Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 123

**Nora POV

I was standing at the edge of a forest clearing with the full moon shining above me. I was not afraid, despite the fact that I didn’t know how I got here. Something was coming and the anticipation was thick in the air.

I held my breath as I waited to see what would happen.

A chill wind blew, shaking the foliage. The moment it passed, I saw two silhousettes emerging from the treeline. I’ve been here before, but I hadn’t been ready to see how it would end.

I took a step toward them. I wanted to see their faces. I needed to know who they were. They continued to approach me steadily. My own footsteps were shaky, but I continued to move forward, too. Thick clouds blocked the moon, and made it impossible to see the

details of their faces.

I could feel myself trembling. I stopped near the center of the clearing, just a few feet away from them. I still couldn’t see their faces, but I knew that I only had to wait for the clouds to part.

My heart was thundering against my ribs as I stood there, unable to do anything but wait. The figures stopped just in front of me. The clouds parted and their faces were visible.

The woman was a stranger to me. She was dark haired and pretty, but had a old look on her face. The man, I recognized. He was the Alpha of Reed. Helen’s father.

No. Not Helen’s father. My father.

These were my parents.

***

I woke slowly as the knowledge that knowing who my parents really were settled into my mind.

There was no doubt anymore-not after that dream. I had just gotten a message from the goddess. I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but I did, and she had confirmed everything I knew deep in my heart to be true.

I looked out the window. The sky was pale gray and the sun was just starting to rise. Blake was sleeping soundly beside me.

I got out of bed as quietly as I could and got dressed. There was no reason to wake Blake up. I wasn’t ready to talk about this right now and it was the only thing that I was going to be able to think about for a while.

I made my way down to the kitchen.

Vera looked shocked to see me so early. She was kneading do ugh and jumped slightly when I opened the door.

“Good morning, Luna,”she greeted.“You’re up early.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,”I said.“I’lljust get a cup of coffee and get out of your way.”

“I can cook you something,”sheoffered.

I shook my head.“No,I’ll eat in a little while,”I replied.“Please, don’t let me interrupt you. I know you’re busy.”

She looked uncertain, but shrugged and went back to preparing the dough.

I made my coffee as quickly and quietly as I could, then took my mug and headed out toward the garden.

It was cold and damp outside, but at least I knew that I would be alone. I sipped my hot coffee while I strolled around the garden. I was feeling too restless to sit down.

I wasn’t upset, really. There was a real sense of relief at having some of my questions about my past answered. It was far from the whole

story, of course.

I still didn’t know how I ended up abandoned in that cabin. I still didn’t know how Helen wound up in my place, with my title. I might never know those things.

I did understand, however, why the crimson wolf was appearing to me. More importantly, I now knew where I came from.

I stopped in front of the goddess statue and stared up into her face.

The ritual—it hadn’t worked. I was sure of it. So, why did it seem like the goddess was suddenly helping me so much? Didn’t she only appear to those with their wolves?

Maybe the god dess taking pity on me because it was too late to get Clara back. Maybe she was helping me with these other things because what I had prayed for wasn’t possible.

If that was the case, I was grateful either way. At least I still had some

connection to her.

I looked up at the st atue and sent my silent thanks to the goddess.

Then, I heard the front door open and footsteps on the stone walkway. I turned to find Blake walking toward me. There was a concerned expression on his sleepy face. It was kind of cute.

“Good morning,”I called to him.

“What are you doing up this early?”he asked.“The sun isn’t even up yet.”

“I just couldn’t sleep. I decided toget an early start rather than tossing and turning and waking you up.”

“I reached for you and you weren’tthere,” he complained.

I smiled.“You do that to me all the time,”I pointed out.

I had complained to him about how much I hated waking up alone more than once.

It wasn’t really his fault though. Blake was an early riser and I simply wasn’t. I preferred to sleep in. I couldn’t expect him to lay around waiting for me to wake up.

He reached for me and I stepped into his arms and embraced him. I sighed in contentment. Having Blake by my side was all I needed to put everything else in perspective. How I ended up orphaned didn’t matter in the long run. I was with Blake. If I hadn’t been through all of the difficulties that put me in the rogue zone at the moment he found me, then we probably never would have ended up together.

I would endure it all again if it meant that I could stay with him.

“What’s on your mind?” Blakeasked. He kept his arms firmly around me as he waited for my answer.

I rested my head against his shoulder.“I’m just thinking about the ritual.”

I felt his shoulders tense. He tightened his grip on me.“I’m so sorry that it didn’t work,”he whispered. His voice was strained with emotion.

I wasn’t sure what he was feeling. I hoped that it wasn’t guilt. Blake had never made me wait to perform the ritual. That was my choice. There was no one to blame for how things turned out except myself.

“It’s okay,”I said sternly.“That isn’twhat I was thinking about. I was actually thinking about how grateful I am.”

He pulled back and looked at me in surprise.“Grateful?”

“Yes,” I responded.“I feel so muchbetter than I had before I performed the ritual. That aching, empty feeling is gone. And…”

“And what?”

I sighed and released him.“I had a dream last night. Or, it’s more like I finished a dream that I’ve been

having. There’s no doubt left in my mind that it was a message from the goddess.”

Blake nodded.“I have no doubt about that, either,”he answered. “You are the Luna. It’s only naturalthat the god dess should speak to you.”He ran his fingers through my hair gently.“What did she show you?”

I hesitated. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell him. When I had mentioned my theory about Reed to Blake, he was less than supportive. He clearly didn’t believe me.

I averted my eyes and sighed.“It’s nothing.”

“Don’t do that,” he said.“Don’t lie tome.”

“I just… fine,”I began.“She showedme a vision of my parents. I was right. I am the child of the Reed Alpha. Somehow, Helen took my place. I don’t know how or why, but it’s true.”

Blake stared at me for a moment, then turned his gaze to the goddess statue.“I believe you,”he started.“I just don’t understand it.”

“Neither do I.”

I was relieved to hear him say that he believed me. It was painful to realize that he didn’t the first time I brought it up. It had shaken my confidence. I knew how absurd the idea sounded. I didn’t blame him entirely for not being convinced at first.

“It’s a good sign,”he said, bringinghis attention back to me.“The fact that the goddess is communicating with you right now. It means that she is paying attention to us. It gives me hope that we have her favor.”

I turned my eyes to the statue. Considering what was coming, the goddess’s favor right now may be the only thing that saved us from destruction.