My mate - Accept or reject

*Chapter 24* - Losing a mate

When I and Clarina come back to the pack house, both Lucas and Matthew's standing in the doorway, and I see the panic and relief in their eyes, and when Lucas quickly pulls me into a tight embrace while he mutters.

"Thanks goddess, I thought I'd lost you."

I look up at him confused.

"Lost me? What do you mean, you knew that I was out in the woods with Clarina."

Lucas doesn’t say anything for a long time, and I can feel that he is trying to calm himself by inhaling my scent. What's going on, what in the world has led him to behave like this. Still without letting go of me, Lucas takes me up in his arms and carries me into his office and I look over his shoulder to Matthew are close behind, with an equally confused Clarina. Confused, I look back to Lucas's anguished face, and gently lift a hand caressing his cheek before I gently murmur.

"Lucas please tells me what is going on, what makes you so scared? You knew that I and Clarina were together, and that we were still on our property, what have forsaken this uprising? "

I ask confused. While we have come into the office and Lucas sits down in his chair with me on his lap.

"I couldn’t feel you, and couldn’t get through too you through our link. I thought I'd lost you. And Matthew experienced the same with Clarina, it shouldn’t be possible, as your mates, we should always be able to sense you or communicate with you, but we couldn’t, we couldn’t even sense where any of you were."

I'm confused and look back and forth between my mates serious facial expression to my brother just as serious face. But while it confuse me that they have not had the connection with us as we usually have, I can’t quite understand why it has led to this uprising. It wasn’t only concern they showed it was outright panic. Lucas sighed before he leaned forward and took a piece of paper from the table, which he after a little hesitation, reached to me. I reluctantly took it, something told me that I wouldn’t like it. After a searching glance at Lucas who looked nervous and tense down on me, I lowered my eyes to read the paper.

>>Did you really thought this was it? Did you think that to hospitalize the Luna from the Steel Pack would satisfy me? If so, you thought wrong, it wasn’t even the beginning. I'm tired of always being overlooked, tired of people treating me like an insignificant person. You will learn to respect me, I'll take those from you who matter the most. And to show that I'm serious, you will occasionally receive small 'gifts' from me that keeps you alert. But I assure you that when I finally stick, trust me you will not be prepared.<<

I feel the color leave my face, it is a short message, but something about it makes me feel that the one that wrote it wouldn’t let anything stand in the way. I'm looking at Lucas with big eyes.

"When did you receive this? And what does he mean by 'gifts'?"

*Emily's P.O.V*

I ask confused, I see how Lucas and Matthew exchange a glance before Lucas takes a deep breath before he says.

"I received it the day after you were assaulted, but I am ashamed to admit that I did not take it so seriously, we have many enemies, and several have threatened me, and I knew that when the two of us mated it would lead to several threats. But then the 'gifts' start to come, both in ours and Matthews pack."

He says, this gets both me and Clarina to look questioningly at our mates before Clarina little annoyed exclaims.

"For God's sake, what are the 'gifts' the person is talking about?"

I see how Matthew sinks before he with a dark glance says.

"The gifts are wounded pack members from both ours and Lucas' pack. But today he went one step further and killed a pack member from Lucas' pack."

This leads me to stiffen, and I stare down at Lucas with worried eyes, but all I can get out is a pained.

"Who?"

Lucas exhale before he looks at me with a sad look.

"It was Carl Johnsson."

My eyes widen when I put the name to the person, and exclaims.

"Carl Johnsson, as in Sofia mate?"

I ask, and Lucas nods.

"Yes, we found him at the edge of the forest, there were no defense injuries on him, and he sure didn’t see it come. And when we couldn’t find you afterwards we panicked, we searched the entire forest, but couldn’t find you anywhere. And we were afraid that he had already made you into another victim to his megalomania."

I nod, now I understand why he was so panicked, but right now there is something else that is more important to me. I look at Lucas.

"Where is Sofia, does she know jet?"

I asked Lucas looks unhappy before he nods.

"Yes she knows, she came to me because she felt the pain when her mate died, right now, she is in the guest room on the 2nd floor, she can’t overcome having to be in the room she shared with Carl. So Malina went with her up there, and promised that she would be with her."

"I have to get up there, I have to talk to her."

Lucas nods, before he kisses me deeply and he slowly let go of me, making it clear that it isn’t what he wanted to, but he knows that it’s the right thing to do for the packs Luna to talk with the member who has just lost her mate, so he reluctantly lets me leave his embrace. But he looks seriously down on me.

"We don’t know who is behind this, but the only one any of us have as a suspect is Marc, I mean he already shown that he isn’t afraid to hurt people."

I nod, can see that the idea isn’t completely unrealistic. But right now, I must do my duty as Luna, so after giving Lucas one more gentle kiss, I leave the office and go up to the room Sofia now finds herself in. I gently knock before I slowly open the door and step inside. When I enter I discover Sofia in the bed, no emotion is evident in her face she just sits there and stare numb into the air. Malina slowly got up from the chair where she had been sitting, and came over to me and whispered softly.

"She has been like this since we came up here, she haven’t said anyhing, she just sitting there."

She says with a pitying glance toward Sofia. Slowly, I went and sat on the beds before I gently took Sofia's hand, I looked at her before I gave her hand a squeeze. It was as if this little indication that I was here for her, was what was needed, Sofia's eyes flooded with tears running down her cheeks before she threw herself against me, and weeping exclaimed.

"I have lost him Emily, why should it be Carl, he was my mate, my life, the reason I breathed, and now he suddenly got torn from me without any reason. Who would do such a thing, who will expose others to the pain I go through. It hurts so much, my heart is ripped out of my chest, I have no desire to live anymore now that my mate is gone. I can’t live with this pain, first I tried to pretend it didn’t happened, that it was just something I had dreamed, maybe that way I could get through it, but I know that I just lie to me self, my whole being is empty and I know very well why, so why lie to myself."

She cried with head her buried by my neck. I gently stroked her back.

"Shh Sofia, this is good, you have to talk about it. It doesn’t help that you shut yourself from your pack. I can’t imagine how you feel right now, but you should know that I'm here for you, both if you just want the company or if you want to talk."

We sit like this for a long time until she falls asleep, gently I lay her under them. I can’t believe that this has happened to her, think losing her mate so soon after finding him. I was interrupted in my thoughts as the door slowly going up and Lucas sticks his head in, when he sees Sofia sleeps, he call me over to him and opens the door a little more to let a small woman in, the woman smile at me, and whispers.

"I'll look after her for the night Luna, the poor little thing has been through something terrible, and shouldn’t wake up alone, so I promise I'll stay with her."

I nod gratefully before I take Lucas' hand and follow him out of the room, where I pull him towards me and mumble.

"I love you so much Lucas, I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose you, promise me that you never leave me."

Lucas tightens his arms around me and kisses me gently on the top of the hair before he softly says.

"I'm not going anywhere princess. I will always be here to protect you."

We are both marked by sadness it is to lose a pack member, and even though we feel with Sofia and doesn’t feel she deserves to experience something like that, then we can’t help but to be happy that we still have each other.


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A/N:

so what do you think? Who do you think killed Sofia’s mate, do you think that they are right to suspect Marc or is it someone else?