fanqie novel
Chapter 82
Chapter 82
When dawn broke, Xandar ran with Lucianne’s wolf back to the clearing behind the hotel before retuming home to shower and change for breakfast. After getting ready, he sped to the dining-hall and instantly spotted his mate’s small back as soon as he entered. It was the first time she was standing so close to the entrance that he might be able to surprise her before everyone bowed to give away his presence.
He took quick but quiet steps towards her, taking advantage of the fact that his mate was concentrating on what seemed to be a very serious conversation with the alliance members. When he stood close enough, his hand went around her waist and rested on her abdomen as she gasped at his sudden touch. He made it to her just in time before everyone started bowing his way.
After pecking a kiss on her cheek from her side, he looked into her eyes and he grew concerned about the dark circles underneath his mate’s beautiful black orbs. After exchanging bows with his subjects, he lifted up Lucianne’s chin gently before his thumb traced under her eyes as he said,” You really need the day off, Lucy.”
“It just looks bad, Xandar. I’m fine. At least I slept.” Her sights then turned to Toby who looked absolutely exhausted with his bloodshot eyes as he uttered, (This novel will be daily updtaed at www.noveljar.com)”Goddess, don’t start, Lucy. I really tried to sleep. And we need to do a rain check on that no-mercy training session. I can’t fight you today.”
It was then Xandar realised the alliance members around him weren’t their usual alert selves. Christian came from his side and patted him on his shoulder before he acknowledged the Queen and exchanged bows with the alliance. The Duke grew conspicuously worried when he witnessed the sight before him.
Xandar then said, “It really is okay to take the day off. You all look like you could use some rest. Scratch that. You all look like you need a lot of rest.”
Lucianne then assured him, “We’ll be fine, Xandar. We‘ve gotten through with less sleep. Besides, we’re needed on the training ground. We’ll be okay. We’ll just have to be careful…” she locked eyes with Juan before she continued, “…to not overexert ourselves.” Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!
Juan rolled his eyes, and Hale slapped him on the arm as she said sternly, “You heard her. And me. Don’t overdo it this morning.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Juan answered dotingly before pecking a kiss on his mate’s temple.
Lucianne then started, “So, uh, Xandar, Christian. Let’s bring you guys up to speed. We were talking about the rogue Lycan saying that he’s almost never involved in a rogue attack, that he did mostly transportation of illegal substances. Raden thinks that perhaps the corporation used the Lycans mostly to get supplies, and the rogue wolves to attack.”
Christian agreed, “That’s definitely a possibility. It would also explain why rogue Lycans have never been seen in rogue attacks until recently. But how did the rumours start circulating about their existence, if I may ask?”
Lucianne started explaining, “Well, it started about five years ago. Blue Crescent and White Blood were alerted about an attack in an ally pack, Night Forest. The problem was that Night Forest was very far from where we were. So, we sent a request to Zeke and Zelena, and they got their warriors from Blood Eclipse to get there first while we made our way there ourselves. But…” Lucianne’s fist clenched by her side, and the alliance’s eyes were pinned to the ground.
Xandar took her little fist and started stroking it soothingly as she continued with glistening eyes, “But we were too late. We all were. Raden found one warrior taking his last breaths. The only word that the warrior whispered was ‘Lycans’. There was so little strength in his voice that Raden didn’t even know if he heard him right.”
Xandar kissed her clenched fist, and she loosened it to entwine her fingers with his. Lucianne cleared her throat, “Then, we started investigating. We found familiar paw prints of wolves everywhere, of course. But,” she took a deep breath before her eyebrows furrowed, “We also found larger prints. Not many, but they were there. So we started suspecting that rogue Lycans existed.”
Toby continued after Lucianne, “A few months after that attack, we lost another pack. Everyone was slaughtered there too. And when we looked into the prints. We found the same thing. Most of the ground was filled with smaller paw prints, and a few larger prints here and there.”
Lucianne locked eyes with her best friend as she recalled the events with him, “And the pattern just kept repeating itself. Every few weeks, we’d lose an ally.”
Lovelace then said ominously in the King’s and Duke’s way, “These attacks have been carefully planned. (This novel will be daily updtaed at www.noveljar.com) They made sure that stronger, more-equipped packs like ours would not have enough time to get to the packs that they were attacking.”
Juan then said, “Which is why the smaller packs around Whiteblood, Blood Eclipse, Midnight and even Blue Crescent have not been attacked in the past three years. Not once. We have an ally that has only ten warriors and a population of a hundred and twenty, and they were never touched, probably because they are only a ten-minute run from Blue Crescent.”
Raden then added, “But we should mention that the pattern started changing.” He nodded to his Alpha, and all eyes were on Zeke, who said, “That’s true. After a few months of pack massacres, the rogues… only went for the Alpha and Luna. They killed anyone who got in their way, mostly warriors. But the pack leaders were always the ones they were after.”
“Why is that?” Xandar asked.
Lucianne explained, “We didn’t know why at that time. But after the fifty-page report last night, we have a theory that,”
Toby butted in, “Lucy has a theory.”
Lucianne rolled her eyes at her best friend before she continued, “It may be a way to siphon money from the government.”
Xandar’s and Christian’s eyes widened, fixing to her black orbs as they waited for her to continue speaking. Lucianne then said, “The government’s financial aid for rogue attacks are for packs that’ survive’ a rogue attack, which makes sense because you can’t offer money to the dead. So, if you
slaughtered a whole pack, there’s no reason to disburse government funds. But, if a pack has surviving members.”
Xandar caught on, “Our system would allow fund disbursement according to the number of surviving pack members.(This novel will be daily updtaed at www.noveljar.com)” Lucianne nodded. “But why kill the pack leaders? The aid doesn’t differ with who gets hurt.” Xandar asked.