Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 98

**Blake POV

I was glad that Nora was opening up to me about what had been weighing on her mind. I felt guilty that I hadn’t asked before now. It had been clear for a while that she had been distracted and upset, but I had falsely assumed that my own concerns were the same ones plaguing her.

I needed to be more mindful. I couldn’t assume that I understood Nora’s feelings and motivations without talking to her first. It was arrogant of me.

Her shoulders had relaxed and I could see that she was already more comfortable beside me, although her eyes were still sad and far away. I squeezed her hand gently.

She looked at me and smiled gently.“I appreciate the apology,”she said.

Nora must have felt bad about the way things had gone the other night. I thought that it would take a lot more for her to accept my apology.

I smiled weakly.“It was the least I could do.”I felt terrible for the things I had said to her. To insinuate in any way that she welcomed Graham’s harassment was insulting. Nora was a loyal partner and for me to treat her as anything less was unforgivable. I was ashamed of myself.“I know that you would never be interested in someone like Graham. My own jealousy overtook my better judgment.”

She nodded slowly.“I know the feeling… When I realized that you had snuck off to meet with Margot I felt sick. I trust you, but her intentions…”Her expression darkened and she looked away from me.

I was surprised. It had never occurred to me that Nora would be

suspicious of Margot’s intentions toward me. It was obvious that Margot was interested in me, but there were any number of women that were attracted to my power and position. It didn’t phase me anymore.

Margot had made no attempt to act on her attraction and there was nothing improper about the way she behaved around me. But maybe that wasn’t the way Nora saw it. She had never seen anyone but Kelly openly express their interest in me, and that situation certainly hadn’t been innocent.

“I would never be unfaithful toyou,”I assured her.“I only went to meet with Margot because I wanted to know what she had to say. It’s a good thing that I did go…”I trailed off.

The news that Margot had shared spurred me into action, but there was still only so much that I could do without tipping my hand.

“Why?”Nora asked. Her tone wasfilled with concern.“What’s going on? What did she tell you that made you so frantic?”

She turned to face me and I could see in her eyes that she had been frightened by my behavior. I felt guilty all over again. I should have talked to her right away. Her fears and concerns were festering all this time.

I took her hand in mine in an attempt to ground her. She looked at me expectantly. I sighed. There was no way to soften the news, Ijust had to tell her bluntly.“Margot overheard my uncle and Graham talking about usurping the throne. From the sounds of it, they’re planning an attack.”

Her eyes widened in horror.“Oh my goddess… Are you sure?”

“No,”I said in frustration.Confusion fell over Nora’s face. “She had no solid proof,”Iexplained.“I believe her, though. I

can’t afford to risk dismissing the warning…”

“So what do we do now?”she askedsoftly. I smiled. Even if she didn’t like what I was saying, she wanted to support me through this.

“I’m on my way to meet withMaisie. Come with me?”I asked.

Nora’s input could be immensely helpful. Her plan to bring Graham here for the festival was the thing that ultimately revealed his schemes. Nora’s insight might be exactly what we needed to find a solution to this situation as well.

“Of course,”she said with a nod.“Anything to help.”

I stood and offered her my hand. When she took it, I helped her down from the stool and pulled her into my arms.

She wrapped her arms around me and held on tightly. We stood like that for several minutes. I k*ssed the top of her head and sighed.

I closed my eyes and focused on her scent. This was what really mattered. The feeling of Nora safe in my arms and the peace of the pack. I couldn’t lose sight of that. I couldn’t let my fears drive me to carelessness and cruelty.

“We aren’t keeping Maisi e waitingare we?” Nora asked.

I released her reluctantly.“We are,”I answered.

Nora took my hand and led me out of the kitchen. We went directly to my office, where Maisie was waiting patiently in the chair beside the window. She nodded in greeting to Nora, then raised her eyebrow at me.

I knew her well enough to know that the look meant,“about time.”

“We’ve doubled the patrols,”Maisiesaid. She was wasting no time in getting down to business.

“Good,”I replied. I sat behind mydesk and Nora pulled a chair up

beside me.“They’re unlikely to give much warning before an attack, but even a few minutes can make a big difference.”

“I know that we have to becautious,”Maisi e began evenly.“But are we certain that the intel you’ve been provided is reliable?”

“You know as well as I do that it’sdubious at best,”I answered.“There is no hard evidence.”

“With all due respect, is it possiblethat this is a case of confirmation bias?”

“You mean, is she telling me what Iwant to hear knowing that I’ll take her word for it because I’m desperate for validation of my fears?”I asked impassively.

Maisi e kept her face carefully blank.

“It’s a fair concern,”Nora chimedin.“But I think that, given the damage your uncle has done in the past, we can’t take the risk of ignoring her warnings.”

Maisi e nodded.“I’ll do what I can to dig up some information on Margot and try to verify her claims.”

“It’s imperative that we don’t raiseany suspicions,”I said firmly.“We don’t want to trigger them to act early. The more time we have to prepare for them, the better.”

I knew all too well what my uncle could do with the element of surprise on his side. If I messed this up, a lot of people were going to lose their lives. I knew that there was an element of revenge in all of this.

Whatever Graham’s motivations might be, my uncle’s motivation was to hurt me. He wanted to make me pay for standing between him and the throne.

“I’ll take all necessary precautions,”Maisi e assured me.

“Take every possible precaution,”Icorrected her.“I won’t have another slaughter carried out against my

Chapter 98

pack.”

“Yes, sir,” Maisi e answered.

“I want you to meet me first thingin the morning to observe the recruits again. We’re going to have to accelerate their training. They need to be prepared for anything.”

Maisi e just nodded in agreement.

There was so much that had to be done to ensure the safety of not only my own home, but the kingdom at large. It was overwhelming, but I didn’t have the luxury of letting the stress of the situation paralyze me.

“I know that we don’t want to causea panic,”Nora started.“But maybe we should let the other packs bordering Lanecreek to be on high alert. Maybe we could tell them that there were rumors of threats from a neighboring kingdom, or even a group of rogues.”

“It wouldn’t be a complete lie,”Maisi e added sardonically.

I scoffe d at the observation. They were nothing but a cobbled together pack of rogues.

“It’s a good idea. I’ll draft thenotices to be sent out by tonight.”I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “I’m afraid that’s all the action we can take at this point.”

“It’s plenty for a start,”Maisieassured me.“They’ve lost the element of surprise, and that was the only advantage they had over us.”

“I hope that you’re right,”I noted.

Only, I wasn’t so sure that she was. Margot’s warning was too vague to give any indication of exactly what was brewing. I could only hope that it wasn’t already too late to stop what was coming.