Invisible Mate ( Mate Series Book 1)

Adele, Chris, and Liam were taken to the lady who was sitting on the throne. The guards spoke to her in their language and skeptically stared at the three.

Adele noticed the lady staring at Chris and Liam a bit too longer than required and felt annoyed.

" I hate her already,” Alexa scowled.

" Same here,” Adele replied.

" Who are you?” the tribal woman asked in a deep voice, and they were surprised.

" You speak our language?” Chris asked, looking impressed.

" I know many languages,” the lady said proudly. ” Probably more than you.”

" That’s wonderful,” Liam chirped. ” We were wondering how to communicate with you people. You will be of great help.” Liam approached the altar, and Adele snorted at his eagerness.

The guards came forward pointing their spears, thinking Liam was harmful to their Queen.

" Woah!! Calm down. We mean no harm,” Liam said, raising his hands.

" How can we trust you?” the Queen asked. ” Last time, the people who came to this forest destroyed half of our tribe and stole our gems.”

" We are not here to steal,” Chris replied hurriedly. ” We were just passing by.”

The Queen stared at their modern clothes and asked, “What are you doing in this dangerous forest?”

" W-We...” Chris looked at Adele.

" We came looking for the holy river,” Adele replied.

" Why?”

" I heard it is very sacred and brings good luck,” Adele replied.

One of the guards bought Adele’s bag, showed it to the Queen, and said something angrily.

The tribal people suddenly looked alert and stared at the three accusingly.

" Why do you have so many weapons if you only seek the holy river?” the Queen roared.

" It’s for our protection,” Adele said in a matter-of-fact tone. ” You yourself said the forest is dangerous.”

" Whatever you say, we cannot trust you now.”

" We mean no harm, My Lady,” Chris said respectfully, bowing a little. ” Let us go; we will leave peacefully.”

Adele was shocked at Chris’s tone. ” I never saw you speaking to a woman so respectfully before,” she said to Chris through mind-link.

" This change is because of you,” Chris replied. ” You just didn’t notice.”

Even the Queen seemed to be in a daze at Chris’s response. She came back to her senses when one of her guards interrupted her.

" What if you come back with more men to steal our gems? I am not foolish enough to repeat my mistakes.”

" We do not need any gems. We have enough...” Liam started but stopped when he heard a growl.

The tribal people were so terrified that they started running here and there, trying to save their lives.

" I thought they must be trained to fight with the animals as they live here. Why are they running away?” Adele said, confused.

" My men are skilled and trained,” the Queen was offended. ” But the growl you just heard is a beast we tried so many times to kill but failed.” She then instructed her men something, and they all went towards a hut and locked themselves. The hut seemed to be surrounded by many traps and sharp objects to keep animals away.

" Selfish people,” Adele muttered. ” They left us here to die. I don’t like them, especially the Queen.”

" Let us crib after dealing with that,” Liam said, pointing at the creature in front of them.

" Now, what in the Goddess’s name is that?” Chris said, looking at a strange creature that had a body resembling a dinosaur, but the unique thing about it was its neck. Its neck was nearly a meter long and thin like a snake and had two heads protruding from the end that looked like a baby dragon.

" How do we fight this?” Adele asked.

" Maybe we could tie a knot on its neck, ” Liam chuckled.

" Be serious, Liam,” Adele said and stared at the creature who wasn’t making any move to attack. ” Why is it so quiet?”

" Should we make the first move?” Chris said and approached the beast slowly. The beast huffed and blew fire out of his mouth.

" That was unexpected,” Chris said, escaping by a hair’s breadth. ” I thought it only looked like a dragon. Can it fly too?”

" Should we fight in our wolf form?” Liam asked.

" Two wolves, one human,” Adele suggested.

" I will be in my human form,” Liam said hurriedly. ” I am dying to twist its neck.”

Chris and Adele nodded and shifted into their wolves. They slowly crept towards the dragon cum dino from opposite directions, who was still staring at them without moving.

Liam suddenly tried to grab its neck, and the creature jumped up in alarm kicking Conan in the process. Conan flew off to a distance by the force of the kick.

" Are you alright?” Liam asked Conan in panic.

" Couldn’t you give me a head’s up?" Conan growled, groaning in pain.

" Do you need my help?”

" Fuck off,” Conan barked.

" I think this creature means no harm,” Alexa remarked.

" Haven’t you seen what he did to Conan?” Liam asked. ” And it looks so hideous.”

" Looking hideous doesn’t mean it’s bad, and he kicked Conan because you startled him.”

Alexa suddenly shifted into her human form and wrapped herself with the long scarf hanging from the pole. She slowly approached the dino and held her hands up to indicate she was coming in peace.

The dino didn’t respond; instead, it looked here and there as if it was searching for something.

" I know what it wants,” Chris said, who had already shifted. ” Come here quick.”

Liam and Adele rushed towards Chris, who was holding a baby version of the creature.

" I think it’s looking for this.”

" Where did you find it?” Adele asked, patting the young one on its snout. It tried to blow fire but could only manage a few sparks.

" It was stuck in the ditch; I helped him get out, ” Chris replied.

" It’s cute,” Adele cooed.

Liam grunted. ” Let’s help him meet his mother.”

" How do you know it’s a male?” Chris asked.

" Who cares?”

The three got out of the bushes, and Adele called out to the bigger dino. ” Hey, you!! The thing you are looking for is here.”

The creature turned around at the sound and looked at the baby Adele was holding. The baby jumped out of Adele’s hand and rushed towards its mother. The mother looked relieved and held her baby tight so that she wouldn’t lose him again.

" It’s so good to see them together,” Liam said, choking up. He glanced at Chris, who had tears in his eyes too as he recalled the good times with his Mom.

The mother dragon looked at the three in gratitude and flew off with her baby.

" So it can fly, ” Adele said and glanced at the pair, who were emotional and felt a pang in her heart.

At that moment, the Tribal people came out of their hideout looking calm.

" Thank you for helping us out,” the Queen said, looking at Chris and Liam. She had a glint in her eyes. ” So you are werewolves?”

“Yes,” Chris said proudly.

" We are grateful to you for saving us.”

" That was nothing. She was here for her baby.”

" We never understood that. We just attacked when we saw the beast, thinking she was here to harm us.”

Adele stared at the Queen skeptically, who had taken a 360-degree turn in her behavior. She seemed to take a particular interest in her mates, which irked Adele even more.

" Please allow us to show our gratitude towards you,” the Queen said, smiling at Chris and Liam.

" You don’t have to bother. We will be leaving now, ” Adele replied curtly.

" Not at all. We cannot let you go.”

" What do you mean?” Adele asked, scrunching her brows.

" I-I meant we are celebrating today. You are the reason for our happiness, so how can we celebrate without you.”

" We are already late,” Chris added. ” We have to continue the journey.”

" I insist,” the Queen said in a forceful tone. ” If you wait tonight, I will tell you a shortcut to the holy river so that would save your time.”

" Can’t you tell us now?” Liam asked hopefully.

" Tomorrow morning, surely.”

" I think she’s bluffing,” Adele spoke to Chris and Liam through mind-link.

" How can you be so sure?” Liam asked.

" I get negative vibes from her,” Adele replied. ” And the way she looks at you two is... weird.”

" Weird? I never felt like that,” Chris said.

" What do you know about women? You have hated them all your life,” Adele sneered.

" But I love you,” Chris said out of the blue.

Adele was dumbstruck. Her heart was racing, and she felt butterflies in her stomach.

" She’s blushing,” Liam said to Chris.

" That’s progress. Should I say it again?”

" Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” Liam groaned. ” And next time, I will say it too.”

" I think we should stay tonight,” Chris suggested.

" But Adele hates the Queen,” Liam said.

" That’s because she is jealous. That’s an opportunity for us, don’t you think so?”

" You are right,” Liam looked at the Queen and smiled, ” If you insist so much, we will stay tonight.”

Adele suddenly came out of her thoughts. ” But...”

" That’s fantastic,” the Queen said cheerfully. ” I ensure it will be a memorable experience for you.”