Invisible Mate ( Mate Series Book 1)

Flashback continued...

As soon as Clara left, there was complete silence for a few seconds. The forest was illuminated by the bright light of the full moon. The rogues were already dead on the floor, whereas the vampire Shawn was fighting with escaped into the forest so fast as if he vanished into thin air.

Matthew and Shawn were immediately by Chris and Liam’s side. Both were anxious as Clara and Lea were not with them.

" Where’s Clara and Lea?” Shawn asked Chris.

" A vampire took Aunt Lea, so Mom went after him,” says Chris pointing towards the direction Clara had just left.

Matthew looked scared for his mate, but Shawn assured him, ” We will get them back.”

Matthew nods and asks Liam to get on him while Chris climbs on his Dad’s back. Matthew and Shawn sniff the air for Clara and Lea’s scent and race in that direction.

On the way, they are attacked by a few rogues who were dead on the floor within seconds. Matthew and Shawn were like angry beasts whose first instinct was to save their mate, and if anyone tried to stop them, they would be dead.

After a few minutes of running in the forest, they see a cave ahead. Clara and Lea’s scent was particularly strong there. The entrance of the cave was closed with a huge rock. Shawn and Matthew change back to their human form as they needed to move the stones. They quickly wore the pants, which were tied around their legs. Together both of them could easily push away the rock blocking the cave entrance.

As soon as the entrance was opened, Shawn felt a pull towards it, as if it was calling him in. He also heard a faint voice saying, ” At last you are here; I have been waiting for so long. Come to me. Come soon."

" Did you hear that?” Shawn asked Matthew.

Matthew looked confused. ” Hear what?”

“The voice.”

" I didn’t hear anything; instead, I am getting negative vibes from this place.”

" Did you two hear something?” Shawn asked Chris and Liam.

Both of them shook their heads, saying no.

Shawn was still able to hear the voice as if it was continuously ringing in his head. He thought why he was the only one who could hear it when Matthew said, ” I have a bad feeling about this. I feel this cave is filled with some dark energy. It looks like the rumors about this place being cursed are because of this cave.”

" But we have to go in and look for Clara and Lea,” says Shawn.

" Let’s leave the kids here. I don’t want them to go inside; it’s dangerous,” suggests Matthew.

" Leaving them here alone to be a target of rogues and vampires is even more dangerous. Inside at least, we will be there to protect them,” says Shawn.

Matthew agrees with Shawn and warns the kids, ” You two stay with us and be alert.”

Chris and Liam agree, and they all enter the dark cave. Werewolves could clearly see in the dark due to their heightened senses, so they had no problem finding their way in. The path seemed like an endless tunnel, and as they went further in, the negative energy seemed to be more prevalent.

The faint voices which Shawn could hear outside the cave were now quite clear. Even Chris could listen to it now. ” I can hear it too,” he exclaims.

Shawn understood his meaning, whereas Matthew and Liam were confused. ” But we don’t hear anything,” says Matthew.

" What did you hear, son?” Shawn asked Chris.

" A voice was calling for me, asking me to come in.”

" I hear the same thing,” replies Shawn.

Matthew was lost in thoughts, and he realized something. “Maybe it’s because you two share the same blood. This is not a good sign Shawn. I’m sure there is some dark magic involved here. Let’s hurry up. We need to take Clara and Lea and leave immediately.”

They all increased their pace and moved further; the voices, as well as their mate’s scent, were getting stronger. After a few moments, the tunnel opened up to an enormous chamber. The place had a very foul smell, and there were many weird signs and symbols all around.

Matthew saw Lea lying down on the ground at the corner and immediately ran towards her. He heard her heartbeat and was relieved.

Shawn’s attention was on a strange-looking rock that had a lot of markings on it. Shawn and Chris felt a pull towards the rock, and they could feel the voices coming from inside the stone. It was as if they were in a trance, and some force pulled them towards the rock without them knowing it.

Shawn is distracted when he hears Liam’s voice. Liam was pointing towards the same rock and precisely at the person who was lying beneath it.

Shawn is shocked to see Clara lying there below the rock. Shawn and Chris rush towards Clara, and Shawn tries to pick her up, but her arm was stuck under the rock. Shawn tried to push away the rock, but it was pretty heavy.

Meanwhile, Lea was awake and was in a daze. She seemed lost for a few moments and came to her senses when she saw Matthew shaking her and looking at her worriedly. She heard him saying, ” Are you Ok? Did you get hurt somewhere?”

Lea nods and tries to get up while Matthew helps her. He checks her for any wounds and is relieved when he doesn’t see any.

Matthew wanted to ask Lea how she came here, but he then sees Shawn struggling to move the rock, so he goes to help him. As soon as Matthew touches the stone, he is thrown off at a distance by an invisible force.

Everyone is shocked, and Lea goes towards Matthew in panic. Matthew gets up and tries to help again, but he couldn’t even touch the stone.

" I think it’s like the voices you heard. Only you and Chris can touch it. Even Clara must have been unconscious trying to do the same,” Matthew guesses.

Now, even the 10-year-old Chris was desperate, and he helped his Dad. After struggling for a few minutes, they use their full strength and manage to push the rock aside.

Suddenly, the dark chamber was filled with a bright light. Everybody closed their eyes as the light directly flashed on them. After a few seconds, they open their eyes slowly and see the bright light coming from a gem-like stone hidden inside the rocks.

The strange voice was coming from that stone, and now the words were, " Take me in your embrace and fill me with your blood.” The tone of the voice was compelling, and the same words were being said repeatedly. Shawn and Chris felt like being hypnotized by the voice. Instinctively, Shawn bends down and picks up the stone. As soon as he touches the stone, he feels a sensation of electric shock pass through his entire body.

While Shawn was busy staring at the rock, an arrow came out of nowhere.

It grazed his palm, and a drop of blood spilled on the stone.

Suddenly he heard an evil laugh, and the voice said, " At last, I will be free.”

After a few seconds, the moonstone was uncontrollably vibrating in his hand, and it fell off at a distance. He then heard an agonizing sound filled with anger, “Why is it not working? What went wrong?”

Now arrows were coming from different directions, one after another. They all dodge the arrows, and Matthew hurriedly says, ” We must leave now.”

Shawn bends down and picks up Clara in his arms. They all moved towards the tunnel while the moonstone was continuously vibrating, and the voices seemed to have become more aggressive. It also said different things to Shawn and Chris now.

To Shawn, it was nearly threatening. " How dare you leave before waking me up? Take me in your embrace and fill me with your blood. I need more blood” Shawn ignored it and moved on because now even he was convinced the voices were from some dark entity.

To Chris, it was sweetly persuasive. " You seem to be a good boy. Come back and help me. I have been stuck here for ages.” Chris paused for a second as if he contemplated going back, but Liam held his hand and pulled him further into the tunnel.

They were all running in full speed towards the cave entrance, and within a few minutes, they were all out. The voices had got too annoying, so Shawn asked Matthew to close the cave entrance.

As Matthew moved the huge rock in front of the cave, Shawn heard a high-pitched scream, and then everything was silent. ” Let’s leave immediately.”

Their jeep was quite far away; hence they decided to run in their wolf forms. Clara was still unconscious, so Shawn shifts into his wolf, and Matthew helps him lay Clara on his back. Chris was on Matthew’s back while Liam was on Lea’s. They all race towards their jeep, and after running for about half an hour, they finally spot it.

Luckily there were no attacks this time, and they successfully managed to get on their jeep and drive towards the Packhouse.

As they reach the Packhouse, Shawn takes Clara to the hospital. The doctor checks her and says she is fine and will be awake soon.

Now that they are safe, Matthew asks Lea, ” How did you get to the dark cave?”

Lea thought about it for a few minutes and said, “A vampire dragged me away. He was swift and brought me to that cave. He just stood there for a few minutes without doing anything. I was about to fight him and run when we heard Clara calling for me. I saw Clara coming into the chamber, but after that, everything was a blur. I don’t remember anything that happened until you woke me up.”

Matthew didn’t pressurize her anymore and took her in his embrace. He then asked Lea and the kids to go to their rooms and rest.

After they all left to their rooms, Matthew signed. ” Today’s events were unexpected. I feel the dark entity took Lea and Clara to the cave because they knew we and especially you would go there to save them.”

Shawn agrees and says, ” Everything makes sense now. The frequent rogue attacks on our pack, the strange voice at the cursed cave, and based on the words I heard before leaving the chamber, I am sure something was trapped in the moonstone and needed my help to release it.”

" What did the voice say?”

" It was asking me for my blood.”

" No wonder the arrows were specifically targeting you,” says Matthew.

" Whatever this is, now we know it is dangerous and has help from the vampires and the rogues.”