Page 1 of His Treasured Mate

Lily

Chapter 1

“Elise, are you even listening to me? We need to get everything finalized now.”

“Sorry. I'm just a bit distracted today. Besides it's still two weeks away,” my sister snapped.

Something was wrong. Elise only shut me out when she was extremely stressed out or overwhelmed, but this had been going on for a few months already and I was really worried about her. The last time she'd been this distant was because she'd met her mate Patrick O'Connell and had freaked out. She'd made things so much worse when she’d tried to run away and hide from him. Not that I was one to judge.

I grinned remembering the day I'd met my one true mate. I hadn't handled that well at all. I still struggled to drink whiskey after downing a fifth of the bottle and crawling into bed with him that same night. Not that there was much opportunity for drinking these days.

Thomas Collier was the last man on the planet I'd expected to take as a mate. As I rubbed my ever-growing belly and felt our latest addition kick inside, I couldn't help but know with all my heart that this was exactly the life I'd been meant to live, and Thomas was the best thing to ever happen to me.

I'd miscarried our first baby and with each pregnancy since, I didn't allow myself to fully relax and believe it until they laid that precious baby in my arms. With any luck, I'd experience that sensation for the fifth time in just a few more months.

It was silly really. We'd lost the baby early in the pregnancy, and I was heading into my third trimester after successfully delivering four healthy daughters. There was no logical reason for me to be worried, but I was. I always was.

“Lily? Are you still there?” Elise asked.

I’d been lost in thought and nearly forgotten she was on the phone.

“Sorry. Pregnancy brain is real. I think I just sort of mentally wandered off.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea? We can just postpone the reunion until after you deliver. You shouldn’t be traveling this far along in your pregnancy anyway.”

“I'm fine. I'm still in the early stages of the third trimester, and Sam is coming with us to keep an eye on me. Thomas insisted, no matter how many times I try to tell him that Micah can handle it just fine.”

Sam was our Pack physician after Doc officially retired. Collier Pack was lucky to have him, but while I may be Pack Mother of Collier Pack now, I was born into Westin Pack and knew Micah, their Pack physician, equally as well. I'd trust both men with my life and the life of my unborn child. But I knew despite being a big, strong Alpha, my mate worried himself to death about me and our children. He was insistent on taking every precaution possible.

I suddenly realized what we'd been talking about.

“You're trying to change the subject,” I accused.

“What? No.”

“Liar. We've been dancing around this for weeks, no months, and I want to know what the hell is going on with you.”

It was true. Two months ago, Elise and Patrick had returned from the vacation of a lifetime in Paris. She'd been so happy and made it sound like a fairytale dream of a trip. And then a few weeks later it was like she'd changed somehow, and things had been strained between us ever since. Only I didn't understand why. I'd even called Patrick myself to find out what was wrong with my sister, but he too had seemed off, though he insisted everything was fine.

“Elise, talk to me.”

“You're making something out of nothing. Just drop it already.”

But I knew in my gut that wasn't true.

I couldn't read her as well over the phone, so I hung up and face-messaged her instead. She didn't answer. When it timed out, I called right back.

Finally, she accepted, greeting me with a stern look on her face.

“What took you so long?”

“Why did you hang up on me?”

“Because I need to see your face when I ask you once more what the hell is wrong with you.”

She blanched, and I knew I was right. My gut instincts were rarely wrong. But the sour look on her face had me even more concerned than I had already been.

“E?”

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