Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 119

**Nora POV

The journey to Lanecreek always made me uneasy, but today it was far worse. Blake told me that Margot had stopped writing a few days ago. That wasn’t so strange on its own. If there was nothing for her to report, then there wouldn’t be a reason for her to write. Keeping correspondence to a minimum was probably wise, after all.

But Maisie’s report that Margot hadn’t even been seen in Lanecreek was far more concerning. While the preparations for the ball were in full swing and the majority of the pack was bustling about, it didn’t make sense for Margot to be missing.

This whole thing was risky to begin with, but if Margot was actually caught by Graham, this meeting could be a huge mistake.

Blake didn’t want me to go. I wasn’t

willing to chance leaving Margot alone and exposed if she did show up. The risk she was taking to help us was immense. I didn’t want to disrespect her by leaving her in the lurch because of a bad feeling.

So,I made the long trip to our agreed upon meeting space. Two warriors came with me for most of the trip, but I had to leave them behind a few miles back. The car would make too much noise and the forest was too thick to make it all the way to the clearing by vehicle anyway.

If anything happened, I would scream at the top of my lungs. One of them would come to my aid, the other would head back to the castle and alert Blake.

It wasn’t a great plan, but it was the best we could do given the extremely strange circumstances.

Now that I was walking through the dark forest alone, I wished that we had a different plan. I felt like I was

being watched, but I was sure that it was just my imagination.

I kept telling myself that as I made my way to the clearing. When I finally reached it, the place was eerily quiet. I stood just at the edge of the space and waited.

I was alone.

There was no sign of any warriors waiting to attack me, but there was no sign of Margot either. We had met like this a few times now, and she was always punctual.

I tried not to worry just yet. There was always a chance that she had just been held up by the preparations for the ball.

The uneasy feeling was impossible to shake. Staring into the dark clearing with nothing to light it but the moon was not helping. Something about this whole thing felt familiar.

I watched the treeline closely for any sign of movement. Every insect

chirp and snapping twig made me jump. An indeterminate amount of time passed like that. I was just standing at the edge of the clearing, staring into the nothingness and expecting to be grabbed at any second by an unseen enemy.

A breeze blew through the trees, carrying the scent of fall foliage with it. I gasped and quickly covered my face with my hand.

I knew why this felt familiar. This clearing was from my nightmare.

The nightmare in which the crimson wolf appeared before me. It had looked at me so intensely in that dream. Then those dark figures had started to approach…

I turned and rushed away from the clearing as fast as I could without actually running. I headed toward the warriors that had escorted me through the forest. They weren’t far. I tried to keep my breathing even.

I told myself that I was being

ridiculous. The dream couldn’t have been a warning. I was just scared and it was making me paranoid.

Either way, there was no point in waiting any longer. Margot wasn’t coming.

***

Blake was waiting in front of the castle when we returned. The relief on his face when I stepped out of the car was obvious. I approached him, but it was hard to reach his face. The news that I had to share wasn’t good. I didn’t know how he was going to react.

Blake pulled me into a tight hug and k*ssed the top of my head. I leaned into him, grateful for the warmth and affection.

I was shaken by the deja vu I had experienced in the clearing. I had convinced myself that it wasn’t really related to my dream, but my fears got the better of me. That had to be all that it was.

Blake released me and took my hand. Without a word, he led me inside and up to our bedroom. It was strange that we bypassed his office. I thought for sure that he would want to debrief with Maisie. I wasn’t about to argue, though. I wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

I felt emotionally drained. I had no idea what had happened with Margot or what we could do about it. I hadn’t felt this helpless in a very long time.

Blake closed the bedroom door behind us and walked to our bed. He sat on the edge and rubbed his temple.

“No Margot?”

“No,”I confirmed.“No sign of her.”

I wanted to ask him what we could do, but the question would have been pointless. I didn’t expect him to actually have an answer. It just didn’t make sense that Margot could have been caught without

Graham making any attempt to contact us or make a move against us.

And where the hell was Blake’s uncle in all of this? The fact that he was missing could only mean trouble.

I sat on the bed beside Blake and leaned against his shoulder. He put his arm around me and pulled me closer. We sat in silence for a long time, just thinking about the situation we were in.

Finally, Blake sighed and loosened his grip on me.

“If there was a way to spare you thisordeal I would,” he said sadly. “Skipping the ball isn’t a viableoption. Even if you did stay, the castle will likely be the target of any invasion attempt. Short of sending you to a neighboring pack to hide, there’s_”

“Absolutely not,”I stated firmly.

I was shocked to even hear him

suggest such a thing. It just went to show how worried he really was about all of this. I couldn’t run from the danger and leave the rest of our pack to face it. It would be a huge betrayal of their trust.

I owed it to the pack, Blake, and myself to see this through to the very end.

“Nora,” Blake started gravely.“Ican’t overstate just how dangerous this has gotten. My uncle will not just kill us, he’ll torture us if the mood hits him. The man is a monster.”

“I’ve been tortured,”I said.“I knowexactly what I’m in for.”

Blake’s eyes went wide and he stared at me. Anger and disbelief were warring for dominance on his face.

He didn’t know that. I hadn’t told him the full extent of what was done to me in Moonery. When I was accused of being a spy, the people that I thought loved me the

most had sent me to the dungeon. I was tortured repeatedly, in an attempt to get me to admit to being a traitor. When I wouldn’t confess, they assumed that I was just too well trained.

Nothing that I did or said could have spared me from what happened. This was a similar situation. Nothing that I did or said at this stage could change what was happening. All that we could do was to prepare as well as possible.

The one advantage we had in this situation is that we knew something was brewing. We wouldn’t be blindsided.

“I don’t think I can handle hearingabout that right now,” Blake confessed softly.

I nodded. It wasn’t really something that I wanted to talk about either. I leaned against Blake’s side and stared blankly at the wall.

“Promise me something,”I began.

He wrapped his arm around me and held on tightly.“Anything.”

“Promise me that no matter whathappens, you won’t blame yourself. If people get hurt, it will be because Graham and your uncle chose to hurt them. You aren’t responsible for that.”

Blake was silent. I hadn’t really expected him to respond, I just needed him to hear me. He k*ssed my temple, then released me.

“We should get some sleep,”heanswered.

I nodded. Blake wasn’t going to make a promise he didn’t know that he could keep. I just hoped that my words had gotten through to him.