Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 78

**Nora POV

“What are you two up to?” Kelly asked.

My hand was shaking on my coffee cup as I stood still, waiting for Kelly to grab me by the hair or start screaming for Blake. Graham glanced down at my trembling hand, but didn’t step away from me.

“Nothing,”he answered simply.

He winked at me and I could feel all of the blood dr ain from my face. This bastard thought it was funny. He pushed past me and grabbed a paper coffee cup.

He poured himself a cup of black coffee, then turned and walked out the door Kelly had just entered through. He didn’t say a word to her on his way out. Kelly didn’t react to the cold treatment, either. She walked to the counter and started fixing herself a cup of coffee as well.

I felt like I was going crazy. My b*dy was tense and ready for a fight, but they had both acted as if nothing happened. Was this their big plan? To mess with my head?

“You know,”Kelly said in a thoughtful tone.“I’mhonestly surprised that Blake is still king.”

I turned and glared at the back of her head.

“What is that supposed to mean?”She glanced at meover her shoulder, but only for a second.“You can’t just insult Blake like that, then pretend you didn’t say anything. Explain yourself,”I commanded.

It felt good to be able to talk to her like this. All ofthe power she had once held over me was gone. Now she was just an aspiring Luna who dared to be insolent to the queen.

“He’s gone soft,”she clarified as she stirred hercoffee.“I had heard about it, but I didn’t believe it. Not until last night.”

I felt my frown deepen. What about last night was soft? The pack had put on a wonderful display of prosperity and camaraderie. How could anyone think that Blake or the pack was weak?

She turned and leaned her back against the counter before taking a small sip.“You don’t understand what I’m talking about, do you?” she stated with an amused smirk. She shook her head and sighed wistfully.“Of course, you don’t. What would someone like you know about what it takes to be a royal?”

“Kelly, you will not stand here and disrespect me inmy own home,” I growled. I straightened up to my full height and glared at her.“I am the queen, you will speak to me with the respect I am due.”

“Your home,”she scoffed.“I lived my entire life herebefore you showed up, you-” She took a deep breath and relaxed visibly.“No. That’s not your fault,”she muttered.

“Excuse me?”I said. I crossed my arms tightly overmy chest in an attempt to keep them still. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and punch her in the face.

“Someone like you was never meant to be a Luna,but that’s not your fault is it?” she asked.“No, Blake just dragged you into his mess. Now you’re stuck here because he won’t follow through on his promises.”My breath stopped and my whole b*dy went cold. How could Kelly possibly know about mine and Blake’s original marriage contract? No one was supposed to know about it.

She smirked at the look on my face.“Word always gets out,”she answered fl*ppantly.“That’s one thing you need to learn. When you’re a royal, the whole world knows your business.”

“I don’t believe you,”I said weakly. I didn’t want tobelieve that someone had eavesdropped and spread rumors, but how else could Kelly know?

“Poor naive, Nora,”Kelly replied with a tsk.“I wasnaive too, so don’t feel too bad. I was so shocked when Blake actually exiled me,”she continued with a bitter smile on her face.“I never thought he could be so cruel. I guess I really didn’t know him at all, did I?”

She took a drink and sat her cup on the counter.

“You were conspiring with his uncle. You’re atraitor,”I said angrily. Her lack of reaction was getting under my skin and winding me up. I hated that I was playing right into her hands. She was clearly just trying to upset me.

“I loved this pack!”she shouted.“I never…”Shetrailed off, then shook her head.“It doesn’t matter. I should never have stuck up for Blake. It turns out he’s nothing but a selfish coward.”

“You watch what you say,”I sneered with barelyrestrained rage. She was going too far now, but I could see on her face that she wasn’t done yet.

“Why else would he stand by with that pissy look onhis face and do nothing as Graham hit on you?”she demanded.“You’re his wife, his queen, his Luna…what kind of man would stand by and do nothing to defend your honor? Especially when it’s plain for anyone to see that you’re uncomfortable.”

My argument died on my tongue. I’d been asking myself the same thing for days. Why did he let Graham stand so close to me and talk to me the way that he did? I couldn’t understand it. I knew that he was trying to avoid conflict with Lanecreek, but surely he could at least tell Graham to show more respect around me.

“It’s not just Graham either,”Kelly rambled.“Youwere quite popular last night.”

She laughed.

“Especially after you had a few drinks in you. I betyou didn’t even realize how many people were making passes at you, did you?”She looked at me with pity in her eyes and it made me want to puke. “No, how would you? Before you had the status ofqueen, you never would have gotten that kind of attention. I bet it went right over your empty little head.”

“I’m not-”

She cut me off.“And where was Blake?”She pushed away from the counter and stepped into my personal space.“While you were drunk and vulnerable with all of those men just waiting for an opportunity to take advantage? He was chatting with me and Margot.”

I felt something in my chest snap. My vision blurred slightly as my eyes got watery.

“I feel sorry for you, Nora, so I’ll give you someadvice. Take care of your wolf situation,” she said seriously.“If you don’t, the high council is going tomake your life even more miserable than it already is.”

She pushed past me and left the room.

As the door swung closed behind her, I felt the tears fall down my cheeks. I wiped them away furiously and cursed under my breath. This was exactly what Kelly was trying to do. She wanted me to doubt myself and my relationship with Blake. She was trying to drive a wedge between us and make us vulnerable.

And I was letting her.

I sniffled and took a deep breath, but I couldn’t keep the tears from coming. I couldn’t let her win. She wasn’t right, she couldn’t be.

No one besides Graham was hitting on me last night. Blake wouldn’t have left me alone if I was too drunk to be safe.

Yet my head was still thrumming with the force of my hangover. I had too much to drink and I did spend the evening talking to a lot of people from the city and many of them were young men, but that wasn’t suspicious. I was the Luna, it was appropriate for them to offer me a blessing at the Lunar Festival.

She was twisting everything and trying to make it seem d*rty and dangerous. I knew better, so why was it so hard to get her words out of my mind?

It was because of the look on her face. She looked like she truly felt bad for me, and like she meant every word she was saying.

When I had first met Kelly, she couldn’t lie to save her life, quite literally. She had been terrible athiding her real feelings. Did that mean that everything she had just told me was true? Or at least that she really believed it?

I wrapped my arms around myself and took several deep breaths. This couldn’t really be happening. This couldn’t be real… could it?