Chapter 39

Eric P.O.V

There was pain. I felt as if I was deep inside a fire, flames licking my sides. Sophie stood in the distance. I tried to reach her. She cried out for me. She reached for me, but I couldn't help her. "Sorry I couldn't be what you wanted. I will always love you." She cried out. I fell to my knees as darkness consumed me.

I woke sweating profusely. It was like my body was still in the fire. Rhea stood over me, tears on her cheeks. Luke and James looking dejected. My thoughts instantly went to Sophie. Where was she? The door flew open and in ran Dr Sven. I relaxed a little remembering Sophie had gone to see him.

"He's awake, good." Dr Sven said before sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hello Eric. How are you feeling?"

I was confused. What did he mean how was I feeling? "I feel a little hot but I'm ok." Everyone exchanged a look. "What? Why is everyone acting weird…and where is Sophie?" Another look was exchanged, and Blaze growled. Something wasn't right.

Rhea sobbed loudly and ran towards Luke who held her close. He nodded at James before taking her out of the room. Why was she so upset?

"Rhea blames herself, Alpha. She blames herself for not seeing it sooner." James said moving closer to the bed.

I moved up so my back lent against the headboard of the bed. I felt a little dizzy and closed my eyes for a second to try and prevent the room from swimming in front of me. I felt Dr Sven's hand grip my leg and my eyes flew open.

"Just tell me what the fuck is going on!" I growled.

"What do you remember Eric?" Dr Sven asked.

"I remember Sophie waking me this morning. She acted a little strange, as if she were shy all of a sudden. Said she was going to see you. I wanted to go with her, but she said she thought it was nothing and told me to wait for her here. I told her not to be long and then I fell back to sleep."

"Eric that was two days ago. You've been sleeping for two days." Dr Sven said looking concerned.

"What!?" I cried. "How?" I looked from Dr Sven to James.

"Sophie." James said almost in a whisper.

"How could I be sleeping for two days because of my mate?" My patience was wearing thin. "Where is she!" I boomed.

"Calm down Eric." Dr Sven tried to sooth, but it only infuriated me further.

"Calm down? None of this is making any sense! WHERE IS SHE!" Blaze was dangerously close to taking control.

"She's gone!" James roared. "She denounced the pack and left with Blake." Anger flashed across his face.

I panicked. How was this possible? Why would she leave with him? I kept glancing from Dr Sven to James. Dr Sven looked concerned. His eyebrows knitted tightly together. James was now seething with anger. I could sense his wolf was close to making him shift.

"James, you need to calm down. We will get to the bottom of this." I tried to persuade him.

"Calm down? That's bullshit from you! How can you sit there calmly after what you did!"

Dr Sven jumped up and Gwen, James's mate burst into the room. At first, I was shocked. How long had she been outside the room? It then occurred to me Dr Sven had asked for her because she was the only way James would calm down. Especially if he was mad at me. She threw her arms around James and kissed him gently. His breathing slowly returned to normal as his eyes took in his mate.

"Apologies Alpha." Gwen bowed her head still clutching onto her mate.

"It's ok Gwen. Thank you." I turned my attention back to Dr Sven and James. "If you could please explain to me what's going on? I now have a massive headache and I'm very confused and frustrated." I rubbed my temples and let out a sigh. "Why are you upset with me James?"

"Because of what you did. You're not fit to be Alpha." He spat. Gwen stroked his arm and tried hushing him.

"I know your angry, so I'll pretend you didn't just say that." I growled. "What is it that I have supposedly done?"

"You don't remember?" Asked Dr Sven, the concern etched hard on his face.

"NO! I have no fucking idea what you are talking about!" I yelled. Blaze snapped to be let out.

"Baby, perhaps if you show him he'll understand." Gwen soothed while stroking his arm.

"Show me what!" I snapped.

James let out a big sigh, keeping his eyes fixed on Gwen. I knew they were having a private conversation, but I was about to lose it with them if they didn't start talking. James took out his phone and slowly walked towards me.

"Remember when I told you I was worried about Luke. You said to keep and eye on him." I nodded as James reached the bed. "Well, a number of times I'd seen him going to Tatiana's old house. Remember she lived in that cottage in the town?"

"Yes, I remember but I moved her onto my floor. She told me she sold the house." I remembered clearly asking Tatiana if she would feel more comfortable back at her house, but she had told me bluntly that she had sold it.

"She didn't sell it. She put it in Luke's older sister's name. You know Tiffany? The one that decided to go rouge with her mate?"

I remembered Sophie telling me that in her vision of her and Luke she'd threatened to expose his sister for her choice in mate. I nodded at James to continue.

"Well, when I saw Luke sniffing around there a fair bit I decided to install a security system, and this is what I saw two nights ago." James handed over his phone.

A black and white grainy image showed two people in the bedroom in the throughs of passionate sex. Once they were finished, they sat up in bed. The couple cuddled and kissed. When I looked closer, I was shocked to see me sitting in bed with Tatiana. Next minute Sophie burst into the room.

"Well looks like you finally figured it out." I sneered towards her.

"How could you do this to me…to your unborn son?" She cried out to me. My heart ached and Blaze whined. What happened next shocked me. I never expected myself to be so heartless.

"Don't really care. Now piss off." My doppelgänger then turned and kissed Tatiana passionately.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. I wanted to reach out and hug her. To make her see it wasn't me. I didn't do this.

"Know Eric I'm doing this to save your life." She turned away from them and closed her eyes. She stood there for a few minutes before Tatiana broke away from the kiss.

"Why are you still here?" Her high-pitched voice sounded like fingernails scratching a chalk board and I shuddered.

"To do this… I Sophie, rightful Alpha of the Golden Sun Pack and Future Luna of the Blue Moon Pack reject the Blue Moon Pack and all its people as is the wish of the Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack."

Her arms flung back and then the screen went black.

"Why did it end there?" I asked breathlessly.

"The power of her rejection shot through everything. The town looked as if a bomb had gone off. She did a lot of damage." James said quietly. His looked angry again. "So can you explain yourself?" Gwen grabbed his hand again and squeezed.

"You think that was me? Are you kidding me?!" I yelled. "How could it possibly be Tatiana and me? She's in the dungeon!" Blaze growled at James accusation.

"No she's not." Dr Sven added.

"What? You mean to tell me she's been running around freely?... Impossible." My body was shaking in anger.

"You signed her out." James said pointing an accusing finger at me. I looked from one to the other. Were they kidding me? There was no way I could have signed her out.

"Lets just take a moment here." Dr Sven interjected holding his hands out between James and myself. "Let's say Eric is telling the truth and he didn't do this. Who did?"

"Easy, Blake!" I growled. He had tricked Sophie into believing I was cheating on her. Thinking back, I guess it wasn't that hard for her to believe I would be so unfaithful. I hung my head. How could this have happened? I kept thinking, were there signs? When did we become so easy to infiltrate?

A light knock sounded at the door. "Enter!" I barked. I didn't care who else entered my room. This was a complete mess.

"Apologies Alpha but Rhea wants to talk to you." Luke said with his head bowed. Rhea shuffled in next to him. She kept her head down. I could tell she was still upset by the ragged breathing.

"I'm so sorry Alpha. But he wouldn't let me in. I didn't know he was planning this…" Her breathing hitched again as she sobbed.

"I don't blame you Rhea." I said pinching the bridge of my nose. "Honestly, I'm confused and want to know who was impersonating me." I let out a big sigh and Rhea's head shot up.

"I know." She almost whispered.

"So, Eric is telling the truth?" Dr Sven asked.

Rhea nodded quickly. "Once Blake got Sophie back to his Pack, he let his block down. I don't know if it was on purpose or he simply relaxed, but I saw everything." She slouched towards Luke. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"Well?" James huffed. He was obviously annoyed. I could sense his wolf pacing around getting more and more agitated.

Rhea glanced at James before returning her gaze to me. "He had been planning this for a very long time. Blake had found her living with her adoptive human parents and waited for the day she was 18. When she decided to go camping, he couldn't believe his luck. He truly believed they were destined mates."

"That doesn't excuse what he did!" I roared. "He's taken my mate and my pup!"

"No, it doesn't excuse him. That's not what I meant Alpha. I'm sorry." Rhea tried to back up, but Luke held her close to him. She cleared her throat before speaking again, "I know that by the next full moon he intends to hex your mark from Sophie so he can mark her. As far as he is concerned, she's denounced you as her Alpha and mate, making the hexing a lot easier to perform. But he will need to wait for the next full moon which is in seven days."

The room was silent. Nobody said anything or moved. I can't believe I had lost my mate. Why didn't I make my feelings clearer instead of battling with my morals? She wouldn't have believed him so easily. Blaze growled at me. Even my wolf knew I was an idiot.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Dr Sven reached out for me and I held up my hand letting him know I was ok. "We have work to do and not a lot of time to do it. Let's get Sophie back."