Sophie batted her eyes and smiled. She noticed Lily's expression and was wondering what was in the girl's mind.
"What are you thinking?" she asked with a chuckle.
Lily was embarrassed to be caught staring and quickly laughed it off. She would not tell Sophie that she was impressed to see Sophie had two very impressive men as her mates. She was the king's wife and also the Alpha's mate.
From what Lily gathered, Sophie's and Nicholas's relationship didn't end well because they didn't meet even after Nicholas came to Wolfstone Castle twice. If they separated properly, they were bound to at least see each other and remained civil when they met since Nicholas was allowed to see his sons and Leland seemed to have no problems with it.
However, Lily realized she could be wrong.
Seriously, what's wrong with me? She asked herself. She was not into gossip, but specifically for this matter, her curiosity was piqued. She had been hanging out with Nicholas for a while now and she had started caring about the man as a friend.
She just wanted to see Nicholas find his happiness. From the way he talked about Sophie, even though very rarely, Lily could see that the man was still so deeply in love with her. He mentioned once that he already found the woman he loved when Lily asked about Nicholas not wanting to be the only lycan in the palace.
Lily immediately shook her head. "Nothing. I am just smitten by the babies. They are so adorable. I have seen Luciel and Jan and they are so handsome. I can assume that they also looked this adorable when they were babies."
Sophie nodded. "Oh, they surely did."
As a mother, she knew she was biased and would always think that her children were the best or the most good-looking. So, it was good to hear the compliment from an outsider.
"You must be so happy to have them," said Lily. She took a seat across from Sophie and offered to take one of the babies, while Sophie dry them. The Luna said 'thank you' and gave Jack to Lily while she dried the super active Anne.
"I am very lucky," Sophie said.
"You are still very young and already have four children," Lily commented. She rubbed Jack's fur and converse with Sophie. "I am twenty and I don't think I can see myself having children in near future."
Sophie chuckled when she heard Lily's comment. "Well, when you meet the right man, you want to build a family with them. It will come naturally. Don't force yourself to have children or not to have children based on what other people think is the right thing for you. You know yourself better."
Sophie became silent. She remembered the time when she met Nicholas. Back then she was very young. Younger than Lily now. She had just turned eighteen when she met Nicholas and she was in love with him. She thought he was the one. There was no other man in her life.
They both just thought it was right. Everything came naturally. They got married quickly and the next thing she knew she was pregnant.
The same thing went with Leland. After she stayed with him for over a year as his 'nominal wife' and was slowly falling in love with him, having a family with him also came naturally. It actually broke both their hearts when they lost their unborn children.
Sophie got rid of the thoughts and focused on Lily and Lucas. She thought it was her job as the luna of this pack to help their Beta with his love life. Lily seemed interested in Lucas as well, so it would be good if Sophie could make Lily feel comfortable and accepted in this pack.
"So, I have heard a lot about how you help the king with his diplomacy work," Sophie changed the subject and talked about her guest. "That sounds wonderful. You must be so smart."
"Oh, how did you know I help the king with his peace mission?" Lily blushed at the compliment. She puffed up her chest and replied. "I like studying and I enrolled in a human school. I learned a lot from there."
"You did? Wow..." Sophie was impressed. Werewolf packs didn't have formal education for their children. The bigger packs would have several teachers and decent classrooms for the children to learn knowledge. However, the smaller ones would have to rely on maybe only one teacher to teach the children. It was very limited.
Blood River Pack had enough teachers because they had many members, but since they were infiltrating Riga these days, they had to lay low. There was no teacher in Hastings for the lycan children, that's why Sophie hired Katherine and would soon enroll her sons in Cow Dung.
So, knowing that Lily studied in a human school and got a decent education, Sophie felt more impressed by her guest. She thought an educated woman was an asset to the pack.
"I studied in human school too," Sophie said with a smile. She had finished drying Anne's fur and placed her on the basket beside her to sleep. She then took Jack from Lily's hand and started drying him with a towel. "I am a hybrid."
Lily's eyes widened when she heard Sophie's words. She gushed. "Really??? I am a hybrid too. My mother is a human."
"Oh..." Sophie was surprised to know this. "But you can shift?"
"I can," Lily replied. "They said if a hybrid was born as a wolf pup, that means their lycan gene is stronger and they would grow up just like lycan pups do. I shifted into a human when I was five like everyone."
Sophie nodded in understanding. It seemed very few hybrids were like her. She was born as a human baby and never had the milestones like regular lycan pups. She also never shifted and didn't have their capabilities. She didn't have their sense of smell, their speed, and their strength.
"I was born human," she said quietly.
This made her feel frustrated and insecure again. She always felt like a stranger among the lycans in this pack. She didn't speak their language, she didn't have their talents, and she couldn't even feel her mate's feelings.
Everything she knew about him, and the reason why she could understand him most of the time was because she made the effort to get to know him and she also used her intuition as a woman. She felt slightly jealous of Lily.
Even her mother-in-law, Isolde, who was half-human was a powerful female lycan from what she had heard.
"Well... there is nothing wrong with being born a human," Lily shrugged. "Humans or lycans can be good or bad. It's what you do with your life that matters."
Sophie smiled at Lily's statement. She liked this girl. Sophie hoped Lily and Lucas could truly become mates. It would be nice to have Lily around her and be her friend.
Sophie never really had friends in her life. As an adult woman, she longed for a companion of another woman who could share her ups and downs and support each other. She had Katherine now, but there was something about her that made Sophie didn't feel quite content.
Perhaps it was because Katherine was a witch, not a lycan. Or because she was much older than Sophie. Or because she was her sons' teacher, meaning she was an employee. It was not really an equal relationship.
"Thank you, Lily," Sophie nodded with a smile. "I need to hear that."
Lily smiled back. She really liked this Luna. As a Luna of a really big pack, Sophie was not arrogant or bitchy. Quite the opposite actually, she was friendly and welcoming.
She was also very smart. Lily and Sophie talked about their experience in school and their opinions about lycans' and humans' relationship. In just one hour, both women felt like they had known each other for a long time.
They drank tea and ate cakes while talking about whatever things they thought were interesting. Soon, Sophie and Lily realized they really had so much in common.
"Gosh... I wish you could stay," Sophie chuckled. "I really enjoy our conversation."
The night had fallen and it was time for Lily to go back to her accommodation.
"I can come back," Lily said. "It was really nice talking to you as well. Ahhh... you are a very interesting woman and we have so much in common. I can't believe it."
"Please do come back when you can," Sophie said. She got up and walked Lily out. "I would love to have you stay here for longer next time. Maybe after the mission is over?"
"Thank you for the invitation," Lily nodded. "I would definitely take you up on that offer someday."
Lucas had been waiting for her outside with their two horses. Lily smiled when she saw him.
"Miss Moonchester," Lucas greeted her.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel