Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 111

**Blake POV

Maisi e was bent over the desk between us and looking closely at the map of Lanecreek. It was out of date, but I doubted that much had changed since it was drawn. Phill*p and Graham hadn’t exactly been focused on infrastructure.

“We’ve done a good job keeping tothe forest so far, but other than the small clearings we’ve already used, there really isn’t a good space we could hide a troop in. We’ll have to keep our guards further from Lanecreek than we’d like if we want them on standby for the ball.”Maisi e sighed and leaned back in her chair.“I don’t see any other option.”

“That’s what I expected you to say,if I’m being honest.”

I had looked over the maps myself and had seen nothing suitable for the plan we had thought up earlier.

We were going to have to start from the very beginning again.

I leaned forward to get a better look at the map.

“Maybe the best plan available is tokeep a troop stationed halfway between Lanecreek and us? If something happened and we were stopped from returning, they might just be able to keep an invasion force at bay.”

“It’s the best option available,”Maisi e agreed.“Has there been any other news from Margot?”

“No,”I sighed.“Nothing solid.We’ve kept in touch through the mail, but she’s had nothing new to report. She’s certain that they’re planning an invasion. My uncle’s warriors have been running drills almost daily.”

I grimaced at the thought. The fact that the bastard was laying low could only be a bad sign. That egotistical man wouldn’t keep a low profile unless he was sure it gave

him some kind of an advantage. He was pushing Graham to the forefront of everything and making sure that the focus was on him.

It could only mean that he was up to something that required him to lay low. Graham was a distraction, nothing more. The sooner that pompous brat realized it, the better. Whatever our uncle’s master plan was, there was no doubt in my mind that there was no room for Graham in our uncle’s ultimate vision for the kingdom.

“So, we’re still mostly flying blind,”Maisi e said unhappily.

“I don’t foresee that changing,honestly. I think we’re going to have to plan the best we can with the minimal information that we have now. We’re nearly out of time.”

There were only a few weeks left before Graham’s birthday. One way or another, that ball was going to change everything.

The door burst open and banged

violently against the wall. Maisie and I were on our feet before the noise had even reached our ears. My thundering heart wasn’t comforted to see that Nora was the source of the intrusion.

She was sweating and looked breathless. Her eyes were wide and panicked as she looked from me to Maisi e frantically. I rushed to her.

“What is it?”I asked.“What’swrong?”

“What do you know about theAlpha and Luna of Reed pack?”

Her voice was high and tight as she spoke. She reached out and grabbed my forearm tightly. She was trembling.

I pulled her into the room and closed the door behind her.“Nora, what is happening?”

“I need to know everything you cantell me about the Alpha of Reed pack,” she said again, firmly.

I took her arm gently and led her to my chair. Once she was seated, I knelt in front of her.“Darling, I need you to take a deep breath and try to calm down.”

She took a shaky breath and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Her breathing evened out gradually and I watched her face relax.

She opened her eyes and looked away from me nervously.“I’m sorry,”she started.“I shouldn’t have burst in like that. I caused a scene. If you had been in a meeting with anyone but Maisie, it could have been a real problem…”

“That’s all true,”I answered.“ButI’m sure you had a good reason. Now please, tell me what’s wrong. What happened with the Reed pack? Has Helen done something?”

I made it very clear that if that psychotic woman ever stepped foot outside of Reed pack territory again, I would put her to death. If she had done anything to hurt my

mate again, I would end her.

“No, nothing happened,”shereplied softly.“It was just a nightmare…”

I stood and looked at Maisie, hoping that she might have some idea what the hell was going on, but she looked just as confused as I was.

“You had a nightmare about Reed,and now you need to know more about the Alpha and Luna?”I asked.

“I’ll just go to bed,”she respondedquickly. She stood up and started to move toward the door, but I grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

“Hang on,”I said.“It can’t benothing if you’re this worked up about it.”

Nora sighed and wrapped her arms around her middle.“I was doing some more research, trying to find answers about my past,”she explained.“It must have impacted my dreams. That’s all.”

“You think you might be from Reedpack?”Maisi e asked.

Nora nodded, but didn’t say anything. Given her past with Helen, it made sense that it would be painful for her to learn that they were originally from the same pack. It was no wonder the information had given her a nightmare.

Nora nodded slowly and sighed. “I’m sorry,I-”

“There’s nothing to apologize for,”Iinsisted.

“The Alpha and Luna of Reed packare nothing special, honestly,”Maisi e said.“They manage their pack well enough to keep it out of trouble and to keep everyone content, but not much more.”

“And they only have one child,right?” Nora asked.

“Yes,”I replied.“Just Helen. Why?”

“Do you know if they have anylegends about a pr incess being

chased by a red wolf?”she asked. It wasn’t lost on me that she ignored my question.

“Not that I know of,”I answered.

“You mean that lullaby that theMoonery Luna wrote to you about?”Maisi e asked.“I haven’t found anything about it in my search either.”

I had no idea what they were talking about and it frustrated me. I was glad that they were becoming friends, but I was a little jealous that Nora was talking to Maisi e about things she wouldn’t open up to me about.

“You know, you should ask the oldseer about Reed. She used to live there,” Maisi e suggested.

“The old seer?”Nora asked inconfusion. A tense look crossed her face and she asked nervously.“You don’t mean Rita’s sister, do you?”

“I do,”Maisi e said.“She could tellyou far more about Reed than we

could.”

Nora looked at me and her eyes seemed water y before she blinked hard to clear them.

“I’ll think about it,” she said.“Butit’s probably nothing. It was just a bad dream. I’ll get out of your way. I’m sorry that I interrupted your meeting.”

She turned to walk away again. When I grabbed her arm, she just stood on her toes and k*ssed me. I was taken off guard, and she took the opportunity to rush out the door.

I made no attempt to hide the bewildered expression on my face as I turned to Maisie.

“What the hell was that?”I asked.

“I’m not exactly sure,”Maisiereplied.“She has been extremely stressed out. Maybe she’s right and it was just a bad dream that she had a bad reaction to.”

But even Maisi e didn’t look convinced by her own words.

I returned to my seat and shook my head.“I hope you’re right,”I muttered.

Maisi e and I had more work to do, but I wasn’t going to be able to focus on anything knowing that Nora was in such a state.

“Should we call it a night?”Maisieasked.

“Yes,”I agreed.

I was annoyed with myself, but there was no point in dragging this out and wasting Maisie’s time.

Whatever was going on with Nora,I needed to get to the bottom of it. I wouldn’t let anything drive a wedge between us. Whatever was weighing on her mind, I needed her to know that she could be honest with me about it. Nothing would change the way I feel about her, no matter how bad it may seem.