Invisible Mate ( Mate Series Book 1)

Alexa looked mesmerized at the beautiful scene and said, “It’s so beautiful here. I wish we could stay longer, but we must move on.”

“How long has it been? Are you hungry?” Adele asked.

“I don’t have much appetite these days.”

“Oh...Right!!” Suddenly Adele heard a sound from behind the bushes. “Did you hear that?”

“I can’t smell anything unusual. Do you reckon we should take a look?”

“Better to be safe than sorry,” Adele remarked, and Alexa slowly crept towards the bushes.

Conan and Lex hid further behind the trees when they saw Alexa approaching them. Precisely at that time, they heard a roaring sound coming from the other direction.

“I think it’s a tiger or a lion? What should we do?” Alexa asked, worried.

“What else? Run.”

“Huh...!!??” Alexa asked, confused.

“Do you deliberately want to harm the wild animals here? We, humans, are in their territory, so obviously, they would feel threatened.”

“But we are also an animal right now,” Alexa pouted.

“But this is not your home Al. We should avoid harming anyone until absolutely necessary,” Adele stated. “... And even if we are well trained, it goes without saying the lions are stronger than us. It would be foolish to fight it alone.”

“Fine!!! Let’s run,” Alexa huffed and sprinted in the opposite direction.

Conan and Lex signed in relief, watching Alexa running away without noticing them. They then saw a huge lion heading in the direction Alexa had gone.

“Is the lion trying to attack her?” Conan asked in concern.

“Let’s see,” Lex says, and they head in their direction too.

“Do lions hunt wolves?” Conan asked.

“It’s possible if it’s hungry,” Lex replied.

They silently followed without attacking just in case the lion didn’t intend to harm, but they were wrong. The lion was stalking Alexa as if she was her prey.

“We must stop him,” Conan burst out and suddenly appeared in front of the huge beast blocking his path. Lex watched Alexa, who was quite far away from them.

The lion roared angrily, bearing his teeth at Conan while Conan maintained an alert posture with his mouth closed. The lion immediately pounced on Conan and snapped at him. Conan fought, but the lion had managed to slice him on his back with his sharp claws.

Seeing Conan was hurt, Lex lunged at the lion, who was surprised by the sudden intrusion of another wolf. The lion was pushed back, but he soon recovered and targeted Lex. He snapped at Lex’s left flank, but Lex dodged at the right moment. Conan realized they couldn’t fight the lion alone; they would have to attack together, so he braced himself and jumped on the lion kicking him on his head repeatedly while Lex bit the lion on his leg. Conan and Lex sliced, bit, and clawed at the lion in several places rendering him weak and bloody.

“Let’s leave now. I don’t want to kill him,” Lex said.

“Hmmm.” Conan got up and winced when he felt the pain in his back.

“Are you hurt too much?” Lex asked in worry.

“Don’t worry. It’s just a scratch,” Conan shrugged it off. “Let’s hurry before we lose her.”

They raced into the dense forest, following Alexa’s scent. “Luckily, she hasn’t taken the potion to mask her scent,” Conan remarked.

“She must have thought she doesn’t need to hide from anyone here,” Lex stated.

After running for a few miles, they found Adele lying unconscious on the ground under a tree.

Lex rushed towards her in panic, but Conan immediately stopped him. “Watch out!! There’s a trap.”

“What? Where?” Lex asked.

They transformed into their human, and Chris showed Liam the ropes suspended from the tree, leading to a log with a small opening. Chris slowly pulled the strings, and immediately, a needle shot out and hit a tree. He slowly pulled out the trap, threw it aside, and dashed towards Adele. He checked her heartbeat and was relieved. “She’s just unconscious.”

Liam smelled the needle on the tree and said, “It’s a sleeping drug. Who would lay a trap in this dense forest?”

“Goddess knows what else we have to see in this magical forest,” Chris said, annoyed.

“Let’s wait here until she is conscious,” Liam said, taking out the clothes from the bag. They got dressed and sat beside the sleeping Adele.

Liam adjusted her into a comfortable position and checked if she was injured anywhere. “She looks beautiful even when she’s asleep,” he said softly, staring at Adele.

“Yeah, she is. It’s a shame we didn’t realize it sooner,” Chris said, feeling angry at himself.

“We will make it right, Chris. Keep trying.”

“It’s already three years, “Chris snorts, looks at Adele, and realizes something. “We don’t know how long the drug will last. What if she suddenly wakes up and sees us?”

“We should hide then,” Liam said, and they both got up and sat at a distance, just keeping an eye on Adele.

While they were discussing the forest, they heard some vibrations.

“What was that now?” Chris asked in frustration.

“Shhh!!! Listen carefully,” Liam said.

Everything happened fast. A branch fell off the tree under which Adele was lying, and Chris and Liam bolted off at once. Chris shielded Adele by coming between her and the branch while Liam picked her up and moved away. Once Adele and Liam were out of harm’s way, Chris threw off the heavy branch and fell to the ground looking haggard.

Liam carefully placed Adele on the ground and went to check Chris. He lifted Chris’s shirt and checked his back. “You have been hurt at the same spot where the lion had sliced you.”

“It will heal soon,” Chris whispered, feeling the stinging pain.

“Heal... Wait a minute. Adele must be having the healing potion.” Liam checked Adele’s bag and luckily found the healing potion. He took it out and gave it to Chris.

After Chris had taken the potion, he instantly felt a lot better. “This thing actually works,” he said excitedly. “The pain’s all gone.”

The leaves of the fallen branch were moving, and they could hear a whimper. Liam went to check and saw a pup trapped within the branch.

“What is a dog pup doing here?” Liam asked, surprised yet again. He helped the pup and picked it up.

“I am not even shocked anymore,” Chris said, shaking his head.

“How did you come here?” Liam spoke to the pup.

“Have you gone nuts? It’s a normal dog, not a werewolf,” Chris chuckled.

“I know that. But he’s so cute.”

Their excitement was short-lived as they heard a groaning sound. Chris abruptly got up and ran behind a tree, Liam following right after him.

Adele slowly woke up, still feeling dizzy and disoriented. “Argh...!!!What happened?”

“I think we fainted,” Alexa said, equally confused.

“But how?” Adele tried to recall the previous events. “I...felt a prick somewhere on my neck,” Adele rubbed her neck and said, “Looks like there was a trap here. Why did nothing happen to us then?′

“This is strange,” Alexa wondered. “If someone had set a trap, they would have tried to do something.”

“Look... what’s this?” Adele saw the ropes and log which was lying beside the tree.

Liam hit Chris on his head and whisper yelled, “Why did you just throw it there?”

“Argh!! I wasn’t thinking,” Chris said, annoyed.

“Something’s fishy, Al. Someone’s here,” Adele stated.” Even after spending nearly 15 hours in the forest, we did not encounter any problems except for this trap, and even that has been removed. How’s that possible?”

“Why would anybody help us?” Alexa said.

“Don’t you think she’s too smart?” Chris stated.

“That’s our mate, beauty with brains,” Liam said proudly.

“If she’s so smart, why can’t she make a smart decision and accept us?”

“That’s why she won’t,” Liam snorted. The pup in his hand was trying to escape, and Liam shushed him,” Be quiet.”

" Anyways, let’s get going. It’s getting dark, and we need to find a safe place to rest for the night,” Adele said and bent down to take her bag. She frowned when she noticed her bag was open but decided to ignore it for now.

Adele shifted into her wolf and left, keeping a watch on her surroundings. She was looking for potential risks as well as something to eat. Luckily she found a rabbit and pounced on it.

After eating, Alexa spotted something which caught her attention. It looked like some sort of flying light. " What’s that? Are those fireflies?”

" I am not sure; we have to look closer,” Adele said, and they raced in that direction. After running for a few minutes, the lights became more apparent. They were not fireflies but rather the lights of a majestic gothic-styled castle. It looked like an old, ruined building with a spooky and desolate feel.

" Looks like we got a perfect place to rest for tonight,” Alexa said excitedly.

" Entering into someone’s else house without an invitation. Don’t you think it’s a recipe for disaster?” Adele asked.

" The moment we entered this forest, it was a disaster.”

" You are always in a mood for adventure. Are you not scared?”

" I am bored; I need adventure in my life,” Alexa said and sprinted towards the castle.