Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 51: Painful Truth

**Nora POV

“It’s not fair!” Helen wailed. “You always get everything, you’re so lucky!”

She pointed an accusing finger at me.

I creased my brow. “What are you talking about? Things have not been easy for me.”

“Only because I had to take you down a few pegs! Jeremy was your fated mate and I got him to exile you, then you ended up marrying the Lycan King. It isn’t fair!”

“Why would you do this, Helen? We were friends. Why would you try to destroy my life?” I asked. I didn’t know why I needed answers.

It should have been enough to know that she had lost and was completely defeated. It wasn’t. I needed to know why.

“I was the daughter of an Alpha. In Reed pack, I was like royalty. Then I had to give that all up to go to Moonery and be a political prisoner. I had no status. no identity,” Helen explained.

“But they didn’t treat you like a prisoner. You were treated like all other pack members.” I pointed out.

“Exactly! I should have been treated like a princess. But I lost my social status. And I didn’t have my freedom. The only way I could get that back was by marrying Jeremy and becoming the next Luna,” she said, flashing me a sharp look.

“But we were friends. Did that mean anything at all?” I asked, the furrow in my brow deepening.

Had she only befriended me to get closer to Jeremy?

“You! You alwavs stood out from the crowd. Jeremy was always your friend and so devoted to you. You always had the attention and praise of the Alpha and his family,” she continued.

“So you used me to get your own status, then tried to destroy me because you were jealous?” I asked.

I glanced at Blake. His nostrils flared, hands balled into fists. Clearly, he didn’t like hearing Helen talk about her feelings toward me and what she’d done to me.

It was unsettling to see how vindictive she really was.

“Nothing I did worked. I couldn’t get Jeremy’s attention away from you. I knew I’d have to do something big to turn him against you. So, I orchestrated Gavin’s death.” Helen said with not an ounce od remorse.

“You what!?” I cried, jumping to my feet.

“Reed pack was where I was born. It was easy enough to leak intel to them that set Gavin up to die.

Once he was gone, I knew I could use that to frame you. And Reed pack would never betray me because Moonery is their enemy,” Helen said.

She sat up, smirking at me like she’d won some big prize.

Gavin’s death had been considered an unfortunate accident until Helen had blamed me for it. I couldn’t believe that she was really the one who had gotten him killed. And she’d done it just to frame me!

Gavin hadn’t done anything wrong.

A pit formed in my stomach and I turned to Blake.

He put a comforting arm around me.

“All this time, you’ve been hiding how much you hated me. You killed my friend and blamed me… that is beyond cruel.” I said firmly.

Helen shrugged like she didn’t even care.

“Alright, Helen. It is time for you to return Nora’s wolf,” Blake said, stepping in and taking control of the conversation.

“I won’t do that,” Helen said, shaking her head.

“Oh, you will,” Blake threatened. “Unless you want to experience the same kind of torture that Nora once endured because of you.”

“No!” Helen cried.

She jumped up and ran for the edge of the clearing.

Several of Blake’s warriors got in her way. They pushed her down to the ground again.

Groaning and whimpering, Helen rolled around, breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath.

Blake grabbed the back of Helen’s shirt and dragged her to the center of the clearing. He forced her into a kneeling position at his feet and glared at her.

“Tell us everything about what you did to steal her wolf and how to get her back, or I will make sure you never see the light of day again.” Blake hissed in a cold, threatening voice.

“I’m never going to tell you anything! Nora doesn’t deserve her wolf.” Helen insisted. She crossed her arms and turned awav from Blake like a child throwing a tantrum.

Smirking, Blake bent down and grabbed her around the throat.

Helen gasped and choked, trying to breathe. She clawed at Blake’s hand but his eyes and face were steady, showing no signs of pain.

“Tell me, or I will crush your windpipe and send you back to your pack as a deformed mute,” he snarled.

Part of me thought I should step in and keep Blake from going too far. At the same time, I wanted Helen to give us those answers. I was closer than ever to getting Clara back.

Besides, if I did, Blake and I could treat our marriage like a real marriage, not an unfulfilled contract. I wanted to have that fresh start with him.

“F-fine! I’lI tell you, I’lI tell you,” Helen cried.

Blake released her throat and Helen fell forward on her hands and knees. She coughed and rubbed her throat.

“It was a mistake. I learned how to steal someone’s wolf by mistake. I found an old witch book in the library and I read about a mistletoe drink.” she explained.

Gasping, I covered my mouth with my hand. At my birthday party, Helen had given me a drink, a mistletoe drink. She’d said it was a traditional drink in her pack, for celebration. My suspicions were right.

She’d poisoned me!

So many curses and cusses rose to my l*ps, but I couldn’t form words. I just snarled and shook from head to toe.

“Nora’s wolf was so strong. She didn’t want me and she fought against me every step of the way. couldn’t control her.” Helen wailed.

My anger quickly faded and pride glowed in my chest. So, Clara had known she didn’t belong to Helen and she’d fought against her. That made me happy. Clara had wanted to get back to me just as much as I wanted her back.

A huge weight lifted off me and I almost smiled!

“She couldn’t handle it so she went into deep hibernation. She was dormant and I stopped being able to feel her. I had to take a new wolf before Jeremy stopped feeling the mate bond between us, otherwise, he’d get suspicious,” she continued.

“When you stole another wolf, what happened to Nora’s wolf?” Blake demanded harshly.

Helen shrank away from him and covered her throat with her hands.

“She’s with the Moon Goddess.” Helen said.

My newfound happiness drained and my arms felt heavy and numb at my sides. “You mean she’s …dead?”

“No,” Helen sneered. “I mean, she’s with the Moon Goddess. In order to return her to you, you just have to get her to wake up from her hibernation.”

I sighed with relief and nodded. Clara was still alive and she was able to return to me. My insides twisted in all kinds of painful and confusing ways. I wanted to feel relief, but I still had no idea how to get Clara back.

“Last question, Helen, and if you hesitate to answer in the slightest or if I sense you are being untruthful in any way, you’ll be dead before my men have a chance to stop me.” Blake threatened.

Helen swallowed audibly and nodded.

“How does Nora wake her wolf up and get her back?” he asked.

“She has to pray before a Moon Goddess statue. She needs to make an offering and then ask the Moon Goddess for a second chance to find her mate again. That is how her wolf will wake up and be restored,”

Helen said.

Blake stared hard into Helen’s eyes. I knew he was trying to determine if she was lying.

At this point, she’d lied so much, I knew she was telling the truth.

My arms grew heavy again and I slouched forward. Uninterested in the rest, I turned away from Blake and Helen.

Restoring Clara meant I’d have to wish for a second chance at my mate bond. Would that mean I’d be Jeremy’s mate again? Would all the feelings I had for him rush back?

Maybe it meant that the Moon Goddess would create a new mate bond for me.

I glanced over my shoulder at Blake. Would she choose the man I loved, the man I’d married? It was possible.

Although, she could mate me to someone else entirely. Was it worth the risk of losing Blake now that I’d just gotten him back?

A lump formed in my throat and I looped my arms around myself. I missed Clara so much and I wanted her back.

Plus, Blake was determined to fulfill our contract.

I’d just sworn I’d never leave Blake again but if my mate bond was restored to Jeremy, or someone else, I didn’t know if I’d be able to keep that promise.

Getting Clara back meant I’d break my word to Blake and probably lose him for good.

I couldn’t risk it.