Invisible Mate ( Mate Series Book 1)
Sorrows and Regrets

" It’s not a panic attack,” Chris said, gritting his teeth. ” The witch is doing it.”

Everyone turned towards Chris in shock.

" What?” How?” Axel asked, worried.

" The moonstone? Where is it?” Chris asked, looking around him.

" Alexa had it...Maybe it’s still in the forest?” Axel said.

" No, it’s here,” Chris states angrily. ” Samara spoke to me just now; she can contact only when the moonstone is nearby.”

They were all looking around the hospital room when Daisy exclaims, ” Axel... look!!” She points towards Adele’s hands which were still clenched into a fist.

Chris reaches Adele and tries to open up her fist, but she suddenly wakes up and gets away from the bed.

" Get off,” she says in a daze, and when she saw it was Chris, her expression turned to one of disgust. ” You...What are you doing here?” she spat with venom in her eyes.

Chris was dumbstruck at Adele’s reaction. She had never looked at him with so much hatred and disgust.

" Ade...” her mother approached her. ” How are you feeling?”

Adele stares at the moonstone in her hand. ” I-I feel... empty.” Unexpectedly, she feels intense pain in her head and screams in agony. Ariel held her daughter in concern and asked, ” What happened, Ade?”

" I warned you, Black. Don’t waste my time and release me,” Samara sneered in her deep voice.

" It’s Samara again,” Chris interrupts.

Liam suddenly realized something. ” Chris...Release Samara now.”

" What?” Everyone stared at Liam as if he was a fool.

" I mean, once you release her, even Alexa would be back in Adele’s body.”

" Then what about Samara? She would kill us all,” Axel says, exasperated.

" We three can stop her together,” Liam says hopefully.

" Oh...!! Do you trust me now?” Adele sneered at him after the pain had subsided.

" He’s right, Adele. Just give us a chance to make it right,” Chris almost pleaded.

" Stop it, Chris,” Sybil interfered. ” You have done enough damage as it is.”

" You bloody traitor,” Samara erupts suddenly. " It’s because of you I am here. Once I am out, I swear, I will kill you.”

" Shut the f**k up, you b*tch,” Sybil snapped back at Samara in her mind.

" But they could trap the witch, Mom,” Sera said.

" No, they can’t. Not now,” Sybil says sadly.

" Why not?” Liam asked.

" It’s too late. The time for ritual is gone. The blood moon day is over.”

" When is the next blood moon day?” Adele asked in anticipation.

Sybil looked crestfallen. ” The blood moon day is after six months, but the one you need for the ritual to be successful is after.... three years.”

" T-Three years...?” Adele lost her balance and almost fell down, but Axel caught her.

Liam and Chris were distraught. It was as if they had gone back 15 years in the past when they had lost everything. It felt worse this time because they caused their own suffering.

" I-I need to be alone,” Adele whispered and got up and walked out of the room. Chris and Liam followed behind her.

Axel wanted to throw them out of his pack, but Ariel stopped him. ” Let Adele deal with it. It’s her call.”

Axel grunted in disapproval and left the hospital to let off steam.

Adele raced to the kids’ room, as they were the only ones who could give her some sort of comfort.

When she neared their room, Chris held her arm to stop her, but Adele flinched away as if she had got an electric shock. ” Don’t touch me,” she seethed.

Chris was hurt. He was getting the taste of his own medicine. All those times he had misbehaved with Adele flashed in front of his eyes. He realized it was extremely painful to see hatred and disgust in the eyes of someone who you cared for. No matter what it takes, he had to earn her forgiveness.

" I-I am sorry,” he says softly.

Adele ignores him and moves away, but this time Liam stops her. “We apologize for what happened, Adele. We really regret it. ”

" We were stuck in the past,” Chris whispers sadly. ” Because of the past incidents with my mother, I doubted you.”

Adele turned around and stared at her two mates, who looked sorry, but it did not affect her anymore. ” Did I give you any reason not to trust me? Did Alexa give you any reason not to trust her?”

Chris and Liam were lost for words. How much ever they thought there was not a single instance wherein Adele had done anything against them; rather, she had always loved and cared for them even if they never returned it. Her love was unconditional, and they truly didn’t deserve her.

" You can’t get away by giving the excuse of your past. I was not the one who did those things to you in the past. I didn’t deserve your distrust against me, ” Adele screamed.

" W-We are sorry. I agree we were at fault,” Liam apologized. He couldn’t even look at Adele in shame.

" Tell us what we can do to make it right? We will do anything,” Chris pleaded.

" You can help after three years; until then, don’t bother me,” Adele said coldly and turned around to leave.

What?” They were shocked.

“P-Please Adele, we can talk it out...” Liam started.

" The time for talks is over. I don’t think I can ever get over what you have done.”

" I didn’t mean to do it,” Chris murmured. ” The situation was not in our favor. Archer said...”

" Archer...” Adele spat his name as if it was poison. ” Why don’t you go back to your dear friend?”

" Archer is dead,” Chris growled.

" Are you sure?” Adele asked.

" I saw him die in my arms.”

" For an Alpha, you are too dense. Did you forget that Archer is a werewolf? Werewolves don’t die so easily. I don’t know what game he played with you, but you were too foolish to believe him.”

Chris looked unsure now but still looked for a chance to defend himself. ” Everything happened so suddenly; I didn’t know what to think. What would you do if you were in my place?”

" I would have listened to you,” Adele cried out. ” As I always did. When I knew you didn’t want me, I was about to reject you, but Alexa believed in you, in the mate bond. I was about to leave the Blackwood pack, but Maria told me about your past, and Alexa thought we should give you a chance. Look where that got her. She’s gone now,” Adele choked up.

Even Chris and Liam couldn’t hold their tears anymore. They had f**ked up big time.

" I regret it,” Adele said in between her tears. ” I regret having you two as my mates. I regret not rejecting you when I had the chance. I regret ever hoping that we could be together. I regret everything. The only reason I am not rejecting you now is because Alexa did not want me to. ”

Adele then heard her pups crying and rushed into the nursery. Ian had fallen out of his crib, and Adele felt like her world had ended.

" I-Ian,” she feared the worst. She picked up the crying Ian, frantically checked him, and was relieved to see he was not hurt. ” Y-you are safe, you are safe,” she repeated, trying to convince herself more than him.

Liam picked up Iris, who was crying loudly in her crib. He was overwhelmed seeing his daughter after a long time. As soon as Liam hugged Iris, she stopped crying.

" You can leave now; I want to be alone with my kids,” Adele said.

" A-Are you not coming home with us?” Chris asked reluctantly.

" Home...? What home? I am already at my home, and you should be leaving to yours too.”

" Our home is your home Adele, and we want you to come with us,” Liam requested. ” We can sort out everything only if we are together.”

" We can sort out the things because of the mate bond between us,” Adele suddenly realized Alexa was right to tell her not to reject them. If she had rejected them, then the mate bond would be severed, and she would have lost Alexa forever. ” We don’t need to be together for that. Anyways you should be happy that you got what you wanted. Finally, you have gotten rid of me, and you can go back to your pack and celebrate.”

" Don’t say such harsh things; we never wanted to get rid of you,” Liam says desperately.

" Well... your actions said otherwise. Anyways, you are wasting my time; Please leave, ” Adele said with disgust.

" I understand you need some time to think...”

" There’s nothing to think. I am not coming back to Blackwood Pack ever again,” Adele said with determination. ” If I could, I would have made sure even my kids don’t see you, but I am not so cruel to take them away from their father.”

Liam was about to argue again, but Chris stopped him. ” This is not the right time,” he whispered. He then faced Adele and said, ” We are leaving for now, but I want you to give me the moonstone.′

Adele clenched the moonstone even tighter and yelled, ” No way in hell. I won’t be away from Alexa.”

" If the moonstone is near you, then Samara will cause you pain.”

" I don’t care, and I don’t need your fake concern.”

" Contrary to what you think, I am really worried for you, Adele. Samara is an evil influence, and you should stay away from her.”

" I will manage that you don’t have to worry, and above all, I don’t trust you. What if you try to get rid of Alexa?” Adele asked doubtfully.

Chris felt like Adele had slapped him on the face. His words got stuck in his throat. With much attempt, he managed to voice out, ” I-I am sorry,” and turned around and left feeling ashamed.

Liam placed Iris back in her crib and said, ” We are truly sorry, Adele, and we will not stop until you have forgiven us.”

Chris was angry with himself. He had never felt so pathetic in his life. His mate thought that he would get rid of her wolf? But what else would she expect after what he had done to her and her wolf? He tried to shift into his Black wolf and realized he could not transform.

" What is happening? ” he asked his wolf, Conan.

" I am not going to transform until my mate is back,” Conan said with certainty.

" So you want to punish me for what happened? It’s your fault too,” Chris spat.

" I know it is my fault,” Conan growled. " I am not punishing you; I am punishing myself. If my mate can’t see the world, I don’t deserve to see it either.

" But it would take three years to get her back.”

" Three years it is then,” Conan said firmly. " I am sure you are strong enough to manage alone.”

" F**k,” Chris snarled and punched the tree trunk.

Liam rushed towards him and held his hand. ” What are you doing, Chris? Please calm down.”

" I can’t calm down,” Chris fell on his knees and cried like a baby. ” I have lost everything, Liam. Even my wolf refuses to shift.”

" My wolf has stopped replying altogether,” Liam said in between his tears. ” He is not talking to me, as if he is not even there.”

" It’s all my mistake. I feel like a complete loser,” Chris wailed, and Liam hugged him tightly.

" We will get through this, Chris. Whatever it takes to right the wrong.”