The boys looked very happy by the compliment. Luciel raised his nose and howled, followed by Jan. They put a big smile on Sophie's face. It was heartwarming. Suddenly the room seemed to be filled with warmth and happiness.
Leland smiled faintly at the scene. He was relieved that the boys could really lift Sophie's mood. They did it so easily, it almost felt like magic. He patted the boys on their backs and praised them too.
"You did great for your age. I know both of you will grow up to be fierce and skilled warriors," he said.
Luciel was extremely pleased, being praised by the Alpha himself, the father they admired and revered by the whole pack.
He nuzzled up against Leland's lap, followed by Jan. Seeing the heartwarming sight, Sophie felt so blessed. She was grateful that her children grew up with such a doting father.
From the day they were born, she had already talked to them about Nicholas, their biological father. So, Luciel and Jan knew Leland was not their real father. She didn't want them to forget about Nicholas.
At that time, she and Leland were still only married in name. So, she didn't want her sons to grow up thinking that they had a claim over the duke's wealth and power. It would be bad for them if they didn't learn to know their place early.
However, when the pups were two months old, things changed and Sophie fell in love with her husband in name, just like he did with her. Their marriage of convenience changed into a real one and Leland had effectively adopted the twins as his.
Still, Luciel and Jan already knew the Alpha was not their biological father. It was too late to pretend that he was, not that Sophie wanted the pretense anyway.
She still loved Nicholas and wanted to keep his memory alive in their sons' lives. But still… seeing the closeness between the boys and Leland made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Ahh… Leland would soon have his own child too. She reflexively looked down on her still flat stomach and rubbed it.
From the corner of his eyes, Leland could see what she was doing. His heart bled at the sight. Sophie didn't even suspect that her pregnancy was affected by the poison. She thought she was just really sick and now she was feeling better.
Before the Alpha could say anything, the door was knocked again. Relieved, he immediately told the servants to enter. Two servants came with trays of food and drinks for the patient.
"You better eat something to regain your strength," he said to Sophie, distracting her from her stomach.
"Ah, okay." Sophie instantly nodded. She realized she must eat healthy for the child in her womb.
Before she could touch the spoon to get a bite, Leland had reached out and poured tea for her and gave her the cup. The tea was made sweet so she could get more energy.
Sophie mouthed her thank you and drank the tea. Leland waited patiently until she finished her tea and got ready to feed her the soup from the bowl.
Sophie shook her head and made a sign that she could eat by herself. However, her mate was stubborn. He insisted that Sophie ate from his spoon.
"You are still too weak. Let me help you," Leland said. He gave her a firm look and Sophie couldn't help but agree.
She realized he was right. Her arm was so weak like jello. When she was drinking tea from the cup her arms were already shaking. If she forced herself to eat, she might end up spilling her soup to their beautiful bed, or worse, to the children.
As her mate, it seemed Leland could always tell what was going on with her, including when she was feeling so weak. This made her heart ache. She could imagine her husband must be feeling her pain too when she was fighting for her life.
She didn't know how awful her condition was, but the pain was excruciating that she blacked out, and it must be really bad for her to be unconscious for four days.
"Thank you." Sophie finally nodded and let Leland feed her. Luciel and Jan curled up in two fluffy balls on each of her sides, with their heads paying close attention to their mother.
They could feel that Sophie was very sick. So, they both tried to be good children and not stir any trouble.
"Have you eaten?" Sophie asked Leland after she finished half the soup in the bowl. She realized he had not touched any food for himself.
"I am fine," the man replied briefly. "I am a man."
"What does being a man have to do with it?" Sophie asked with furrowed brows. "Don't men need food to eat and survive?"
Leland finally chuckled. The dark clouds in his mind were slowly disappearing. He thought Sophie was so adorable with the way she was worrying about him.
Her showing how much she cared about him made the Alpha feel so loved and this greatly improved his mood.
"We, males, are much stronger than females," he finally explained, "especially human females. I could survive much longer than you without food. Once, I didn't eat for ten days and you can see I am still alive."
Sophie pressed her lips in shock. She didn't know this. So, her husband was starving once? She thought he was strong and even if he was not a wealthy Duke Romanov, he could easily hunt his food.
So, what happened that he couldn't eat anything for ten days?
Leland instantly regretted his words. Now, he only made Sophie feel worried about his past. He didn't want to tell her the detail that Isolde locked him up when he was much younger in the basement and denied him food as punishment.
He didn't want to remember that incident because it would only ignite the fire and hatred in his heart. He needed a long time to get over that and he would not want Sophie to share that bitterness with him.
"I'm fine," he repeated his words, and then he raised the soup bowl to his lips and drank all of it, to ease Sophie's worry. After he put the bowl down, he turned to her and said reassuringly, "I am eating. Let's finish the food."
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