Double Claims: The Lost mate-Chapter 78

I swallowed hard, bracing myself for what was coming next, for the saddening information I would hear and how badly it would affect me.

"What comes next, Triton?" I asked shakily while searching through his face if I could find answers in his expression.

He placed both hands on his hips and took a deep breath. He moved his eyes from me. I followed his gaze and met him staring at the empty space in front of us.

"It’s...it’s...It is about Trevor," he confessed finally.

"Trevor?" I echoed, both eyes narrowing and a sense of dread enveloped me as well.

"Trevor? What happened to him? No. Did Laura get to him? What?"

Triton didn’t avert his gaze from where he stared. He shook his head gently for a prolonged period. That didn’t look like the type of head shaking that said no to my fears. Instead, it looked like one that was done out of frustration to confirm my fears.

"What happened to him?" I questioned Triton again. I moved closer, grabbing the shirt he wore by the sleeves. His silence unnerved me.

He took my hand off his shirt gently and held it, while looking at me.

"Promise that you won’t crash out from what I’m about to reveal."

I gritted my teeth in annoyance and wriggled my hand free from within his own.

"Just tell me!"

He inhaled sharply and faced me with a straight face. "Trevor is gone."

My heart sank instantly. I felt a sudden discomfort in my chest, causing my breathing to be laboured. Goosebumps spiked through my body and my blood pressure rose. I wanted to ask questions, to shout, to scream, to lose my mind, even to run mad.

Trevor. My mate, killed by who I had called my mother.

My head spun and I felt like I could collapse any minute from now.

Triton must have noticed and he held my hand to steady me.

"I’m so sorry Maria. I have no idea where he has gone. I tried asking, pleading with him to stay, but he said he couldn’t fight multiple battles."

"What!" I shrieked immediately and released myself from Triton’s support.

"He...He...He left?"

Triton hesitated before nodding. "Yes."

I kept quiet for a moment, trying to process everything that was revealed to me. A few seconds ago, Triton delivered a confusing message. I had almost lost it, thinking that my mate was dead. I stared into the empty space ahead of me, my head amok with numerous thoughts.

"Maria," Triton called out while waving his fingers in my face. "Are you alright?"

I scoffed. How could I possibly be alright?

"Did he really say all that?"

"Say what?" Triton asked.

"Did he say he had to leave because he couldn’t fight multiple battles?"

Triton nodded. "Yes."

He held my hand again. "Maria, I know it’s too much for you to handle, but you have to be strong for us to fight. I’m still here for you." He rubbed my palm gently.

I snatched my hand away from his once more.

My chest heaved rapidly and I felt like I could burst out from all the anger accumulated inside me.

He moved closer to me to touch my shoulder but I jerked away. "Maria, you have to calm down."

"Triton, tell me this isn’t your plan."

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me you’re not just making up stories about my mate. I know you’ve been extremely jealous of me and Trevor. Trevor would never do such a thing. Never! He’s never leaving me." My voice cracked and broke down. I swallowed hard before continuing.

"Tell me the truth! Where is Trevor?"

Triton raised both hands in surrender. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it. We were alone in this strange environment. The room was dark, cold and had a mild stench of stagnant water and mildew.

He dropped his hands and sighed.

"Maria, I’ve told you what I know. It’s left for you to believe it or not..."

He was about to say something else before we heard boots thumping outside against the hard floors.

He placed a finger on his lips, signaling me to be quiet. Then, he held my wrist and put me behind him.

"What are you doing?" I said in a whisper. "Don’t go outside."

He peeped through the narrow keyhole of the door for a few seconds before raising his head and facing me.

"The guards are here. We have to be quiet."

My blood pressure rose and I could barely steady myself. An eerie feeling rose in me, telling me that I would be caught. I didn’t know when I grabbed Triton’s shirt tighter to comfort my agitated self.

The hairs on my body stood erect as I heard a thump on the door like someone was hitting it. The bolt shook under the effect. I bit my nails and my body threatened to give up with the anxiety growing in me.

From outside, I heard a man’s voice shout: "They are here. This place is locked from inside."

"What do we do now?" I panicked and moved further away from the door till I hit my back against the wall which was the farthest I could go.

Triton looked around the room. His eyes seemed like they had lost hope. The windows had heavy protectors on them. There wasn’t an escape route. He grabbed two iron rods that leaned by the wall and gave one to me.

I stared at the tool in confusion.

"We have to fight them." He said before I could ask further questions.

I was too dumbfounded to form words. I had never fought anyone my entire life.

"Trition, those men are hefty. We don’t stand a chance. We..."

"We have to fight. If you can’t fight with the rod, fight with your wolf."

Before I could say anything in response, we heard another loud thump on the door. The bolt shifted this time around, but not completely.

I dropped the rod on the floor and shifted into my wolf. My bones snapped, my body twisted. I screamed as I felt a bit of pain since I hadn’t shifted in a long while. I allowed my feral wolf to take complete control over me.

Without waiting for them to barge in completely, I dashed to the door and hit it open. There were two men outside. I pounced on them, biting and wounding, while keeping my focus on their vital part which was the neck.

The men who weren’t expecting my attack yelped in pain. Triton took care of the second man. I hadn’t noticed when he shifted into his wolf, but however, he was now in his wolf form, ripping the man apart mercilessly.

It wouldn’t be possible to kill them. Following his instructions where he motioned to me with a howl, we ran far away from the scene after being sure that we rendered the men weak on the floor.

We ran out of this strange land and didn’t stop until we were sure we had left it far behind.

Triton shifted and dipped his naked lower body in the small body of water that was in front of us.

I felt awkward and looked around, seeing that there weren’t any clothes. I couldn’t just shift back into my human form and stay naked around him.

Aria, my wolf didn’t approve of it either. She disagreed that I could be naked in front of Triton, worse was that he was sort of my former mate.

I still didn’t believe the story about Trevor but I couldn’t question it either. Trevor had wished me farewell with heavy eyes and wished he could come with me. At least, he would have tried to see me once more. No. I couldn’t believe he left.

I moved around the ground on all fours and drank a bit of water from the river.

"You’re not going to shift are you?" Triton chuckled from where he dipped himself.

"There, behind that tree." He pointed in the direction of a tree. "Some warrior clothes are kept there. Some of the trainers normally change there."

I followed his direction and met a small pile of clothes. All of them were men’s clothes, but this wasn’t the time for selecting. All I wanted was to cover my nakedness. I pulled out a big shirt and long loose trousers.

I wore them and returned back to where he was.

He smiled lightly as he saw me arrive and got out of the river. I looked towards another direction and he passed to the tree to get clothes for himself.

Nudity wasn’t really a strange thing in the werewolf lands. Most people usually walked naked after their night shifts or walked with clothes that barely covered them.

He emerged minutes later wearing clothes similar to mine.

"We need to make plans." He took a stick and drew something in the sand. "From what your mother is doing..."

"She isn’t my mother." I countered immediately.

"Sorry." He apologized and resumed drawing something like landscapes on the floor. "I think your mother...sorry, I mean Laura is trying to get to the naked tomb. She’s trying to unlock something there and I don’t know it yet."

I sighed with eyes filled with slight disinterest. "We need to find Trevor first."