I gladly took it. The first sip felt refreshing against my dry throat. I peered over at AnneMarie, who watched me carefully. “He loves you,” I said in almost a whisper.
Her eyes watered. “Arthur said that?”
I shook my head. “No, but I could feel it. He’s sad to leave you behind.” A deep sadness shrouded him when he thought about AnneMarie.
“He was torn, though,” I admitted. I placed the glass on the table and looked at her. “He’s sad to leave you, but he also…” I drifted off, not wanting to say all of what I knew about his feelings about dying.
“He wants to see them again,” she added for me.
“How did… yes,” I answered. “An older woman.”
“His first mate.” AnneMarie patted my hand with a slight smile on her face. “We wolves are very loyal.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Be at ease, my love. It is okay,” she said but not to me. It’s as if she was talking to Arthur, although he wasn’t in the room.
“I need to go to the bathroom.” I pointed at the empty water glass on the table.
AnneMarie laughed good-naturedly for a woman whose husband was dying. “Please.”
“I can go on my own,” I said, not wanting her to walk me in her seemingly frail state. “Just point me in the right direction.”
“Down that hall, second door on the right.”
I followed where she pointed, moving past the dining and living room areas. On my right, as I passed one partially closed door, I heard voices coming from the room. Chael was among them, and I couldn’t help but stop and move closer to the door.
“She’s your mate,” Ronan said.
“Who she is, is none of your concern,” Chael replied.
My heart sank. Again, he denied me to his cousins. Why had he been so adamant about claiming and bringing me to his compound, only to reject me? Was it for this? To be a seer for his pack? Did he only want me around because I was of service to him?
“You haven’t mated her yet,” another voice, this one belonging to Noah.
I swallowed the tension that rose in my throat. By mated, I assumed he meant that we hadn’t had sex. And no, we hadn’t done that.
Maybe it’s for the best. I thought.
“She’s none of your business,” Chael said.
“Just like our mate is none of yours. Yet, you keep her from us?” Ronan’s voice came out on a growl.
“She is where she wants to be for now. If she wanted to be with you, she would come to you.”
Another growl sounded, and I got the impression that it was Noah that time around. Who the heck were they talking about?
“She will be ours, and there is nothing that you can do to stop us from claiming her,” Noah said.
“If you come to my pack ready for a fight, prepare to meet your father in the afterlife.” Chael’s voice was as cold as ice.
I shivered and took a step back. Beneath my foot, one of the wooden boards creaked.
Shit.
I backed away and turned for the bathroom, hurrying and closing the door behind me before anyone saw me. At least, I hoped it was before anyone saw me. I had so much to think about, and I still hadn’t explained everything I saw in my vision.
CHAPTER19
Chael
My mind whirled with the implications of what Reese shared with us from her vision at my grandfather’s side. She’d told us hours ago, and I still hadn’t processed all of it.
