At breakfast the next day, Christian was still pissed. The only consolation he got was that Annie didn’t believe he did any of those things alleged by the so-called ‘victims’. Yarrington and Weaver assured the Duke that they were looking into the complaints made against him first, and asked for an alibi for the dates and times mentioned in the ten complaints.
He and Annie went through their photographs in their iCloud Drive, and managed to negate the validity of two complaints. Then, they got out their photo albums, where Annie had a habit of writing the dates on the back of every photograph. Christian began regretting not making time to upload every photograph they took together on the Drive.
They scoured through the thousands of pictures they took over the years, praying that there would be a date and time w
Chief Dalloway shook his head woefully, and the policeman who stood at the door held his head low. The Chief then said, “The Oleander bullets penetrated right through their hearts. The medical team couldn’t save them.”Lucianne inhaled deeply and exhaled sadly before she said, “I am so sorry for your loss.”“Thank you, my Queen.” Chief Dalloway responded with a polite smile, and the policeman gave her a grateful nod.Lucianne then cleared her throat before asking, “As for the location where the helicopter was found, do you happen to have any pictures of the site?”“I do, in fact. A moment please, your Highness.” The Chief took out his phone from his p
“Livia Aphael?” Lucianne asked, clearly oblivious. When the Chief nodded, even the policeman at the door was surprised to see Lucianne looking lost as she said, “I don’t know anyone by that name.” The Chief was surprised at her answer so he unlocked his phone to look for a photograph before showing it to Lucianne and asked again, “Do you really not know her, your Highness?” Lucianne’s eyes widened in recognition as she exclaimed, “Oh, her! I’m sorry, Chief. I didn’t know that was her name.” “But you seem to remember her quite well, my Queen.” His tone wasn’t accusatory. It just held genuine confusion. “I do. I’m not sure if you’re aware, Chief. But Sebastian Cummings was my previously-bonded mate, and I seve
Lucianne blinked before she sighed in frustration, “I honestly don’t know what to think, Xandar. Whatever we just heard, and whatever we went through these past few days just feels like this complicated web of events that may be connected, but may not be so at the same time.”“What do you mean by that, sweetheart?”Lucianne stared into space as she started explaining, “Well, I understand that Sasha’s behavior on the training ground was because she thinks that I’m the reason behind her father’s imprisonment. On the same day she’s placed in police custody, the strongest packs get threats from rogues to draw me to Forest Gloom. Jake mentioned that they were acting for a client. What if Livia Aphael is that client?”
After training, back in the hotel, Xandar and Lucianne just came out of the shower when Chief Dalloway’s emails came through. With a towel wrapped around her body, Lucianne buttoned-up her mate’s dark blue shirt while he blew dry her hair. After Xandar zipped up her black skirt and planted a deep kiss on her neck through her dark blue, high-neck lace blouse, they still had two hours to spare before dinner.Xandar opened up his laptop on the armrest of the couch and started reading the email. He was presented with two documents, one is the transcript of Sebastian’s interrogation, the other was the report from interrogating the rogue Lycan before he escaped.He forwarded the document on the rogue Lycan to the alliance members before opening up the transcript from the interrogation with Sebastian. Lucianne got out her
Xandar picked up from where he left off:‘Q: So, after the severance, would you say that there was never an occasion where you and your sister both went against the Crown?A: I would never work with anyone to hurt the Queen, not even if it’s with my sister.Q: That wasn’t the question, Cummings. Did you or did you not try to come between the King and Queen in the past two weeks?A: No.Q: Not even with what could seem to be an innocent act?A: Officer, if you already have an occasion in mind, just lay it on the table so I can explain myself.
“Your Grace, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The young female Lycan said and offered an obligatory bow to Annie.Annie returned the gesture and smiled warmly at the brown-haired beauty as she said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you too. May I know your name?”“I’m Dorothy Dawson, your Grace. I’m here as someone’s plus-one. And if I may, your Grace, I have a burning question that I hope you don’t mind me asking.” Her green eyes sparked mischief as her pastel lips curled up into a grin, showing her braces holding the two rows of teeth together.Annie continued smiling as she asked amicably, “What would you like to know, Dorothy?”“How d
The four ministers felt the tension the moment they stepped foot into the hall. With their heads held low, they knelt on one knee before the royals as they uttered, “Your Highnesses. Your Graces.” Lucianne smiled graciously as she spoke in a much gentler voice, “Yarrington, Weaver, Pamela and Vanessa, it’s so nice that you four could join us tonight, despite your current workload.” Her warmth was contagious, and the atmosphere of the room took a 360-degree turn, their mood easing with the Queen’s mellowed voice. Xandar matched his mate’s smile as he said, “Stand, ministers.” They stood, all looking less fearful than before. Yarrington then handed a grey folder to Christian as he started explaining, “We’ve negated the last two complaints made against you, your Grace. I’
Lucianne took a moment to digest whatever Xandar had just told her before she blinked to bring herself out of her daze and asked, “Is there even such a thing?”Xandar’s thumb tried to smoothen the lines on her tense forehead as he explained, “Not in a long time, sweetheart.”After another moment of thinking, Lucianne said, “That makes no sense. I am not even a Queen, at least not in technical terms.”Xandar smiled wider as he whispered excitedly, “That’s the thing! You’ve been our Queen long before anyone knew! Lucy, this is amazing!”“Are you sure, Xandar? Don’t you have to mark me before I even stand a chance to get that power?”