Chapter 192

At Blue Crescent, Lucianne dashed to the packhouse first while Xandar,

Juan and Hale took a little more time. She wanted to butter up her

overprotective adoptive father before he met her mate. Ken and Janice

didn't live in this packhouse after retiring as Alpha and Luna but they

stayed here for the past month to babysit the grandkids. Juan and

Hale's kids were still in school, so it was just the adults and the two

servants in the house now.

Ken was already waiting at the entrance when Lucianne ran into his

open arms as she called out “Daddy!” like a little girl. After squeezing

the girl he raised as his own, he managed a small smile and asked,

“Buying brownie points for your mate, baby girl?” 3

Lucianne showed her doe eyes and said, “Xandar is really nice, dad. And

I really love him. Promise to go easy on him?”

Ken narrowed his eyes and retorted, “No man is nice, baby girl. I

thought I taught you that.”

“What about you, dad? You're nice.” Lucianne continued to speak with

innocent eyes.

Ken sighed His heart always melted whenever Lucianne looked at him

like that, and he patted her twice on the head like he did ever since she

was merely a child as he said, “You know I'm only nice to my little girl.

As for your mate...if I kill him, I promise it'll b e a quick death.”

Before Lucianne could protest, Ken smiled wider and said, “It was a

joke, Lucy. Lighten up. Go help your mother. She's in the living room

arranging the cookie jars.”

Lucianne was not going to leave until he did. She knew Ken. In her

schooling years, guys have come over to the packhouse for tutoring

sessions since she did well in science and mathematics, and Ken was

strict with all of them even though Lucianne assured him that they were

just classmates, nothing more. Now, Ken was going to meet her fiancé.

There was no telling how he would behave when he met Xandar.

Xandar, Juan and Hale were waiting patiently behind the father-and-

daughter pair, being careful not to interrupt them. They heard the last

part of the conversation, which did not ease Xandar's anxiety at all. Juan

went to his father first, and the two shook hands like formal

acquaintances rather than embrace each other like father and son. Ken

then hit Juan at the back of his head with his palm, as if it was for

disobeying him.

Juan knew exactly what that was for. Ken had been complaining non-

stop about Juan giving Xandar his blessing to propose to Lucianne

BEFORE Ken gave his own. And Ken didn’t even want to get started on

the fact that Lucianne was already marked BEFORE he met the idiot

who did it!

As Xandar watched Juan's interaction with his father, he began to

wonder if Lucianne was really the adopted one. Maybe he would have

had an easier time courting Juan instead. 4

After Ken patted his daughter-in-law on her shoulder to acknowledge

her return, it was Xandar's tum to step forward. His animal took a deep

breath as Xandar approached the old man and shook his hand, trying

his best to not look too intimidated by his hard stare. Lucianne and

Juan exchanged tense glances, both hoping that Ken wouldn't throw a

punch on the new addition to their family

Ken's expression was unreadable, and when he released Xandar's hand,

the Lycan King uttered a properly-rehearsed, sincere apology for not

making the effort to meet Ken and Janice sooner. That seemed to cool

Ken a little.

“At least he isn't too egotistical to own up to what he did wrong’, Ken

thought to himself. He knew that Lucianne was watching, so the

adoptive father didn’t say or do anything that may upset his little girl

Everyone then adjourned to the living room, where Janice was.

Xandar presented Ken and Janice the gifts that he and Lucianne picked

out for them. Ken got a leather wallet, and Janice got a necklace. Janice

was elated and impressed. Ken was not, but nonetheless grudgingly

thanked Xandar after being nudged by his wife.

Janice was more welcoming with Xandar. She even offered him a hug

before they all sat in the living room. The former Luna took a great

interest in Xandar's life, and asked him all sorts of questions, from his

family to his hobbies. When Xandar sheepishly mentioned that he liked

reading anything on history, Ken was pleased despite not showing it. It

was almost impossible to find another person who loved to read as

much as his little girl did these days, so the seemingly-cold father

would admit that he felt... grateful Xandar and Lucianne shared this in

common.

When Janice ran out of questions to ask after two hours, Lucianne

talked animatedly about her dates with Xandar. She only told Ken and

Janice over texts and short mind-links before, so she was elaborating

further now. The sight of their adopted daughter glowing when she

mentioned that Xandar bought her all those books made Janice smile

wider, and made Ken scowl less. And when Lucianne got out her phone

to show them the reading wonderland that Xandar built for her in his

villa, the ice in Ken's heart

thawed a little more.

When Ken asked about their infiltration in Wu Bi Corp, Lucianne,

Xandar, Juan and Hale all knew they were walking on eggshells from

here. Juan and Lucianne agreed to share the details with their parents

face-to-face, and they were to do it together. Since Ken was softest to

Lucianne, she took the lead. Lucianne tried to water down the severity

of her situation but to no avail.

She couldn't lie about it since Ken would just see right through her. And

Ken threw sharp glares at Xandar and Juan when Lucianne reached the

part of the rogues pinning her to the wall before Jake tried to mark her

by force. Janice had to hold her mate's hand when Lucianne reached

the part of the Oleander.

Lucianne tried to lighten the mood by speaking cheerfully about how

the Queen's Authority could be emitted in her human form but was

strongest when she brought her animal forward to combine its strength

with her own. But even the mention of the Queen's Authority didn't

seem to make Ken any less enraged. If looks could kill, Xandar and Juan

would have died right then and there. When Lucianne finished the

story, even she held her breath to wait for Ken to say something.