Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 74

**Nora POV

The sound of Graham’s voice froze me in my tracks. I had been so busy with working at the store and preparing for the festival that I hadn’t thought about the reality of seeing Graham again.

Our encounter in Lanecreek flashed through my mind and made my stomach turn. I heard Blake growl beside me and reached for his hand. My eyes fell on Kelly immediately. She was wearing a low cut, bright red dress that hugged her curves tightly.

She looked around at the staff as she passed, reveling in the attention she was getting as people whispered and stared. She was taking the gawking as a positive, but people weren’t impressed to see her. They were angry and horrified that the traitor was back in their midst. I could read the distrust in their expressions as they looked at her.

It was the same distrust that bubbled up in me whenever Kelly was around. She was supposed to be exiled for life. The fact that she was waltzing into the castle with an Alpha on her arm was a slap to the face of Blake’s authority as king and everyone knew it.

Beside Kelly was a very nervous looking, slender, young woman. She was pretty and looked to be around my age. She stood a head shorter than Kelly and was taking in her surroundings with barely contained awe. It was obvious that she had never seen anything as opulent as the castle.

The girl’s big green eyes are wide as they locked on Blake and she ra n her fingers over her cropped brown hair in an unconscious show of nerves. Ifrowned at her obvious staring. Her eyes lingered on his face before moving download and taking in his toned frame. My blood boiled at her obvious leering.

It wasn’t just bold to look at Blake the way she was with half the pack around to see, it was insulting to me as his wife. I would have been well within my rights to tell her off, but I had to refrain. I couldn’t do anything to cause tension with the Lanecreek delegation. Not without a damned good reason.

She glanced at me and saw the distaste in my eyes, then quickly averted her gaze. At least she had the wherewithal to realize that she was caught.

I clenched my hands into tight fists at my side and tried to cool my sudden anger. It wasn’t like me to be so jealous, but the way she looked at him was so blatant.

“We didn’t expect you until later,” Blake said tightly,pulling me out of my thoughts. He glared down his nose at Graham, who was either too oblivious to notice the look or didn’t care.

Graham smiled as he reached us and looked at me. I stared back with the most neutral expression I could manage. The strange dreams I had been having since the night we spent in Lanecreek made me wary of Graham and I hadn’t forgotten the way he had cornered me in his father’s old office.

I didn’t want to give him the impression that I wanted him near me, just as I did not want to be alone with him ever again. As much as I believed that his intentions as Alpha were sincere, what his intentions were toward me personally, I didn’t want to know.

“I trust that you’re okay with our guestaccompanying us to the castle,”he said, motioning to the green eyed girl.“Kelly and Margot are inseparable and poor Kelly felt she needed the moral support in order to return… I’m sure you understand.”

Blake sneered openly at Kelly, but didn’t acknowledge Graham’s words.

I’d heard the name Margot before, but I couldn’t remember exactly where. I think it was in a book. Something about the name made me think of a mouse. That wasn’t nice. I tried to shake the negativity away. The poor girl hadn’t even spoken a word. All she did was look at Blake. I couldn’t blame her for finding him attractive, could I? He was, objectively, very attractive.

I was pulled from my thoughts by Graham, who was staring at me again.

“Hello, Nora,”he said slyly. The info rmal greetingand the seductive edge to his tone took me off guard and made my stomach ch urn uncomfortably. “It’s lovely to see you again.”

His eyes raked over me slowly. I turned away and looked at Blake, expecting to see anger on his face, but his expression was unreadable.

“The festival isn’t for hours,” Bla ke said pointedly.

“That’s to be expected,”Graham noted.“Thepreparations for the Lanecreek festival were just beginning when we left.” He turned his full attention back to Blake. I was relieved to have his eyes off of me.“It’s the first time the festival will move forward without the Alpha present, but I couldn’t turn down your invitation. Uncle stayed behind to oversee the celebration and make sure things go smoothly.”their uncle. There’s no way Graham didn’t notice it, but he kept talking as if nothing had happened. I really couldn’t tell if he didn’t catch it, or if he was just trying to keep up appearances. There were a lot of people around us and we were being observed closely.

I didn’t blame any of them for staring. It must be quite a spectacle and the distrust of Lanecreek would be hard to overcome, especially considering the traitors amongst them.

I could see several men standing a few yards away and pretending to clear leaves from one of the garden beds. I recognized them as royal guards in plain clothes. Blake must have asked them to be on hand in case anything went wrong. I was relieved to have them near.

Graham smiled charmingly.“We have so much to catch up on, so I’ll take all the time with you that I can get.”

I watched Blake’s left eyebrow raise in judgment, but the rest of his face remained impassive.“Stay as long as you like,” he said emotionlessly.

“As long as we’d like?” Graham repeated in surprise.

“Days, if you’d like,” Blake assured him.

My heart dropped into my stomach. The thought of Graham following me around my home and leering at me made me want to be sick. I couldn’t believe what Blake was saying.

“Rooms have been prepared for you,” he continued.“It will take some time for us to learn one anotherscustoms and I’d like to discuss the possibility of opening trade with Lanecreek.

”I could see that the people around us had stopped and were listening intently to what was happening. The suspicious stares at Kelly had turned into open glares from some. She had betrayed the pack and now, Blake was welcoming her back with open arms. It didn’t sit right with anyone else, either.

I tried to hide the shock and horror on my face. It would look bad if the rest of the pack realized that Blake and I hadn’t discussed this decision beforehand. I wrapped my arms around myself and bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from frowning.

“I’m glad to hear that you’ve given serious thoughtto my trade proposal,” Graham said proudly. “Lanecreek has much to offer, as I’m sure you’llrealize soon enough.”

“We’ll see,”Blake noted.“Come inside, you shouldrest before the festival. It is a long journey, as you said.”

Graham turned his eyes back to me and I turned quickly on my heel and began to walk back toward the garden.

“I have work to do,”I said hurriedly.

I caught the unhappy look on Blake’s face as I walked away from him, but he didn’t try to stop me. I felt sick to my stomach at this turn of events. Had he discussed this with Maisie? Was this some plan that they had left me out of?

Whatever the reason, I was deeply unhappy about this turn of events. Graham made me uncomfortable and I hated Kelly with a passion. I wasn’t too k een about her little friend openly checking out my husband, either.I wished that none of them had come, but I knew that it couldn’t be avoided.

I could feel Graham’s eyes on me as I walked away. The image of a crimson wolf flashed through my mind and I quickened my pace. The soone r I was away from that strange man, the better.

What the hell was Blake thinking?