“Grandmother, we don’t know if this is what grandfather would’ve wanted,” Noah added.
“Hush up,” AnneMarie chided before I could tell my cousin to mind his fucking business. “He may not have been my mate for centuries, but for the past seventy years, we have loved one another. I know better than anyone what he would have wanted.”
The room fell silent.
“Come, sweetie,” AnneMarie told Reese. She guided her to the stairs at the side of the bed.
“I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do,” Reese told her.
“Your gift will guide you,” AnneMarie reassured.
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, attempting to stop myself from snatching my mate away from the older woman. We wolves respected our elders and, in truth, I didn’t believe AnneMarie meant any harm to Reese. There too, was a part of me that wanted to see how this played out.
Was Reese truly a seer? Would it be possible for her to communicate with my grandfather even though the rest of us could not?
I watched as AnneMarie stood at Reese’s side on the platform that surrounded the bed. My cousins, Chance, and I watched from a distance as Reese moved in closer to my grandfather’s side of the bed.
I held my breath for what was to come.
* * *
Reese
I stared at the elderly man in the bed. With his eyes closed and hands folded neatly across his broad chest, he appeared as if he were taking a nap. The steady rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was still alive. I wanted to ask the woman Chael called AnneMarie if she was confident he was in a coma, but I bit my tongue.
Besides, my mind was clouded enough with doubt and mounting anger. Chael had denied me. Not blatantly, but twice he’d been asked who I was to him, and not once did he call me his mate. That familiar sting of rejection threatened to coil its way up my spine and spill out into every inch of my body. But I did my best to shake myself free of it for the time being.
“Wh-what do you want me to do?” I asked the older woman beside me.
“You can communicate in ways others can’t.” She took my hand. “He is my mate, my beloved. But even I can’t speak with him in this state.”
The tremble in her voice broke my heart.
“But perhaps you can.” She placed my hand over his, pressing it there, silently conveying for me to leave my hand where it was. AnneMarie lifted her hand and took a step back.
For almost half a minute, I didn’t move, couldn’t think. I sensed everyone else in the room watching me, expecting something I didn’t believe I could deliver. For a split second, I wanted to turn to Chael, to look into his eyes for assurance that it would be okay if I didn’t see anything. But then I remembered he denied me in front of his family.
I wouldn’t look at him for anything.
“Take your time,” AnneMarie encouraged while running a soft hand down my back. “Let your gifts work themselves on you. You’re very special, Reese,” she hummed low in my ear.
A flash of a memory came spiraling back to me. My nana had told me almost the same thing. I had returned to school after my accident and spent nearly a month in the hospital. I still had to use a wheelchair to get around the building. A handful of the other students teased and taunted me about it. I’d gone home crying and begging her to take me out of public school.
“Don’t worry about those kids, Reese’s Cup,” she’d told me, using her nickname for me. “They’re too simpleminded to see how special you are.” She took me by the chin. “You’re a survivor, baby. And you belong wherever you are. No one will run you out of that school,” she said fiercely.
I hadn’t wanted to return, but I did because she believed I was strong enough to face whatever those tormentors had to throw my way. Eventually, I did get stronger and learned to walk on my own again.
I shook my head to push that memory aside, not fully understanding why it chose right then to emerge. I peered down at Chael’s grandfather again and stepped closer to the bed, coming to sit on it.
“What’s his name?” I asked AnneMarie.
“Arthur.”
“Hi, Arthur,” I said, stroking his hand.
A simple rise and fall of his chest was all the response I got.
I turned my body toward him, propping my knee on the bed to make myself more comfortable. I brought one of Arthur’s hands into my lap, clasping it with mine.
