The 5-time Rejected Gamma & the Lycan King
Chapter 152

Chapter 152

The Duke suggested, “I'll mind-link Annie, and we'll see if you can find your way in.”

Lucianne seemed uncomfortable when she asked the Duke and Duchess, “Are you sure?”

Annie scoffed as she said, “Lucy, what's there to be unsure about? You've only ever looked out for us. We'll give it a go if you want to.” Lucianne still felt it to be wrong as she took a breath and muttered a reluctant “okay’. Their eyes started to glaze over, and Lucianne tried her best to enter their link. After a whole minute of failed attempts, she gave up. Everyone was a little disappointed but they couldn't blame Lucianne for not being able to do it. She could already do more than every single one of them.

“I can't. I couldn't find a way in. I'm sorry.” Lucianne said guiltily. Xandar stroked her hand as he said gently, “Maybe it's because you can't find it in your heart to find a way in, Lucy.” His comforting lilac eyes peered into her sad, black orbs as he explained, “You told me that you feel this ability you have is invasive and wrong. And you told me that you've only hacked into the pack leaders’ group link twice. Both times, you had a dire need to stop Juan, to defend those he was yelling at."

After pecking an assuring kiss on her hand, he continued, “Maybe you have to see a need to hack into the link between Christian and Annie, sweetheart. A dire need, where you feel like you need to do this to protect or defend someone.”

Lucianne internalized her mate's words, and she felt like a mental block was removed from her mind. When she came up with a reason she hoped would be good enough, she turned to Christian and Annie and asked, “Can we try it again?”

They smiled and nodded, their eyes glazed over again. Lucianne took another deep breath as she stared at the notepad in front of her and focused on her reason to hack. In less than ten seconds, her eyes glazed over, and the alliance started to get excited as Toby wowed in awe and Zelena squealed in delight.

Xandar smiled in pride as he watched his mate's glazed-over eyes. “Unbelievably amazing’, he thought to himself.

When the Duke and Duchess's eyes cleared, so did Lucianne’s. She narrowed her eyes and smirked in Christian's way as she said, “No, Christian. I cannot hack computers with my mind like how I'm trying to hack mind-links."

The Duke laughed in response, as did some of the others. When the laughter died down, Lucianne asked more seriously, “Did either of you feel me when I entered?”

Christian's smile faltered a little when he said, “Unfortunately, we could, my Queen. Not that we knew it's you per se but we knew that there was someone in our link with us. The feeling is similar to being watched. You came in when I was talking about the wine, did you, my Queen?” Lucianne’s eyebrows raised in surprise as she said, “No, I entered before that, when you and Annie were talking about how much to tip the delivery guy who's coming in ten minutes with the surprise birthday cake that we agreed to split. And I'm good with sixty dollars. The guy is working on a holiday after all.”

To say that the Duke was shocked would be an understatement. Xandar was the first to scoff and laugh at his cousin's widened eyes and gawked mouth.

Christian looked at Lucianne in annoyance and complained, “Seriously, my Queen? Couldn't you at least

use a codeword for “surprise birthday cake’? The term was self- explanatory. It was meant to be a surprise!”

All the wolves were already chuckling at the Duke's reaction. He was more annoyed with the spoiled surprise than he was impressed with her ability to hack mind-links without being detected in the early stages of his link with Annie.

Lucianne tried to press back a smile as she said, “Well, I really thought you didn't mind me being privy to that information since you and Annie kind of invited me in.”

“That's because we didn't feel you there at that time!” Christian defended, which even made Annie laugh with the others. Lucianne couldn't help it anymore, and she burst out laughing with everyone else with the Duke's demeanor that only showed upset betrayal.

Christian's sights moved to his cousin, and he said in annoyance, “Cuz, you've gotta admit, this is getting out of hand. It was supposed to be a surprise!”

Xandar laughed a little more before he pecked a kiss on Lucianne’s temple and looked deeply into her eyes as he declared, “I love you.” Lucianne blushed as she uttered in a shy voice, “I know. I love you, too.” Christian threw his hands in the air and muttered in mock irritation, “And this love is going to be the death of all birthday surprises.”

After another stream of laughter followed, they concluded that Lucianne could hack into links for a little while before being detected. The next question was: how long could she eavesdrop on a link before raising suspicions? To test this, they put Toby's plan into action. Basically, they would watch Lucianne as she tried to hack into the link. The moment her eyes glaze over, Toby will start the timer on his phone and only stop when either Christian or Annie tap on the table to indicate that they feel an external presence in their link.

In the first round with Christian and Annie, Lucianne lasted thirty-one seconds before Annie tapped on the table when she felt Lucianne’s presence. In the second one with Zeke and Zelena, Lucianne lasted thirty-five seconds. In the third one with Zeke and Raden, she lasted thirty-seven seconds.

But in the fourth one between Zelena and Raden, she lasted only nine seconds before she left the link, and her hands supported her head with her elbows anchored on the table.

“Baby, are you okay?” Xandar asked in worry as he moved closer to her and started stroking her shoulders.

“Mm-mm.” She moaned in fatigue.

"She's exhausted. That's the downside of the gift.” Juan said in dismay as he strode to his sister's side.

Xandar rubbed comforting circles on her shoulders as he watched her helplessly. Only after three minutes was Lucianne able to open her eyes. Her head still felt heavy when she looked at Toby and asked, “Round four was the worst, wasn't it?”

Xandar sighed in relief when he heard her voice again. Toby then said, “Cut yourself some slack, Lucy. You were just worn out.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Xandar asked.

“A little nauseous and...dizzy.” Lucianne muttered.

Xandar gave her his glass of water, and he helped her hold it as she took a few sips but she didn't feel any better.

Christian's phone beeped, and he uttered softly, “I'm going to go get the cake.”

After he left the room, Lucianne had to close her eyes again because the dizziness seemed to be worsening. Very carefully, Xandar lifted her off her chair and placed her on his lap, holding her body close to his chest like how he held her on his jet. As Lucianne felt his warmth and took in his scent, her dizziness subsided and the feelings of nausea dissipated. The mate-bond helped her recover from her fatigue quicker than if she did it on her own.

Her eyelids lifted slowly and she was immediately met with her mate's worried lilac orbs. Lucianne smiled as she reached for his cheek and uttered, “Thank you.”

“Are you feeling a little better, baby?” Xandar asked.

Lucianne nodded and explained, “The mate-bond helped me recover faster.”

Xandar, Juan and everyone else felt their tension eased when they heard that. Christian came in just in time to witness Lucianne trying to get up, and the Duke said, “Thank Goddess you're okay, my Queen, or this would've been a sad surprise-spoiled birthday party. At least now it's just surprise-spoiled.”

With her regained strength, Lucianne argued, “No, it isn't. There's still mmph..." Juan's hand came quickly t o cover his sister's mouth before anything else came out of it. It was then Xandar noticed that more than half of the alliance members had disappeared, maybe about the time Christian left the room when Xandar was focusing on Lucianne in his arms. Even Annie wasn't there. 1

When the wolves and the Duchess re-entered his office with large containers of fragrant food, Xandar gaped in surprise. The wolves who stayed back in the office went forward to help them. It was clear that the alliance planned a surprise potluck lunch for Xandar's birthday.

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