Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 71

**Blake POV

Maisi e was sitting in a wooden ch air across from my desk with a concentrated f rown on her face. I’m sure that it echoed my own expression. We had just received a letter from Graham confirming that a small delegation from Lanecreek would be attending the Lunar Festival.

The list of names attached meant very little to us. Maisi e had cursed the lack of intel from the previously closed off pack. It was impossible for us to know if any of these names were significant. Graham had done the polite thing by including it, but it was meaningless to us.

“It bothers me that my uncle isn’t on this list,”I saidin irritation. Was he going to use Graham’s absence to his advantage? Were we playing into his hands?

I growled under my breath. This entire situation was maddening.

“It is concerning,”Maisi e agreed.“But it will give usa better chance of figuring out what Graham’s deal is. He won’t have his Beta hanging around to run interference. He’s young and seems a little naive. That will work to our advantage.”

“It’s pointless to have this big display of packsolidarity and success for Graham’s benefit alone,”I replied in frustration.

Maisi e shook her head.“That’s not true. Word will get back to him, likely exaggerated, which helps us immensely. We’ll present a united front and show Lanecreek that any attempts to invade would be suicidally stupid.” She scrunched up her nose indistaste.“Besides, Graham’s desire to partner with us will only increase when he sees how strong our pack is.”

“That’s assuming that he has been honest about hisintentions,”I pointed out. I still wasn’t convinced that his goals were as altruistic as he had presented them to be.

“I think it’s a safe assumption until we have someevidence to the contrary.” Maisi e sat back in her chair and stretched. We had been hunched over the desk for most of the morning and we were both uncomfortable.

I stood and walked to a nearby bookshelf. I stared at the titles of the books, but I wasn’t really looking at them. I was picturing the way Graham had stared at Nora the last time we saw him. It made me angry, but it also indicated that the man was terrible at hiding his thoughts and intentions.

“It will give us an opportunity to learn hismannerisms,”I muttered.“And if he drinks, we might just be able to get him to disc lose something he shouldn’t.”

He might also make an improper advance toward Nora and tempt me to murder, but we’d have to cross that bridge if we came to it. The way his eyes followed her stuck in my mind and made my wolf growl in anger.

“It’ll work out,” Maisi e said confidently, breaking mythoughts.“It’s a solid enough plan that even with this little setback, it will still work to our advantage.”She stood and stretched again, cracking her back. “How are plans for the festival going?”show me what she has in mind this evening.”

Maisi e looked impressed and a smile crossed her features.“She’s really shaping up to be a fantastic Luna, isn’t she?”

“She has put her whole heart into it recently,”Iagreed.

It was nice to see her finally settling into the pack and even better to see her desire to step into the role she never really wanted in the first place. It was a lot of pressure to put on someone, but Nora was adjusting admirably.

“I’ve heard a lot of people in town commenting onthe Luna’s change in demeanor,” Maisi e said.“The more that the people get to know her, the more they like her. She’s very sweet and patient with the older members of the pack and she’s playful with the children. She’s going to be very popular in no time at all. When word gets around that she’s planning the festival, I’m sure it will show the pack how serious she is about her role.”

She smiled reassuringly at me.

I nodded slowly. It was great to hear that the pack was warming up to Nora. She deserved all of the praise she was getting and then some. But for some reason, I couldn’t shake my concern about her, though. She had seemed so distant with me ever since our last visit to Lanecreek. Something was bothering her, but she hadn’t given me any indication about what it was.

“What’s wrong?” Maisi e asked.

I sighed.“I’m worried about Nora. Something feels off with her, I just don’t know what it might be.”“Off how?”she asked skeptically.

I wasn’t sure how to explain it to Maisie. She had only just met Nora, so her behavior wouldn’t seem out of the ordinary to her.

“When I first met Nora she was a stubborn,intransigent brat,”I said with a fond smile.“She was strong-willed and sarcastic and she didn’t take shit from anyone.”

The shift in her demeanor had started before Lanecreek, hadn’t it? How long had I been ignoring this? I frowned and tried to shake off my irritation with myself.

“Something has changed, but I don’t know why,”Ifinished.

“She’s probably just stressed out,”Maisi e respondedsimply.“She’s under a lot of pressure. It wears on a person after a while. I’m sure it will get better soon and she’ll be back to her old self.”

“It feels like it’s more than that,”I admitted.

“I’m sure that things will calm down soon and you’llsee that she just needed a break,”Maisi e said confidently.

I nodded, but I wasn’t convinced.“We’ll talk again tomorrow,”I noted.“I’ll want your input once we have Nora’s festival plans finalized.”

“Of course,” she agreed. She bowed her headslightly, then left the room.

As soon as she was gone, I collapsed into my chair and braced my head in my hands.

The last time Nora had acted strangely like this, she’d run away. My heart ached at the memory ofwaking up after a night of passion only to find her gone. She wouldn’t leave me like that again, would she? That was a na ive thought. She’d done it three times now, why should I think it couldn’t happen again?

Had enough changed between us to prove to her that my love is real, or would doubt worm its way into her mind and convince her to leave me again?

I had done my best to make her feel loved and appreciated. I had given her space every time she had left and only kept enough of an eye on her to step in when she was in danger of some kind. By staying away, had I made her think that I didn’t care if she left?

Or was this about her wolf? Caleb made an affirming noise as the thought occurred to me. Nora was putting off the ritual to revive her wolf in order to help me deal with my family. Was she growing to resent me because of it?

When we met, I promised to help her get her wolf back. It had been nearly a year since then and I hadn’t fulfilled my promise. She had done everything I asked of her and more, but I hadn’t managed to do this one important thing for her. It would only be natural for her to be annoyed with me, or even to feel used.

I owed it to her to help her get her wolf back. It was convenient for me to make her wait and put the pack’s priorities first, but it wasn’t right. I knew that.

So why was I doing it over and over again?

I leaned back in my chair and glared up at the ceiling. If I was honest with myself, the answer was clear.I was afraid that I wouldn’t be her mate. I could deny it all I wanted, but it was the truth. Nora was only mine because I found her in a moment of desperation. Losing her would devastate me and I couldn’t bear to risk it.

If someone else was her mate, what would I do?