Finally, Leland let go of Sophie from his embrace. He looked at her beautiful face intently with gleaming eyes.
Gosh, she was so dreamy. She was so beautiful, inside and out.
He didn't know how he was this lucky. Maybe the universe was truly fair. Sophie was given to him to make up for the fact that he had such a hard life and didn't experience love from the people who were supposed to teach him about love, compassion, and family.
If it wasn't for Anne and Jack Hansley, he might never see what love was. He didn't even have friends. Leland had always kept everyone at arm's length until he met Sophie.
It was so effortless and comforting to be around her, that he slowly opened himself to her and then her children, which were now his. And soon, they would have more.
Leland could only look at Sophie without saying anything. He wished he could express how he felt about her. Did she know how much he loved her? Did she know how much she meant to him?
If Sophie was a pure lycan, or at least, had more lycan genes in her, she would have been able to feel what he was feeling and understand him without words.
Leland didn't see it as a disability, it was who she was, more human than lycan. However, he wondered what it would feel like to be able to share their minds and feelings because they were mates.
Right now, he was forced to use more words than he normally would, but even if he tried he realized he was not a great communicator.
He was a man of a few words and more into action. However, he was aware that, for their unique circumstance, he had to make the adjustment.
For Leland, it was easier to manage the pack since his Beta, Lucas, was great with words, and he understood Leland perfectly. Leland could do the leading and planning, and Lucas do the communicating.
However, he couldn't outsource the job of talking to his mate to another man. Leland surely didn't want to hear Lucas tell Sophie that she was the most beautiful woman in the world, that her smile could melt away all the pain and his exhaustion.
That she made everything better.
"Is there... something on my face?" Sophie tilted her head and smiled faintly. Leland had been looking at her with a strange expression for a while, and his mouth twitched several times, but no words came out of it.
She wondered what he was thinking.
Leland shook his head. "No."
"Are you sure?" Sophie rubbed her face. Maybe there was really something on it but Leland didn't want her to feel bad, so he said no. Hmm... he was not a liar, though. Maybe there was something, but he didn't see it as an issue?
Sophie had been having a tough week and she cried in secret when she was alone. She thought her eyes must be puffed and she looked tired.
Leland took her hand and stopped her from rubbing her face. "Don't."
"If there is nothing on my face... why are you looking at me like that...?" Sophie furrowed her brows.
Leland smiled awkwardly when he heard her question.
The Alpha was not good with words. He had been trying to say how much he appreciated her decision, choosing him over Nicholas and standing by him on his mission to topple the human kingdom and eventually become the lycan king.
He wanted to say that he would never make her regret her decision.
"I love you," he finally said, rubbing her hair. "It's late. We should sleep."
It was already past midnight and normally Sophie would sleep before nine. However, now she was wide awake and didn't feel sleepy at all.
"I am not sleepy," she whispered.
"Why?" Leland asked, immediately looking concerned.
"I am not sure," Sophie admitted. "I just like sitting here with you and talking."
"Oh."
Sophie scooted over and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Do you realize tonight is only the second time we had a heart-to-heart conversation?" she asked him.
The first time was last week, when they finally talked about the elephant in the room, King Nicholas Hannenbergh, and it didn't end too well.
After she thought about it, Sophie realized it was the first time that she found out how stubborn her mate could be. All this time, Leland always spoiled her and made sure whatever she wanted and desired would happen.
He never demanded anything from her. It felt like he only gave and gave and never took. She didn't know if Leland had secret desires, or if something was not up to his liking.
Now, after six years, he let her know that he was not going to let the enemy go, even though he was related to Sophie and their children. Especially because he was related to Sophie and the children.
It was a hard pill to swallow for Sophie who wished everyone could get along and lived in peace. The war between Lycans and humans was the reason why her parents suffered and were finally killed.
If her lycan mother and human father could fall in love and live happily together, couldn't the others do it too?
"Yeah." Leland nodded in agreement.
"I really like it. I really enjoy talking with you and understanding what you feel and what you want," Sophie said honestly. "Even though it was hard, I think it was necessary."
"Hm." Leland agreed that the conversation was necessary.
"So..." Sophie moved her face closer to Leland's and looked at the man deep in his mesmerizing eyes. "I would love to talk more with you."
"What do you want to talk about?" Leland asked worriedly. They already settled the issue with Nicholas. What else was there to discuss?
"Hmm... anything."
Sophie was honest with her words. She felt intrigued by her husband and would love to know more about him. Other than spending the first eight years of her life with him around, she didn't know much about him.
She also thought Leland could tell her more about her parents since he was older than her and knew her parents longer, so his memory of them was much more vivid. Sophie only remembered some distant memories she had about her parents when she was between eight to ten.
Sophie had been wanting to hear stories about her mother and father from Leland, but the man never really spoke about them in detail.
Fine, she understood that he didn't like talking all that much. However, now that they could finally have such heart to heart conversation, Sophie started to feel greedy. Maybe she could encourage him to speak more.
Leland looked blank.
"I really like listening to your voice," Sophie said. She was not sleepy and if she forced herself and pretended that she was asleep, she might be overcome by those sad thoughts about Nicholas.
Right now, she badly needed a distraction.
"You do?" Leland asked in disbelief.
"Yes. You have this deep voice that could make women go crazy," Sophie said as a matter-of-factly. "But you don't use it a lot."
The man beamed when Sophie said she liked his voice. However, he still couldn't take compliments.
"Your voice is better," he said. Leland kissed her on the lips and then tried to move her back to the bed. "You should sleep. You are pregnant and must get enough rest."
"I know, but..." Sophie wrapped her hands around his neck more tightly. "I am not sleepy and I can't force myself to sleep. I will just toss and turn. I think... if you would tell me a story, a bedtime story... I can sleep better."
She quickly added, "I don't mean really bedtime stories, like what I read to Luciel and Jan, but... stories about your life, your experiences, and your thoughts."
Leland thought it was easier to engage in a life and death battle with Nicholas than share stories of his life.
.
.
__________________________
From Missrealitybites:
Sorry, the snusnu must wait. Apparently, Sophie preferred to listen to Leland talking than get some bed action.... ahahaha. XD
PS: Thank you so much for your support in February for Leland, Sophie, and Nic. This book was still on #9 Golden Ranking. Thank you! Please keep voting for this book so it can be seen by more readers.
Anyway... I would like to give a special thanks to the Top 3 Golden Ticket contributors in February, dear Kelly Goodwin, Maude Fluckiger, and DespinaNY. For the others, thank you! I am sorry, I cannot mention you one by one. xx
By the way, since the Werewolf contest is still not announced and we are now in March, I am not sure when they will finally do it. Sigh. Let's hope this book wins something. I will do a mass release if "The King Is Wife Is The Alpha's Mate" wins any of the 10 awards. So, crossing fingers!
PPS: I have started publishing for The Cursed Prince and I released 15 chapters from Privi to make up for the lack of updates in February. Enjoy!
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com