Nicholas furrowed his brows when Knight Jerald asked him to repeat his words instead of pinching him as the king requested. So, Nicholas decided to pinch himself to make sure he was not hallucinating.
"OUCH!"
Nicholas realized it was real. What made Leland want to bring Sophie and the kids to the royal palace? All this time he seemed to avoid the place like the plague. He only let Luciel and Jan come to visit, Nicholas would be the one to come and pick them up with several knights. Leland wouldn't come to the palace at all.
So, seeing him come today made Nicholas feel surprised. And to think that he also brought his mate? It was something that Nicholas never dreamed would happen.
***
"Duke Ariam Romanov and his family have just arrived, Your Majesty," said the royal butler politely. Nicholas who was pacing in his study immediately dashed through the door and went to the palace courtyard. He missed her so, so badly and really wanted to see her face again and...
'Stop it, Nicholas,' the king chided himself. He just realized that he was too eager to meet Sophie again after so long. It was rude to her mate if he showed that he was still so much in love with her despite the fact that she was now another man's wife.
Even though very few people knew that Luciel and Jan, the duke's sons were actually the king's, most people were not aware of the past relationship between Nicholas and Sophie.
So, for the sake of Sophie's reputation and the king's himself, Nicholas must not let people talk about her that way.
In people's eyes, Alpha Leland was Duke Ariam Romanov and Lady Sophia Romanov was his wife.
Nicholas slowed down his steps. He walked gracefully out of the palace entrance and stood before the beautiful carriage that just arrived.
The coachman went down and opened the door for the passengers. Two boys immediately dashed out of the carriage, followed by a big man with long white hair who stood by and helped his wife get down from the carriage.
Sophie wore a beautiful pink silk dress, that emphasized the pink streaks on her gray hair. Nicholas remembered how much he thought she looked so special and charming with her unique hair colors when he saw her the first time when he was thirteen.
It was sad that by now he had recovered all his memories of her from the moment they met in Blackwoods 16 years ago, up to the moment he left her in that inn in Hauntingen to get rid of his lycanthropy after they got married.
It was too little too late. If only he remembered immediately after he was poisoned by wolfsbane, he would have searched for her to the ends of the world and got her back in his arms before Leland could come between them and swoop Sophie up.
"Hey, how are you?" Nicholas focused his attention on his sons and greeted them so he wouldn't keep looking at Sophie. He caught Luciel's arm who almost tripped because he was too excited to be back in the royal palace. Nicholas shook his head and chuckled. "Watch out!"
The boy just laughed sheepishly and gripped his father's hand. "Thanks, Dad."
Leland acted like the scene didn't bother him and focused his attention on his mate who just stepped onto the ground. Once Sophie stood calmly by his side, Leland went to get a big basket with his children sleeping on it from the carriage.
When Nicholas realized Leland was bringing his babies too, he became utterly confused. He initially thought the family came to visit probably because there was something important, but he didn't expect they would bring their small ones.
He had never seen werewolf babies before and always blamed himself for missing that part of Luciel's and Jan's lives when he was not in the picture. Nicholas had to hold back his desire to peek inside the basket to see Sophie's babies. He stood in his place and waited for Leland to explain the reason for their visit.
"Can we come in?" Leland asked without further ado.
Nicholas nodded and led the way. "Sure. Follow me."
He took them to his study because it was private and he could tell Leland had something important to tell him away from everyone. Nicholas walked toward his study with so many questions in his mind.
"Welcome," Nicholas said as he opened the door and held it for the family. Once each and every one of them had entered, he closed the door behind him.
The king's study was huge and comfortable. It had a big sofa by the floor-to-ceiling windows and that's where he often spent time alone to think about state matters while looking at the pond from his windows. It always made him feel calm to sit there and watch the birds and squirrels playing on the trees and outside his study.
"Please have a sit," Nicholas offered the sofa, his favorite place to Sophie and Leland. Luciel and Jan were already sitting on two stools next to his desk as they always did when they came to visit him.
Sophie initially avoided Nicholas' eyes when they first met in the courtyard, but now she looked at him and smiled to express her gratitude for the warm welcome he showed them.
She realized that she would be staying here for a few days, while her mate was away, so she better try to act normal around Nicholas. It was rude to avoid their host during their stay here, even though she and Nicholas had a history together.
Nicholas was surprised to see her smile. He thought she would always avoid his gaze as she did earlier. This made his heart flutter.
"Thank you," Sophie said in her sweet voice. She sat gracefully on the sofa while Leland sat next to her and put the basket with his sleeping babies beside him. Nicholas finally could see the two furballs sleeping soundly in their basket.
Instantly he felt so jealous.
.
.
________________________
From Missrealitybites:
I joined a Webtoon (comic) Call-To-Action contest several days ago and would love to get your support. The prize for Top 10 is $5k and the first place is $50k. It's huge, and the competition is really tough, so I am not aiming for first place but if I could get to Top 10, I would be overjoyed.
Would you please help me?
How you can help? Well, you can go to W e b t o on app or website and search my entry called "ARCHADIA (CAll To Action)" or just search my name "Missrealitybites"
Or easier yet if you just open this link in your browser:
bit. ly/ archadiacontest (remove the space)
You will reach my entry. All you need to do is SUBSCRIBE, VOTE 10 STARS, and LIKE the two episodes (you have to login or signup before you can vote). Audience engagement contributes 40% to the winning points so I really need people to like and subscribe to my entry.
At the moment, I only have 100 subscribers for the entry. If you would be so kind as to take 5 minutes of your time to vote and subscribe, if we can get 500 subscribers by the end of August, I will give you a 5 chapter mass-release for both "The King's Wife Is The Alpha's Mate" and "The Cursed Prince" on Aug 31.
If we can get 1000 subscribers for my entry, I will give you a 10-chapter mass release for both books. You can see in my comment, the screenshot of my entry.
PS: If you read "Finding Stardust" you will love this entry because it's INSPIRED by the book.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
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