Isolde's cheeks suddenly heated up in anger and she released her grip on Leland's face. "Not only have you disgraced us, but you also took care of her children. They are not yours but you've taken them in."
Once again, the Blood River Pack swayed to Isolde's side at her words. All of them were shocked because Leland simply adopted children that were not his? That was giving them an unfair advantage.
"Mother, it does not concern you," Leland said. "It is not the pack's concern to whom or whom I do not consort with. It is my right to choose my mate and take care of her, including that of her children."
Isolde Salazar was afraid of this answer and she chose not to outwardly reveal the promise that Leland was supposed to marry Eloise to her son, so she thankfully had a different tactic.
"I am only worried for you, my son." Isolde sniffed aloud and stepped away from her son. "You do not know about Anne and her choices as much as I do. They are… lovers of humans. I am only looking out after you."
Leland ground his teeth and narrowed his eyes at his mother. "I know Anne more than you because I've lived with her and her family!"
Isolde scrunched up her face at the mention of Anne. She really hated that woman until this day and refused to see the woman and her daughter in a good light.
Whether or not Leland was betrothed to Eloise, Isolde would have hated Sophie anyway for being Anne's daughter.
Isolde eventually sneered and shook her head.
"Even so, I am sure that it was her who planted that nasty thought of marrying her daughter. After she was outcast by the Blood River Pack, Anne probably immediately devised a scheme to get back in and it is through her scheming daughter."
"That's ridiculous!" Leland glared at her. "Anne would never do such a thing."
Isolde smiled and gently patted her son's head. "And that is why you have been fooled and manipulated by that woman, Leland. It took us so long to see each other eye to eye, but now you're going against me?"
"I'm only asking you to respect my decisions, mother." Leland frowned. "I am more than capable of making decisions for myself. I can reassure you that Anne was happy with her husband, Jack Hansley, and did not long to go back to our pack."
"Nonsense, but if she really hadn't…" Isolde shrugged. "It goes to show that she has instead become more warped by humans and is trying to influence you to betray our lycan ideals by using her daughter."
"Sophia didn't even know she is half a lycan until I told her!" Leland growled at his mother. "Do not say that Anne is scheming when it is only you who makes evil plans for your own benefits."
SLAP
"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO YOUR MOTHER LIKE THAT???" Isolde shouted at him and slapped him across the face. "It just goes to show that this daughter of hers has been affecting you with her presence alone! Are you even listening to yourself right now, Leland? You are going against the pack's beliefs because of her."
"You are throwing accusations on this woman that you have never met before, mother." Leland's face stung but he didn't care about himself. It didn't hurt, what pained him was the baseless accusations that his mother was talking about Sophie.
Why couldn't his mother open her heart? Why couldn't she just be genuinely happy for her son? What did Leland even do to harbor so much hate from his mother? His father and brother were already long gone, so now it was only the two of them.
All of these senseless arguments weighed heavily on Leland's soul and mind. It seemed like nothing he did would ever make this woman happy.
"I do not need to see this woman for myself," Isolde smiled at Leland. "She has taken after her mother. The apple does not stray far from the tree and the same goes with you, my son. You've taken after me and your father."
"She has been nothing but supportive of me!" Leland shouted at his mother. "Sophia has also lost her parents because of the Lycan Hunters and also wants the bloodshed to end."
"But will she accept the humans suffering under us?" Isolde smiled cruelly at Leland. "If she was raised as a human, she cannot accept this… She cannot accept you."
"Shut up and stop all of your lies, Isolde." Leland glared at his mother. "I am still the Alpha of the pack so heed my orders or get cast out of Blood River Pack. You will regret speaking against Sophia, my mate."
Isolde's face suddenly morphed a little in surprise and she clenched her fist angrily. "My words do nothing anymore, don't they? You are already a grown man and so you believe your decisions are absolute."
Leland refused to say anything to this manipulative woman.
The Alpha's mother eventually unclenched her fist and the expression on her face suddenly relaxed and she let out a long and repressed sigh. "Ugh, at long last you've finally turned your mother away aloofly."
It was a tone that Isolde never used before around Leland, only her second child. It pricked his ears as he looked at his mother. "What?"
Isolde smiled at her son. Suddenly, she looked like the doting mother that Leland never had. She spoke with a sweet voice. "This was all a test, Leland. I was waiting for the day that you finally stood up against me. It was a task that your father, Alpha Leon, told me before you were born."
Leland couldn't believe his ears and was at a loss for words.
Isolde gently stepped forward and clutched her son's face. "You are your father's firstborn son. He always wanted you to be the one who inherited the title of Alpha and that was why he and I were unbelievably harsh to you."
"No…" Leland's eyes widened and he shook his head. "That can't be…"
Isolde wrapped her arms around her son and engulfed him in a hug. "It was hard on me too, Leland. Putting you through all of this, but things are going to be different now, my son."
.
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From Missrealitybites:
Omg.. such a manipulative woman. I hope Leland wouldn't fall for this.
Read 𝓁at𝙚st chapters at (f)re𝒆we(b)novel.com Only