Chapter 77 - The Mysterious Duke Romanov

The man let out a long and arduous sigh. He did not know why this woman was always putting herself in dangerous and risky situations. She was not Leland, who could brave the winter's storm.

As far as Leland was aware of this winter's tempest, this storm of snow, gale, and hail was another doing of the witches. Even though Leland knew one witch who was a friend, the truth was that witches operated in covens.

Unlike werewolves who operated in a patriarchal society, the witches were matriarchal and the reason why they were primarily helping the werewolves was to get a bigger share of the continent.

An alliance to bring down the far more numerous human kingdoms, it was an agreement unlike any other. It also helped that Leland's mother had close ties to the witches. 

However, none of that was important now as the Alpha carried Sophie in his arms and headed back to the castle. The Lycans were immune from the curse of the winter, but unlike him, Sophie was not a full lycan.

The guards who were standing at the gates of the late baron's castle were shocked and stunned to see their Alpha return with a beautiful woman in his arms, but Leland only leaped past them and entered their temporary abode.

The Alpha went to the largest room in the castle and gently placed Sophie on the bed and he would quickly cover her in blankets. A part of him knew that he needed to undress the woman and remove her clothes to prevent her from getting sick.

However, as tempting as it was to see her naked skin right now and feel it across his hands… he didn't want to lose his senses right now.

Leland got up and called for one of the few pack's female members in the castle and asked her to change Sophie's clothes. 

Dinah, the she-wolf's name, undressed Sophie and helped her change out from her clothes that were covered in snow that melted off inside of the castle.

Her eyes widened when she saw the mark of their Alpha.  It was not visible to human eyes, but as a werewolf, she could see it. She also could smell Leland's scent on Sophie.

Dinah knew immediately that this woman was marked by their alpha. Quickly, she finished her task and then bowed her head low to Alpha. "It is finished, my lord."

"Not a word to anyone else," Leland coldly spoke to the woman and stopped her in her tracks. "I will take care of this matter tonight and address everyone. If a word goes out, I will have your tongue."

"Y-yes, Alpha!" the woman squeaked and then hurriedly ran away to go back to the servant's quarters.

It was the biggest news to know that their Alpha had finally chosen a mate, and it was disappointing to all the lycan women who joined in their mission to conquer the kingdom.

However, it wasn't only the lycan women that were eyeing their Alpha at all. Once the woman returned to her room, she was quickly harangued by her friends to gossip. "Why did Alpha Leland ask you to go to his room?"

"Did he take a liking to you, Dinah?" her friend gushed.

"Easy there, if the witch finds out, she might freeze our hearts," another one of the female lycan spoke against her friend.

Dinah shook her head. "I was called for a different reason."

***

The next day, Sophie's eyes fluttered open and she would look and find herself in an unknown room. She didn't recognize this place at all but it was really warm and peaceful.

This was the most luxurious and beautiful room she had ever seen. Even Aunt Helga's master bedroom couldn't hold a candle to the grandness and luxury presented in this room.

Sophie felt the bed she was sleeping on was very comfortable and there was a really thick blanket covering her body, providing so much warmth against the harsh winter cold.

However, she quickly noticed someone else's presence.

Sophie looked up and found a man standing inside of her room. He was tall, had broad shoulders, and was dressed like a nobleman.

And in this cold weather, he only wore a thin shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing his skin that was at least two shades darker than hers.

No coat?

However, that wasn't what made her surprised. This man had long silver hair that rested above his shoulders and, from the angle where Sophie was sitting, she could see that he was also wearing a black leather mask on his face. There was a sense of mysteriousness to him that was difficult to express.

Especially when the nobleman was currently looking outside of the window and not at her either. Sophie couldn't help but wonder what she should do at this point and if she needed to escape?

The man never looked directly at Sophie, but then he spoke up.

"You have finally woken up." His voice was deep and dark. There was a rich but confident tone to it that denied her from even thinking of pretending that she was still asleep.

"I…" Sophie found herself speechless at first and she didn't know how to react at all. She pulled the thick blankets all up to her body, but contrary to her mind's thoughts, she didn't feel unsafe around this man at all.

His presence was indeed mysterious and intimidating, but Sophie found herself reassured for some reason. It was so strange because she knew that the two of them had never met. She had never seen a man like him before in all of her life.

What kind of man had beautiful white hair and looked so unnatural like this? He looked like some kind of angel that descended down from the heavens. 

However, Sophie needed to fight against this feeling because she couldn't be naive like this.

Who would trust a stranger just because she woke up in their place? What did this person want from her and what would Sophie need to do to leave this place?

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From Missrealitybites:

I will resume with the mass release soon. Sorry for the delay, I had to pause editing the chapters because I had to attend a seminar. I will publish 5 more chapters ^^

PS: Follow my Instagram @missrealitybites and @lelandsophienic to get more pictures and videos of Leland, Sophie, and Nic.