The King's Wife Is The Alpha's Mate

Note:

Thank you Southernstar for gifting a castle to this book earlier today! It helped this book reach more audiences because of the new gift feature system. I am so grateful. xx

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"This is…" Sophie sighed aloud. "The next time that Duke Romanov is here, I will go and meet him. I cannot keep staying here under his roof as a guest, I am not important enough for this."

It was an explicit order that Sophie was to live comfortably inside of the castle and if she were to even lift a single finger… Leland might break the fingers of anyone who ordered Sophie to do so.

Dinah gulped. "Well, you can do it when he is here. Actually, I think that in half an hour, he will be returning after a business meeting and will head to his study."

Sophie's eyes light up at the opportunity presented to her. "Then I will need to meet with him by that time. Help me prepare him tea, Dinah. I am sure that he might want something to drink after a long day of work, right?"

Dinah didn't have any choice but help Sophie to meet up with their Alpha.

***

Leland reached his study and sat down tiredly. He didn't even have a chance to even see Sophie during mealtime together because of the sudden influx of tasks that required him to go about the human kingdom.

When the nobility around Hastings learned that Duke Romanov from the neighboring kingdom arrived, all of them started to invite him in order to actually gain something for themselves.

It was widespread of Duke Romanov's underworld dealings and the immense wealth of the duke that rivaled even the Rothschild's banks. 

The real Duke Romanov before he was killed by Leland was a shrewd and solitary businessman that had no real friends or relatives. The man did not show his face to the public and did every illegal thing to garner wealth for himself.

Among wealth-producing activities, Duke Romanov was involved the illicit trading that ranged from drugs to even human trafficking. The thing that sealed the coffin for Duke Romanov was the fact that he also stole lycan cubs from packs.

He would keep lycan pups in cages and treat them as nothing more than mere animals. There was deranged nobility that actually liked keeping Lycans in their basement as nothing more but sheer amusement.

When the lycan pups started to grow up and were no longer 'cute' it was at that point that they were killed by the nobles who kept them and were then turned into werewolf pelts for bragging rights.

Leland personally felt justified in killing the man and taking over Duke Romanov's identity. He was an abhor to the world and it was ironic that it was Lycans who finally put an end to his practices.

So now it was a perfect disguise.

Except it meant that Leland needed to keep up with the nobility that reached out to him. It was disgusting to know all of their desires and whims because it revealed the darkest and depraved part of humanity.

While Leland was massaging the bridge of his nose, with his mask on the table, he suddenly heard a knock on the door. Sophie was actually knocking for thirty seconds now and Leland was too caught up in stress to hear it. 

"Please excuse me, my lord. I will be coming in now." Sophie called out and entered the study of the duke. When she raised her head, she would find the duke staring at her with a questioning look in his eyes.

This was the first moment that Sophie realized that he had such beautiful heterochromia eyes. One of them was a brilliant shade of green and the other one was blue. They were such contrast to his dark skin.

For a moment, Sophie was stunned by the sight of his eyes and how gorgeous they were. A fleeting memory of a white wolf cub appeared in her mind but she dismissed the idea of saying that Lee and Duke Romanov resembled each other.

It was not right for Sophie to compare a wolf pup to a man.

At this moment though, she didn't know what to say to the man and only lowered her head in greeting him and slowly stepped forward with the tray of tea. How was she going to beg for something to do from him?

Right now a wave of nervousness came over Sophie and the courage inside of her disappeared as her tongue became a bit tied. 

"Miss Hansley? What can I do for you… I did not expect you to be bringing me tea." Leland noticed the sight of the tray in her hands. Hadn't he told everybody to not let Sophie work? Why was she bringing him tea now?

It was not that Leland hated seeing Sophie, on the contrary, the sight of the woman lifted the stress out of his body and he found himself already relaxing around her. She was his mate and her presence alone was a relief.

"I... I came here because it has been three days since you have saved me from the winter storm." Sophie said and finally gained the courage to talk with him. She needed to do this so she could have a job to feed her child.

Whatever intimidating aura this duke may have had, it was nothing compared to Sophie's desperation to provide for her future child. Even if this man was the duke of hell itself, she wouldn't move until she got what she wanted.

"I see." 

Leland observed Sophie with interest He thought it was a surprise that Sophie didn't come here to confront him earlier. She was always so bold and unafraid to speak whatever came to her mind. Did she learn how to hold her tongue now?

"You have agreed to let me stay here and have a position here in your castle but nobody is letting me do their work and neither have I received any specific tasks or a role here from you, my lord," Sophie said and lowered her head as she spoke quietly. 

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From Missrealitybites:

I am sorry for my slow replies to your comments. I am working on 4 full day-webinars this week and I'm exhausted.. I will reply and write more this weekend. Have a lovely day! xx