The King's Wife Is The Alpha's Mate

"Yes. That's what I want," said Eloise seriously.

Leland had expected Eloise would continue to take advantage of him and her requests would grow over time, if not granted then she would threaten him with Anne's soul stone.

Leland really had to put his anger aside. He looked at Eloise with a flat expression.

"All right," he said, giving his approval easily. "However, I don't understand one thing."

"What's that?"

"You are a great witch, you can protect yourself and your children. You don't need to be protected by anyone," said Leland slowly and seriously.

Eloise chuckled. "Is that a compliment?"

Leland shrugged. "I don't know. You tell me."

Elosie wiped her lips with a napkin. She rubbed her belly and spoke with a smile. "I may be powerful, but I am not the most powerful. There will be people who are stronger than me and they are out to get me."

Leland looked at Eloise closely, trying not to miss her every word. So, she was saying that she had her own enemies too? He didn't know this because he had cut ties with her for seven years.

If Eloise had enemies and they were more powerful than her, he needed to know who they were and how he could take advantage of the situation to get back at Eloise.

"Who are they?" Leland asked since Eloise didn't continue her words.

Eloise was taken aback by Leland's sudden interest in her personal life. She shook her head and gave him a mocking smile. She said, "That is... my business. You just take care of stuff here in Armeria and the pack where I need you. I will take care of the rest."

However, Leland had taken the matter seriously. Now that he knew Eloise had some enemies that she was wary of he needed to know more. Now, he understood why Eloise insisted to stay in Armeria and get the Obsidian Sand pack under her rule even though Elias had died.

Even though she acted as if she was helping Elias and his pack to get power, it seemed, Eloise stayed with the pack because she also needed their protection. And now she wanted Leland to take the leadership of the pack and forced him to protect her, together with the other lycans of this pack.

She was avoiding her enemies.

Who were those people? Were they magic users too? If so, there was a good chance that Leland could get them to free Anne's soul from the soul stone, or at least he could learn how to secretly find the stone without Eloise' knowledge.

He needed to consult magic users, perhaps some other witches or wizards that were more powerful than Eloise could give him insights and point him in the right direction.

However, where should he look to find information?

Leland had no clue at all. He also couldn't keep asking Eloise because Eloise could be suspicious of him.  He had to be very careful with his steps because if he made a misstep and angered Eloise then his children's lives would be in danger.

"Since you are ready, I will tell the higher-ups to immediately crown you as the new Alpha Obsidian Sand Pack as well as the new king who will lead Armeria. I will take care of all the preparations. This should be celebrated with a lively party, correct?" said Eloise to change the subject.

Leland nodded slowly and stood up. "Do as you please, but before that, I'm going to Riga to check on Anne and Jack."

"I thought you already trust me because you've been so obedient lately," Eloise commented.

Leland's expression was still flat. "I still need to feed Jack his soul stone as you told me. Once I am convinced that he is well, I will be back for Anne's soul stone and do as you want."

Eloise nodded. "Fine, but don't even think about betraying me."

Leland didn't answer and immediately turned around to leave the place.

***

A gust of wind blew the leaves, some crows flew under the reddish-yellow evening sky. The crows returned to their nests after looking for food all day.

Nicholas' amber eyes watched them from the windows of his study. Right now he was wondering in his mind whether Leland had returned or not.

"If Leland doesn't come back then Sophie and I can..."

"Tsk. Nicholas Hanenbergh you trash. How can you think like that?"

He chided himself. How dare he thought about such a thing when Sophie was in trouble because her mate had not returned after so many weeks? He felt embarrassed of himself.

Nicholas shook his head as he began to wish Leland never came back so he could have Sophie again.  He advised himself to stop wishing like that. Sophie's happiness now was being with Leland. So, the Alpha had to come back for Sophie to be happy again. Nicholas had to wish them well and support Sophie to be happy with her new husband.

The king sighed. Whenever he thought of Sophie, his chest tightened.

"Huh?" Nicolas furrowed his brows when he smelled the familiar scent of a lycan near him. He immediately stepped closer to the window and looked at the garden outside. It didn't take long, his eyes found a male lycan standing under a tree.

He recognized the lycan as a member of the Blue Moon Pack. Feeling curious, Nicholas immediately jumped out the window and then darted towards the lycan.

The lycan greeted politely. "Good day, Your Majesty."

"Why are you standing here? Is there a problem?" asked Nicholas as soon as he stood before the lycan.

Even though the lycans have made peace with the kingdom, the interaction between the two was still very awkward. After being hostile for so long they couldn't instantly mingle with each other so casually.

"I'm only here to deliver a message from Miss Lily Moonchester." The lycan handed Nicholas a red scroll.

"Lily?" Nicholas frowned as he accepted the scroll. The lycan sent by Lily nodded and then said goodbye and left.

Nicholas, feeling curious, immediately opened the scroll. Instantly his eyes opened wide when he read the contents of the message written by Lily. The woman told the king about Leland who had returned to the manor. Leland resigned as Alpha Blood River Pack and cut ties with Sophie. Lily also told Nicholas that Sophie had left the pack with her four children.

"W-what happened?" Nicholas was very surprised by the message.  Leland? He cut ties with Sophie? What the hell did that mean???

This was something Nicholas had secretly hoped for but now that it actually happened, he didn't feel happy about it at all.

Thinking how this news must have made Sophie so devastated made Nicholas worry.  He read the message one more time, making sure that there was nothing wrong with his eyes.

Nicholas found it very hard to believe, but Lily wasn't someone who would carelessly talk nonsense.

Suddenly, anxiety filled his heart. Without wasting any more time, Nicholas quickly ran and scurried over to the outside of Lievstad to check for himself.

If Leland really broke his relationship with Sophie and hurt Sophie, then Leland was looking for trouble with him.

Nicholas ran through the wind but in the middle of the road, he stopped because he smelled the familiar scents of Sophie, Jan, and Luciel. The road he was standing on was not on Lievstad's territory, which meant that Sophie and the children had really left the manor and out of Livstad city.

Nicholas concentrated and tried to smell Sophie and the children again. He then sped back to follow the scent left in the streets.

"Where are you going?" He wondered in his mind because the direction Sophie was going was opposite from the direction of the palace.

It was dark. After running for hours from the palace, he finally saw the horse carriage ahead.

At the same time, Luciel and Jan who were in the carriage were stunned because they suddenly smelled their father's scent.

"Father?" they said in unison, causing Sophie, who had just finished feeding Jack and Anne, to turn her head.

"Mom, dad is here," Jan said and before Sophie could respond, the carriage had stopped.

Outside, Nicholas was standing in front of the carriage, blocking its way.

"Thanks for stopping," he said to Max and then quickly approached the carriage door.

"Father, why are you here?" asked Luciel as soon as he opened the window. Meanwhile, Sophie just stared at the king with a question mark on her face.

Nicholas smiled at his sons.

"I came here to pick you up," he said. Then he looked at Sophie. He asked her, "Can we talk for a minute?"

Sophie nodded slowly. She handed Anne and Jack to Luciel and Jan then left the carriage while the children remained inside.

Jan and Luciel, who wanted to know what they were talking about, perked up their ears.

Max who got off the driver's seat sat silently on the driver's seat, watching them. He was glad to see the king. He hoped Nicholas would take Lady Sophia and her children in. It was much safer for them to stay at the palace than anywhere else.

Sophie was standing in front of him, and Nicholas looked very closely at the woman's face. The woman's eyes were puffy. It must have been from crying too much. Her face was pale and she looked very tired.

Her condition was even worse than when she left the palace. This made Nicholas even more convinced that what Lily said in the letter was true. His heart ached for Sophie.

How much more should she suffer? Nicholas asked himself.