Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 60

**Nora POV

Blake was busy preparing for the trip to Lanecreek later today, so I was left to eat breakfast alone. It wasn’t a big deal, except that there wasn’t anyone to distract me from my thoughts.

I was having a hard time keeping my mind focused lately. The days were getting co lder and shorter, the summer was coming to an end. My birthday wasn’t too far off, and it made me think of the disaster that my last birthday was.

It was wild to think that it had been less than a year since I was exiled from Moonery. So much had happened since then. My entire life was different, and I was different too.

I sighed and dragged my spoon through my yogurt. I really didn’t have much of an appetite, but I was trying to force myself to eat. I needed to be as focused as possible today. Blake was doing his best to be logical in how he approached this situation, but I could tell he was upset.

It was only natural that he would feel the way he did. His family was complicated and had hurt him terribly. It was hard for him to trust that he wasn’t being lured into a trap.

I was trying my best to support him. I wasn’t sure how much good it was doing, but I was trying. I was his wife and it was my responsibility to stand with him and help him handle difficult moments like this. I should’ve been offering him comfort and support, but that was hard to do when I felt so uncertain of myself.I sighed and took a bite of my food. I had a lot of responsibilities that I couldn’t have anticipated. I was queen to an entire territory. No one could have predicted that this was the path my life would take.

I was an orphan, after all. I was lucky that Alpha Al had taken me in as a child and given me a decent life. Especially considering the fact that no one actually knew where I had come from. I didn’t even know where I was really from.

Maybe that’s why it was so easy for the leaders of Moonery to believe that I was a spy? It was a strange and suspicious set of circumstances that led me to live with the Alpha.

Before I was taken in by Alpha Al, I had lived alone in the forest just outside of Moonery. There was a dense set of woods beyond the eastern border that separated Moonery from the neighboring kingdom. It wasn’t uncommon for people to play around in those woods or to hunt there, so it was only a matter of time before someone came across me.

There was a small, abandoned cabin that I was living in. I don’t remember much from that time, and I don’t remember how I had ended up there. I survived off of water from a nearby stream and what little food I could forage. I was lucky that there were no poisonous berries in that forest.

I don’t know exactly how long I was there, but it must have been less than a year. I barely survived the winter.

I was starving, unable to forage when the snow came. I was too small to make a fire to keep myself warm, and the cold was becoming bitter. I was bundled in the blankets and clothes I had managed to find and was curled up on the ratty old bed in thecabin when I was discovered.

I remember the sound of footsteps crunching on the snow as they approached the cabin. I had pulled the must y blankets over my head and squeezed my eyes closed in fear. The sound of the door creaking open had seemed so loud at the time. I wanted to run, but I was too scared to move.

The blanket was pulled away from my face slowly. I had looked up to find a man staring down at me with wide, surprised eyes.

The pity on Alpha Al’s face when he’ d found me was one clear memory I still had from that time.

Many of the memories of my early life were missing or hazy. I didn’t even know what my family name was. If I hadn’t been found and welcomed in by the Alpha, I would have died cold and alone in the woods.

It was easy to forget how good I had it with the Moonery pack as I grew up, considering how it had ended.

I spent my days playing with Gavin and Jeremy, and my nights warm and safe in my own bedroom within the packhouse. I had a good life.

Alpha Al was kind to me, though it would be a stretch to say he treated me like a daughter. He was stern, but in a way that showed that he cared. When he’d turned his back on me, it had broken my heart.

The Moonery Luna, Cressa, had taken special care to teach me what it meant to be a respectable woman within the pack. I knew how to speak politely and behave myself in public. That didn’t translate into royal etiquette, because there was no expectation that I would remain among the Alphasand Lunas of the kingdom once I turned 18 and went out on my own.

I hadn’t seen Cressa since my 18th birthday party. I wish that I’d spent more time with her that night. I would likely never see her again. She was the only mother I had ever known and she had vanished from my life in an instant. It hurt to think about.

I sighed and pushed my half eaten food aside. I needed to focus. This was about Blake’s family, not mine. I needed to keep that in mind. This was no time for me to reminisc e on my strange childhood.

I made my way upstairs to get dressed for our trip. Blake needed me to be sharp and on guard. I needed to do everything that I could to help him, and not just for his sake. Blake’s uncle could pose a threat to the entire pack and kingdom. He had done so much damage already. Who was to say he didn’t have even more devious intentions this time around?

I thought of the small border town I had stayed in months ago. The people were beside themselves with fear when there was a risk of war with Moonery. I wanted to do whatever I could to help spare the pack from the kind of fear and damage that would be done if Blake’s uncle caused conflict between the kingdom and Lanecreek.

I felt incredibly guilty about the way the problems with Moonery had frightened the packs. People had really thought that their lives were at risk, and for what? All of that for me to get Clara back, and now I couldn’t even make up my mind about moving forward with the ritual. I had caused so much fear and stress for so many people for no reason.

All I wanted peace. That didn’t seem like too muchto ask, but if I was being honest, everything was so complicated.

I walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind me. I sat on the edge of the bed and ran my fingers through my hair.

I wanted to protect my life with Blake more than anything, but this reappearance from his uncle had spun me a bit. I couldn’t help but wonder if my past might come back to haunt us someday.

Did I have some long forgotten relatives that would resurface and threaten our peace?

I hadn’t wondered about my birth family since I was very young. Now, I couldn’t shake the thought. It didn’t take long for news to travel through the kingdom and my marriage to Blake would be common knowledge by now. Did I have some long lost sister that would see an opportunity to gain power and influence by reaching out to me now?

It wasn’t really the possibility of someone trying to take advantage of me that was weighing on my mind. It was the question of who I really was.

I wanted to be a good wife, queen, and Luna. Without knowing who I really was or where I came from, how could I know if I was fit to fill my role?