The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 40

Lucianne's eyes widened before they narrowed in suspicion as she asked Alissa, "What did he do?"

Greg snorted again as one hand covered his mouth to hide his wide smile. This was actually becoming quite entertaining for him and his animal. Xandar's hand went from Lucianne's waist to her shoulder, where he pressed her body to his as he pecked a kiss on her hair and hid his own smile while taking a whiff of her scent. This wasn't so bad for the king as long as he mentally blocked out that black sheep cousin of his. Alissa seemed encouraged when even the duke was trying to mask his own amusement, so she continued speaking animatedly, "Oh, that's quite the story, ma'am. Let me tell you. So, we met and found out we were bonded at a local grocery store. We both had someone at that time but as soon as we met, he dumped his girlfriend on the spot, like right in front of me, which was VERY romantic at first blush. My then-boyfriend and I had a couple of years of history, so I was kinda reluctant to just break up with him, you know what I mean? Anyway, I caved after a week, which is, by far, THE biggest mistake of my life."

"My mate followed my boyfriend and I home without us knowing. After that, he just kept sending flowers and these cute messages that made me and my animal melt. When my boyfriend got mad and started threatening to end what we had if I didn't reject my mate soon, I uh..." Alissa chuckled depressingly for a second before she said frankly, "I got really stupid. I thought that...him threatening to end our relationship meant that he was going to use that against me everytime we had a fight. For some reason, my brain didn't remind me of all the other times we fought, when he never said that he would leave me if I didn't give in. We always found middle ground. Everything worked. Not immediately, but it eventually worked. We even ended up strengthening what we had with each argument. But not this last one." "Being...blinded, I dumped him, and even had the audacity to move in with my mate the very same day I moved out from my boyfriend's place, utterly convinced that he was 'the one'. For an entire year, things with my mate were..." her eyes zoned out as she reminisced about the pas as she spoke, "Great, really. The romance made my heart flutter like butterflies, the s*x was addicting. We even had a set of triplets together. The only problem was that he never seemed to want to let me mark him, nor did he want to mark me.”

"The reason...no, that's not the right word. 'Excuse' is better. The excuse he gave was that he wanted us to be deeply in love first, then mark each other. I was confused but I didn't say anything, thinking that everything would eventually work itself out. Goddess, was I wrong." "After that magical year, his job suddenly required him to work late, sometimes a little too late. And it was weird when he smelled...clean when he got back, like he took a shower before he returned. Strawberry body wash. When I got suspicious and started asking questions, he just said I was being paranoid, and that his heart was mine before throwing in a s*x session to stave off my doubts. It wasn't until we ran into his ex at a park one day did I realize he was still seeing her behind my back."

Alissa started staring at the floor with a sad smile as she continued, "They were both shocked to see each other there, but it wasn't the kind of awkward shock. He just looked like he was trying to avoid getting caught when he turned away and pulled me along. She wasn't embarrassed or anything, and just threw me a smirk. My brain finally started working right, and I stormed towards her just to take her scent. And there it was, strawberry."

"The most monstrous thing was that she didn't even budge, like she wanted me to smell her, to rub it in my face that my mate was seeing her, f*cking her. I pushed her into the fountain, and my mate...went to help her out. It was as clear as day after that. He slept with her, showered at her place before coming back to me and our children."

"Everything made sense. His sudden need to work overtime, his unexplainable clean scent, the fact that he never wanted us to mark each other. He wouldn't be able to sleep with another woman behind my back if we were marked, so he delayed it and used it to his advantage. The butterflies I felt turned into a traumatized experience of betrayal. I was so angry that I couldn't speak, couldn't scream. Everything just began to bottle-up inside, and my mind went...oddly calm and quiet."

"My mate brought us home and he apologized, saying that he wouldn't see her anymore, that I was his 'one and only', though he still insisted that we hold off the marking. I didn't speak for the entire hour that he spoke. I just stared at him blankly. I was hurt, but I don't understand why I didn't cry. I just sat there, feeling the fire burning in me. My animal was unusually quiet, too."

"I tucked the kids in, as usual, and it was the first time my mate helped me out when I did that. We went to bed, and he dozed off quite quickly. Naked, I would add. After two hours of staring into space, it was like something took over me. I got out of bed, went to the kitchen, got a knife, a lighter and a bottle of wine before making my way back to the bedroom. And uh..." she caught Hailey and Ivory's slight shake of their heads, so Alissa decided to end her story with, "Well, I'm sure you know what happened from there, My Queen. I'll spare you the details." "I want the details, Alissa. Do go on." Lucianne insisted with wide eyes like she was watching a movie, and was secretly rooting for the female lead, Alissa herself.

Alissa's eyes widened for a moment before she chuckled lightly and continued, "I pulled over his covers when he lay flat on his back, poured half a bottle of wine around the frame of his body, chopped off his balls, heard him scream when I poured the remaining wine all over his body, and then used the lighter to...light him up?" The men around her cringed as subtly as they could but their discomfort was still visible from their faces.

Xandar murmured in realization, "You're Arson Arden." She looked so different from the time she was tried. Her hair used to be longer and her face was haggard even from the pictures. Now, Arson Arden looked fresher, healthier and her hair only reached her cheeks. Greg was glaring daggers at his cousin, not that Xandar cared. Alissa forced herself to face Xandar as she suppressed the hate as much as possible, "Yes, Your Highness. That was what they called me in every news report."

Lucianne remembered this case, too. She then noted, "But the news didn't mention the events leading up to that incident. They just reported that you started the fire because of a so-called 'common relationship issue', making it seem like you overreacted. And what was worse was that your then-mate said that you were mentally unstable."

Alissa nodded in confirmation and continued explaining, "Which was all fiction, I must add, My Queen. He came up with events that never even happened. His rich family practically fabricated evidence that the court accepted without question because I couldn't produce evidence to contradict whatever the prosecutor submitted. And I was seen as the crazy one in court when I screamed my lungs out to deny the assertions the prosecutor was making on his behalf."

This was getting more wrong by the minute. The queen's eyes glistened as she recalled the last bit of facts she remembered, "Even when your lawyer tried to use the mental instability argument to your advantage, pleading diminished responsibility to absolve you from as much blame as possible, it didn't really work. Your sentence was lightened so little that it was almost negligible. And your children were taken away because no relatives were willing to take them in, while the court found you unfit to be a mother.”

"Yeah," Alissa forced a brief smile before she wiped away her own tears. "But uh..." she looked at Greg, her way of asking for permission, which he granted with a nod.

Alissa said, "I've seen them grow up. All three were adopted by different families, and I make time to see each one."

Lucianne asked with hopeful eyes, "Have you ever gotten a chance to meet them?"

Alissa shook her head with a sad smile. "It's too risky, My Queen. My case took six years to complete. And in the years I've been in police custody and in court, my triplets were raised by creatures who told them that their mother was a psychiatric patient who incapacitated their father who subsequently died from his injuries. I have thought about meeting them, telling them, but with the law and history against me, I came to terms that they might report me to the police who would've then taken me away. I didn't see them for six years because of what I did to my bonded mate. I can't risk not seeing them for Goddess knows how long more if I'm caught and put behind bars."

"That's understandable," Lucianne muttered. She gently detached herself from Xandar's grip before stepping forward to wrap Alissa in a hug. Arson Arden was shocked before her animal instinct made her squeeze Lucianne in return as tears flowed down her cheeks when Lucianne whispered, "I am so sorry, Alissa."

The sight even made Xandar sad. Arson Arden. How could the media label someone who was treated so badly by combining their name to a crime like it was funny or catchy? It was so insensitive and inhumane. The system back then even confirmed a creature to be clinically-insane just because her mate had the means to fabricate such evidence? And the fact that she denied it in court by screaming just magically cemented the fiction that she was insane? What bullsh*t! How was it that the need to authenticate evidence never crossed the judge's or the lawyers minds? Greg watched the two women in each other's arms, and he couldn't help but feel moved. Lucianne had no responsibility over what happened to Alissa, yet it was so obvious that she cared, despite the fact that Alissa was labeled a criminal by the system that Lucianne automatically had to defend when she became the queen.

Greg didn't recall a single instance where his late aunt, Queen Vera, would take the mildest interest in a subject. Heck! The late queen didn't even take an interest in him, and he was her nephew!

Lucianne was now listening to her people's plight like she was a friend or a sister, even when she didn't have to. Everything about her was just so...different.