Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 83

**Nora POV

My 18th birthday was wonderful. The decorations were lovely, the weather was crisp and clear, the food was great and everyone had been so kind. The entire pack had been there, since the Alpha and Luna of Moonery were hosting. It was the kind of celebration I had always dreamed of.

Then everything had gone wrong.

I had lost everything that ever mattered to me. My best friend turned on me and stole my wolf, my mate betrayed me and left me helpless in the hands of an interrogator who tortured me. The only home that I had ever known then exiled me and left me for dead.

That’s why I hadn’t told anyone that my birthday was approaching. I was sure that Blake would insist on some kind of big celebration in my honor. It would be expected since I’m the Luna Queen, but I didn’t want that. It felt like it would be bad luck to throw a big party for my birthday again.

It was just another normal day as far as I was concerned. I went to the store first thing in the morning to cover while Christian was at school.

He had exams this week, so he had been working extra hard. I was glad that I could take a little bit of the stress off of him by helping his dad out.

Things had been nice since the Lanecreek pack had left. It wasn’t going to be a long lived relief, though. We had already received another letter stating that Blake’s uncle wanted to visit.

He was so angry at the audacity of the letter that he had nearly broken the armres t off of his chair. We still didn’t know what we were going to do about it.

I sighed and tried to push the thought aside. We would deal with that later. Right now, I just needed to focus on restocking the candy display in front of the register.

The work was monotonous though, and it was easy for my mind to wander.

I looked up when the bell above the door chimed and called out a greeting. The afternoon rush would be starting soon, this was probably the first in a long line of customers. I stood and brushed the dust from my knees.

“I see they’ve got you doing the d*rty work,”Maisiesaid in an amused tone.

I smiled and shrugged a little.“Gotta make sure we have plenty of chocolate bars before the kids get out of school,”I joked.

She looked amused.“Are you the only one in the store today?”

“Dave is going to be here soon,”I explained.“ButChristian has exams all week.”

She nodded thoughtfully.“Well, Blake wants to talk to you as soon as possible. I’m sure Dave will understand.”

I frowned in confusion.“Do you know why?”

“I have no idea, it seemed important though,”shereplied with a shrug.

“Okay…”I said uncertainly.“Let him know that I’llbe there as soon as I can.”

She nodded.“Alright, take it easy, Nora.”

I watched her leave and my frown deepened. I wonder if something else happened. Maybe another letter from Blake’s uncle had arrived. I sighed and put the last few candy bars on the shelf. We just couldn’t catch a break, could we?

**

Blake wasn’t in his office when I got home, which surprised me. I stopped a staff member in the hallway and asked if they knew where he might be. They told me to check in the formal dining room.

That just confused me even more. We only used the formal dining room when we had guests. Why would Blake be there?

I made my way down to the dining room to check for him.

My jaw dropped when I opened the door.

There was a huge feast laid out on the table with all of my favorite foods. The smell of it hit me like a wall and made my stomach growl. There was a cake in the center of the table that stood three tiers tall and was decorated with what looked to be fresh flowers.

Seated around the table were familiar faces, each one smiling at me in amusement. Maisi e looked smug, probably because she had managed to get me home without giving away the surprise. Beside her sat Blake’s Aunt Agnes, the only relative of his I knew that he didn’t hate.

On the other side of the table sat Charles. I hadn’t seen him in a while. I’d been so busy volunteering in town that I had let my music lessons fall to the

wayside. I hadn’t realized that I’d missed him so much until I saw his kind face smiling at me.

The most shocking guest was seated to Charles’s right. I recognized his blonde hair and icy eyes, despite the fact that I hadn’t seen him in months. It was Jeremy.

Blake approached me with a nervous slant to his smile.“Happy birthday.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but I didn’t know what to say. There weren’t a lot of people in the world that I considered my friends and family, but here they all were. My past with some of them was complicated, but they were still so important to me.

I hugged Blake tightly. He wrapped me in his arms and k*ssed my temple.

“I hope this is okay,” he said softly.

I nodded against his shoulder.

“Jeremy wrote to let me know that your birthdaywas coming up. I figured you didn’t want to have a big party, since you hadn’t said anything, but I didn’t want to let the day pass without acknowledging it.”

He pulled away from the hug and searched my face carefully.

I smiled and k*ssed him quickly.

“Thank you,”I said earnestly.

I thought that I was content with letting my birthday just be another day, but that wasn’t true. The fact that Blake had put thought and planning into making my day special made me feel so loved.

He smiled in relief and turned to face our guests. I walked with him to the table and he pulled my chair out for me.

I sat and looked around with a goofy grin on my face.

“It’s good to see you,”Jeremy stated nervously.

“You too,”I replied.

I had been thinking a lot about my childhood lately, and it was hard not to regret how things had turned out with Jeremy. If he was really willing to be my friend without the desire to rekindle our mateship, then I was glad to see him as such.

He was, after all, one of the few links that remained to my past.

“Mother wanted to come, but she wasn’t sure if youwould be okay with it,”Jeremy stated softly.“She feels bad about-”

“It’s fine,”I said quickly. I didn’t want to get intoeverything that had happened.“I would love to see her,”I added.“I’ve been missing her a lot lately.”

He smiled at that and nodded. “Is it okay if I tell her she can write to you?”

“I would like that a lot,”I noted.

Cressa was the only mother I had ever known and she was a great Luna. It would be nice to have someone to ask for advice when I was struggling with my new role as the Luna Queen.

“You did a lovely job with the Lunar Festival.”

I turned to look at the source of the voice. It was Blake’s Aunt Agnes. I hadn’t seen her around in a

while, but I hadn’t thought much of it. She’d been pretty cold to me when Blake and I were first married.

I smiled at her.“Thank you.”

She nodded emphatically.“You are a born Luna,”she said with conviction.“Though I am disappointed that we haven’t had a pregnancy announcement yet.”

“Agnes,”Blake said in a scolding tone. She huffedand took a drink of her wine.

I felt my face heat up, but I laughed it off. She was very concerned with Blake having an heir, but I got the feeling she just really wanted a baby to fawn over.

“Thank you all for coming,”I stated. “It means a lotto me.”

“Of course,”Maisi e said brightly.“Your birthday is aspecial day worth celebrating.”

I felt my eyes get teary, so I just nodded in response.

It was easy to feel lonely in the castle, especially when Blake was so busy. This small show of affection and care showed me that the castle was my home, and the people in it really cared about me.

It was all the reassurance I needed to show me that everything we were working for was well worth it.