The King's Wife Is The Alpha's Mate

After everyone left, both men still stood where they were in silence, until Nicholas finally decided to lower his ego and invited Leland to sit together.

"I shouldn\'t have said those words," he spoke flatly. His expression was laced with embarrassment. He just projected his own insecurities and shame for leaving Sophie six years ago when she needed him the most, he left with no news. Even though it was not one hundred percent his fault, he still felt so guilty and inadequate.

That\'s why, hearing that Leland also left right before Sophie\'s parents were killed, he blurted out his own frustration and blamed Leland. He realized young Leland was also not to be blamed for the misfortune that fell on the Hansleys. He must be still a child back then.

He was what...? Fifteen? What could a fifteen-year-old boy do in the face of brutal lycan attackers? And he probably had his own reasons to leave the Hansleys.

Nicholas looked at Leland and saw how the man\'s eyes reminded him of his own. In Leland\'s blue and green irises he could recognize the pain and guilt that he was feeling every day after he got his memory back and realized how he had failed Sophie.

Apparently, he and Leland had more things in common than not. The king smiled bitterly at that realization.

Looking at Leland Salazar now, Nicholas\'s heart knew that the Alpha was a good man. Sophie was lucky he found her and kept her by his side all this time.

"I am sorry." Nicholas was surprised by how easily those words came out of his lips. Leland\'s brows twitched when he heard the other man apologize.

The king added, his expression was somber, "I got carried away. I shouldn\'t have blamed you for what happened to Sophie\'s parents."

Leland narrowed his eyes and looked at Nicholas suspiciously. Why was he suddenly apologizing?

Seeing his suspicion, Nicholas immediately waved his hand and said, "Hey, don\'t get me wrong. I still don\'t like you. I just want to be fair and own up to my mistakes. I will always apologize when I did something wrong. That\'s how I was raised."

"Hm." Leland still didn\'t say anything. However, he, too, now started to see Nicholas a bit differently.

Nicholas knew for the proud Alpha, hearing another man apologize unexpectedly was quite awkward. So, he didn\'t hope for any response from Leland. As long as he knew Nicholas was sorry for his outburst, it was enough.

"Wine?" Nicholas sat on the chair and offered Leland some wine. He poured wine from the jug into two cups and placed one on the table before him and took the other one for himself. He didn\'t wait for Leland to drink, he started to take a sip before he continued speaking.

"I came here with an important mission, but before we get to that point, I need to clarify several important matters with you."

Leland finally moved and took a seat across from Nicholas. After the king apologized and humbled himself to admit his mistakes, Leland could see that Nicholas was a fair man and his heart was in the right place.

He also still didn\'t like Nicholas, solely because of his past relationship with Sophie, but as a man-to-man, Leland knew he could respect him.

He took the other cup and sipped his wine slowly, waiting for Nicholas to continue. The king smiled at seeing Leland slowly lowered his animosity. This was a good thing. His mother taught him that the words \'please\', \'thank you\', and \'sorry\' could go a long way and he just proved it today.

"First of all, I know we started off on the wrong foot and it doesn\'t help that we both love the same woman," Nicholas tried to control his voice not to sound bitter or jealous.

It was so hard, but he was raised to be a king.  Diplomacy and sweet-talking were part of his nature.

With so many houses of nobility around the royal family that he needed to please in order to keep getting their loyalty and support, he was used to talking his way into the hearts of many people.

If he was not that skilled, and he didn\'t have a good heart, it would be impossible to touch the hearts of the nobles he invited to the royal palace two months ago to reveal that he had lycanthropy.

He had won their hearts and loyalty to accept him for who he was. Now, he was using the same methods to win the hearts and loyalty of many lycan packs and their Alphas.

The Alpha sitting before him was the one that he needed to touch the most. The man he hated but grew to respect.

"I made a lot of mistakes when I was young, I will not make excuses for my behaviors, and I left Sophie when she needed me the most," Nicholas continued his words.

He wanted to cry whenever he imagined how hard it must be for Sophie to live alone for months while pregnant and frantically looking for him, and finally thought he was dead. How much pain and shame did she endure back then?

For Sophie to end up in Hastings and met Leland, she must hit rock bottom to decide to return to this town and ask her aunt for help. Nicholas imagined her aunt and cousins must have used her situation to further torture her and insult her.

Fortunately, Leland was around and he saved her from her suffering, and by extension, he provided shelter and love for the babies in her womb.

For this, Nicholas was grateful to Leland.

"Thank you, for taking care of Sophie and my children when I was not in the picture," he looked at Leland sincerely. "I have been meaning to say this but there was never a right timing. And... I can\'t see you without thinking of killing you. So... yeah."

He chuckled awkwardly, trying to lighten up the mood because Leland still didn\'t say anything.