Invisible Mate ( Mate Series Book 1)

Trigger Warning: This chapter includes graphic descriptions of violence involving adults and minors. Reader discretion is advised.

Flashback continued...

Shawn and Matthew were astonished by what they discovered when they reached the spot. Clara held a bloodied dagger in her hand while Emelia lay on the ground in a pool of blood. Chris stood there like a statue, stunned into silence.

Shawn dashed towards Emelia and held her. ” Mom, What happened? H-how?”

Shawn was lost for words. For anyone who saw the scene, it was clear as day that Clara had stabbed Emelia, but Shawn didn’t want to believe it. He still hoped that he was wrong.

Emelia tried to speak, but she was having trouble breathing. Shawn checked her wound, and he could smell wolfsbane.

Matthew was equally shocked and approached Lea. He held her arms and asked, ” What’s going on, Lea? What happened here?”

Lea didn’t reply and just stood there quietly with a blank face.

Matthew tried again. ” Why are you silent? Would you please tell me what happened?”

Lea was still silent, and Matthew was continuously questioning her, shaking her vigorously.

Lea felt severe pain in her head while she could hear a voice constantly saying, " Kill him; he’s your enemy.”

Lea couldn’t bear it anymore, and she screamed, ” Stop it...stop it!”

She then took out a silver knife and pierced it directly into Matthew’s heart. She didn’t stop at one time. She took out the knife and struck it again, and again and again.

Matthew screamed in pain and stared at Lea, bewildered. The shock was so deep that an experienced, skilled fighter like him did not think of defending himself. The pain of betrayal was more profound than the combined pain of silver and wolfsbane.

Shawn and Liam stood there, unable to process what they saw. They came back to their senses when they saw Matthew fall to the ground.

Shawn ran towards Matthew. First his mom and then his best friend; it was all too much for him.

" M-Matt, Please hold on; I will take you to the Pack Doctor,” Shawn cried out frantically.

Liam was crying his heart out beside his Dad while Shawn tried to pick Matthew up.

" I-It’s n-no use S-Shawn. M-My t-time is up,” stuttered Matthew in pain, holding his heart. He had lost the will to live.

" You can’t die, Matt. You can’t die,” shouted Shawn desperately.

" P-Please take c-care of my s-son Shawn. ”

Matthew put his bloodied hand on Liam’s face and stuttered, ” L-Liam, p-promise me you will a-always support C-Chris and a-assist him like a g-good B-Beta.”

" I Promise, Dad,” Liam said between tears.

Liam held Matthew’s hand as he promised while Matthew gave a last look at Shawn and then stared at Lea before dying in Shawn’s arms.

Lea suddenly screamed and fell on her knees, placing her hand at her heart. She felt extreme pain in her heart, the pain of severing of the mate bond, and the agony of losing her mate.

Liam shook his dad and looked around. ” Dad, please wake up. Uncle, why is Dad not replying? Please tell me... Chris?”

Shawn was not in a position to reply, while Chris had not even managed to come out of his previous shock when he saw his Aunt Lea kill Matthew. He thought it was all a terrible nightmare that would soon end.

Liam desperately went to his mom and screamed, ” Dad is not answering Mom. W-why d-did you...?” He couldn’t bring himself to say the word ‘kill.’

After feeling the intense pain in her heart, Lea had come back to her senses. She saw her mate lying dead on the ground and screamed, ” M-Matt... no, no, no...”

Lea looked at the dagger in her hand, laced with Matthew’s blood, and she seemed to have realized what she had done. Without a second thought, she took the blade and pierced it right through her heart. The pain and guilt were too much for her to bear, and she wanted to end her suffering.

" Mom...” Liam cried out and held her.

Lea looked at Liam and then closed her eyes in shame. She then looked at Clara and tried to tell her something, but Clara gave her a blank look as if she did not see her at all.

As Lea tried to get up, the pain she felt multiplied tenfold; she cried out in pain, and then she breathed her last.

Liam felt like his world had ended. Within a span of a few minutes, he had lost both his Mom and Dad.

Liam was crying profusely, and Chris tried to approach him, but he was stopped by Clara, who held his arm tightly.

Clara was too far gone. Her best friend was dead right in front of her eyes, but that didn’t bother her at all. At the moment, all she could think about was getting Chris or Shawn’s blood on the moonstone.

Clara heard the voice that had been ringing in her head for the last few days again. It said, ” We’re running out of time. Get going. Don’t you want to be powerful? Don’t you want to keep your family safe?”

Clara was angry now. She tightened the grip on Chris’s arm and threatened, ” What did I tell you? Put your blood on this stone right now.”

Chris cried out in pain, and Shawn got up and tried to approach him.

Clara was alert. She placed the silver dagger on Chris’s throat and threatened, ” Stop right there, or I will slit his throat.”

Chris stood still not because he feared getting hurt; instead, it was because he couldn’t accept that his own mother was trying to hurt him.

Shawn was devastated at what he saw. He was almost in tears now. ” What happened to you, Clara? Why are you doing this?”

" I am doing this for us, Shawn. Samara promised me, together we could be very powerful and rule the world. We can make it possible. ‘You’ can make it possible,” Clara replied in a very calm tone.

" Snap out of it, Clara. Samara is lying. She is trying to manipulate you. Look around you. Look what you have done. You are holding a knife at your own son,” shouted Shawn.

" It will all be over once you help me free, Samara. After that, me, you, and Chris can always be happy together.”

“Were we not happy before this? We had everything, a loving family, a good pack, great friends... ” Shawn stopped at the mention of friends, he looked at his best friend lying dead on the floor, and he couldn’t stop the tears anymore.

After a few minutes, he held his tears and pleaded, ” Please, Clara, throw away the knife and give me the moonstone. Mom is bleeding, and we need to take her to the Doctor. ”

" No... I didn’t destroy anything; I am trying to keep you safe. You were attacked so many times.”

" You are being delusional Clara, the reason I was being attacked is that evil witch Samara, and now you think by releasing her, we will be safe? ”

" It’s not like that. Try to understand; Samara can help us.”

" You try to understand. I am your mate. Do you trust that witch more than your mate?” Shawn tried to reason with Clara. He approached her slowly so that he could get Chris away from her.

Clara was confused, but the voice in her head gave a sarcastic laugh. " I told you your mate would disagree. You seemed to be so confident that Shawn never refused you for anything. Forget about your mate; even your ten-year-old son has no respect for your words.”

Clara was hurt at Samara’s words. Samara had the ability to convince or hypnotize anyone with her words. Only strong-minded people could fight against her mind-controlling powers.

When Clara saw Shawn approaching Chris to get him away from her, she was furious. She backed away, dragging Chris along with her. In her haste to move away, she had even mistakenly sliced Chris with the blade.

Chris shrieked in pain, and Shawn stopped himself.

He was scared now, for his son and even his mate. If any other person had held his son like this, Shawn would have snapped their neck even before they could blink, but this person was his mate; and he could not bring himself to hurt her. He never felt so weak in his entire life. He had defeated so many enemies effortlessly, but he was never ready for a situation wherein he must face the person he loved the most.

Shawn screamed in frustration, ” You said you want us to be safe; then why are you hurting Chris?”

“Even I don’t want to hurt him,” Clara screamed back even louder. ” Everything will be over if you just put a drop of blood on this stone. Can’t you fulfill my single wish? Don’t you love me anymore?”

" The Clara I loved would never hurt anyone, let alone her son,” replied Shawn.

Clara held the blade closer to Chris’s neck and pierced his wound again to emphasize her point. ” Don’t force my hand, Shawn.”

" Please stop, ” Shawn cried out in panic.

Clara threw the moonstone towards Shawn and said, ” Your blood, do it now.”

By now, even Chris had realized his mom was not in her senses and would not listen to anyone. So while Clara was looking at Shawn, he pushed her away. Clara lost her balance while the knife flew away from her hand.

Chris ran towards Shawn and hugged him.

Clara was enraged at Chris. She had lost all sense of reason. The voices in her head were continuously chanting the word, “Kill, Kill, Kill.” Clara could feel Samara’s rage. It was as if Samara had possessed her body.

While Shawn checked Chris to see if he was injured anywhere else, Clara found a wooden log and moved forward to hit Chris, but Emelia, who had managed to get hold of the knife, stabbed Clara in the back. Emelia didn’t want to take any chance, so she stabbed her again in the heart.

Clara howled in pain and fell to the ground. Shawn ran towards her, but he did not know what to say. Shawn was hurt seeing Clara in pain, but he was also angry at her.

" I-I am s-sorry,” whispered Clara.

" You destroyed everything, Clara; you ruined it all. How could you get influenced by Samara so easily? Was our love so weak?” said Shawn in tears.

Clara could do nothing but cry. Chris held her arms and cried his eyes out, ” Mom... Please don’t go. Please don’t leave me.”

" S-Sorry...” Clara said and died holding Chris’s hand.

Shawn felt his heart ache at the breaking of their mate bond. He clenched his fist and embraced the pain as he wanted it to remind him of the mistakes he had done. As long as he lived, he would never forget what he had lost by blindly trusting his mate, and he would make sure to remind his son as well.

Shawn wiped his tears, got up abruptly, and picked up his mom. He sent a mind link to his Gamma and asked him to come to the forest immediately.

Shawn then looked at Chris, who was weeping beside his mom and said, ” Get up, Chris, we are going to the Doctor. Take Liam with you.”

" But M-Mom...” Chris stuttered.

" Your mom is dead, ” Shawn shouted so loudly that Chris backed away in fear. His dad had never spoken to him in that tone. He was scared but was still reluctant to leave his mother.

When Chris didn’t move away from his mother, Shawn approached him and slapped him right across his face.

" Get away from her. She’s already dead,” screamed Shawn.

Chris was crying, holding his cheek. Shawn got even more furious looking at Chris’s tears. He considered it as a sign of weakness.

" Stop crying. You are an alpha, don’t behave like a crybaby,” saying this, Shawn dashed towards the Packhouse carrying his mom.

Chris wiped his tears and approached Liam, who sat there whimpering softly, staring at his parent’s dead bodies. When Liam saw Chris, he stuttered, ” Chris, my dad...mom...”

Chris hugged him tightly as he didn’t need to hear Liam’s words to know his pain. They shared their pain and cried their hearts out for all that they had lost.