The Lycan King’s Second Chance Mate by Sumi

REAGAN'S POV.

"You called." Kyle announces the moment he walks into my office. I stop pacing and face him. The conversation I had with the elders a while ago has leftin a very bad mood.

My heart is heavy and strained. I have very few people on my side and one of them is this man standing before me. His parents and sister are the ones causing all these problems and even though he has assuredtand again that he's unbothered by their shenanigans, I like to check in every now and then to know how he's holding up because I know it's not easy for him either. This is his family we are talking about.

"Yeah. I did." "Any problem?" He approaches me. "How did the meeting with the elders go?" "Horrible, but that's not what I want us to discuss right now." I wave the topic off, but Kyle shakes his head in denial.

"Now I want to know what happened. Those three elders were on your side the last twe had a meeting. How cthis one went wrong?" "Well..." I throws my hands in the air. "It seems the others have succeeded in winning them to the other side. Can you imagine those elders boldly askedto rethink my decision of choosing Ashanti as the Luna of this pack? Said something about her being shady and troublesome, lately. You know sometimes, I dread the fact that my father taughtmanners, because God! I wanted to throw those old men against the wall and pick them up again and punch them until their faces went numb. How dare they!" I ask, breathing hard and Kyle simply shakes his head.

"Well..." He shrugs. "That's expected. They are old men who know nothing. Don't let their words get to you. Let's focus on solving this problem ourselves and proving them wrong." "I can't wait for that to happen." He givesa gentle pat on my shoulder and walks past me. I swallow the anger bubbling in my throat and will myself to stay calm and collected. I'm about to have a very serious conversation with Kyle and I don't want my anger or any negative feeling clouding my mind and makingsay things I'm not supposed to say.

"Why are you looking atlike that? It's creepy." Says Kyle, givinga side eye. I let out a small chuckle and beckon him over to the sitting area where we both sit on opposite sofas.

"Kyle." I call calmly, quietly.

"Yeah." "You do know this is a very complicated situation, don't you." He calmly nods his head.

"I'm very much aware of that." "Good." I let out a deep breath. "Now, this is what I've figured out and the conclusion I've drawn." "I'm all ears." "It's true that the news ofimpregnating Alina did not sit well with Ashanti. She was furious and jealous and any other girl would have felt the sway. It's normal. But never did she think or talk about hurting Alina, what she wanted was forto send her away so I could be with Alina since Alina was already pregnant for me." Kyle's eyes widen in surprise and I nod my head. "Yes. These past days, I've had to lock her up in the penthouse at my chambers because she kept trying to run away. There's no way she could have been the one who poisoned Alina, which means, Alina set her up. Do you believe that." "I do." He agrees with a nod.

"Now, my question is, why would Alina go to the extent of drinking the poison? If she simply wanted to make Ashanti look bad in the eyes of the public, all she had to do was plant the wolfsbane on Ashanti so it would be found on her. Why did Alina have to drink the wolfsbane and kill the child she's carrying? The child she claims is mine and the future heir of this pack. Why would she kill that child just to put Ashanti in a bad spot?" "Because the child wasn't yours. She tried to use one stone to kill three birds. You'd hate Ashanti for killing your unborn child and maybe punish her or send her away. You'd take pity on her, Alina, and decide to marry her and lastly, she'd no longer be pregnant with a child which wasn't yours to begin with and that will give her the chance to now conceive for you." He explains thoroughly and a bright smile spreads on my lips.

"Which means, if we want to prove Ashanti's innocence, we'll have to do so by exposing Alina. By finding evidence that the child she was carrying wasn't mine. Evidence that she planned her own abortion and tried to pin it on Ashanti. That is what we have to prove to the general public in order to get Ashanti out of this mess." "I know this is not the only bad thing my sister has done. She has been doing a lot of terrible things to Ashanti and other girls in that Harem, sof which she has admitted to me, but there's no proof to link them to her. It's true that my family's reputation will be completely ruined if Alina's crimes are brought into the light. Things would go really bad for all of us, but I'm sick and tired of my parents' overprotective attitude towards Alina and their mindset that the family's honour and interests need to be protected at all costs. She's my little sister and I love her to bits, but her crimes are too many and it was about tshe started getting punished for them. Her glory days are over." His temples twitch as he grinds his teeth after giving that very touching monologue. I am amused and speechless.

Proud even.

"Kyle... I'm... I'm very happy to hear you say this. Not that I ever doubted you before. I haven't Not even for a single second, but hearing you say all this just makeshappy and hopeful. You have no idea how grateful I am to have you on my side." He chuckles lightly as his gaze drops to his hands.

"I just wanted to make sure this family isn't swaying you in any way." I add. He looks atagain.

"I will do right by you no matter how much it costs me. I swore an oath of loyalty to and that oath is beyond my ve wish to keep my family's reputation intact. I serve you and you alone in this tof peril. I swear that on my life."

"I believe you." I say, nodding and smiling. "Now that the topic has been settled, let's brainstorm and think of how to expose Alina." "Let's do that." I rise up and head to the wine bar, smiling from molar to molar like an idiot.

I feel very good about this.