Leland felt increasingly heavy and restless, so he decided to get up and sit down on the roof. He knew it was futile to force himself to sleep under the stars. Not when his mind was filled with so many things that made him worried.
Now, his blue-green eyes looked down at the pink flowers in the garden and then remembered Sophie, who suddenly fainted when she saw Nicholas at the palace party. Sophie must have been in shock that the husband she thought had died suddenly stood before her.
"Do you still love him, Sophia?" Leland asked the surrounding space with a sad smile. He continued to watch the pink flowers in the garden that fluttered in the wind.
The gentle rays of the morning sun slowly rose and dispelled the remaining darkness. It signaled that the night was over and a new day was about to begin.
After he spent so much time by himself in contemplation, Leland finally decided to meet Sophie. He was not ready for the conversation, but he knew it had to happen. However, when he came back to his room he was surprised because he saw Sophie was seated on their bed while she wept.
"Sophia...!" Leland gasped at the sight. Sophie's arms hugged around her knees as she sobbed.
Without thinking, Leland rushed over to Sophie on the bed and hugged his wife worriedly. He was so worried that he forgot that his body was still injured and that she could see it.
Usually, lycans healed faster than normal humans but this time not so. Since Leland's injuries were quite severe and caused by another Alpha's attack, it took longer to heal.
Sophie looked up and then she saw Leland's wounds. Her eyes widened and she was immediately filled with worry.
"Gosh... Le-Leland, you… what happened to you? What's wrong?" Sophie wiped her tears roughly then touched the wound across Leland's face carefully and gently.
"I'm fine," Leland lied. He smiled and held Sophie's hand that cupped his face. He added, "It's just a small wound. Don't worry."
"Small wound? This, Leland, is not a small wound. What happened?" Sophie looked distraught.
To be honest, Leland liked seeing Sophie worry about him because it meant Sophie must have loved him. However, Leland did not want to make her continue to worry because it could be bad for her health.
Leland broadened his smile. That smile looked very warm, like the sun that shone this morning. It was quite an unusual thing as Sophie had always associated Leland with ice. He was quiet and cold most of the time.
It was this warm smile on his face that made Sophie suspect something bad had happened, and Leland wanted to keep it a secret.
The woman looked deeply at Leland. Her face looked even more worried. "Tell me what happened..."
"It will heal soon. You know that lycans can recover from injuries quickly. So, don't worry," said Leland hastily. He gripped Sophie's hand and held it. "Like I said, it's just a small wound."
"But Leland, what happened?" Sophie's puffy eyes stared intently at Leland. "How did you get that injury?"
For a moment, Leland just stared at Sophie in silence. He felt he had to at least say something.
"This… this is because I fought with the elite Royal Lycan Hunter troops that are guarding around here since this place is located adjacent to the king's villa," explained Leland.
The Alpha was forced to lie because he couldn't possibly tell Sophie that he was injured from his fight with Nicholas.
When she heard Leland's words, Sophie became worried that their pack would be hunted by the royal lycan hunters.
Sophie gripped the blanket under her tightly. Her hands felt cold as she thought about their current situation. She had pondered a lot. She even had a bad dream about Nicholas, who thought the lycans were monsters and tried hard to heal himself with the wolfsbane.
When she woke up this morning, Sophie was devastated when she remembered meeting Nicholas at the party the night before and how Nicholas had acted like he didn't recognize her.
For a moment, Sophie felt angry because she thought Nicholas had tricked her and left. But then she remembered the time when Nicholas was desperately trying to heal himself with the wolfsbane.
Sophie now guessed that Nicholas had recovered from lycanthropy and he had forgotten about her in the process. She also realized that right now, she and her children were between Nicholas and Leland. They were trapped in a vicious circle of hatred and revenge.
Sophie clearly remembered Leland's words. He wanted to avenge the death of her parents caused by the Riga Royal family. That was his life's mission: to destroy the royal family of Riga and take over power on this kingdom.
As for Nicholas, he must hold a grudge against the Blood River Pack who had turned him into a lycan and no doubt he would also hold a grudge against Leland who was responsible for his uncle's and his father's death.
How could this be? Sophie was married to two men from the opposing sides, mortal enemies, and her children were conceived and raised by the two men respectively. Why should they be trapped in the middle like this?
"Have you had breakfast?" asked Leland.
His question snapped Sophie out of her daze. The woman looked at Leland with a confused look. Leland only asked if she had had breakfast. He didn't seem suspicious that Sophie acted strangely after she met the king in the royal palace.
Did he not notice what happened? Sophie was wondering. Leland understood why she looked confused. It was his fault, changing the subject.
At first, Leland wanted to talk to her about Nicholas and ask what Sophie wanted to do now that her first husband turned out to still be alive.
However, at the last moment, he realized that he was too cowardly to do that and was not ready to accept the fact that Sophie might reply by saying that she wanted to return to Nicholas.
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