The Rogues Who Went Rogue
Chapter 137

Lucianne explained to Greg the same way she explained to Xandar the previous night, "Yes, Greg. Your scent. Ever since you've disclosed housing 98 rogues, none of us could fathom how you never smelled like a rogue. When you confessed to being the one leading the rogue world, the issue of why your natural scent was preserved became even more perplexing. I thought you used scent sprays at first, but you didn't always have those on hand even when you were in prison, so that couldn't be it. The only logical explanation is that you were never a rogue." "O...kay?" Greg tried to keep up before he said, "That's probably because no matter what I do, I'm still of royal lineage, My Queen."

Xandar countered, "That can't be it, Greg. In the past, any king or queen who had been dethroned and thrown to the rogues with their loyal followers did not retain their natural scent. And anyone who pledged loyalty to the rogue world through words or actions would inevitably smell like a rogue as well. You're LEADING the rogue world. You should smell like them, not us."

"I'm definitely feeling the love, cousin." Greg murmured sarcastically but he couldn't help but agree that his situation was odd.

Lucianne pushed her hair back to stop Reida from chewing on it before she explained, "You've always served the kingdom, Greg. That's why you never smelled like a rogue. You were never one. You didn't...pledge loyalty to the rogue world over the kingdom. Your actions showed that you've always prioritized helping the creatures that this kingdom didn't help. You gave those who fell victim to the systems the second chance they needed to stand back up again. You may have protected the rogues, but you were never a rogue yourself because you still cared about what happened to the ones no one bothered to empathize with. A rogue wouldn't have cared about what happened to a kingdom or anyone in a pack once they've been casted out. But you...even when you disappeared for sixteen years, you never stopped caring for that portion of the population."

Greg couldn't deny any of that. He reminisced about the times he got creatures out of prison and trained them to be his followers as he murmured, "Well, caring isn't very difficult when one is able to...relate to them in some way."

Lucianne and Xandar said nothing as they watched him ponder while looking at the table before he continued in a low murmur, "I wasn't the...most well-behaved student throughout school, which should come as no surprise, and it always got me into trouble. I did do those things on purpose sometimes, but other times, it was just a miscalculation that made a prank go too far. Teachers and administrators also saw the need to either get me transferred or expelled, and the only thing that kept me in was my family's status. I was viewed in a certain way and suddenly everything that I was actually good at became....meaningless. I didn't want anyone else to feel that...just because they have a dark side..."

"It doesn't mean that they can't also be the light." Lucianne finished for him when he was groping for the right words. He nodded in agreement, and Lucianne continued, "You harnessed their strengths the way you wished someone had helped harness yours." "That sounds too noble to match what I became, My Queen. Let's not forget, I do discriminate since I only take lycans. And I did certain..." he glanced at Xandar and said, "...things...that are not worthy of forgiveness." Xandar muttered under his breath, "Good of you to know that."

Lucianne's free hand reached for her husband's hand on his lap to stroke it before she said to Greg, "None of those...'things' were right. But you don't need to be a pure, clean slate to be noble, Greg. You have a side that's darker than most, and will go through great lengths to get what you want. But you've also been the light that your followers so desperately needed to climb out of the abyss, and the beacon that kept them alive and going, and now thriving. You're not perfect, Greg. None of us are. But you are enough."

Greg's animal was so touched that it was wiping its tears and cooing in tenderness at the acceptance it was feeling. Its human part was trying to get it to snap out of it as he bit his bottom lip to hold back his own tears from surfacing. After a long moment with the only sound being Reida hitting the table with her teddy and then checking to see if all parts were still intact, Greg replied in a small voice, "Thank you, My Queen."

Xandar was very tempted to tease his cousin about those eyes that were close to watering because showing this much emotion was a big deal for someone like Greg, who had always presented a tough exterior. His wife felt his humor, knowing exactly what he wanted to do, so she squeezed his hand and threw him a stern look to stop him. Xandar ended up chuckling lightly and pecking a sweet kiss on her hand before changing the subject.

Xandar then asked, "Greg, I have one question though...when you held office, funds went missing. Did you..."

"That was NOT me." Greg argued defensively, knowing that both his cousins had been looking at him suspiciously ever since that issue surfaced all those years ago. "Then who was it?" Lucianne asked.

Greg faced Xandar when he asked with furrowed brows, "Didn't you question how Uncle Lucas and his wife were suddenly able to afford a two-month trip halfway around the world, coming back with shopping bags of all kinds that took twenty servants three hours to get everything into the castle and in order? Also, bear in mind that they weren't the money-saving type."

Xandar thought aloud, "They told me that it was an education fund that was kept untouched for a second child that they never had, and I checked the accounts. It confir-"

Greg narrowed his eyes when Xandar met his gaze and the king matched the duke's look when he uttered, "He tampered with the accounts."

Greg uttered with a sarcastic smile, "Don't you just love the old man, cousin?"

All Xandar said was, "I hate you, Greg."

Greg scoffed in amusement like it didn't bother him one bit. "Get those cops in the hacking department to check if you want. I looked through their credentials and history. They should be able to crack this. It's not very complicated." The duke then added, "And I do admit that I wasn't very smart to buy that car at that time too. The timing was terrible. My businesses had a sudden boost, a legal one. With hindsight, I'd say I should have celebrated later."

Xandar then clarified his last lingering doubt. "About that...when you prioritized profits over caring for the people, it was because..."

Greg's face was dead serious when he continued for Xandar, "Because the people in the kingdom weren't worthy to be cared for and protected in the way that the law said they were entitled to. They were the very creatures who shunned anyone who made mistakes, practically gave outcasts like Ivory, Alissa and the others no choice but to turn rogue."

Xandar smiled in comprehension, "The profits were never for yourself. It was for them - your followers."

"That sounds a little too nice, cousin. I would have taken some for my own hard work before giving them their cut. I'm not you or Blackfur. And uh...up until I met the queen, I really didn't give a damn about wolves, so I didn't see a point in securing their safety or sharing anything with them, unlike the goody-two-shoes that you and that other cousin have been the whole time."

Xandar scoffed softly at the way he phrased things. "That's...good to know too, I guess."

Lucianne started whispering to Reida again, "See, Reida. They can get along. This was a good heart-to-heart, don't you think?" Reida chuckled again. Greg had the sudden urge to say, "My Queen, why do I get the feeling that the princess was brought here for a reason other than to be kept an eye on?"

Lucianne mocked ignorance and said, "I have no idea what you're trying to suggest, Your Grace. My intentions have ALWAYS been the very embodiment of directness and purity."

Xandar burst out laughing first, and Greg tried but failed to press back his smile as he covered his mouth in an attempt to stifle his own laughter. It took a lot of effort to get a hold of himself before he managed to say, "If you say so, My Queen."

The two cousins knew that Lucianne was not 'always' direct or pure, especially when it came to traitors and anyone who posed a risk to the kingdom's safety. Even in her years as a Gamma, she had to think like a rogue to actually know how and where a rogue would strike. The way she was still training everyone to mislead an opponent in combat and how to not be misled exemplified that her mind was capable of manipulating others.

And, at present, although Lucianne wanted Reida close to her and Xandar, there was no denying that the princess was also being used to have the two cousins be more open about mending their relationship. Lucianne didn't expect them to like each other anytime soon, but it was great that they could finally hold a conversation without angering one another.

When Greg walked them out, the sneaky princess mouthed the only word she knew at her uncle when her mother wasn't looking. After Reida is safely strapped in the baby car seat, Greg cleared his throat and said, "I've been meaning to thank you both."

Lucianne and Xandar looked at him in bewilderment before he continued, "For what you gave Alissa."

The couple exchanged a nervous glance before Lucianne said, "We really wanted to do more, Greg. We've consulted six legal advisers who've all told us that her case had been properly tried in legal terms. The law applied and executed wasn't...wrong. Her excessive sentencing, as it turns out, was not excessive. It was legally permissible, so there was technically nothing wrong with how everything turned out."

Greg nodded with a small smile and confessed, "I know. I consulted my own set of lawyers when it happened too. But she is happy with what you gave her."

Xandar admitted, "We expected her to refuse it, to be honest. It's just a journalistic story. It won't change what happened to her."

"Nothing will change what happened to her, cousin. It's done. But the offer gives her a chance to tell everyone about what wasn't emphasized in the media at that time, and if it goes the way we want it to, she might even get to meet her kids without fear of being arrested or shunned."

"Let's hope it goes that way." Lucianne muttered.