Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 85

**Blake POV

The amount of time and energy that was being devoted to observing and reporting on Lanecreek was becoming a problem. My attention had been diverted from my other duties for too long and it was trying to show.

No one had said anything to me directly, they wouldn’t dare, but Maisi e had warned me that there were whispers in the border towns that something was amiss in the castle.

To my chagrin, the rumor was that Nora was the cause of my lack of focus.

I only wished that was the case. If Nora was distracting me, I’d be in a much better mood. I would so much rather be spending my long nights tangled in her arms, but that wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon.

There was a wall between us that was only becoming stronger as the days passed. I couldn’t help but feel that it was my fault it was there in the first place.

My priority was dealing with my uncle and that left Nora on the backburner, which was unfair. I couldn’t bring myself to change the situation. The damage that man could do was limitless.

He was ruthless, murderous, and cruel. I could not allow him to come to power again. It would cost lives. It would destroy the kingdom and leave thousands of people in desperate straits.

I ran my fingers through my hair and focused on

my breathing. I was getting myself too worked up.

I was waiting for Maisi e to arrive with the latest field report. I had no hope that it would reveal anything useful.

It was difficult not to reflect on my history with my uncle. It was beginning to feel like we were doomed to repeat the chaos of the past year.

When he had cursed me to die by my next birthday unless I married a wolfless woman, it was meant to be an indirect way of killing me. He wanted to be able to deny his responsibility for my death. I had no doubt that he intended to blame someone else and punish them horribly in order to make himself look like the grieving, vengeful king.

If not for the risk Charles had taken to tell me the truth, I would have died.

When my uncle learned that I had caught wind of his plans, he knew that he had to act. He had killed my personal guards in the dead of the night, then attacked me in my bedroom. I had been forced to flee with Charles and a number of other loyalists in order to spare them the slaughter that was unfolding in the castle.

Hiding out in the Rogue Zone was not the move I had wanted to make, but it was the only option available to us.

The first days had been fraught. We had been in constant battle with the rogues on the outskirts of the zone. The morale of those around me had been low and I had struggled to focus on anything but my own impending death.

I had done things I wasn’t proud of, thinking that they would be among the last actions that I would

ever take.

Finding Nora the way I did had driven me to desperate, thoughtless action.

When I saw her under attack by those rogues and she was making no attempt to shift, I knew that she had no wolf.

All I could think was that the goddess had taken pity and sent me the cure to my curse. At that moment, I would have promised her anything in exchange for her promise to marry me. It was the only way I could save my own life.

If I died, the kingdom would be left in that madman’s hands. It would be hell on earth. I couldn’t let that happen.

Nora was a means to an end. I was more blessed than I realized considering how it worked out.

I loved Nora with everything that I had.

Even so, it was starting to feel like it wasn’t enough.

A knocking at the door pulled me out of my thoughts. I sat up and cleared my throat. I gave myself a moment to compose myself before calling for Maisi e to enter.

The expression on her face as she entered did nothing to reassure me. She looked irritated and confused.

I motioned for her to sit and she did, although her posture remained stiff.

“They made it back to Lanecreek without incident,”she started.

I nodded, but didn’t speak. Maisi e knew that I didn’t

really care about my cousin’s trip home. I wanted to know what our scouts had learned during his absence. My uncle had been alone in Lanecreek for an extended period of time. There was no doubt in my mind that he was scheming the entire time.

His position as Beta would have made it easy for him.

Graham was in mortal danger, but even if I cared to warn him, I knew he wouldn’t believe me.

“The scouts’reports were all negative,” she saidcarefully. She was trying not to make me angry. “There is absolutely no evidence that your uncle orGraham are plotting anything.”

She was sitting on the very edge of her chairs, as if she needed to be prepared to take quick action.

The anger that flooded through me at her words was palpable.“The scouts are wrong!”

I gripped the arms of my chair tightly and took a deep breath in through my nose. I couldn’t lose my temper. It wouldn’t do any good.

“They have been vigilan t and done all that theycould withoutjeopardizing their position,”Maisie explained calmly.“With the information they were able to gather about the movements in the Lanecreek pack house and around their borders, there is nothing questionable happening.”

I growled. I didn’t mean to, but it sl*pped out.“He hasn’t changed,” I insisted.“A man like that can’t change.”

She sighed and shook her head.

“I agree with you,”Maisi e said sadly.“But I don’tknow what action we can take given the situation.

We’ve warned the neighboring packs to be on alert, but none of them have reported anything questionable either. By all appearances, Graham is doing everything right. Even Kelly has been on her best behavior. She’s even working with the Lanecreek pups.”

Maisi e threw her hands up in disbelief at the words she had just spoken. Her frustration was clear, and it helped me to feel like I wasn’t out of line.

I stood and paced in front of my desk a few times. The movement helped to redirect my blood and regulate the rapid thundering of my heart. I couldn’t let anger and adrenaline impact my thoughts. I had to be smart or we were in real trouble.

“Recall the scouts,”I stated firmly.

Maisi e looked uncomfortable with the decision, but she didn’t argue it. At this point, keeping the scouts so close to Lanecreek would only put them at risk. The best we could hope was that when Graham noticed that the strict observation he had been under had dissipated, he would get sloppy.

“I’ll have them back by morning,” Maisi e agreed.“Isthere anything else?”

She stood and clasped her hands behind her back as she awaited my orders. I hated that I hesitated to answer. As much as I trusted Maisie, it was still a sign of weakness for me to be indecisive about any of this.

“No,”I said at last.“Get some rest. I’m going to needyour help with the new recruits. I think we need to reevaluate our forces.”

She nodded, but I could see in her eyes that she was

Gnapter oo bothered. She left the room and I walked to the window and stared down into the garden.

Nora wasn’t there, which bothered me. She used to spend so much time in the garden, just enjoying the comfortable evenings. Now, she was working a menial job in an attempt to win over the pack that had greeted her with so much suspicion and derision.

The jeering crowd that had greeted her when I first brought her here still angered and embarrassed me when I thought about it. They didn’t know Nora, but were confident in their judgment of her.

She deserved so much more than I was currently able to provide for her. Things between us had been so bad recently.

Regardless of what else was happening, Nora was important to me. She was the most important person to me. I owed her an apology, but I would have to hope that a change in my behavior would suffice.

My pride wouldn’t allow me to admit the extent of my recent shortcomings.