"What should we do, Alpha?" Duncan asked Leland respectfully when he saw the Alpha come out of the room to the courtyard. He cast his glance toward the hill where most of the lycans went.
"Let them be," Leland replied coldly. "They are no longer members of the Blood River Pack."
He could already see that it was nothing more but an idiotic attempt of Brin portraying himself as the upstanding lycan Elder. He had betrayed the pack by inciting them to follow through with the attack plan when they were not actually ready.
Surely Brin would be punished by his own idiocy when the attack failed miserably. However, if he lived to see another day and Leland found him in the future, Brin could expect a gruesome death awaited him.
What about the rest of the members though? There were a total of 600 lycans in the Blood River pack and most of them were in Riga for the sole purpose of going to war with the royal army.
One lycan warrior was powerful enough to take on 20 soldiers. The more powerful ones, like the higher-ranked warriors, the Beta and the Alpha himself could easily deal with fifty.
So, with the full formation and taking advantage of the element of surprise, they were confident that they could wreak havoc and slay the 15,000 strong soldiers from the royal army that secured the capital.
However, with this new development, around 100 lycans were left in the manor and the 500 went to attack, led by Brin. This would not give them the victory they hoped for.
Leland could imagine there would be chaos at the beginning caused by the lycans, but soon the table would turn, and eventually, the battle in Livstad would turn into a massacre.
The Alpha knew he could do nothing for the rest of the Blood River Pack that went along with the elder's plans. They were as good as dead to him.
That was why he had stayed silent even when Brin's nonsensical clamors for a fight reached the Alpha's ears and instead, he only focused on Sophie.
People who were influenced by other inciters were already compromised so Leland found nothing worth recovering in them. If they were going to die because of their mistakes and faults, then Leland would let them die.
The Alpha knew that his opinion was cold, brutal, and perhaps every little bit as uncaring as Isolde might have done. He was fiercely loyal to his people but if they chose to disobey him and disregard his better judgment, he didn't see the need to protect them any longer.
He hated the royal family to the core. They were responsible for Sophie's parents' death and Leland had made it his mission to kill them and end their domination.
However, he was not blinded by rage and revenge. Who would protect and take care of his family and his people if he died fighting in a stupid battle? No one.
There would come another time to avenge Sophie's family, but for now, Leland wanted her to recover fully. A leader should know how to set priorities right.
Lucas went to Leland when he noticed the Alpha was watching the commotion with a cold expression. He bowed down and quickly reported to him what had happened.
"We also found the maidservant. She hung herself in the woods," Lucas said, taking out a letter from his pocket and giving it to Leland. "I haven't read it, but they found this letter on her. Probably her suicide note."
Leland didn't say anything. He put the letter in his pocket to read later. Too bad that female lycan had taken her own life. Leland would have preferred to punish her with his own hands.
He already thought of a slow and painful death for Dinah.
"I am sorry, I cannot hold them back," Lucas said with an apologetic tone. "There are too many of them and they have been unhappy for a while now."
He didn't elaborate how many members had heard bad things about the Alpha's mate and the dissatisfaction had been brewing for months among the members.
That was the reason why they were easily provoked when someone like Brin stepped up and tried to get their loyalty. So many lycans were blood-thirsty and wanted revenge. Brin was offering that to them.
"They are no longer members of our pack," Leland said flatly. "Stop worrying about them. We should immediately leave this area. Soon the royal army will swarm this place."
"Understood, Alpha," the lycans around him immediately nodded and replied in unison.
It sucked that some of the warriors that left to continue with the attack plan were their friends or family. Now, the pack had been divided.
They were left with slightly over 100 members after most of the warriors left. It was a small number compared to their previous glory, being the biggest werewolf pack on this continent.
"Don't focus on quantity," Leland said calmly. "A basket of good apples is better than ten baskets of rotten ones."
"Where are we going, Alpha?" Lucas asked Leland respectfully.
"Let's go back to Frisia," Leland replied. "Prepare our carriages and let us go as soon as possible."
"Y-yes, Alpha!" The three lycans quickly left to follow the orders of their leader.
There was no more grand opportunity to attack the coronation of the crown prince. All that was left was to recover and gather strength once more.
Jan and Luciel were howling and whining when Duncan came in and scooped the two lycan puppies up as the remaining lycan pack quickly gathered to leave.
There was no time to waste.
While Lucas did his best to gather up the remaining members of the Blood River Pack that did not abandon their stations, Leland gently picked up Sophie and carried her to one of the prepared carriages.
The Alpha placed her gently in a prepared bed and watched both Luciel and Jan quickly try to get on the bed and attempt to nudge her awake. The two lycan puppies were whining and utterly confused at the situation.
Why were they in a carriage?
Why were they leaving their home?
Were they running away?
"You see, your mother has recently gone through a hard time, so we will be going away temporarily," Leland explained to the two lycan puppies as gently as he could as he stepped inside of the carriage and joined them.
He picked the two babies and cradled them in his arms for a moment. The Alpha felt a wave of sadness overcome him as he imagined his own children who died and he felt tears prick his eyes.
The two fetuses were buried in the garden of this manor, under a rose tree. He hoped someday he could go back here and pay them a visit. Right now, his priority should be the living ones.
"I am alright, Jan. Thank you," Leland told Jan who tried to wipe away a tear that trickled down his face.
Luciel unhappily looked at the manor because they had actually left one of his favorite toys there and failed to retrieve it. So many things had happened in such a brief amount of time.
The Alpha closed the door to the carriage and they soon set off.
.
.
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From Missrealitybites:
I hope you like this bonus chapter. I just think we need to get over the sad part more quickly to change the mood. After more details about the coronation and Nicholas part, we will have a time skip.
Leland and Sophie would grieve in private and come out stronger. I don't wish to dwell on their misery and exploit their grief for content. So, we will soon see them in a better state, and of course, the boys will grow up quite a bit.
PS: If you were confused by some paragraphs in chapter 187, please clear the cache or remove the book from your library. I accidentally copied some paragraphs from chapter 186 to chapter 187.
I think I need more sleep... ahaha. I immediately fixed it, but some of you might already see the bad chapter and didn't know I already fixed them.
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