Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 107

**Nora POV

When I got to the kitchen, the staff had already laid out a huge meal. I was surprised to see the amount of food, but then I remembered that we had been receiving guests from various packs all day. It only made sense that the kitchen had been hoping all day to keep our guests well fed.

I forced myself to eat a little bit, but the whole question of my lineage had turned my stomach. The food was delicious, and I felt bad for letting it go to waste.

“Has Blake eaten yet?”I asked as Ipoked at my food.

“We sent a plate to his office a littlewhile ago,”Vera, the head chef, said. “He’s refused to come to the tableall day, but I’ve made sure he has food available.”

“Thank you,”I replied.“I appreciate

you looking out for him.”

“Of course,” she answered with asmile.“We’re happy to help in whatever way we can.”

“We’d be lost without you,”I notedsincerely.

Vera chuckled and shook her head. “I’m glad you think so.”

I at e a few more bites, then thanked the staff again and headed up toward my bedroom. Blake was still busy, and probably would be until late into the night. There was no point in trying to wait up for him.

When I got to our room, I went straight to the shower. I hoped that a little time under the hot water would help to clear my mind.

Unfortunately, the relief only lasted as long as the hot water did. I stood under the stream until it started to get cold and I was forced to step out. I dried my hair and put on my pajamas.

The moment I was out of the shower, my intrusive thoughts about my past settled over me again. It was the last thing I wanted to think about, but I just couldn’t help it. No matter how hard I tried to focus on different things, my mind went right back to the hollow feeling inside of me.

I was grateful to Christian and Maisi e for helping me search the records for information about my family, but I couldn’t help but wish that I didn’t have to take on this mystery.

It was better not to know who had thrown me away like I was nothing. I doubted that I would ever be able to understand what could bring a parent to do such a thing. If I was ever lucky enough to become a mother, there would never be a situation dire enough for me to abandon my child. There was no doubt in my mind about that.

I climbed into bed and cuddled up to Blake’s pillow. Maisi e was right, I

hadn’t slept well in a long time. The only time I seemed to be able to relax was when I was snuggled in Blake’s arms.

I sighed into the pillow. It smelled like Blake and the scent helped to calm my mind a little bit.

Maybe I was wrong about this empty feeling. Maybe it had nothing to do with my long lost family. Maybe I was just missing Clara.

There was no denying that my failure to follow through on the ritual was only due to my own fears. I felt pathetic because of it, but not enough to change it. Not yet. I missed her, but I was more afraid of what would happen if I brought her back and it changed everything.

Then there was the letter from the council. If I didn’t follow through with the ritual and get Clara back, I could lose everything anyway.

It seemed like I just couldn’t win.

Would the co uncil really forcibly remove me as the Luna Queen? The letter certainly seemed official. I knew that it wasn’t unheard of for councils to bluff when they wanted to push the Alpha toward a certain course of action, but this didn’t seem like a bluff to me.

If it was that serious though, why didn’t Blake say anything to me about it? The only reason I knew is because I found the letter in his trash. He wouldn’t hide something so potentially catastrophic from me, would he?

It would be truly reckless of him to do something like that. Not that Blake hadn’t made questionable decisions when it came to me before. I’d really put him in some difficult situations in the past.

I regretted the trouble I had put him through when I ran away, but I would always be grateful that Blake had given me my space. Every time I left, he had let me go until some danger forced him to come to my

rescue.

I’d never asked him directly, but I knew from the staff that he was in a terrible state when I left. Especially the last time.

Guilt gnawed at me when I thought about it. It had been cruel of me to seduce him and leave while he was asleep. At the time, I thought that it was the only option I had. I was convinced that being with me would ruin his life. Maybe I wasn’t so wrong, if this threat from the council was credible.

If we refused to comply with the council and they tried to force me from my position, Blake would fight them with everything he had. If that happened, there was every chance that he could lose his throne. It would be an extreme reaction, but it was possible.

Blake would choose me, I knew that. At the detriment of himself, he would do what he thought was best for me. It would be selfish of

me to let him. What could I do?

I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling.

I didn’t want to lose my position as the Luna. I had truly come to love it. Helping the pack made me feel fulfilled in a way that I had never thought was possible. It filled my days with meaning.

Whether I was helping to organize charity events in the community center or working a shift at Dave’s, I felt like I was doing what I was born for when I worked to support this pack. I didn’t want to lose that.

And I couldn’t lose Blake. Just the thought of it made me want to cry. The council wouldn’t take me from him. No one would.

I wanted to talk to Blake about it. I wanted us to put our heads together and put together a plan for how we could address the council. We would be able to come up with a reasonable response to them together.

I didn’t think that Blake had responded to their letter yet. If he had, I’m sure that I would have heard about it.

It would be better for us to respond together, but I knew that we couldn’t do that right now. Blake had so much on his mind already. I couldn’t bring up the council letter and stress him out about that.

His concerns about his uncle were only compounded by his anger toward Graham. This whole situation had him on pins and needles. This council issue might just be the straw that pushed him over the edge.

It could wait until we took care of Graham.

There was no point in even letting Blake know that I knew about the council’s ultimatum. It would only upset him more. That was the last thing I wanted. He was running himself ragged trying to make sure nothing happened to his pack while

not panicking them with the gravity of the danger that we were facing.

Blake was a shockingly caring Alpha, but sometimes, I thought that I was the only one that saw it. He certainly didn’t broadcast the fact.

He had a reputation for flying into rages and violent outbursts. I hadn’t seen him display that kind of behavior in many months now.

I smiled against the fabric of his pillow. Blake had matured a lot in the last year. So had I. Together, we turned out to be very effective leaders. If Graham and his uncle really thought that they could easily defeat us, they were in for a surprise.

I may not be a fighter, but I would never give up on protecting my pack. I would never back down when Blake was beside me.