Invisible Mate ( Mate Series Book 1)
A glimpse into the past-Part7

Flashback continues...

The coward rogue neared the Pack border with the dagger in his hand, where he could see the other rogues were fighting the Blackwood Pack members. Except for four rogues, all were dead. Even those four were severely injured and would die at any moment.

Alpha Shawn was fighting a wolf, and the next moment, Shawn had snapped his neck.

Finding an opportunity, the coward rogue attacked the Alpha and pierced the dagger onto his back.

Shawn winced in pain, turned around, and smashed that rogue’s head on the tree, killing him instantly.

All the attackers were dead by now so, Shawn and Matthew returned to the Packhouse. They went to the safety room and informed Clara and Lea through the mind link that it was safe to come out.

Clara opened the door and hugged Shawn. She was relieved to see that he was fine, but Shawn felt dizzy and fainted in her arms.

Shawn was immediately taken to the pack doctor, who informed them that Shawn was poisoned. Clara was distraught, but the Doctor assured her that Shawn was healing and would be awake after a few hours.

Meanwhile, Daniel went back to Shawns room to meet Samara and informed her the job was done.

Samara was impressed, and seeing her good mood, Daniel decided to ask, ” What are your plans, My Lady?”

For the first time that day, Samara felt like giving a reply. ” Our enemy is strong, and we cannot defeat him by strength, so we have to control him by using his weakness.”

" Do you know what’s their weakness?”

Samara scoffed. ” I am not a fool like you. Even though I am trapped here, I have my eyes everywhere. I don’t really need my two eyes to see everything, and I exactly know what’s their weakness and whom to target.”

Before Daniel could ask anything more, Samara said, ” I know very well what I have to do, but what about you? How will you contact me again?”

" Don’t worry, My Lady! I have many ways to create distractions. I will meet you here every other day,” says Daniel.

“That’s better. Make sure you do. Now leave before anyone comes again.”

" Yes, My Lady!” saying this, Daniel flew out of the room.

The following morning, Shawn was awake and perfectly fine. Even Sybil got ready to leave. She promised to meet them at the next full moon so that they could hide away the moonstone.

For the next few days, the atmosphere at the Blackwood pack was quite tense. Shawn and Matthew were being attacked every other day and even got injured a few times. Clara and Lea were distressed and worried about their mate’s safety. They seemed to have sleepless nights and even saw nightmares wherein their mates were dead.

Clara even asked Shawn to get rid of the moonstone, but Shawn told her the moonstone was the Black family’s responsibility, and he did not want others to get in danger.

Clara finally decided to meet Sybil because she thought Sybil could help as she was a witch.

Clara did not know how to contact Sybil, but luckily for her, Sybil herself called Clara, wanting to know how they were doing. Clara explained everything to her, and Sybil asked Clara to meet her at an old Church.

Clara and Lea went to the church where Sybil was already waiting for them.

Sybil told them the evil witch is doing all this so that she could be free, and for the protection of her mates and family, Clara and Lea must perform a ritual. The ritual has to be done correctly without any obstruction, and all the steps have to be followed without questions asked.

Clara and Lea agreed, and for the next few days, they did nothing but perform the weird rituals. Clara had given a list to Maria of the things she would need to complete the ritual and asked her to arrange those items immediately.

Maria had never heard of any ritual which was done with the items that Clara had asked for. Also, Maria was a close friend of Clara and Lea, and she felt they had been acting strangely for the past few days. They seemed so obsessed with doing the ritual that they had started ignoring their Luna and Beta duties.

Maria tried to talk to Clara and Lea about their weird obsession, but Clara had blind faith in Sybil and refused to believe otherwise.

Shawn’s mother, Emelia, was also an orthodox person, and she believed Clara was concerned about her mate’s safety. Emelia wanted to help, so she often asked Clara to include her in the rituals, but Clara always refused.

So, one day, Emelia secretly followed Clara and Lea when they left the pack at their usual time to perform the ritual. Clara and Lea walked deep into the forest, where they met Sybil at a spot that was quite far from the Packhouse.

Emelia hid behind a tree and observed Clara and Lea performing rituals with Sybil. Emelia was shocked when she heard the chants, they seemed to have a dark tone, and during the ritual, it looked like Clara and Lea were in a daze.

Emelia immediately knew something was wrong, and she ran back to the Packhouse to inform Shawn.

Shawn was worried, seeing his mom panting heavily out of breath. He approached Emelia and helped her sit.

Once Emelia had calmed down, she said, ” We must stop Clara. I just saw her doing the ritual, and something was not right. The chants felt evil in nature.”

Shawn refused to believe his mate could do anything wrong, but due to the current situation with the presence of the moonstone at the pack, he assured his mom that he would talk to Clara.

When Clara was back at the Packhouse after the ritual, Shawn asked her about it and shared about Emelia’s doubts.

Clara managed to convince Shawn that Emelia must have misheard something, and Clara would never do anything to hurt her family and pack. She assures him that she is a strong-willed Luna of the most powerful Pack and not so weak to be manipulated by a witch.

Shawn had complete trust in Clara, and he had no reason not to believe her.

Emelia also reluctantly agreed on her son’s insistence, but she was still skeptical about Clara, so she kept a watch on Clara’s movements.

Even Chris and Liam were confused at their mom’s behavior as they no longer paid them any attention. Whenever Chris tried to spend time with Clara, she said she was busy.

The actual problem arose on the day of the next full moon. Shawn could not get in touch with Sybil, who had promised to assist him in hiding the moonstone. They even checked at the place his pack member had last dropped Sybil, but the house was empty.

By evening, Shawn and Matthew decided to go to the cave at the cursed mountain and place the moonstone below the enchanted rock themselves.

Meanwhile, Clara had taken out the moonstone from her room’s locker and went towards Chris’s room. She told Chris to come with her as she wanted to show him something interesting.

Chris went with Clara and was happy to spend time with her after so many days. He went deep into the forest with Clara and Lea, but they didn’t know Emelia had followed them secretly.

Even Liam, who was about to go to Chris’s room, had seen Chris leaving with Clara and Lea and followed them to the forest.

Once they reached the forest, Chris found there was some weird setup for a ritual.

“What’s all this, Mom?” he asked, confused.

" I am doing a ritual for your father’s safety, and I need your help to complete it,” says Clara holding Chris’s hand.

" How can I help?”

" You just have to spill your blood on this stone,” saying this Clara shows him the moonstone.

Chris was shocked to see the moonstone. Clara didn’t know it, but Shawn had already informed Chris that the moonstone had trapped an evil witch and she would be released if someone from the Black family had offered their blood. Shawn had guessed Samara might try to manipulate his son, so he had told him everything and instructed him not to offer his blood at any cost.

Chris backed away from Clara and said, ” That’s the moonstone, Mom. What are you doing with it?

" You already know about it?” Clara asked, shocked.

" Yes, Dad told me. He instructed me never to put my blood on it, and if I do, the evil witch would be free.”

Clara was angry, but she calmed herself and gave Chris a sweet smile. ” Your Dad must have mistaken Chris; rather, if you put your blood on this moonstone, our pack will be safe from the witch.”

Chris was still doubtful, so he said, ” Let’s ask Dad first then.”

Chris moved to go to the Packhouse, but he was stopped by Clara, who held his arm a little too tightly.

Chris winced in pain, and he heard Clara scream in anger, ” I am your mother. Don’t you believe me?”

Chris was horrified to see his mother’s sudden change of attitude. She had never spoken to him like that.

“W-What’s wrong with you, Mom? Why are you behaving like this?”

" You are an ungrateful son. I took care of you for ten years, and now you refuse to believe me. Don’t try my patience and just do as I say, ” shouted Clara.

Chris released his hand from his mom’s hold and tried to run to the Packhouse, but he was stopped by Lea.

Emelia, who saw everything, asked Liam to run to the Packhouse to inform Shawn.

After Liam left, Emelia came out of the hiding place and screamed, ” What are you doing, Clara? Leave Chris alone.”

Clara and Lea were shocked to see Emelia. ” Why are you here? Why do you always have to interfere in my matters?”

Even Emelia was stunned at Clara’s behavior. Clara had always been sweet and calm, and now she felt like a completely different person.

Emelia approached Clara slowly and tried to explain to her in a calm tone. ” Leave Chris now. We will go to the Packhouse and talk it out calmly.”

“There’s nothing to talk. Today is the full moon night, and I have no time for useless talks. I know what I am doing, so it would be better if you left immediately,” Clara replied to Emelia rudely.

“I am not leaving without Chris.” Emelia approached Chris and held his hand to take him away, but the next moment, Emelia was stabbed on her stomach with a silver dagger.

Emelia cried in pain and fell to the ground. Her blood spattered on Chris’s face, and he was dumbstruck at what he saw. His mother, who was always so loving and caring, had stabbed his own grandmother.

At the Packhouse, Shawn went to his room with Matthew and opened the locker to get the moonstone, but they were shocked to see it was missing. They looked around the room but couldn’t replace the moonstone anywhere.

Suddenly Liam came rushing to the room in panic. He said that Clara had taken Chris to the forest and was forcing him to do something.

Shawn and Matthew asked Liam to show them the place and followed him towards the forest. Shawn still did not want to think the worst about Clara and thought the situation could be easily controlled.