The 5-Time Rejected Gamma And The Lycan King Chapter 22

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, members of the Crimson Pack. Please have a seat. I would love to hear from you.” Xandar said amicably.

They all took their seats nearer to Lucianne. The empty seats next to Xandar made him feel that he had a lot of work to do before the werewolves were willing to open up to him. Lucianne then looked at Alpha Wainwright to her left and said, “Alpha Wainwright, please tell our King about the rogue attack last month, the way you told me at tea earlier.”

She nodded encouragingly at the hesitant Alpha. Alpha Wainwright cleared his throat before he look to Xandar and said, “Your Highness, it’s an honour to speak to you. As Gamma Lucianne mentioned, the Crimson Pack was attacked last month. Although we managed to eradicate the threat, our borders have been destroyed when the rogues tried to tear their way through. Our finances have dried up when we used it to rebuild a quarter of pack homes after a fire three months ago. And we had to resort to placing more warriors to protect our borders now. The uh…” he looked at Lucianne, who smiled and nodded, encouraging him to go on.

“The problem, your Highness, is that we wanted to submit a claim for financial relief after the fire but since there wasn't a designated category for this so we couldn’t proceed with the application. We submitted an enquiry regarding the matter to the Defence and Internal Affairs Ministry but we haven’t heard from them. And after the rogue attack last month, we applied to Minister Cummings but it seems that our application hasn't been reviewed as of yet.”

Luna Willa then spoke in a calm and careful voice, “We were hoping, your Highness, that we could have a small loan for us to speed up rebuilding the border. Our warriors are strained from having to stand guard daily instead of taking shifts. And perhaps we could discuss the terms of repayment. If possible, we hope that you’ll give us time to find the funds.”

Lucianne looked at Xandar, who was clinging on to her hand the whole time. His expression was hard and he contemplated in silence before he asked, “What’s the cost of rebuilding the border without compromising the quality of the materials?”

The Alpha said, “Uh, well…” he looked at Lucianne again, who nodded with a small smile in the Alpha’s direction yet again, prompting him to continue. He then met Xandar’s eye and said affirmatively, “My contractor has quoted the price at $100,000, your Highness. But we’d appreciate even a loan that covers 10% of the amount. We’ve already borrowed $70,000 from all our allies combined so we’d be very grateful if...”

Before he could finish, Xandar said, “You can return the borrowed funds to your allies. I’ll speak to the Finance Minister and get her to have the $100,000 transferred to your pack account by the end of the week. This isn’t a loan so there’s no need for a discussion on repayment.”

The three of them gasped in shock. Luna Willa was the first to recover, “Your Highness, that’s a very generous gesture b-but we can’t just accept that. It’s a lofty amount. We insist on repaying with interest.”

Xandar smiled and waved his hand in refusal, “No, Luna Willa. As the governing body, it’s our job to ensure that the welfare of our people is being looked after. This is not a generous gesture, it’s a duty that we must fulfill. I hope you understand, and will accept the money.”

The pack leaders were still lost for words, clearly in shock. Lucianne then prompted Alpha Wainwright, “Alpha?”

He seemed to have finally snapped out of it as he tilted his head to bow to the King and said, “Thank you, your Highness. On behalf of my people, I thank you for the aid. It will help us to recover quickly from the mishaps of the past few months.”

Xandar smiled in response and asked in curiosity and concern, “May I know what caused the fire?”

Alpha Wainwright sighed sadly, “There was a wiring defect in one of the older electric generators. After that incident, we’ve gotten foremen and electricians to check on the remaining generators. Thank goddess we did, there were three more at risk of malfunctioning.”

Xandar nodded and was contemplating on providing relief for that as well but he recalled Alpha Wainwright saying that a quarter of homes had to be rebuilt. He had to check the finances and hear out the other packs before providing relief for the fire. He hoped that the money they had would be enough to cover everyone’s losses but realistically speaking, he might only be able to contribute a percentage of losses that didn’t result from a rogue attack.

From his side, he saw Lucianne’s serious eyes light up, and he turned to see Alpha Juan and Luna Hale approaching them with plates in their hands. Xandar offered a smile and waved them over. “Your Highness, it’s good to see you again.” Alpha Juan said, then he and Luna Hale bowed before Xandar.

“A handshake will do, Alpha Juan, Luna Hale. Please join us.” Xandar said as he patted Juan’s shoulder like they were brothers.

The members of the Crimson Pack suffered another round of shock at how the King just greeted the pack leaders of the Blue Crescent Pack. Juan then thrusted out a hand in Wainwright’s direction with a smile, “Always nice to see you, Wainwright.”