"Mother… won't you assist me?" Leland said and came in between them at once. He would rather keep his mother with him, than let her have breakfast alone with Sophie. He didn't trust Isolde.
He added, "You are the one who brought all of these people with you. This had been an unnecessary visit. You could have come with a smaller and discreet group. I need you to manage this together."
"Leland, don't forget that these are all Blood River Pack members. They are not strangers who don't know what to do. Besides, you have Lucas here too." Isolde smiled at her son and then threw a look in Sophie's direction.
She added, "Besides, isn't it time that I meet my daughter-in-law? You have robbed me of the opportunity to get to know her by getting married in secret."
Sophie batted her eyes uncertainly and she honestly felt a little underdressed. Even though Isolde had come from outside and was wearing traveling clothes, she still looked incredible whereas Sophie was in her nightgown.
She really should have thought this through. Uff... she felt so modest compared to her mother-in-law.
"Good morning, mother-in-law," Sophie curtsied and looked at the older woman. She was a bit nervous and didn't know how to introduce herself properly. What should she say? "My name is Sophia Hansley Ferdinand Romanov… Salazar?"
"I know who you are, dear." Isolde glanced up and down at Sophie from head to foot. She pursed her lips and nodded. "Yes, you take after your mother, Anne, so much. Though I can see the human heritage that you have."
Sophie's eyes widened and she was startled for a moment. She looked at Isolde in surprise. "Y-you… you know my mother as well?"
Since Leland had been quite secretive about his past and only recently opened up to Sophie, she didn't quite know how Leland's father and mother were both intertwined and connected to her mother so much.
"Yes." Isolde nodded and noticed the stares of several other people on her. She cleared her throat and smiled. "I can tell you a lot about the good things of your mother while she was in our tribe before Leland was even born, my dear."
Sophie felt curiosity course through her heart at Isolde's words.
Both of her parents hid the true origins of their family and so she longed to hear more about her mother. In the past, she had heard stories about her father from her grandfather but now she wanted to know about the life of Anne before she met Jack Hansley.
Since Leland ended up bringing his mother back to Livstad anyway, didn't that mean that the two of them actually managed to make up or something? That was Sophie's assumption.
She realized she must treat her mother-in-law well in order to preserve the good relationship between Leland and Isolde.
She smiled and nodded. "I… it would be an honor if you could spare some time with me, mother-in-law."
"Isolde is fine," the older woman said.
Sophie's eyes widened and she shook her head. "I couldn't possibly call you just like that and use your name without any honorifics."
"Don't worry, it's fine with me." Isolde insisted. "If you called me 'mother-in-law', I will feel so old."
The truth was, Isolde felt disgusted that Anne's daughter addressed her as mother-in-law. Not in this lifetime! Fortunately, she was so skilled in hiding her own feelings. So, Sophie didn't see any negative emotions in Isolde's expression.
Before Leland could actually come and stop his mother, Isolde started to walk down the hallway. She walked past Duncan and Max who came to help Leland.
Isolde started to complain aloud and pointed out things that caught her eye. "This manor we're in is terribly small, I can detect where the dining room is through scent alone. How can humans really live in such a small place such as this?"
Sophie needed to chase after Isolde, but she first looked at Leland and noticed his anxious expression. She stepped closer to her husband, squeezed his hand, and then kissed his cheek.
"I'll be fine. Handle the rest of the pack first and I'll see you later okay?" Sophie's eyes twinkled for a moment. "I actually have a surprise to tell you later, Leland. I think you will really like it."
Leland sighed at the fact that Isolde still ended up getting what she wanted and even him shouting at her didn't work that much. Now, the Alpha looked at his mate. He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead.
"I am looking forward to what you have to tell me," Leland said with a tired smile. "Please be safe and don't get too close with my mother, alright? Also don't believe everything she has to say? In fact... do not believe any single thing she says. She is good at lying."
Sophie's brows furrowed at her husband's direct and clear warnings against his mother. However, she couldn't help but nod her head seriously. She was aware of what it was like to have awful relatives.
"I'll be careful," she said before she walked after her mother-in-law.
As far as Sophie could see right now, Isolde didn't seem to be so bad… but that had been how Aunt Helga and her cousins used to be. Little by little, they started to see the limits of how they could treat Sophie and saw how they could get away with it.
It only took them a couple of weeks before the abuse started rolling in.
Sophie shook her head and erased the memory away from her head as she stepped inside of the dining room. Isolde was already sitting down and looking at her. She thought that the older woman was fiddling with something.
"Ah, you're finally here." Isolde sighed and motioned to the seat opposite of her. "I'm so glad that we can finally have a moment to sit down and just talk. I've been exhausted from that trip."
It was finally time.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l