Out of the Darkness~ The Guild Leader Chronicles Book Five

Chapter Three

But everyone knows what happens if mates reject the other. Regardless of if Luke refuses to mate with her, or if Elena chooses not to mate with him, they will both die.

I raise an eyebrow at Luke, who then looks to Elena. "I mean," he stammers a little, "no I didn't."

Chewing on the inside of my cheek a little, I tell him, "Then you two need to discuss what you're going to do. I can't tell you to claim her; it has to be your own freewill."

Luke just looks between Elena and myself, clearly not sure what to do. I know my Uncle's heart still belongs to Aunt Nikiya, and I'm sure Elena still feels the same for her mate, but this is something they have to work through together. It's an impossible situation, and one I'm almost grateful I don't have to handle myself.

"You have some time," I continue, trying to soften my voice to show sympathy. "You don't have to claim her right this second, but I would seriously consider your options."

"Elena was one of Nikiya's closest friends, Valerio," Luke tells me, his eyes pleading with me for some reason.

I don't know why he thinks I can get him out of this mess. I don't know how finding your mate works, nor did I even know you could have more than one. I'm no help to him.

Giving him a small, sad, smile, I reply, "I get it, Uncle Luke, but you know what happens if either of you refuses the other."

Uncle Luke and Aunt Nikiya did spend a lot of time in Australia, so I'm sure Elena and Luke are better acquainted with each other than normal new mates would be. Aunt Nikiya would often talk about Elena, and she always had good things to say about her. Elena isn't a bad person; this is just an impossible situation.

"I need to talk to Holden about this," Elena says in a small voice.

Uncle Luke snaps his head to her, like he did whenever Aunt Nikiya talked, and the action makes me have a pain in my chest for him. The connection between them is definitely there, but I can also see that he's fighting it.

"And I should take to Sophie and Gavin too," he replies, his voice still rough, and then turns his head to me. "But I haven't seen either of them all week."

I nod my head at him. "I'll get both of them back here," I tell him. I look to Elena, and say to her, "Go talk with your son." Looking at Keegan, who still has a stumped look on his face, I say, "I'm going to my office."

Once he's nodded his head, I curl my fingers. I take a deep breath when I land, and then open my mind to find Sophie. "You need to come home," I tell her. "Where are you?"

It takes a minute for her to respond, and for a second I start to panic. "I'm in New Orleans," she replies. "Is everything okay?"

"You just need to come home, and bring Gavin with you too."

"Gavin isn't with us."

Then where the hell is he? I assumed since Sophie, Gavin, Pascale and Dubois are all away, that they were together.

"Just come home and we'll figure out where Gavin is," I order her.

I don't like not knowing where members of my family are. With Spencer still out there somewhere, it makes me nervous not having everyone accounted for. What if he's taken Gavin for some reason?

The air in my office begins to rustle, and after a moment, Sophie is standing in front of me. Her face is pale, and I can tell she's nervous too.

"Let's not suspect the worse," I say to her. "I'm sure Gavin is fine, but you need to go talk with your Dad in the meantime. I will find Gavin. We'll discuss why you haven't been here all week later."