Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 121

**Nora POV

I thought long and hard about what the best way to approach the ritual would be. It seemed so simple when Helen had told us about it. Deceptively simple, actually. I didn’t want to screw it up.

I had to pray to the god dess for a second chance at finding a true mate and make an offering.

My half hearted first attempt was an almost insultingly simple gift of flowers. This time, I had to make sure the offering I made was worthy of the favor that I needed.

It was no small thing that I was asking the god dess for. Not only did I need her to restore Clara to me, I had to beg her to ensure that Blake is my mate.

I couldn’t stand the thought of being drawn toward anyone else on the planet. He was the only man

that I had ever cared for of my own volition. In a way, that was more powerful than if he was my fated mate.

Blake and I had chosen each other, above all others in the world.

I contacted the head priestess and asked her advice about what offering I could make to the goddess.

With the perfect offering secured, the only thing that I had to do was tell Blake. I was afraid of what he might say, but I couldn’t go forward with something as major as this without talking to him first.

Luckily, when I arrived in his office, he was alone. I must have caught him between meetings. I knocked on the door and waited for him to invite me in. I entered quickly and shut the door firmly behind me.

“Nora,” he said in surprise.“Iseverything alright?”

I took a deep breath and leaned

against the door for support.“I’m going to do the ritual.”

If I didn’t come right out with it, I might lose my nerve. I held my breath as I waited for his response.

“Right now?”He stood and walkedtoward me. His expression was a mix of confusion and concern.

“Yes… as long as you’re okay with it.”

It wasn’t great timing. We didn’t know if this would take a physical toll and we didn’t have much time left before the ball. I would understand if he wanted me to wait.

“I’m fine with it,”he noted. Hestopped a foot in front of me and frowned.“You promised me that you would complete it, remember?”

I stared at him blankly. When had that happened? I didn’t remember it at all.

“No,”I admitted.

“It was the last time you ran away,”he said.“After the fight with Helen,

when we finally got a moment alone. I made you promise me that you wouldn’t give up your wolf for me.”

Oh, I had completely forgotten. Blake had seemed so upset that I was willing to sacrifice Clara for him.

“Well,”I began.“I think that now isthe time. I just wanted to make sure that you knew what I was doing, and to ask you for a warrior to escort me to the rogue zone. I want to attempt the ritual at the statue of the god dess we were first married in front of.”

“That’s fitting,”he said with a smile.“Of course, a warrior will escortyou. I won’t have my queen venturing into the rogue zone alone. I take it that you want to leave right away?”

“Yes,”I confirmed.

Blake k*ssed me. I surged forward to meet the contact and he chuckled as he wrapped his arms

around me and held me close.

This could cost us everything. Blake seemed calm, but I knew that deep down, it worried him too. I just hoped that this was the right decision.

***

I stood before the old statue of the god dess and stared up into her serene face. This was the place that Blake and I had made our promise to each other. Back then, we had been two strangers just trying to put our lives back together. We had agreed to help each other reach our goals, then go our separate ways.

We never could have known just how entwined we would become. The idea of living my life without Blake at my side was absurd to me now.

The scent of foliage was strong around me and it helped to calm my mind. I couldn’t do this if I got myself all worked up.

I glanced down at the beautiful triple moon ring on my left hand. Blake had given it to me that day, and even though it didn’t quite fit, I had never taken it off.

I sl*pped it from my finger and gingerly placed it at the base of the statue.

I fell to my knees and closed my eyes. My breathing was shaky and it took several minutes for me to calm it to a steady rhythm.

I had to focus as hard as I could if this was going to work. I needed to clear my head and allow the god dess to have full access to my thoughts and desires. If I held anything back, the ritual would fail.

I placed my hands on the base of the statue and focused on trying to feel the presence of the goddess.

I didn’t know exactly what that was supposed to feel like, but the priestess had assured me that I would know it when I felt it.

“Goddess,”I started softly.“I offeryou this ring. It may not look like much, but it means a lot to me. I hope that its sentimental value is enough to make it valuable in your eyes as well.”

I didn’t want to give the ring up, but the priestess said that an offering should be something that was meaningful and this was the most meaningful object that I owned.

“I have to ask a favor of you,although I know that I don’t deserve it.”

Cressa said in her letter that I wasn’t religious, and that was an understatement. It wasn’t that I didn’t have faith in the goddess, I just didn’t believe that anything I did could alter the goddesses’ will. That just went to show how desperate I was.

“I know that you choose our matesfor a reason, and I don’t question your judgment, but I’m sure that you’re already aware of how things

with my fated mate turned out. A lot has happened since then…”I took a shaky breath. My emotions were going to get in the way if I wasn’t careful.“Please, grant me a second chance. Return my wolf to me, and with her, a new mate…”

Please, let it be Blake. I don’t want anyone but him.

I kept my eyes closed and focused as hard as I could. I could feel something, but it was far away.

Vertigo washed over me and I gripped the stone base of the statue hard to steady myself. I thought I might pass out for a second.

In the darkness of my mind, a light flickered into view. I watched in shock as it took the form of an enormous red wolf.

It was the same wolf that was haunting me. Had the goddess really been sending it to me all of this time?

It was majestic, but its gaze was cold

as it regarded me. It approached me steadily, and I didn’t dare to move or look away. I felt the cold stone beneath my fingers and knew that I was still knelt in the forest, but in my mind, I was standing in a formless space and waiting for the wolf to reach me.

I thought that it would stop when it got close to me, but it didn’t. The wolf pressed its muzzle to my nose.

The moment it touched me, a bolt shot through my b*dy. I gasped out loud and felt my b*dy go rigid. Deep inside of me, I felt something snap into place. The empty part of me was gone, but not because it was filled.

There was no warm presence within me, no Clara in the back of my mind. I was still alone.

But the feeling of being incomplete vanished with the touch of the crimson wolf. I didn’t understand.

“There is so much more to you,”asoft, lyrical voice spoke into my

mind.“Than you understand.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but no sound came out. The feeling of vertigo returned, and this time I couldn’t shake it. I felt the world shift under me as I lost consciousness.