Note:
Thank you, Kendra (K-Deck) for gifting a castle to this book yesterday. I hope you are having a wonderful day with your family. xx
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"No!" Queen Marianne protested and looked at her son desperately. "Even if we have to conduct investigations, why does it have to be you, Nicholas? We could send someone else to do it. What if it's simply to lure you to your death? A trap?"
"Please do not worry about my safety, mother," Nicholas said. "I will be fine."
He'd rather be anywhere else than here in the palace anyway. He didn't need to steal a glance to his right to know that Karenina had been watching him with glee in her eyes.
Nicholas didn't want to be rude, but he didn't like the way the girl look at him. However, she was his savior and an important guest in his home. Plus, his mother adored Karenina. They spent a lot of time together.
The crown prince would rather go somewhere far away and avoid the girl for the time being. Investigating his grand uncle's death would be a good excuse to leave the capital.
He also needed to find out more about himself since he had forgotten many things from his past after the incident.
Why did he go to Hauntingen in the first place? That was a question he kept asking himself. He didn't remember having a special memory of that area. Why couldn't he remember what he was doing there??
"Oh, Nicholas…" Queen Marianne massaged her temple."Why can't you let other people do the investigation and you just stay here in the capital to wait for their report?"
The queen was worried something bad would happen to her son. After what Nicholas went through, she really didn't want him to risk his life further. She loved the late baron.
Lord Ferdinand was one of her favorite uncles and she even confided Nicholas' condition to him. However, now the old man had died. Whatever they did wouldn't bring him back.
So, why take risks? Nicholas was safer here in the capital than in any other place.
"Mother, it's obvious that the people tasked with the investigation are not doing a good job if we still don't know what happened to Lord Ferdinand," Nicholas insisted.
He really wanted to leave the capital. He felt suffocated. Going to Hastings to do the investigation was a good opportunity, not only to clear his head, try to find out more about himself, and also find out his grand uncle's cause of death.
He added, "People said, if you want something to be done right, you have to do it yourself."
King William nodded. "You are right. I will assign you the investigation. Some early reports actually gave some clues about the involvements of werewolves in his death. I want you to find out if it's true. We have to make sure that such threats could be mitigated as soon as possible."
The king scoffed. His face was filled with contempt as he added, "If they dare attack our extended family members, they will get to us next. We have to investigate and eliminate any werewolves in the kingdom before they attack us in the capital."
"Understood, father," Nicholas nodded respectfully. "I will do my best."
"B-but… you are the crown prince!" The queen was upset. "You will become their target. It's very dangerous."
"Don't worry, mother. I will go undercover. Nobody will know it's me. Besides… I will bring some reinforcement and the king's guards to protect me. You don't have to worry about me." Nicholas touched his mother's hand. "Please… let me do this. This is my responsibility to our family… and as the future king of this country."
Karenina looked at Nicholas in awe. She thought the crown prince was already so handsome and cool, but now he became even more impressive in her eyes. Nicholas was brave, valiant, and cared about his kingdom. She could see him ascend the throne and become an amazing king.
And she would love to be there by his side.
***
Sophie woke up after a beautiful dream that involved her being with Nicholas and her children. In the dream, her two beautiful cubs were now two human toddlers and they were back in Hauntingen and living happily together.
It was such a beautiful dream. Sadly… that was only a dream that would never happen in real life because Nicholas was gone. The children would not know their father, and Nicholas never even knew that Sophie gave birth to his sons.
She sat up and wildly looked around and found herself back in Duke Romanov's castle. She was not with Nicholas but was instead inside of the castle of an Alpha and his pack.
Everything that happened over the course of the four months now seemed to have been suddenly flipped over and there were countless things that needed to be said and discussed.
But first… her babies.
Sophie's heart thundered and she searched for her children. She heaved a sigh of relief when she found them sleeping in a nearby crib. The two beautiful lycan puppies slept together in the same crib, their dark fur looked warm and cozy as they slept.
One was greyish and the other was black. It was easy to tell them apart. Sophie's heart eased in worry compared to how she might have felt if they were not in the same room as her. Now, seeing her babies were sleeping peacefully, Sophie felt warm and fuzzy inside.
Before she knew it, there was a gentle door knock and then Dinah strode in carrying a cart and smiled a bit when she saw that their mistress was awake.
The female lycan greeted Sophie with a relieved smile. "You're finally awake, Ma'am. I hope that you are hungry because we have something good..."
"You hid the fact that you're a lycan," Sophie couldn't help but blurt out.
"And you also hid the fact that you were pregnant at first," Dinah said. She glanced at the two cute lycan puppies slumbering and gently stopped her cart on the bed. She took out the food cover and revealed Sophie's breakfast.
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From Missrealitybites:
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