Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 95

**Blake POV

The long trip to Lanecreek was made even more miserable by the memory of the look on Nora’s face when I had walked away from her. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I couldn’t explain to her why I was leaving. No one could know. Not yet, anyways.

That didn’t excuse the way I had handled the situation though.

I had hoped to be gone before she arrived home. It would have been easier. I knew that she was suspicious of Margot, so telling her about the let ter likely wouldn’t have gone well. I just didn’t have the time to explain my reasoning to her.

No. That was a lie. There was no point in lying to myself.

I could have talked to her about this at any point since the letter came. I

just didn’t want to bring it up. I wasn’t sure if there was any credibility to the note or if I was wasting my time. I was starting to feel insane and paranoid. If nothing came of this meeting, it would be the proof I needed that my uncle really had turned over a new leaf.

I knew in my heart that it couldn’t be true, but there was absolutely nothing saying that anything nefarious was at play. Despite my feelings on the matter, it was reaching the point where I had to let this go.

I couldn’t keep lashing out at the recruits and frightening the surrounding packs with vague warnings about a growing threat. I would lose all credibility as king if I didn’t either prove my fears were valid or move past them.

I reached the border of Lanecreek just after nightfall. It wasn’t hard to find Margot. She was trying to be discreet, but she wasn’t a warrior nor a spy and she had no idea how

to conceal herself.

She was wearing dark clothing and standing close to a pair of towering trees. It would be hard to see her from the other direction, but she was plainly visible to me.

I realized that she was more worried about hiding herself from anyone on the Lanecreek side of the border than of concealing herself from me. This did make me trust her a little more, although I still wasn’t positive what her intentions in calling me here were.

I whistled once to draw her attention as I approached. She snapped her head toward me and her hand fluttered uncertainly before landing on her, no doubt racing, heart.

I was wary of all of this, but I knew that if there was a threat present in this forest tonight, it would not come from her. It would come from someone else.

But unless I had completely lost my

instincts and Caleb had lost his as well, Margot wasn’t a threat to us. I could tell she had nothing to do with this. She was just unfortunate enough to have drawn Kelly’s attention and been dragged into the middle of it all.

I could also tell that no one else was here besides us. Otherwise,I would’ve sensed it by now. And when she looked over her shoulder nervously as I approached, my suspicions were confirmed.

“We’re alone,”I assured her.“Now,what do you have to tell me?”

“I’m sorry,”she said softly. Hervoice was quaking in a way that told me she was struggling to contain her emotions.“I shouldn’t have been so impulsive with that letter. I’m sure there was a better way for me to approach this, I just couldn’t let them know that I was talking to you.” She sniffled and wrapped her arms tightly around herself.“And they never would have let me travel back to the castle on my own. This

was the only way I could think of to speak to you in private.”

She was shaking, but I didn’t think that it was from the cold. I felt bad for her, but I did nothing to ease her discomfort. Kind words wouldn’t do her any good right now. I just waited for her to explain what the hell was going on.

She bit her lower l*p and took a deep breath.“Okay,”she muttered. “Graham is planning to steal thethrone from you.”

My eyes went wide and cold adrenaline flooded through me.

I knew it.

“How do you know?”I demanded. Ineeded proof. I couldn’t do a damn thing without proof. Her word alone wasn’t enough to act on.“Tell me everything you know, now.”

Her arms wrapped around herself and she squeezed in an attempt to keep herself calm.“I heard Graham and your uncle talking,”she said

softly.“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I was walking by the room and they’d left the door open.”

“What exactly did they say?”Iasked.

She looked down at her feet and shuffled uncomfortably.“Graham said that you’re weak for Nora and that he could use it against you,”she continued.“He said that when we stayed with you after the Lunar Festival, he was testing you to see what your weak point was…”

I growled. Margot took a step away from me.

Is that why he was looming over Nora with that salacious grin on his face? Was he trying to goad me into a fight? Well, he had no idea how well his little plan had succeeded. He’d have his fight, but it would be on my terms, not his.

“That bastard,”I seethed.

“Your uncle was saying somethingabout reading the men,” she

added.“It sounded like they were planning to go to war.”

“What proof do you have?”I askedagain.

She shook her head and opened her mouth, but no words came out. She shrugged weakly.“I don’t have any proof. All I have is my word.”

Shit. It was nothing but hearsay.

My disappointment must have shown on my face. She looked more nervous than ever and lowered her eyes.

All of my fears were confirmed, but there was no solid proof of it. I couldn’t go to the high council on her word. I couldn’t even inform my own men of the full danger based only on this.

“Damn it!” I growled.“It’s notenough. I need proof of what they’re planning.”

“What kind of proof?”she asked,now alert.“I’ll get it for you.

Whatever it takes to stop them.”

I looked at her in surprise. In the pale moonlight, it was hard to see her face clearly, but I could see the glimmer of tears on her cheeks.

“They’re horrible,”she said bitterly.“Graham is using us just like hisfather did. He doesn’t care about this pack, he only cares about gaining more power for himself. Kelly isn’t any better. She’d rather flaunt herjewelry than tend to the pups or the suffering families of Lanecreek. I wanted to believe that things were going to get better,”she said. She sniffled and took a deep breath. Her emotions were getting the better of her.

“You’ll help me stop them?”I askedcautiously. It was a lot to ask of her, but it might be the best option we had to stop this before people got seriously hurt.“It will be dangerous. If you’re caught, there’s no telling what they’ll do to you.”

“I know,”she said firmly.“I know

what the Benett’s are capable of.”Her voice was quaking, but that didn’t stop her.“It’s worth the risk to save the pack from them.”

I nodded.“Get home and get some rest. I’ll be in touch. If anything else happens, reach out to me. I’ll find a way for us to continue our correspondence without raising suspicious.”

“Thank you,”she stated. Shehesitated as if she had more to say, then turned and carefully made her way back toward the border.

I hated to involve an innocent young woman in this mess, but I didn’t see a better way. My spies and guards hadn’t been able to detect a single thing wrong in all the days they had spent monitoring Lanecreek, but Margot had.

Graham and Kelly saw her as too unimportant to pose a risk to them. They were sloppy around her. They would speak openly and let sl*p information they shouldn’t because

they didn’t think Margot could possibly stand against them.

But they were wrong. Together, we were going to draw their schemes into the open and stop them before they could go any further.

I would make sure that my uncle was stopped. For good this time.