Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 132**Blake POVKelly was dead. Graham let out an outraged howl as we both stared at her still form on the ground. My heart twisted at the sight. Kelly had betrayed me, but I had spared her life. To think that it would end like this…Maybe it would have been more merciful to have had her executed back then. It would be more dignified than this.Graham rushed at me without warning and managed to sink his teeth into my shoulder. He was aiming for my n*eck, but I moved in time to throw off his aim.He wasn’t hurt that Kelly was dead, he was angry that someone had killed something he considered to be his. This was hurt pride, not heartbreak. I was easily able to break his grip and knock him away from me.I lunged at him and he dodged me. His speed advantage didn’t translate into his wolf form. He was sloppy and slow. It was clear that he didn’t train in his wolf form. It was a ridiculous flaw in someone that bragged about being raised as a warrior.I could hear the sounds of fighting becoming frantic all around me. The howls of my warriors told me that we were beginning to lose ground. We were outnumbered. It was only a matter of time before Graham gave up on this one on one battle and his menganged up on me.Even if I managed to kill him, they probably wouldn’t stop what they were doing. The bloodlust was settling over the battlefield.The only chance we had was to kill Graham and hope that at least some of his men would stop their assault without him there to give orders.I ran at Graham, but froze when a howl rang through the air. Around me, all of the fighting went still. The howl didn’t come from any of my men, and it didn’t seem to be from Graham’s side either.We both stopped and turned toward the sound, which had come from outside of the castle walls.I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There were dozens, maybe even a hundred, wolves running toward us. In their midst, was a tall blond man with a fi erce expression on his face. It was Jeremy Ray, the Alpha of Moonery.“Reinforcements!”I mindlinked to mywarriors.I didn’t know how, but help had come just in time. Our allies were here to help us protect the kingdom.Howls of victory and relief rang out from my beleaguered warriors. The Moonery fighters wasted no time jumping into the fray.𝚠ⓦ𝕨.𝓃𝚘ⓥ𝕖𝑙Ŵⓞ𝗥𝘮.𝔠ℴ𝕞15.02The sounds of fighting picked up again. This time, both sides were evenly matched. For the first time since this started, I felt hopeful.I looked to Graham, who was frozen in place, standing now in his human form, staring at the ongoing war. I saw the etch of confusion in his features, the momentary lapse as he tried to figure out what was going on and what to do next.He hadn’t prepared for this, that much was clear. Not only did it satisfy me, but it also gave me time to switch back, too.“Jeremy!”I called out, as soon as he was nearand I was in my natural form again.“What are you doing here?”He stopped near me and glared at Graham.“Nora,” he said simply.“She has beenexchanging letters with my mother. In her last letter, she told my mother that if she didn’t hear from her by this morning, the capital was under attack and needed help.”“Nora,”I said in awe. It was such a simpleand clever idea.She hadn’t disclosed any details of what was happening or who was threatening the pack. She just reached out to someone that she knew she could trust and counted on them to take her at her word.We were lucky that they had.“What is going on here?” Jeremy asked.Jeremy was far from a warrior, and I had seen him lose a fight less challenging than this with my own two eyes. Something was different about him now, though. Maybe he had taken his defeat to heart and focused on training as a fighter. There was a cold, calculating look in his eyes as he sized Graham up.I believed that Graham could actually hold his own in this fight, even if it was my wishful thinking making me believe it.

“My cousin,”I said angrily.“He became theAlpha of Lanecreek this morning, and decided that his first act as Alpha would be to attempt a coup.”“Fool,”Jeremy spat.“Did you not think thatthe rest of the kingdom might have something to say about that?”I was a little shocked at his words. I did believe that it was in the best interest of the kingdom not to allow madmen like Graham and our uncle to come to power, but it never occurred to me that the other packs might feel strongly enough about this to intervene.Should I have reached out for backup, like Nora did? Had I doomed my pack by stubbornly insisting on handling this by myself?“King Blake doesn’t lead us through fear andintimidation,”Jeremy said sternly.“He leads us because we consent to be led by him. The kingdom will never consent to be ruled by aspoiled, self important child!”“Who asked you?!”Graham roared.He launched himself at Jeremy, but I jumped between them and hit Graham mid air. He rolled a few feet, but jumped back up immediately and glared me down, like a stubborn and defeated child, waiting for me to attack.“Jeremy,”I said firmly.“I have to leave therun of the field to you. My cousin and I must settle this between us.”I stepped toward Graham.“Kill the rogues, but spare the Lanecreek warriors. They were forced here,”I instructed.“Understood, King Blake,”he said. Jeremywasted no time running to join his warriors in the fight.The sounds of fighting were more chaotic than they had been once they began again. Pained howls and blood chilling cries were rising above the rest of the sound. I didn’t have to look to know that people were dying.I couldn’t look. I knew that if I saw my men falling, I would lose the composure that I had managed to hold onto. I couldn’t afford to lose my cool. I still didn’t know where my uncle was or what he was up to. Even when the fight with Graham ended, this still wouldn’t be over.I ran at Graham and he rushed forward to meet my attack head on. He dodged, Iblocked, we went in circles. We traded blows for what felt like an eternity, but neither of us could gain the upper hand.I was growing tired. Was his aim to tire me out so that I would be easier to defeat?No, that couldn’t be it. He was just as winded as I was, if not more. He didn’t have a strategy, he was just fighting me for the satisfaction of the fight. Or…Buying time. Shit, he was buying time for whatever uncle was doing. I had to stop this now!I ran at him with all of the speed I could muster and managed to sink my teeth into his leg. He yelped and bit my ear, yanking hard so that I was forced to release him and jump out of his reach to avoid losing my ear.There was a thunderous crash as one of the garden trees collapsed due to the fire that had eaten through its trunk.The sound drew Graham’s attention, and I took advantage of the opening. I grabbed him by the side of his n*eck and slammed him down onto the concrete. I felt my teeth break through his skin and the force of the impact was so powerful that it made my jaw ache.Graham staggered back in a daze and collapsed onto his haunches. He spit a mouthful of blood onto the ground and growled at me. There was more than rage in𝘸 eyes, he was looking at me with pure hatred.I didn’t understand why. I had done nothing to Graham to cause him to loath e me the way that he did. It didn’t make any logical sense, then again hatred rarely did.“Give up,”I said firmly.“There’s no point inthrowing your life away. You’ve done a lot of damage, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come back from this!”“I’ll never surrender to you!”Grahamscreamed through the blood in his mouth.“I will kill you or die trying!”“So be it,”I said sadly.My entire family was destined to die this way, it seemed. We would kill each other in this struggle for power until none of us remained.I clenched my teeth and growled. There was no point in delaying further.It was time to end this.