Sophie sighed and gently kissed Leland's forehead. "You're so used to carrying burdens alone that you don't feel like it's good to share them."
"We can talk about this at another time," Leland said. "You're no longer cold, Sophia. So I think it's best that we sleep now."
Sophie pursed her lips and looked him in the eye. Her body was no longer freezing indeed, but she became more aware of Leland's heart and she didn't want to lose this opportunity.
"I've already said a lot." Leland managed a smile. "The fact that I was even able to admit that I'm not strong emotionally… It is a lot for me. Please do not let the Blood River Pack know this."
"Are you sure that you have nothing else that you want to get out of your chest?" Sophie asked again.
The Alpha shook his head. "Maybe next time, Sophia."
Sophie rested back on the bed and pulled the covers over her body. "I won't force you to speak if you're not comfortable. But tell me about who you were thinking about tomorrow, okay? I didn't forget about that."
Leland only smiled and pulled her to his embrace. "Good night."
***
The next day, Sophie woke up feeling a bit better than usual and she was able to join her two children for breakfast. Since her health took a sudden turn for the worse, Uncle Max and Uncle Duncan had become the boys' primary caretakers.
Although, there were occasions where Sophie still tried to teach her boys how to speak along with some other lycan children visiting. She tried to be content with her situation so as to not aggravate her health.
Today, she sat down at the dining hall to eat with her kids. Leland normally insisted on her to not move around and stay in bed, but she convinced him that she missed her kids.
"Ah, my precious boys. It's so good to see the two of you." Sophie smiled as she watched Luciel and Jan in Duncan's arms. "Are the boys giving you trouble, Duncan?"
"N-no, Luna!" Duncan stammered and managed a weak laugh. He thought he could feel the Alpha's gaze on him. So, even if the boys did give him a lot of trouble, he would never say so to their mother. "They do run around, but now it's breakfast time and they have to eat instead of play around."
"Yes, my kids will behave now, won't you?" Sophie smiled as her two boys whimpered but nodded. "There's a time to have fun but there's also time to sit down and eat, alright?"
Jan exchanged looks with his brother, Luciel. They wanted to run around and exercise! Their father explained to them that he was getting strong for their mother's sake, so they wanted to be strong too!
Unfortunately, their mother didn't get the message.
"It's time to eat now." Leland reminded the boys.
Duncan nearly had a heart attack when the Alpha spoke.
"We will place your boys here, Luna." Max intercepted his nervous friend and gently placed both Jan and Luciel in chairs. The two lycan puppies stood up on their hind legs and looked down at their bowl filled with their favorite meat.
"Thank you, Max," Sophie said before she exchanged a silent look with Leland who seemed to be silent after their conversation last night. The Alpha smiled at her, but he still seemed to be lost in his thoughts. "Shall we eat, Leland?"
"Of course." Leland nodded.
Lucas watched the interaction between the Alpha and Luna with a bit of concern but didn't interfere. If there were any problems between mates, it was something that the mates dealt with on their own.
Sophie cleared her throat and picked up her goblet. "May the Moon Goddess bless this bountiful feast for us!"
Leland blinked and realized that he forgot to do it himself, and he glanced around at the lycans, but to his relief, all of the lycans immediately raised their own goblets and also cheered.
It was the first time that Sophie had to do it, but she threw Leland a smile and whispered into his ear. "Not so bad, right?"
"You did wonderfully," Leland replied to his mate and smiled as well.
There was absolutely nothing for the Blood River Pack to worry about, the love between their Alpha and Luna was quite strong and immense.
***
After breakfast, Leland picked up Sophie and took her out to watch the kids run around. Instead of the Alpha joining them, however, he stayed by Sophie's side at the rocking chair.
"Do you know why our sons are filled with boundless energy, Sophia?" Leland asked.
"They're in their toddler years, so they're active." Sophie raised a brow. She watched with a smile as Luciel and Jan happily ran after some of the lycan kids with Duncan.
"No, they assumed that if they could grow strong and healthy, so would their mother." Leland watched the two lycan pups. "They have good hearts."
Sophie looked up to her husband with a look of longing on her face. "I… I can't wait for them to finally speak with me. Mother once told me that I could speak words in just around nine months."
Leland smiled a little. "I remember that… don't worry, it will only be a few more years."
"I know."
The two of them then glanced back at their children for a moment and watched for a couple of minutes. After some time, Sophie reached out to her mate and touched his arm. "Leland, you know I'm always here for you, right?"
The Alpha glanced down at his mate and nodded. "Yes."
"You can also rely on me." Sophie hugged his arm. "It's a bit presumptuous of me to say that when you're working so hard to be strong for the both of us, but I'm also here for you. I mean it."
"Thank you, Sophia." Leland smiled and gently kissed her head. "I don't think you're being presumptuous at all. When I was still training hard to be an Alpha, I was doing my best so I could see you again."
Sophie blushed a little and shook him. "I mean yes, you can think of me, but you can also talk with me. I'm not some faraway person, I'm here with you right now."
"I know," Leland said. "...I just can't help but worry if what I'm doing is enough for the both of us. I hesitate to approach the witches because the Grand Witch is my mother's friend."
"Oh, so it means that last night you were thinking of Eloise." Sophie blinked. "Your witch friend."
"A little. I don't want to think that she has been compromised," Leland said. "But on the safe side, it's best to think that she is and cannot be trusted."
"I see." Sophie tilted her head. "Well, actually, I don't see it at all. I thought she was your friend. Wouldn't she want to help you?"
"...I think she would," Leland said. "However, she is a bit unpredictable. She once promised to help me to dispose of my mother once she became the Grand Witch."
"What?" Sophie's eyes widened. "Dispose?"
The Alpha looked uncomfortable. "The reason why we got along was that our relationship with our mothers is a bit similar. Both of us feel pressured by our parents, and Eloise thinks that her mother is holding her back."
"But will she really kill her own mother?"
.
.
______________________
From Missrealitybites:
NEW BOOKS!!!
I am mentoring three young writers to write their stories. I love their talents and the stories they are creating. One story actually became a favorite of mine. It's called <strong>"Odette & The Cursed King."</strong> It's a story that I wish I wrote because of how wonderful the storyline is.
That's fine though. I love mentoring the writer, Ogi, when she writes it and watching the story unfolding. I can't wait to share the story of Odette when the time comes.
Ogi is a slow writer, so we can not have enough content to immediately publish on Webnovel. Maybe, you will be able to read it in March after we stockpile chapters. If you are impatient, you can go to my P a t r e on to read the early chapters.
In the meantime, you can check another story written by my second mentee, Gigi, called <strong>"Loving The Cursed Werewolf King". </strong>
It was already published on Webnovel yesterday with 5 chapters and we will publish 1-2 chapters per day. I helped Gigi write this one and I am very pleased with the result.
You will like Ronan, the male lead from this book, as he makes his appearance. He is a king who was cursed to be a werewolf every full moon, a curse that seemed to slowly disappear after Arielle, a princess from the neighboring kingdom was sent to his palace as a prisoner.
Go search the book by the title, or go to my profile and check my reading list "Missrealitybites Books" to find it.
PS: Yes, I think I like cursed male leads too much XD
PPS: As always, my notes are added after chapter publication, so you don't pay extra coins for the additional word count. ;)
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