The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 82

Lucianne's devastation and the way her heart was squeezing itself made his animal howl in pain. He didn't think twice before dashing towards her, not caring that she was in the midst of practice. Xandar pulled her into his chest in an attempt to comfort her and assure his love for her, only to have her try to push him away. When everyone saw their king sprint across the field, those taking a break started watching, and were shocked to see the way their queen was trying to break away from him. Xandar was dodging her punches aimed at his jaw and chin before caging her arms along with her body in his embrace as Lucianne sobbed and whimpered in a futile attempt to run away.

Those watching blinked countless times, some even shook their heads to make sure they weren't in a daze and squinted their eyes to verify that they weren't seeing things. Christian even asked Toby if they were both looking at the same thing. Pellethia came over, as did Octavia, and all eyes then shifted to a very guilty-looking Rafael.

The most powerful decipio watched the lycan couple helplessly as he swallowed a lump in his throat before admitting sheepishly, "Perhaps it's still too early to tamper with the mate-bond."

"You did WHAT?!" Xandar growled at a volume that echoed across Polje. He continued pressing the struggling Lucianne into his chest when he barked, "Do you have ANY idea how F*CKING hard it was to get her to open up to the idea of having me as her mate, to persuade her to accept the crown, TO MAKE HER BELIEVE THAT I LOVE HER?! Do you know how many blows she took from the mate-bond before we met?! HOW DARE Y-"

"Xandar, please stop," Lucianne's weakened voice came in a whisper.

His onyx eyes darted to her, and he was relieved to replace that Lucianne was now pressing herself into his embrace and wasn't trying to escape anymore. He gently lifted up her chin, and looked into her teary orbs as he said clearly and firmly, "I love you, Lucy." She saw the urgent anticipation in his eyes, so she whispered back, "I love you, too."

That wasn't a good answer. He heard the hesitation in her voice, and felt the doubt still lingering through their bond, so he planted a deep kiss on her forehead before demanding in a softened voice and a pleading gaze, "Tell me you know that I love you, baby.”

That familiar line slowly sent the usual warmth into Lucianne's heart, and the doubt that she was struggling to flush out on her own melted away and disappeared from her system. Her small hand reached for his cheek, and Xandar leaned into her touch as he waited for her respons in dismay.

She managed a small smile and finally said, "I know. I love you, too."

Xandar felt the negative emotions dissipate from her being, and relief washed over him. He pressed another kiss in her hair before muttering, "We'll talk about this later, okay?"

"Okay."

Lucianne indulged in the beautiful rhythm of his heartbeat in his warm chest, feeling the depth of his love for her for a few more moments before she decided that she was ready for round five, not realizing yet that neither her decipio partner nor her husband were ready for that. Lucianne gently broke loose and turned to a still-remorseful Rafael, but as soon as her mouth opened, Xandar spun her around once more and said, "Perhaps that's enough practice for one night, my love."

"I'm fine now, Xandar. I can go again."

Rafael immediately added, "Your Highness, I have to agree with the king on this. We should stop for the night."

"But I'm fine," Lucianne protested with large orbs.

She started using her doe eyes on Xandar, but before they possessed the Lycan King like they always did, her husband said, "We know you are, sweetheart. But it's my turn to practice for the night, and your turn to stand guard. Here," he put the half-woven leaves into her hands and gently squeezed her forearms as he continued, "You can finish this up. I'll come check on you later, okay?"

Lucianne gaped in disbelief when she realized her husband picked up what she casually threw away. It wasn't even good work. Her sister-in-law was way better at this than she was. Xandar took advantage of Lucianne's surprise by pecking a kiss on her temple and gently ushering he towards Weaver and Phelton, who were both in the second round of guard duty too.

The ministers understood the king's silent command, and led their queen away, towards the edge of Polje. Xandar's lilac orbs followed them until they reached there, and his heart softened when Lucianne's hands began working on the leaves again. She looked absolutely adorable doing that.

His animal reminded him about Rafael, and Xandar reluctantly tore his eyes away from his wife before looking at the decipio, mustering as much diplomacy as he could when he questioned in a low voice, "Was that really necessary?"

Rafael counted himself lucky that Xandar spoke with less ferocity when he answered, "I am very, very sorry about that, Your Highness. I sincerely believed that she was going to pass that final test with nothing more than mental exhaustion. My decision to...touch that part of her mind was, for all intents and purposes, an effort to motivate the rest of the lycans and werewolves that they too can start...slithering-practice. Mental walls are very basic. I'm only worried that the proditors have more skillful decipios with them, who may well be able to tap into that area and use it to their advantage since it has proven to be the most effective way to fully distract and derail its victims. I am terribly sorry about how this turned out."

Greg couldn't stop himself from saying, "If you want US to start slithering-practice, rush US, NOT her."

Xandar threw his cousin a glare and spoke in a dead tone, "She's my mate, Greg. I can handle this. We're starting slithering-practice tonight with the empress."

Pellethia immediately said, "That's not possible. I won't do it. Your foundations on recognizing and manoeuvring around mental walls aren't even stable yet. Slithering won't only crush your minds, it'll demolish your confidence, both yours and your animals'. The last thing we need is having a lowly-motivated set of creatures to help us fight the present threat."

Greg groaned in dissatisfaction and uttered, "Fine. Let's do walls first."

Xandar took another look at Lucianne before he spoke in a commanding voice, "We should all speed up trying to improve. Push ourselves beyond the limit. We don't want to have to rely on the empire's decipios to carry our weight, nor should we let Lucy expend unnecessary energy to help us fight off the manipulation with the Queen's Authority when we can train ourselves to do it. She's protected so many creatures her whole life. We have a duty to protect her, and it's not going to be possible unless we push ourselves like how she's pushing herself." They listened to every word, and their fatigue and reluctance diminished when they saw and felt the urgent need to step up. Their sights instinctively followed Xandar's to Lucianne, whose fingers on the leaves stopped moving when she looked left and right. She then turned with the same confused and annoyed look from earlier, but before she could say anything, everyone scattered either to take their positions around Polje, or to start practicing.

Lucianne closed her opening mouth and stole a glimpse of her brooding husband taking his position with Greg and Pellethia. She admired his muscular figure and determined eyes that were highlighted by the moonlight, and a shy smile graced her features as she returned to the leaves in her hands.

Xandar came to check up on her whenever he and Greg were taking a break, and was happy to see that she was back to normal.

###

They reached home at around eleven, checked on Reida, and then got into the shower. After that, Xandar carried Lucianne, who was in her underwear and oversized shirt, to the couch of their bedroom, wanting to talk to her before bed. He placed her on his lap and held her close, listening attentively as Lucianne told him about the manipulation. She didn't smell him or Kelissa, but the image in front of her consumed her mind so much that even her lycan had completely ignored that the scents weren't present.

Xandar's grip tightened when Lucianne mentioned that she didn't even remember being married to him and having their daughter, and his animal growled at the mention of Kelissa. Xandar held Lucianne impossibly closer and pecked kisses in her hair as the tale went on. Lucianne tried to lighten the mood by finishing the story with, "...and the whole time, I was actually talking to a tree, so I was technically being heartbroken that the tree rejected me."

He pecked another kiss on her temple before he said, "That's not funny, Lucy. That power is just so..." he sighed and rubbed a hand down his face in frustration before he chose the word, "...dangerous."

"Explains how the vampires could've won the war if our ancestors didn't surrender." She snuggled deeper into his chest and stroked the areas she punched earlier as she said, "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Goddess, baby. Please don't apologize for that. After what you were manipulated to see, it's understandable that you did what you did." After taking a greedy whiff of her scent from her hair, he cupped her cheek and lifted her face to make their eyes lock when he said, "Whatever happens, wherever we are, know that I love you, okay?"

"Okay," she uttered with a smile, and pecked a kiss on his chin before adding, "Know that I love you, too."

A soft smile replaced his hard features, and his nose gently nudged hers when he whispered, "Thank you, baby." Registering her heavy eyelids, he pecked her on the lips and uttered, "We should get some sleep now."

After Xandar carried her to bed, they fell into deep slumber in each other's arms.