"Your mother, Anne, volunteered to enter the kingdom of Riga under one mission, to assassinate the royal family." Leland smiled. "She would blend in with the humans but travel swiftly, unseen and undetected to Livstad and then eliminate our greatest enemies."
"But… but that didn't happen," Sophie said. She tried to force her brain to think. All the information she received from Leland was too shocking for her to digest.
Perhaps… she was hallucinating and this conversation didn't really happen?
Leland smiled and sipped his wine. He shook his head gently at her words and affirmed what she said. "Yes, it didn't happen because she was discovered by none other than your father, Jack Hansley."
"My father is… human," Sophie said. She would have known if her cousins were actually rabid lycans or anything. So, it only made sense that they were humans... because her father was human.
However, that must mean one thing….
"You are a hybrid, Sophie," Leland said. "In your blood, lycan blood is flowing. You are half lycan. Though, I have to admit that you may have taken your father's side more and do not have many of the qualities of that of a true lycan."
"But what about my parents?" Sophie looked Leland in the eyes and she was searching, more hungry for answers than anything in the world. She didn't know that she was starved for stories and the truth.
"I think you know how the story goes more than me," Leland spoke softly.
"Well, I can surmise that my mother didn't kill my father," Sophie said as tears brimmed in her eyes. "The two of them… one way or another, they fell in love with each other, and then they had me."
Leland nodded his head and felt his own eyes water. He had given and spared not one detail, but it was up to Sophie to figure out what had happened on her accord. Just as the Alpha expected, she did not fail to fill in the details for herself.
"A human and a lycan." Sophie couldn't help but laugh as she wiped the tears in her eyes. She looked at Leland and her heart pounded with deep emotions. "Cow dung academy always said that both sides hate each other so much."
"Your parents proved them wrong," Leland spoke and gently leaned forward to her. "I have never seen a much more in love couple than your parents. Despite their differences, they never once saw that as a negative but instead it was a positive thing."
"Harmony, they lived in harmony and peace." Sophie smiled as the Alpha brushed her tears away. "My parents loved each other so much and they also had me… and it means…"
Leland was prepared for her expression to start to become gloomy because of what happened next and yet Sophie surprised him by grabbing ahold of his hand and looking at him seriously.
"You're Lee, aren't you?" Sophie said.
Leland blinked in surprise. He had wanted to tell her the truth about her origins, of the love between Jack and Anne Hansley and how Sophie came to be, but he was surprised that she looked him in the eye and focused on him.
"White wolf cub from all those years ago." Sophie breathed out softly and looked at him. "Tell me if I am wrong but that was you, right? You're Lee. My mother and father found you before I was born."
The Alpha nodded slowly.
Sophie suddenly jumped out of her seat and wrapped her arms around his neck. Leland was stunned but Sophie kept embracing him and there was a disbelieving smile on her face.
"I thought I was mistaken… that your appearance was only by chance. I kept telling myself that I shouldn't have considered a wolf cub and a man to be the same person just because of the eye color or your wolf form, but you're really, Lee."
"Leland." The Alpha breathed out and wrapped his arms around her waist. "My name is Leland."
Sophie laughed and pulled back a little to look him in the eye. "Leland, of course! That makes sense. Where were you all these years? Gosh… it's you!"
For the first time in so many years, Sophie felt the happiness she never thought was possible. Lee was family. He was her family in every sense of the word, unlike her aunt and cousins who abused her and made her life a living hell.
Many years ago, Lee was there with her and her parents. They had such a good life together until the day he suddenly disappeared and never returned again.
Sophie still remembered the day. Her mother cried so much and was devastated. It took the family over a year to finally accept that he was gone.
Anne didn't like to talk about Lee afterward and soon the wolf cub was forgotten from Sophie's memory. Now everything made sense.
Anne was a lycan and she knew Lee was one too. That was why she took the pup into their home and cared for him as part of their family. Lee would have been dead if other humans found him.
"Oh my god…" Sophie wiped the tears from her eyes. She was so moved by the sudden turn of events. The man she grew to love was none other than her childhood friend.
Now that she knew Lee was no ordinary wolf pup, she started to see him in a different light. He was never a pet in the Hansleys's household. Lee was a family member and now it felt so right. No wonder her mother seemed to always be able to communicate with Lee. They were both lycans.
"Oh, don't cry, Sophia…" Leland whispered with a hoarse voice. He was also feeling moved and wanted to cry. He was a tough man and looked cold and scary on the outside, but right now, he just wanted to be vulnerable before the woman he loved.
He wanted to share with her how much he missed her parents, just like she did. In all this world, the only person who could understand what he felt was Sophia.