The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 30

In a separate interrogation room, Lucianne met with Greg, who shook her hand less awkwardly this time. Greg noticed her uneasy demeanor, and prepared for the worst.

They took their seats, and Lucianne began, "Your Grace, the monarchy and the government has agreed to provide the ninety-eight creatures under your care conditional pardon for all crimes, except murder."

Greg was internally grateful that he always preferred t*****e to death, and he never allowed his people to kill. The long-term goal of keeping these tortured creatures alive was for them to heal and live on to spread tales about how no one should mess with Greg Claw. Lucianne registered his silence and pressing gaze before she continued, "The pardon comes with two caveats."

Neither of them blinked when she went on, "One, we expect you and your people to make room for a few more rogues, who we've offered the same opportunity as your people to work on the case in exchange for their own pardon, should they accept the offer, that is."

Greg had a problem working with other creatures, which was why creatures worked for him, not with him. He averted his eyes for a brief second before meeting her orbs again when he asked, "And the second caveat, My Queen?"

It was Lucianne's turn to avert her eyes briefly before she cleared her throat and said, "If, at any point in time, you or your people conspire against us, your followers will be...compelled to testify against you, for any and every past crime that they know about. They will be charged for their own crimes as well but sentencing will be mitigated in accordance with the information that they'll be able to provide to...commit you to the highest forms of punishment. For clarity's sake, I should mention that any compulsion that...has to be exerted...won't be done by the King. It'll be by me."

Greg waited for her to continue, and when she didn't, his eyebrows raised in disbelief and he said, "That's it? My Queen, if you wanted to know about my criminal past, all you had to do was ask. I genuinely thought you knew this. My people won't know the full extent of what I've done anyway. It was a precaution I took. Individually, they'll know bits here and there but I can tell you that it'll be quite difficult, tedious and costly to piece any crime together. I'll happily provide full and frank disclosure right now if—" "No!" Lucianne exclaimed, and even she was surprised by her own outburst. After composing herself she rephrased, "No, Your Grace. That would not be necessary."

"Are you sure?" Greg asked, his furrowed brows showed that he was concerned, and completely clueless to the fact that Lucianne was now battling with Xandar's jealousy through the bond.

Nonetheless, she said, "I'm quite certain, Your Grace. Anyway, that's the offer. Do you accept it?"

Greg didn't even take a second to think before he replied with a wave of the hand, "That goes without saying, My Queen, but do you need time to come up with another leverage?" There was no arrogance or humor in his tone and demeanor. He wasn't taunting her or any authoritative figure. He genuinely wanted to know whether Lucianne needed more time.

Lucianne studied her cousin-in-law seated in front of her. His eyes held no malice, and there wasn't even the faintest hint of manipulation. Those lilac orbs had a different look before he turned over a new leaf. At that time, it was always clear that he was up to something, hiding something. Now, the only thing swimming in those lilac orbs was concern.

Then, Lucianne thought about how coming up with something else was going to waste time that they didn't have. If they didn't speed things up while the experiment to come up with the concoction moved ahead, there'd be more test runs than there would be at present. More test runs meant more new ingredients would be required. More of such requirements would mean more abductions. Lives were at stake. At present, it was only vampires. Who knew if those behind the concoction wouldn't go after werewolves and lycans next? Her people might be used as lab mice to test the concoction to challenge her Authority.

With that in mind, she cleared her throat and uttered as confidently as she could, "That won't be necessary, Your Grace. I'll just...come up with something along the way."

Greg's mouth opened, intending to ask Lucianne to reconsider her decision since he knew that procedure meant the world to governing members. But the duke abruptly stopped himself when he noticed that Lucianne started taking slow, deep breaths as her arm was subconsciously placed across her chest.

Greg put two-and-two together, and concluded that Lucianne was most likely trying to cope with his idiotic cousin's jealousy. Guilt engulfed the duke. He never intended to put her in an uncomfortable situation where she had to fight through things alone. After aborting his plan to get Lucianne to reconsider, he asked in a low voice in an attempt to change the subject, "I do have one question about the offer, My Queen - these new creatures we have to work with, who are they?"

He was relieved to see her breathing returning to normal as she answered, "Rogue wolves who've been running under the radar. None of them are lycans, so for Goddess sake, Your Grace, play nice."

"I'll try my best. And what could their connection to the Crown be, if I may ask?" Greg was internally worried that Lucianne may have made a deal with some unknown group of rogues that could be more dangerous than useful. He didn't doubt that she was smart but knowing who to trust in the rogue world was not a matter of intelligence. It was a matter of having the right network and connections.

Lucianne bit her bottom lip before admitting, "The leader of those rogue wolves, as it turns out, is bonded to one of our closest allies."

Greg crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat as he took this in. The gears in his head turned like they never got rusty from the more than eight months behind bars before he commented, "Well, that will either simplify or complicate matters." "Or both," Lucianne muttered to herself, which Greg easily caught, and he let out a brief, light chuckle before he nodded in agreement with a wide smile, "Or both." This was his first authentic laugh in a long time.

Seeing that there was nothing more to discuss, Lucianne offered a small smile and said, "Well, I should get going. Chief Dalloway and his task force will sort out the paperwork, and we should be able to get you out by tomorrow morning."

The word 'paperwork' made his animal roll its eyes, but the thought of being able to get out of the boring shithole and work with Lucianne made his lycan wag its tail in enthusiasm.

As usual, Greg stood when Lucianne did, and they shook hands before Lucianne said, "Thank you for your time, Your Grace."

"It's a duty and an honor to serve, my Queen," Greg smiled and responded with a slight bow and an arm across his chest as a sign of loyal service.

Lucianne tried not to look too hasty to leave the room to calm her still-agitated husband. The moment she opened the door, Xandar, who was waiting right outside, pulled her into a tight, possessive embrace as he pecked kisses in her hair and threw Greg a warning glare before the door closed to block their views of each other.

Greg felt a tightness in his chest at the sight of the sudden embrace but he still managed to mutter, "Mated, marked and married, and he's still looking at me like I have any shot at stealing her. How did this kingdom get a queen who ticked all the boxes and more but is forced to settle with a dumbass for a king? Hopeless idiot." Even his animal was shaking its head at their pathetic cousin.

But if Greg were being honest with himself, he would admit that if it were him in his cousin's shoes, he would've reacted equally defensively, if not worse. Heck, he might not even let Lucianne speak to another male who showed intimate interest with her in the first place, despite already marking her.