Xo Novel
Chapter 191
The one-month collaboration came to an official end three days later, and Gamma Tobias Tristan took the stage once again as the Gamma representative and as the stand-in Minister of Defense.
“Good morning, everyone. We've come full circle back to this ceremonial room, and yet the events from the past four weeks have been anything but normal. For one, I now have a private jet.”
Laughter ensued, and many wolves laughed so hard that tears started coming out of their eyes. When it died down, Toby continued, “It goes without saying that this month has been phenomenal. In a historic collaboration between the government, the monarchy and the alliance, we brought down a rogue corporation and arrested its founders who initiated the corruption scheme within the government; dismissed and replaced many incompetent, untrustworthy and undignified ministers; and werewolves now hold temporary positions in government, which may turn permanent if we win the election in nine months time COUNTING THE VOTES OF WEREWOLVES!"
A deafening applause and cheers followed, and Lucianne pecked a kiss on her mate's cheek as she clapped with the others, and her mate pecked a kiss on her lips and temple in return.
Toby's voice continued to ring through the speakers, “Representation is something my species had never dreamt of getting. And speaking of dreams, I must admit that it was never in my wildest dreams that I thought I would see the Lycan King OR Queen fight alongside us. But the battles we fought in the past few weeks showed that our King AND Queen will NEVER leave us on the battleground to fend for ourselves ever again.”
Another round of applause followed as Xandar's fingers entwined Lucianne’s own before he pecked a kiss on her small hand, resting their joined hands on his lap.
Toby proceeded to say, “They prioritize our lives over their own, which is more than we can ask for as their subjects. Of course, my speech wouldn't be complete without addressing the elephant in the room: the fact that I am now one of the few people who can address His Royal Highness by his shortened first name.”
No one laughed louder than Xandar at that point. While everyone laughed and clapped, Toby locked eyes with Lucianne as he started talking about the REAL elephant in the room, “My best friend found her mate. And for once, it was someone who is serious about her; someone who is capable of loving her and protecting her; someone who would do anything and everything to keep her; someone who doesn’t need her to give up who she is and what she loves; and someone who is terrified of losing her.”
Lucianne held back her tears as she started stroking Xandar's hand. Toby continued, “And I would like to take this opportunity to convey an announcement requested to be made by the SECOND scariest creature in the room, who is also my new friend, Xandar, that...” The burst of laughter forced Toby to pause and laugh with everyone. The audience knew that Toby was trying to imply that his best friend was the scariest creature despite her small size.
When he could compose himself, he announced, “Our Queen will be crowned next month, which is long overdue if you ask me.”
The Gamma fixed his eyes on his mentor, who had taught him so much, and said, “You've been a Queen long before you were bonded to the King, Lucy. Most of us saw you as the Queen of Gammas who didn’t need a King. Everywhere you go, you make the people there better. I cannot thank you enough for everything you've taught us, everything you've taught me, and everything you'll continue to teach everyone in your years as the Kingdom's official Queen.”
A booming applause followed. “It's without a doubt that this year's collaboration created history. At the beginning of the month, if you told me that Lycans and werewolves would sit amongst each other as all of you are now, I would've laughed at you, and recommended that you visit a mental asylum. But look at us.”
The Lycans no longer only sat in front and wolves behind. Seating was free now, with both species sitting together, amongst one another. There were smiles, nods of agreement and murmurs of concurrence at what Toby just said.
“Look at how far we've come in just a span of four weeks, and imagine how much further we can go in the span of four months, four years and four centuries!” The power and enthusiasm in his voice made everyone clap again.
“It's time we brought the acceptance and respect we instilled for each other back to our own packs, to show them that we can live a s one. There's still a long way to go in terms of policies and whatnot but for the first time, I have faith. We have faith that this is a start of a new era, a hopeful one, one with great potential. To our cousin species, I thank you as this year's Gamma representative for accepting and respecting us. And thank you for letting us know that you won't kill us.” More laughter ensued, mostly from the Lycans. Weaver was already leaning against Yarrington's shoulder for support as the latter chuckled uncontrollably with his mate.
Toby then started wrapping up his speech, “It has been a pleasure to meet and work alongside so many of you this year, and it is an esteemed honor to speak on this stage twice when the Queen herself was only allowed once. Even then she spoke as the elected Gamma, not the Queen.”
Toby braved through the urge to laugh with the audience again as he finished up, “Before I take my leave; I would like to wish His
Royal Highness the very best of luck when he meets his future adoptive father-in-law, who, from what I've heard, hasn't exactly warmed up to him yet. The former Alpha of Blue Crescent, Ken, is no joke. Like Alpha Juan now, Ken was one of the fiercest Alphas of his time. So, Our King would either come back in one piece, or we would have to settle with only the Queen running the Kingdom in the near future. Let's hope for the best. Have a safe trip home, everyone. And thank you.” 3
The crowd got on their feet, laughing and clapping as Toby stepped away from the microphone. Christian laughed so hard that he was out of breath and was in tears. Annie and Lucianne were no different. Xandar took the last part of his speech a little more seriously than the rest but his mate's beautiful laughter was enough to make him laugh with her.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
Xandar and Lucianne handed the reins of the Kingdom to Christian and Annie as they left for Blue Crescent with Juan and Hale. Lucianne could feel that Xandar was nervous during the whole trip there, and tried her best to calm him, telling him that Ken was actually really nice once he got to know him. They even picked out gifts for Ken and Janice to make sure that the former pack leaders won't be too hard on Xandar.