Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

**Blake POV

The high court’s seal was mocking me from the envelope on my desk. I considered throwing it directly into the trash, but I refrained. Like it or not, dealing with the high council was part of my job as the Alpha King. I couldn’t just ignore them, no matter how asinine I found their demands.

I ripped the envelope open and pulled out the letter. I growled as I read it. It was another threat to remove Nora from power if she didn’t prove to the council that she had her wolf.

It was twisted the way they wanted her to perform for them. I threw the letter in the trash in disgust.

I didn’t have time to deal with them right now. Graham’s ostentatious inauguration ball was only a week away. We still weren’t properly prepared for it. Our intel was

almost non-existent and Margot’s letters were coming less and less often.

The uncertainty was torture. My uncle was planning something, I knew that much. But how could I prevent an attack if I didn’t know what he was up to?

I had to stop him. He was dangerous beyond measure. I couldn’t allow anyone else to be hurt by him. I just couldn’t…

A knock at the door drew my attention. I pushed myself away from my desk and stood.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Nora walked into the office, closing it tightly behind her. There was a serious expression on her face as she approached me.

“Can we talk for a minute?” sheasked.

I glowered at her. She had left this

morning without speaking a word to me. I knew that Dave was covering the store and she hadn’t mentioned any meetings that she had planned or events that were happening in town.

The fact that she could just take off on her own without a word about where she would be when we were at risk of invasion made my blood boil. Anything could have happened to her and it would be hours before anyone noticed that she was missing. It was reckless of her.

“What’s wrong?”I asked tersely.“Isthis about the scene you caused last night?”

“Scene,”she said softly.“I wasupset.”

She crossed her arms tightly and glared up at me.

“I noticed.”

“Seriously?”she asked in disbelief.“I just wanted to talk to you. If

you’re going to be a jerk, then nevermind.”

“I’m being a jerk?”I scoffed.“That’srich coming from you after the thoughtless way you’ve behaved today.”

“What are you talking about?”shedemanded.

“Where the hell have you been?”

“Do not growl at me!”she shouted.

Her face was turning pink with the strength of her anger. It was rare to see her get this worked up about anything. I knew that I was overreacting, but I was having a hard time controlling myself.

I was overtired and stressed out and I’d spent all morning with my concern for Nora buzzing like an angry bee in the back of my mind. I hadn’t even realized that I was growling, but now that Nora pointed it out, I could feel the angry sound rumbling through my chest.

“I’ll stop growling when you answerme!”

“I was at Rita’s,”she answereddismissively.

“The healer?”I asked in confusion.

Was Nora ill? Is that what she wanted to tell me?

“Yes, the healer,” she said with asigh.“Her seer sister has been having visions that she wanted to talk to me about. Is that okay with you?”she asked in an accusatory tone.

“You should tell me where you’regoing to be,”I replied.“Or at least bring a guard with you.”

“What is your problem?”shedemanded.“Is this about the damn council?”

I froze and stared at her in confusion. How could she possibly know about that? I followed her line of sight and saw that the envelope with the council seal was still sitting

on my desk.

“What do you know about thecouncil?”I asked angrily.

Had she read that letter the same night she had read my letter from Margot? Did she really distrust me so much that she felt she needed to go through my trash?

“I know that they don’t like me,”shereplied. She crossed her arms and sighed.“I know that they want to remove me as the Luna because I don’t have a wolf.”

She was trying to hide it, but I could hear the pain in her voice. It sapped all of the anger from me.

“I won’t let them,” I assured hersoftly.“I won’t let anyone take you from this pack. We need you.”

She scoffed.“You don’t need me.”

I wanted to laugh at how absurd her statement was, but I knew that the mo ment called for a more serious approach. I took Nora’s hands and

leaned against my desk.

“That’s a ridiculous thing to say,”Isaid softly.“Of course, we need you. The pack has benefited immensely from everything that you’ve done for us.”

“I haven’t done much more thanrun the general store,”she argued. “Anyone could do that.”

I shook my head.“That is not all you’ve done. You’ve been meeting with community leaders and helping them to plan how to use their resources to best meet the needs of the pack. I doubt you even realize the good your kindness has done.”

She looked away from me.“I haven’t done as much as I should.”

“Nora,”I said as gently as I could.“Idon’t know why you put so much pressure on yourself.”

I watched a tear stream down her cheek. She took a shaky breath before speaking.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered.“It’s justthat…I feel like I’ll never live up to my title as Luna. I don’t deserve it. I’m not of royal blood, I’m not the child of an Alpha, I’m not even your true mate…”

Her voice stuck in her throat and she covered her mouth to hide a sob.

This again? I wanted to scream in frustration, but I pulled her into my arms instead. It wasn’t her fault that she felt this way. Nora had learned from everyone that was ever supposed to love her that their affection was conditional. I couldn’t expect her to change that overnight.

“I love you,”I said firmly.“Youknow that nothing else matters more than that, right?”

Nora looked at me in surprise.

“How can you say that?” she asked.“When we first met, you put somuch importance on forcing me to learn royal etiquette and music

and… everything that I could possibly need to know to impress the other royals. You locked me in a damned cellar to make sure that I practiced!”

Shame wasn’t a feeling that I experienced often, but I was feeling it now. I loosened my hold on her.

“I’m sorry,”I said. I shook my headand looked away from her.“Things were different then. We were strangers that had made an agreement. I was harsher than I needed to be.”

I was angry. Nora wasn’t to blame for that, but I took it out on her. Just like I took it out on Charles and anyone else that even remotely annoyed me. All of the rage that should have been reserved for my uncle was handed to anyone that crossed my path.

“But that all just proves my point,”Iadded.“Look at how much you’ve changed me for the better. I was a violent, angry, spoiled brat when

we met. Now, at least most of the time, I’m able to control my temper.”

“Just not when it comes to me,”sheteased. Nora took my hands and pulled me close.“We’re both stressed out,” she said.“It’s only natural that we would lose our tempers.”

I nodded and wrapped my arms around her.“We’re a team,”I said. “We can’t keep treating each otherlike the enemy.”

“So, what are we going to do aboutthe council?”Nora asked.

“Ignore them, for now,”I replied.“We have much more pressingmatters to deal with.”

She nodded.“Yeah. One week to go.”

I hugged her and she rested her head against my shoulder. One week to go. It would all come down to what happened at the ball. There was no reason to fight over the

Chapter 113

council or anything else. None of it would matter if we didn’t make it through the week.