The 5-time Rejected Gamma & the Lycan King

Chapter 16

Xandar and Christian both appeared bare-chest, only in shorts. They only took a microsecond to take in the scene before them, and without shifting, Christian went after the Lycan attacking the Alphas, and Xandar charged at the one near Raden and Lucianne before knocking him further away from his mate.

Raden stood in front of Lucianne’s lying body, shielding her from any possible attack. With the rogue Lycan gone, Lucianne gathered the little strength she had left and pulled the knife out of her body with her canines, and threw it on the ground next to her. Her eyes started tearing from the pain but the dizziness subsided. ‘Good’, she thought. There wasn’t enough silver in her body to kill her.

Xandar and Christian made breaking the rogue Lycans’ limbs look so easy. For the next few moments, the rogues’ whimpering and the sound of bone-cracking filled the air.

Xandar had already broken the limbs of the rogue he had over and over again, not giving it any time to heal or recover completely. Just killing the rogue would’ve been too merciful. The idea was to torture them for as long as possible before offering them a ticket to their death bed. Xandar tossed the rogue at a tree once, twice, three times.

Lucianne linked Juan as she endured the pain, ‘Get…Xandar. Keep…rogue…alive. Interrogate… Ask who sent…’

Juan shifted into his human form in an instant, and went to kneel by Xandar’s side before telling him Lucianne’s request. Xandar’s angered eyes locked with Lucianne’s pleading ones. He growled furiously before knocking the rogue Lycan’s head against a tree to make it lose consciousness. He made sure he broke another few more bones before he was satisfied.

Then, everyone heard a high-pitched whimpering which stopped at the distinct sound of a crack. The other rogue Lycan fell lifelessly from Christian’s hands. Xandar strode towards his mate, and Raden

stepped aside. The King knelt next to Lucianne’s wolf. His eyes were

glistening but he was still boiling with anger as he looked at the blood stained white fur Lucianne’s paw was covering. Everyone heard quick footsteps approaching but they were not worried because it was just the other members of their alliance.

“Here,” Sylvia appeared with a large towel, covering Lucianne’s body so that she could shift back. Everyone else was shifting back into their human forms as well.

Beneath the towel, Lucianne gritted her teeth and shifted back, enduring the pain. This was, b y far, the most painful shift she had to endure. When she was fully human again, she let out a sigh of relief before continuing to grit her teeth to fight the pain. Watching his mate’s gritted teeth and cold sweat made Xandar feel angry and helpless. ‘I was supposed to protect her’, he thought to himself.

“Lucianne?” Xandar called out in a low voice, worry radiating from his eyes. Juan and Tate

were right behind him.

“Fine…need…minute….to…recover.” She responded as she fought through the pain.

Xandar held her hand, and she gripped his tightly as she coped with the pain. The sparks erupted from her hand and flowed through the rest of her body. She felt her bones recovering much quicker. The silver which was disappearing slowly before suddenly sped up in vanishing from her bloodstream. When she was fully recovered, she let out an exhausted breath and uttered, ‘Clothes.’

Xandar noticed that she was trying to get up and helped her, being as gentle as he could. Sylvia came with Lucianne’s clothes. Luna Lovelace then demanded, “Gentleman, turn.”

All the males turned instantly without argument. Xandar looked at Lucianne for one more second before turning around with the rest. Sylvia and Lovelace helped Lucianne with her inner wear, tank top and

shorts. Lucianne moved her limbs slowly and cautiously, not wanting to risk breaking anything. Sylvia re- tied Lucianne’s hair, twisting it into a bun.

Luna Lovelace checked her one more time before declaring, “Alright. You can all look this way now.”

Lucianne was still weak but she managed to stand on her own and looked at the Alphas, Christian and Xandar as she said, “Thank you for saving me. All of you.”

“Any pain?” Xandar asked as he hovered over the part where Lucianne was stabbed earlier, not sure whether touching it would instigate the anguish for her. 1

“No. I’m just weak now. The mate bond sped up the healing. Thank you.” She said gratefully.

The worry in Xandar’s eyes was quickly replaced with anger, “What the he*l were you thinking when you left without telling me?!”

Lucianne was taken aback. “I called you and left you a text. And I told Benjamin.”

Xandar’s voice got louder, “Why the he*1 didn’t you come and bang on my door?! You know where I live! And what was telling the guard going to do, huh?! He wasn’t going to come defend you!”

“Cuz, cool it.” Christian said cautiously from the side but Xandar growled at his cousin, obliging him to stay silent before Xandar turned back to Lucianne

Lucianne’s eyes were glistening, not with gratitude or sadness but with hurt and anger. Her voice was significantly softer and weaker when she spoke, “You’re blaming me for not telling you? You expected me to go find you before I came here? Do you have any idea the damage they could’ve done to this pack if we were just two minutes behind?! Did you know that they’ve already lost eleven warriors in the first attack just hours ago?!”

When he saw her tears, his heart felt like it was getting stabbed painfully slowly. It was then h e realized that he wasn’t angry at her. From the moment Christian told him where she was going, he was beyond furious but it was only after making his mate tear-up in front of him did

he realize that his infuriation was towards himself for failing to protect her. It was him that h

e was angry at, not her.

Ignoring her blurred vision from her tears, Lucianne continued to speak in her weakened voice angrily, “I did everything I could to tell you where I was going. Blame yourself for not getting the memo on time. If you think that I should not have left without making sure you know first, you are a selfish, inconsiderate, self-entitled animal! We took our positions for less than two minutes and the rogue attack started. Now you want to make me apologize for not pleasing you? Do you even think that I will feel bad about this?!”

Xandar’s animal was already whimpering in his head, filled with remorse at how they yelled a t Lucianne when they should have been yelling at themselves. His animal just wanted to hold her, apologize and beg for her forgiveness. But the human part of him froze on his spot, unable to digest and accept what he just said to her, shocked that those words could even come out of his mouth in that inhumane tone. This was his mate, the most precious person in his life! How could he have said those things to her?

Taking advantage of his silence, Lucianne stood closer to him and looked him dead in the eye, “I don’t care what you do to me. I will NEVER regret what I did.” She panted after exerting herself at the word ‘never’. She then turned around slowly, wiping away her tears with the back of her hands before swallowing a sniffle and looking up to face the wolves.

Ignoring Xandar, Lucianne asked in a flat tone, “How are Alpha Frederick and the warriors with him?”

Juan answered softly, “I told them it was safe to come out of the cellar a minute ago.”

Lucianne nodded meekly. “Okay. Good. Any casualties?”

The Beta stepped forward and said with a smile, “None, Gamma Lucianne.”

“Alright, that’s…good news.” She said between breaths, still weak.

“Thank you, Gamma Lucianne. The Jewel Pack owes you.” The Beta said with gratitude, and offered a slight bow.

“No.” She shook her head gently and managed a smile. “I couldn’t have done it without everyone else here. As children of our Goddess, it’s our duty to protect each other.” She glanced at Tate after she said that, and he was smiling broadly as they both recalled their conversation on the plane.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Xandar’s deep, remorseful voice came from behind her as he placed his hand gently on her.waist where she was stabbed, making her body stiffened in response. 1

no

She turned reluctantly, and their eyes locked. The anger that was there before had vanished, now there’s just guilt in his glistening eyes. “I’m fine.” She responded flatly. He looked at the wolves and his expression turned serious, like he was contemplating on

something. Lucianne moved to block his line of vision. She growled, albeit weakly, “Leave them out of this. They’re only here because I asked them to come.” 1

Behind her, Juan said in a clear voice, “That’s not true, your Highness. If I hadn’t mind-linked the Alphas and Lunas, and given out the order, none of us would be here. This isn’t Lucy’s fault. It’s mine.” And Juan fell on one knee before the King.

Lucianne hissed, “Juan, shut up and get up. You still have Hale AND a pack. Let me deal with this.” She turned back to face Xandar, and said in her weak voice firmly, “I asked for the wolves. Juan was just the

messenger. Do not touch him or the others.”

“We’re not letting you leave us out of this, Lucy.” Tate’s voice came next as he knelt next to Juan. One by one the wolves knelt side-by-side.

Luna Zelena knelt alongside the others and said confidently, “We stand with her.” 3 Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Lucianne was angrily lecturing the leaders and Gammas of how irrational and reckless they were being for wanting to be punished to keep Xandar from doing anything to her. She kept giving them reasons to let her take the blame. They had packs to lead and protect, and mates and pups to take care of and live for. They all just looked at the King emotionlessly. They were taking in Lucianne’s words but were firm in their collective decision to forbid the King from punishing her for leading the alliance without punishing them first. Lucianne’s voice was getting even softer, weaker and more strained as she went on.

For once, Xandar couldn’t hear a single thing Lucianne was saying. He had to move his line of vision to the ground because the sight before him was too painful to look at. He felt like a ruthless dictator with all these pack leaders and Gammas kneeling before him when they did nothing wrong. In a low and pained voice, he commanded, “Please stand up, all of you. Don’t ever kneel to me like that again.”

They looked unsure until Lucianne hissed in an angry whisper, “Up! All of you! Now!” They then got up and stood in the spot where they knelt.

When Lucianne was still facing them, Xandar took one of her hands gently and pushed away any small dirt on her right palm before lifting it up to lick it lovingly.

“What are you doing?!” Lucianne whispered angrily but she didn’t have the strength to retract her hand so Xandar held onto it with ease.

He smiled sadly but said nothing. Then, he lifted up his own arm, and with his canines, tore his skin there with force. Blood started trickling from his self-inflicted wound. The sight made Lucianne flinch a little.

Furrowing his eyebrows in concern, Xandar glanced at Lucianne before he extended one of his claws, and scratched a fine line on her palm. Blood started trickling from that area, and Xandar placed her bleeding palm on his already-healing bleeding arm. Both Lycans and werewolves have quick healing abilities, with Lycans normally healing faster than wolves.

In a low but sure voice, Xandar uttered the words, “I, Alexandar Thomas Claw, offer you,

Lucianne Fressia Paw, a link to my mind.” 1

Despite her fatigue, Lucianne’s eyes widened in shock. Mind-links were only possible between members of the same pack, unless you’re an Alpha or Luna, which would enable you to link other pack leaders. Even mates of different packs couldn’t mind-link each other until they were mated and marked. Government officials also had the privilege of mind-linking each other since their jobs may sometimes concern national security which required their immediate attention. A mind-link outside pack relationships, mate ties and government functions was rare.

“Anytime now, sweetheart.” Xandar said as their blood started drying up and their wounds started closing. The only way he could make sure that she could reach him at any time and place is through a mind-ļink. There was no other way. But why was she hesitating? Did she not want to link him? Was she already trying to cut ties with him for what he said? Would she reject him?

These thoughts ran through Xandar’s mind until Lucianne, who still had a look of confusion, stammered, “I-I, Lucianne Freesia Paw, accept your offer.” There was visible relief on Xandar’s face right after she said that.

Xandar, disregarding his own wound, then licked away the excess blood from Lucianne’s palm. When her wound was clean, his own wound had finished healing. After her wound closed without a trace of the scratch he made mere moments ago, he kissed her palm deeply before pulling her body into his chest and holding her tightly. Lucianne had no idea what was going through his mind. And she was still weak, so she couldn’t push apart their bodies t o ask.

Xandar’s voice laced with regret pleaded into her ear, “I am so sorry, Lucianne. This was my fault. I should’ve been more alert. I should have never yelled at you. I am so, so sorry.” He held her tighter, and Lucianne was finding it more difficult to breathe. He was a Lycan, so his strength could suffocate her if he exerted enough force.

“Xandar, let…me go.”‘She muttered in a weak voice. ‘No no no! She wants me to let her go! She wants to leave me. Accepting the mind-link didn’t mean accepting me. I’m going to lose her’, h e thought.

“No!” He whimpered in fear and squeezed her even tighter. “I’m so sorry, Lucianne, please. Don’t leave me. D-Don’t reject me, I’m begging you. I’ll be better, please.” He didn’t care if he was begging before an audience. He didn’t care how humiliating it looked. He just didn’t want to lose her. 1

“Can’t…breathe” Lucianne managed to cough out.

Xandar realized he misunderstood her, and loosened his grip immediately. Lucianne took a few deep breaths as Xandar supported her by her waist and arm. He felt even guiltier than he already was. He almost suffocated his mate. What was he thinking?!?

When Lucianne could stabilize herself, she looked at the unconscious rogue Lycan and said,

We should head back now.”

Xandar smiled meekly and nodded. Christian, upon hearing what she said and getting his

cousin’s nod, carried the body over his shoulder voluntarily, and that was when Alfred Cummings and Pierre Whitlaw showed up, along with Sebastian Cummings. 3)