So many questions filled Eloise's mind. She was truly clueless about what Leland was doing and where he was now. The man's action was really unexpected. She thought she knew how his mind worked because she had been right when she threatened him with his kids' lives.
Oh, the moment when he became submissive toward her demands, when he realized that she was right, was priceless. Eloise lived for that day. She thought she had finally won. But then he did something unexpected. He disappeared and her people couldn't find him.
Where did Leland go after he abandoned his pack and his mate? Was it all a trick to deceive Eloise?
Uff... how dare he! If Leland even just try to trick her, Eloise wouldn't be so forgiving next time. She would make sure he would pay tenfold for the humiliation she was feeling right now.
She had made her coven of witches and the lycans of Obsidian Sand Pack think she and Leland were now together. It would secure her claim as the queen of Armeria and continue to be the Luna of Obsidian Sand Pack until her son was old enough to assume power.
However, if the Alpha left her, then people would all laugh at her. This was unacceptable!!
Fuck it! She should make sure by herself that Leland didn't actually come to Riga to be with Sophie. If he did... she would immediately kill little Anne. She knew she did the right thing by hiding the little girl's soul stone in a secret place, known only by one trusted witch.
Eloise decided to visit the royal palace of Riga. She would come as Karenina and pretend she was missing the old queen. There, she would find as much information as possible.
She would also find another way to hurt Leland's other children. She was determined to hurt them as much as she could. This was to show Leland that he shouldn't play with her.
Eloise took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She must calm down her nerves. She was pregnant and needed to stay calm. She went to her closet and changed her dress. Then she used her magic to transform herself into Karenina.
Once she was ready, she used her magic dust to bring her to Riga. When she opened the door, she stepped out the door of the mansion belonging to one of the witches under her coven. This was the place where she had Karenina killed months ago.
Eloise was greeted with respect by several witches who stayed in the mansion. She nodded at them and coldly asked them to prepare a carriage for her so she could go to the royal palace.
An hour later, the carriage she was riding arrived in front of the palace gates. Usually, as per Nicholas' promise, she could come and go to and from the palace. However, this time, four burly guards stood menacingly in front of her carriage, obviously preventing her to go in.
"Why are we stopping?" Karenina asked her coachman. The man turned to her and said apologetically. "I am very sorry, Your Grace, the king's guards are blocking our way."
"Huh?" Eloise couldn't believe what she heard. "Tell them it's me, Karenina Verhoeven, I was the king's former fiancee. He allows me to come and go as I please because this palace is my second home."
"I did, Your Grace," said the coachman. "They don't care."
"What???" Eloise felt instant rage. Why didn't things go as she planned? She thought she had covered everything. Now, she couldn't even enter the palace of Riga? What did happen? Did Leland snitch on her to Nicholas?
SLAM!
Eloise slammed the carriage door open and got down from her carriage. She walked to the front of the carriage and faced the king's guards herself.
"Hey, what are you guys doing? Open the gates!" she ordered them. "Don't you recognize me? I lived in this palace for five years. The king also considers me family and allows me to come anytime to visit the queen."
"Sorry, Princess Karenina, from now on you are not allowed to enter the palace," said the oldest knight among his friends.
"How dare you say such things! The king has promised me that I can come to the palace whenever I want!"
"But this is the king's own order!"
"What? Take me to the king and queen right now! I don't trust you! You are just a low-ranking knight who is trying to lie to me. Did someone pay you to do this to me? Is it Lady Sophia?"
"We have no idea what you're talking about, Your Grace," said the knight patiently. "Please leave. We will close the gate now and if you don't leave this place soon, we are tasked to remove you by force."
"What??" Eloise was too dumbfounded by their treatment. She was furious and her body shook out of anger. She could easily kill those four guards, but she didn't want to take risk of being found out.
She realized Nicholas still didn't know that the real Karenina was dead and she was now a different person. If he did, he wouldn't have asked his guards to block her and kick her out. If he knew Karenina was fake, Nicholas would have already ordered his knights to try to arrest or kill her.
She rubbed her arm and thought. 'Fine, Leland. It seems you didn't tell them about my identity yet. I can still forgive you and will not kill Anne. But...'
She pursed her lips and muttered, "but you disappeared and embarrassed me. Now I have to think about stories to tell people if you still don't return. You're playing the long game? I can play it too."
She finally turned around and went back inside her carriage. She told the coachman in an annoyed voice that she wanted to go back to the mansion. She must think about what to do to look for Leland and find out what the man was trying to do.
It was fun to hold his daughter hostage and made him submit to whatever demand she had... However, how could she do that if the man was not around? She also couldn't just kill Anne to vent her anger. It was her only remaining collateral.
If she killed the baby, she would have to prepare for being on the run for her lifetime. Leland would chase her even to the ends of the world to make her pay. She still remembered the wrath in his eyes when he found out what Eloise had done to his family.
He was so ready to devour her and eat her alive. So, no... she must think of ways to handle this situation without hurting little Anne. Eloise realized her life would depend on it. She was currently pregnant and her movements were limited. She must not take risks of being killed after she killed Anne.
Ahh.... dammit!
Eloise finally returned to the mansion begrudgingly.
***
Sophie had stayed in the royal palace for several days. She locked herself in her room, and only spent time with her babies, while Luciel and Jan went out and about to be with their grandmother and father.
Even though she felt bad about not being rude by not wanting to see the king and his mother, she couldn't force herself to meet anyone. She had trouble sleeping and she had cried for days in silence.
She hated herself for being so weak, but the heartbreak came so suddenly and she felt betrayed by Leland. At this point, she was so hurt that she no longer knew if his words in the manor to taunt her were the truth, or if he was just faking it to make her leave him.
Her only consolation was that little Jack seemed to have recovered and now the baby was running around actively in their room, taking the worry off her chest. Little Anne was still weak, but at least she no longer refused milk and spent most of her time on Sophie's lap or arms.
Sophie hoped soon Anne would recover too, just like Jack. She took great care of her only daughter and comforted her with her love and affection, even though, deep inside, she was breaking apart.
Nicholas gave her all the time and space she needed. He felt really sorry about what she went through and when he remembered how he left her many years ago, he felt extra guilty. He remembered the love they had for each other when they got married.
Back then, Sophie must be heartbroken too when he was gone and she thought he had died. Nicholas really wanted to make up for what happened, but he didn't know what to do. He couldn't even find Leland to ask him why he did what he did.
If Leland truly wanted to throw away the wonderful wife that had been so loving and loyal to him all these years, Nicholas would kill him. The only reason he could accept the reality and let go of Sophie was that he thought Leland was a good husband to her and had been caring and loving her all this time.
If Leland was not the person Nicholas thought he was, the king wouldn't hesitate to fight the Alpha to the death and make him pay for all the suffering that he had inflicted on Sophie.
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