The King's Wife Is The Alpha's Mate

When Sophie was young, she liked heading to Hauntingen to make friends with the village children and play with them. 

It was boring staying in the woods and always helping out her parents with chores.  However, one day, when Sophie returned back to her hut, both of her parents were nowhere to be found. 

It wasn't actually strange when that happened and the young Sophie dismissed it as her parents wanting some time to be alone.

There were times that both of her parents wanted to have some for themselves or there were moments when Anne Hansley accompanied her husband into the forest to go hunting.

Whenever they did, Sophie was happy and excited because they usually brought back more food.

"Father, were you inspired because mother was there to watch you, hunt?" Sophie asked her father and Jack Hansley only laughed at that and shook his head.

"On the contrary, your mother is the better hunter between the two of us," Jack told his child and rubbed Sophie's head affectionately. "I hope that you will be like your mother."

However, on that night, her parents didn't show up or return at all. It scared Sophie so much and she immediately ran back into Hauntingen to ask for help from the village elder. The old man did his best to soothe her and actually sent some men to look for Sophie's parents.

Unfortunately, that was the night that solidified the Hauntingen village's belief that the Blackwoods Forest was haunted and had monsters unimaginable. The villagers came across Sophie's parents in such a state that they refused to show to an impressionable young child.

It scarred Sophie more than anything.

This time, it was Nicholas who was gone and disappeared into the forest that the villagers called haunted and filled with unimaginable monsters.

Sophie always used to call them out and say it was nonsense but she didn't know what caused her parents' death.  What killed Sophie's parents? 

Who killed her parents on that day?

What happened to Nicholas now? If something happened to him, did it have anything to do with the same being who killed her parents?

Sophie did not have any idea and that terrified her. At this point in time, her knees were weak and she had grown terribly tired of walking for hours.

"Achoo." Sophie sneezed and covered her mouth. She looked at her hands and noticed how frosty they were and yet she had kept walking on and hoping to see her husband.

"I… I need to find dry wood and shelter." Sophie whispered to herself. Snow was slowly falling again and she could feel her cloak and clothes become damp. Her lips trembled and her steps felt heavy.

She must find a place to rest and take cover from the snow. If she wanted to keep looking for Nicholas, it was better if she stayed here, instead of going back to her hut.

Tomorrow she would have to start from zero if she were to go home and sleep there.

Sophie looked around and found an old tree with what looked to be dry branches. She hacked some of the branches off with her axe and watched it fall on the ground.

Sophie couldn't start the fire when she was out in the open and exposed to the wind. She took a deep breath and took a hold of her memory. The same cave that she encountered with Nicholas in the past was close.

The same cave where she and Nicholas talked about how someone could have lived there. They shared their first kiss there and it brought Sophie to tears as she walked towards the cave with an empty heart. 

When Sophie entered the cave, she encountered a dark and tremendous shadow within it.

GROWLLL!!

"Aaahhh!!!"

A great bear that was on the brink of hibernation woke up angrily when Sophie entered the cave and it growled at the young woman as it rose on its hind legs. With a powerful swipe, the bear threw a powerful attack at Sophie.

Sophie froze in fear but her instincts were on point, she ducked at the last moment and quickly backed away. She didn't realize that such a creature was now slumbering in the cave and she was forced to retreat. 

However, the bear was too angry and came after her.  The axe in Sophie's arms felt heavy and when she tried to raise it up against the creature, it growled more ferociously and lunged at her before she could attack.

The bear's paw slashed against the tree and fell it down.  It missing Sophie only made the bear's temper rise and it tried to bite her as Sophie evaded the bear but couldn't quite escape it. She was afraid that turning her back against it would spell her doom.

Could she navigate fast enough and lose it in the woods or was it time for her to face it down and scare it off by herself? 

Sophie's lips were a ghostly blue as she focused on the latter and decided she couldn't outrun the bear.

Her legs were too shaky and she couldn't find the strength in her legs to run backward anymore. Even when she did it, Sophie's back touched against a tree. 

Before she knew it, the bear was upon her and she felt her life flash in front of her eyes. She raised her axe up and prepared herself to at least strike it before it killed her as her gaze darted left and right.

It was better for her to go down with one final hit. She swung the axe and closed her eyes,  praying that when she died, she would be reunited with her parents and Nicholas.

However, the swing she expected never came down. A big, burly shadow of a man suddenly showed up behind the bear.

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From Missrealitybites:

Gosh, I was feeling frantic by the glitch. I almost forgot to say thank you to you for sending your golden tickets to Sophie and Nic in November.

I would like to especially thank the Top 3 contributors: Maude Fluckiger, Rose Hollygolightly, and DianaSuan. Thank you so much!

PS: Don't forget to vote more golden tickets this week to Leland, Sophie, and Nic because I am preparing 10 chapters mass release for you on Sunday! xx