The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 53

In the early evening at Blue Crescent, Alpha Juan got Luna Hale to promise that she would stay in the pack house with their pups while he came out to greet Alpha Zeke, Luna Zelena and Gamma Raden from Blood Eclipse, Gamma Sylvia from Crimson, and also Luna Lovelace from Midnight, along with the pack warriors they brought with them. Juan stationed six of his own warriors around the pack house just to keep his family safe. When Juan reached his allies, he hugged each of them and uttered gratefully, "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

Zeke swallowed a lump in his throat and exchanged an uneasy glance with Zelena before he addressed the Alpha, "There's something you should know, Juan. See, when we were on the road, Ta—"

"AHEM!" A familiar voice pulled the pack leaders' attention away from each other, and they witnessed Toby approaching them in large strides, his car parked next to Zeke's.

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Juan blinked in surprise, but when he saw that his allies didn't share his surprise, he knew he was alone in this. Toby patted Juan on the back and spoke without a smile, "Hope you don't mind, Juan. I invited myself."

The gears in Juan's head turned as he muttered, "If you're here, that means..."

Suddenly, Juan heard his youngest son scream in excitement, “AUNT LUCY!" And everyone saw the little boy dashing out of the pack house, his mother followed closely behind as six cars entered the compound. As soon as the first one pulled to a stop, Lucianne alighted from the passenger's seat before Liam jumped into her open arms.

Juan then complained to Zeke and the others, "You know, the whole point of not telling her was so that she WON'T be here if and when they attacked again."

Zeke argued in defense, "None of us told her!"

"Then how did she find out?! How did HE find out?!" Juan gestured at Toby like he wasn't right next to him.

Toby started being dramatic, "Ooooo....looks like someone snitched, Juan. Who could it be?"

Juan narrowed his eyes. "It really does kill to get White Blood to side with me instead of my sister, doesn't it, Toby?" "Considering that White Blood didn't receive an invitation when the rest of the alliance members did? Yes."

"It's my pack. I make the decisions here. I send the invitations. And the only reason White Blood wasn't on my list was because Tate was where Lucy was. Lucy would've suspected something was up. If she didn't, Xandar would. Tate is not hard to read." Juan noted the obvious as he prayed that Lucianne would speak to Liam and Hale a little longer so that he could come up with a good excuse.

The truth was, if their positions were reversed, Juan would have wanted Lucy to tell him about this threat, too. He would have wanted to know. And he would be enraged if Lucy kept this from him. His eyes would be on fire, much like how Lucianne's orbs were at that moment she began barging towards him.

Juan started wondering why his brother-in-law still had almost no control over Lucianne. He was the king, Goddess damn it! Then again, it wasn't as if Juan himself could control Hale either.

"Any advice?" Juan muttered ominously as he watched Hale and Liam disappear into the pack house. His sister's hair was up in a tight bun like she was ready for a fight. This was not good.

Zeke bit his upper lip for a moment before he suggested, "Ask about Reida, maybe? It might cool Lucy off a little. Good luck." After a 'good luck' pat on Juan's back, every ally took three steps back as Lucianne entered their circle with Xandar, Tate and Margaret. Lucianne looked up at her brother with a sinister smile and said, "Hey, Juan. I had the sudden urge to visit. Looks like I picked the right time. All our closest allies seem to be here as well."

Juan took Zeke's advice when he cleared his throat and asked, "So, how's Reida?"

"She's alright, now in Christian and Annie's place. We didn't bring her along. You know why?" She took one step closer towards her brother and growled under her breath, "Because I heard there was a threat that put two of my friends in the clinic this morning." Juan shot Zeke a glare, "Ask about Reida to cool her down? Does she seem cooled down to you?"

Zeke shrugged and said, "I tried."

Lovelace unhelpfully added, "Juan, honestly. She's your sister. Shouldn't you know best?"

Lucianne's fist was about to land on Juan's jaw before Xandar restrained her arms and held her back by her abdomen, creating a safe distance between the siblings.

"Baby, breathe," he cooed into her ear that was also heated with fury.

Juan decided to use this little time to explain to the struggling, onyx-eyed former Gamma of Blue Crescent, "Lucy, I was going to tell you."

Toby interrupted in disbelief, "Were you?" Tate nudged Toby, prompting him to be quiet.

As Lucianne continued struggling to break away, Juan continued racking his brain for a plausible explanation, "We just wanted to be sure about our suspicions before we told you."

Xandar was now familiar with Lucianne's forms of attack, so he knew that he had to restrain her by her arms and one leg to hold her in place. But he threw Juan a worried look, his way of saying, "I don't know how much longer I can hold her." "Baby, please. Just breathe. Save your strength for battle. How about that? If you fight Juan now, you'd have less strength to fight later if we have to fight."

Lucianne took a few heavy breaths and stopped trying to escape. Xandar started loosening his grip before he realized that Lucianne was misleading him to do just that to ease her escape. He pulled her back immediately and she was growling aloud now. Some of the Blue Crescent folks who were minding their own business even flinched at the sound. One of the warriors on his way to border duty almost tripped.

"Aunt Lucy?" Liam's sudden voice put Lucianne's struggling and murderous thoughts to a halt. Every adult's eyes zoned in on the little boy who dared approach the monstrous queen when everyone else was kept at a safe distance from her.

Xandar let his wife go when he felt her mood go soft, and his human part knew that Lucianne wouldn't be violent around children. Lucianne went from a ready-to-kill lycan to the sweet-and-attentive aunt when she smiled brightly and squatted to give her nephew her full attention, "Yes, Liam?"

"I made this for Reida. Can you give it to her?" Lucianne looked at the rocket ship Liam drew and colored, with two kids inside. One with the label 'Liam', the other was labelled 'Reida'. Her animal cooed as her heart melted. She noticed that Liam even glued a small piece of folded cardboard on the back so that the drawing would stand.

Her eyes glistened as she wrapped the little boy in a hug and whispered, "Thank you, Liam. Reida would love it."

When she parted their bodies and pecked a kiss on his forehead, Liam asked with guilty eyes, "Aunt Lucy, are you angry at me for asking you to come back?"

"YOU ASKED HER TO COME BACK?!" Juan exclaimed in shock. Of all the snitchers! Juan thought he made his pups stay in their rooms before he spoke to Hale. How did Liam even tell his aunt?! He had no phone!

Liam was visibly frightened by his father's outburst, and instinctively took a step closer to his favorite person. Lucianne cupped one of his cheeks and gently made him look at her as she said, “No, Liam. Aunt Lucy isn't angry. I'm proud of you. Thank you for telling me."

Liam gave Lucianne another hug before Lucianne made him promise that he was going to stay with his mother and siblings in the pack house while the adults dealt with things. At the pack house entrance, Liam gave Lucianne a little wave before disappearing behind the door. Juan signaled the warriors he stationed there to lock it.

Lucianne's sights returned to Juan when she showed him the drawing that Liam gave her and declared, "If secrets like this are kept from me again, it'll be you alone on this rocket ship on a one-way trip to space."

Toby scoffed. Greg and the others pressed back smiles.

Juan rolled his eyes and then suggested, "Let's just talk about this at the crime scene."