Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate by Scarlett Higgins

Chapter 9 Blake POV “I’m going to need to change that bandage a couple of times in the night,” Nora told me, pointing to the wound that was already bleeding through the bandage she’d put on. “I’m not staying up all night.” I told her, waving off her concerns. “You don’t have to,” she said with a light giggle. In the dim light of the music room, her cheeks glowed red and her smile lit up like its own light bulb. “What are you suggesting, then?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. She was being unusually nice and friendly. Sure, it was one of the first times we’d had a full conversation since I’d dragged her from the rogues, but I wasn’t expecting her to act like we were friends. As I didn’t mean to save her for goodness, and she didn’t mean to marry me for love. “I can stay in your room overnight and watch over you,” she suggested. I arched an eyebrow at her, burying my surprise behind a stone mask. My wolf, Caleb, snorted in my head and sat down. with a huff. He was just as mistrustful as I was. “You want to stay in my room overnight?” I asked in a rough voice. Nora sighed and shook her head. “Just to look after you. I am your wife and should be able to take care of you while you’re in need.” “Fine.” I grumbled. I stood up, wincing as my side ached, and I put my hand over the injury. It was just deep enough that it would take longer to heal than normal. Having someone help me wasn’t a bad idea. I wasn’t used to having anyone offer to care for me. I headed up the stairs, Nora’s soft footsteps behind me: pad, pad, pad, as she followed slowly. When we got to my room, I pushed the door open and motioned for Nora to go in ahead of me. I kept my room dark, with thick curtains over the windows, and a dark, gray comforter on my bed. This room had two full-sized beds with just a night table and lamp between them. I’d picked the room because of the windows and the size of the closet and had never taken the time to remove the second bed. “You can take the bed on the left,” I said, motioning to the one with a light beige comforter. Nora went right to that bed and sat on the edge of it. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as she looked at my empty bed. Caleb huffed in my head again and paced back and forth, agitated. “What’s wrong?” Nora asked, giving me an innocent, serious look. She was far too adorable for her own good. I blinked, keeping my appreciation buried deep. I didn’t want her to see the effect she had on me. “I can’t sleep with you watching me,” I said, crossing my arms. “I don’t sleep with anyone else around, especially someone else watching me.” Nora laughed lightly and flicked her wrist at me. She stood up and pulled the table out from between the beds, placing it at thefootboard of my bed. She shoved the two beds closer together so they were almost touching. *I’m not “someone else,” she said. “I’m your bride.” She clunbed onto the beige comforter and nodded toward my untouched bed. I glared at the wrinkles in her comforter. then the smooth one still on my bed. Here Nora was, asking to spend the night in my room, claiming to be my wife, and now pushing our beds closer together. What was it that she was expecting to happen? “I won’t bite, Blake, unlike you,” she scoffed. She narrowed her eyes at me slightly and put her hand over the place 1 d bitten her. The wound had healed already but it pleased me to see that she remembered the pain. I smirked and sat on the end of my bed. I pulled my boots off and slid to the pillows, lying down and propping my head up with one of my arms. I glanced at Nora. She was stretched out on the bed, turned toward me, her head propped up on her elbow. Her eyes were focused and I could feel them burning with questions. I reached to the wall and fl*pped out the light, hoping that would get her to lay down and stop looking at me. She had such power in her eyes and I wasn’t used to having that kind of strength directed at me. “Those scars,” she said softly. “What about them?” I asked. I rested my other hand on my stomach, my fingers tracing the raised edges of some old scars across my abs.. “Your life must have been difficult, to sustain so many injuries,” she commented. I sighed and put both hands behind my head as I stared up at the ceiling. Caleb had relaxed which meant I could relax. My skin didn’t feel so tight and ready to explode.

“I’ve had my fair share of trials,” I admitted. “Do you want to talk about any of it?” she asked, her voice almost a whisper. It was like she was scared to ask the question at all. “I’d prefer not to,” I said thickly. “Well, I know I haven’t been your wife long, but I will be there for you in the future. You aren’t alone in this anymore,” she said, her voice tender and soft. It was almost maternal. The cold, hard casing I kept around my heart chipped a little and I angled myself toward her. I could see her in the dark. She was cuddled up to her pillow, eyes closed, a soft smile on her l*ps. I could tell she wasn’t sleeping. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been that close to someone and actually let my guard down, even if just a little. “I haven’t forgotten,” I said, which caused her to open her eyes. A deep crease formed on her brow. “Forgotten what?” she asked, lifting her head from her pillow slightly. “The promise I made, to help you find your lost wolf,” I explained. “Oh,” Nora said, her eyes falling. She absently put her hands over her heart and a frown formed on her l*ps. I felt bad bringing up a sensitive topic but it had to be talked about. It was a promise I made and to fulfill it, I needed to know what had happened. “If I’m going to help you get her back, you’ll need to tell me the story,” I said. I meant to gently coax her, but the words sounded too sharp. Nora sighed and turned to the ceiling. “I didn’t think you’d make good on the promise now that you got what you wanted.” she admitted. I gazed at her, didn’t speak. Our eyes met. “Well, it all happened so fast and I don’t really know what it means. When I turned eighteen, my wolf, Clara, and I discovered our mate bond to Jeremy, Alpha Al’s son in Moonery. We were both really happy and he gave me that holly leaf bracelet,” she said. I saw her grab her barren wrist and heard another sigh escape her l*ps. The bracelet had broken when we’d argued. I hadn’t realized it was sentimental to her. “The next thing I know, I couldn’t feel or sense Clara and a friend of mine, Helen, was claiming I’d stolen her wolf. Jeremy’s bond to me was gone and he felt a strong mate bond to Holly,” she went on. I let the information sink in. It sounded like Nora had been the victim of some vile magic. Witches… they’d cause enough problems in my life. I hated to think others were still being trapped by their spells. “I couldn’t believe Jeremy turned against me so quickly. We’ve known each other our whole lives and he left me in the dungeons to…” she trailed off, her voice cracking slightly. “They hurt you?” “They tortured me and called it an interrogation. I was accused of being a spy for a rival pack. Jeremy lost his Beta and best friend in the last war. He would never forgive me if he even thought I was connected to a rival pack,” she continued. “And when you revealed nothing that could link you to a rival pack, they still did not believe you?” I asked, mulling her story over in my mind. To me, I could tell that Nora had been set up for some malicious reason. Someone had targeted her and stolen her future. But now she was with me. Stolen it or set her free. As she was here with me, we had a much different future ahead of us. She had no idea what was coming. “No, they didn’t. I don’t know why my close friends and surrogate family betrayed me like that, all on the word of a woman who wasn’t even born to that pack…” she trailed off again, her voice bitter. “It was Jeremy that hurt the most. I thought he would always see the real me and stand beside me. That bracelet was meant to be a token of his affection.”  So, Nora was still in love with that Jeremy. She wouldn’t be so upset about his actions or losing the bracelet if she didn’t care for him deeply. Caleb growled low in the back of my mind and my stomach shifted uncomfortably. Thinking of Nora being in love with another male left a sour taste in my mouth. “That bracelet was petty and cheap. It broke so easily. Don’t waste sentimentality on such a low gift,” I said in a harsh. whisper. “How can you say that?” She sat up and glared at me. Her eyes flashed in the darkness. “You should have thrown it away sooner. Something that shoddy is meaningless. You deserve far finer jewelry on your wrists.” I added. Nora scoffed and laid back down. She turned away from me on the bed. I stared at her back until her breathing evened out and she fell asleep. Nora was so innocent about what was out there in the world. She didn’t know of magic and witches and spells. She didn’t know what could be done to someone that didn’t protect themselves. I did. In that Alpha King’s Wolfless Mate By SCARLETT HIGGINS Chapter 9moment, I vowed that I wouldn’t just get her wolf back but I would protect her from the dangers of magic. She was too sweet and gentle to have to endure the same hardships I’d lived through. I would live through them all over again if it meant shielding her. My eyelids grew heavy and I let them close. I was starting to drift to sleep when I felt something warm nearby. I moved closer to the warmth and wrapped my arms around something soft and pliable. Something that sighed against me when I held it close.