safe knowing that the throne is not only sat by the strongest Lycan but also the strongest werewolf.”
Lucianne then explained, “Oh no, Oscar. I’m not the strongest werewolf. Those are Alphas. Being small, I’m just…quicker than most. That’s how I beat my opponents.”
Annie’s voice rang around the table next, “Lucy, does your humility reservoir ever run dry?” Xandar and Christian both chuckled at Annie’s blunt remark.
“I’m not being humble, Annie. It’s the truth.” Lucianne said.
Annie rolled her eyes and said, “Lucy, strength is not merely a physical attribute. Your strength in enduring whatever life throws at you and still managing to stand and help those i n need is much more valuable than having hard muscles and knowing how to throw a punch.” There were murmurs of agreement around the table.
Xandar then looked at Lucianne in pure tenderness as he uttered, “She’s right, you know.” He pecked a kiss on her cheek before saying, “Sweetheart, you are the strongest werewolf.” Lucianne smiled shyly when his alluring eyes bore into hers.
Brigetta spoke next, “My King, it’s so nice to know that you’ve finally found your mate after all these years. The Queen brought a breath of fresh air to our office the other day. We spoke about what happened for hours!”
A thought came to Lucianne’s mind, and she sat upright all of a sudden, “I need to ask. Were any of you interrogated by your boss after we left?”
They told her about Helena Tanner coming back to the office later in the evening. She questioned the three of them and the receptionists. Xandar’s features hardened when they said they had to kneel before Tanner just to make it look real because when they were blackmailed, they were made to kneel as well. In this Kingdom, no one had the power to command a person to kneel besides the King and Queen. Who did this woman think she was?!
“We couldn’t be more grateful for all of you to take us in, your Highnesses and your Graces.” Brigetta said after she finished explaining. Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.
Lucianne’s hand subconsciously went to stroke Russell’s soft hair as the little boy chewed on his food. But her mind was somewhere else. She didn’t want to say anything at the dining table to scare the families they vowed to protect. So she simply continued eating the food on her plate.
‘Baby, what’s wrong?’ Xandar asked in concern through their mind-link. His features carried worry as he looked at her.
She linked back, ‘I’m worried that we may be dealing with someone we don’t know yet, someone who isn’t on Ellia’s list of five names. Someone on the outside.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Tanner was trying everything to make sure that her cover wasn’t blown. But now that the very three employees she blackmailed are here, with no threats, it just seems rather suspicious.’
‘Babe, I’m not following.’
‘Tanner strikes me as someone very resourceful. With the amount of money she had siphoned over the years, I doubt that it would be hard to find a good enough tracker to pick up the scent of these families and trace them here to Christian’s house. The fact that there had been no threats at all worries me. She could’ve easily sent a threat by normal mail but there hasn’t been anything so far. It’s like Tanner is subordinate to someone, and that person has not given the order to make a move.‘
‘Maybe this person is Cummings, Whitlaw…’
‘No, I don’t think it’s them. Those two would have sent an anonymous threat to me personally for blurting more than they wanted me to if they were in charge. It wouldn’t be Marie Martin either. She sat there without siphoning anything during King Lucas’s reign for years. Someone after that must’ve persuaded her to do what she’s doing. And Patrick Dupont…if I’m completely honest with you, darling, Dupont looks more like a swayable puppet than a Deputy Finance Minister.’
Xandar then sighed and took her hand into his, placing it on his lap before he linked, ‘They’re all going to wish they were dead. If there is someone else, we’ll choke it out of them.’
Her thumb started stroking his as she linked, ‘We might have to do this very carefully, Xandar. And we have to be open with the fact that Ellia and the others don’t know who else exists in this fund- mishandling. If there is someone else giving the order, he…or she has to be found and arrested before these families can be safe. And we can’t touch the five people we know until we know who the last person is. If we alert even one of the five, the last one would disappear before we’re able to dig anything up.’
Xandar kissed her hand, his expression was still serious as he linked, ‘We’ll do this properly and carefully to keep them safe. And we’ll do it together, okay?’
‘Okay.’ She nodded meekly and forced a smile as she finished up her food. 1
“Aunt Lucy, are you okay?” Russell’s worried voice rang around the dining room and all eyes fell on Lucianne. 2
Lucianne dropped her worried face immediately, and replaced it with a cheerful and assuring expression, “Of course, Russell. You’re so sweet to ask.”
“I care about Aunt Lucy.” He said matter-of-factly, and Lucianne pecked a kiss on his cheek. The other adults in the room enjoyed the sweet exchange as Christian studied his jealous cousin in amusement.