"What?!" Sophie looked at him in surprise and yet before Leland could say anything else, the midwife already approached her and was cradling the two lycan pups in her arms. She gently placed them in Sophie's arms.
As soon as she caught sight of her babies, Sophie felt tears prick her eyes.
These lycan pups had the same exact color as Nicholas' hair and she felt her love grow in this moment for her two children. "Oh… they can't still open their eyes either huh?" Sophie lovingly held her babies in her arms and gently kissed their foreheads.
Then, she remembered something and her face was immediately flustered.
Sophie looked at the midwife and asked, "What about breastfeeding?"
"You do not have to worry about it," the midwife replied. "Lycans are easy enough to take care of compared to human babies. Within two weeks, your children will know how to walk and before you know it, they can run. Breastfeeding is the least of your concerns."
Leland felt a sudden wave of embarrassment overcome him at the mention of Sophie's breasts and yet he also felt a wave of jealousy when the thought of the lycan pups sucking on their mother's breasts came to his mind.
The Alpha felt his libido was aroused at that moment and he felt ashamed of himself. How could he even think about… that… when Sophie just gave birth to her children? Leland realized he needed to restrain his impulses.
At this particular moment, the urge to leave the room struck Leland because he knew that Sophie's attention was solely on her children. She would need some time to be alone with them.
However, the man stood still in the room. He didn't make any movement, standing still almost like a statue. Sophie lifted her head and locked gazes with the Alpha of the pack and she still felt a wave of uncertainty come through her.
She didn't want to sleep or rest. She had so many questions. Why did Duke Romanov move to Hastings from Frisia? Did he know Sophie was pregnant with lycan pups from the beginning?
Did he really marry Sophie to help him socialize with the nobility in Riga? And… was Duke Ariam Romanov was even his real name?
The man spoke kindly to Sophie and said, "Please let the midwife or Dinah take care of your children. You also need to rest."
As a first-time mother, Sophie had to work so hard to deliver her babies earlier. Leland witness her struggle and how exhausted she must have been now. He wanted her to think about herself for once and rest so she could quickly recover.
"But…" Sophie protested.
"You do not have to worry about anything here, Sophia," Leland said. "If we had had any intention of hurting you, then we would have done it right away. I know that you have a lot of questions but we'll save it for when you're well rested, okay?"
Sophie couldn't argue with the man's logic because it made perfect sense. Slowly she glanced up at the midwife who then accepted her precious children and she came to realize that all this time, she didn't even think of a name or names yet.
However, before she could finally decide and actually ask as to whether the lycan pups were a boy or girl, Sophie felt a wave of drowsiness and fatigue hit her really hard.
For the past few months that she had been here, Sophie was always on guard. She was always tense and up on her feet that she never actually got a real moment to simply breathe and relax.
It was hard for Sophie to truly rest and feel at ease because of everything that happened. So, now, she was struck with tiredness and then slowly drifted off into sleep.
As soon as Leland saw his mate's breathing relax and her expression ease up, the Alpha felt relieved because after giving birth to two lycan pups, it was near impossible to not be tired and be in need of rest. It's good to see Sophie could take her much-needed sleep.
Giving birth was an amazing thing and Leland had nothing but respect for Sophie. Her love for her children touched him. was a great contrast to his mother who kept using the fact that she was the one who gave birth to Leland as a way to dominate over him and use it as an influence over him as well.
"Alpha? What shall we do with these lycan pups?" the midwife asked.
The people in the castle could tell that the children were not their Alpha's from their appearance and their scent. So, it meant that the Alpha's wife had children with another lycan.
If there was anything else a bit humiliating for an Alpha… or rather even impossible to think about, it was to have his mate bear children for someone else.
Most Alpha in the respective pack would have a mate and they would be mates for life if possible. So the fact that Leland's mate, Sophie, actually gave birth to someone else's child was enough to make his pack members uneasy.
What would the other packs say when they see that the Blood River Pack's Alpha had a mate that was already someone else's wife and even had children with another man who was not the alpha?
Female lycans who suddenly became widows if their husbands died in a hunt would often just raise their children by themselves and rarely looked for a new husband because lycans were fiercely loyal.
For an Alpha, it was avoided to marry widows because the hierarchy would start to become a bit confusing. Did the children he adopt also become possible heirs to become the next Alpha?
Leland was aware of how bloody it could get within other packs. Those situations often resulted in the older lycan children getting the Alpha's real children killed so they could secure the title of Alpha.
It was all so annoying and aggravating to deal with.
Leland's eye twitched as he glanced at the two lycan pups cradled in the arms of the midwife. If he was going to have children with Sophie in the future, then these two cubs could actually fight with his children for the throne.
But fortunately for them, the possibility of Sophie ever having children with him was slim. So, he said. "What else do we need to do? Take care of them, of course."
He would deal with the consequences later. For now, he would do everything he could to protect not only Sophie but her children as well.
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