“Then what happened”
“Nothing. She kissed me good night and tucked me in. It took me a long time to fall asleep that night cause I kept listening to her move around the house, waiting to hear her take the presents from wherever she’d hidden them.”
“Did you find out?”
“No…I finally fell asleep after I heard her go to bed.”
“And…in the morning?”
Laughing, Tristan said, “I got up before my mom and rushed downstairs, certain there wouldn’t be any presents.”
Smiling, Pete said, “But I bet you were wrong.”
“Boy, was I ever. From then on, I was an ardent believer in the goddess of the moon. It was years laterwhen I was talking to my mom about that night, that she finally confessed she’d hidden the presents in the trunk of our car…the one place I never looked!”
“Because she told you to search the house, right?”
“Exactly,” Tristan replied.
“Your mom was clever like that,” Pete murmured.
“That she was…” Tristan’s voice trailed off as more memories of his mother filled his mind, reminding him of all he’d lost. Once again, he was mired in the thick, heavy mud of grief and, no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t let him go. It just kept sucking him down into his personal pit of despair. Furtively brushing away a wayward tear that had escaped, Tristan wondered if his grandfather was getting tired of hearing how much he missed his mother.I bet he thinks I’m weak.
Out of the corner of his eye, Pete caught his grandson’s attempt to hide his pain and understood immediately what Tristan was thinking. Putting his arm over his grandson’s shoulders, he said softly, “Don’t hide your feelings, son…it won’t help. It just makes it worse. Your grandmother taught me that and she was right.”
“I’m sorry,” Tristan whispered. “I know I’m supposed to be strong…I’m the Alpha…and there are times I can hear mom’s voice, encouraging me to go on. I swear I’m losing my mind.”
“You’re not crazy, Tristan,” Pete replied. “Ever since I found out my daughter died, I can feel her presence at the oddest times. And when I finally mentioned it to Kathy, she told me she did, too.”
Surprised, Tristan stared at his grandfather for a moment, then turned away. He wasn’t sure if he was telling him the truth or just trying to make him feelbetter so he asked, “Really? You think it’s possible that mom…”
“Yes, I do,” Pete replied. “I believe the spirits of the ones who truly love us never leave. Your mother gives encouragement because she knows you’re doubting yourself. You were born to be the Alpha.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Tristan muttered.
“I’msure about it,” Pete replied. “And I bet your mother thought that too.”
“I feel so unprepared,” Tristan admitted. “Reeve keeps telling me I’m a natural but I sure as shit don’t feel that way.”
“Give it time, son.”
“Yeah…well…maybe. It woulda helped if my mother told me who I was before she died.”
“I know…but she didn’t want to risk losing you to Josiah,” Pete explained. “So she did the next best thing…she left the documents that proved you were the eldest son of Josiah and had the right to claim your birthright. Trust me, Tristan. You are exactly where the Fates and your mother want you to be.”
Chapter 3
Both deep in thought, Tristan and his grandfather sat quietly under the tree, listening to the strident chirps of birds upset by their presence. Smiling, it reminded him of his mother’s birds and bees sit-down with him when he was six. “She told me about sex but never said a word about mates…why didn’t she?” he murmured.
“Only your mother can answer that, but what Icantell you is that she was terribly hurt by Josiah’s rejection. I remember the day she told us about him and announced he was her mate,” Pete said, pausing for a moment. Then, glancing at his grandson, he began to explain. “In our world, we refer to our sexual partners as our mates. There are two kinds—Fated Mates and bonded mates. Your mother and Josiah were not Fated Mates, no matter how much she wished it were true.”
“What’s the difference?”
“A Fated one is picked by the Fates for you. Everyone in our world has a Fated Mate but not everyone finds theirs.”
“Why not? If the Fates picked them…”
Shrugging, Pete said, “It’s a game of chance…both have to be in the right place at the right time so they can meet.”
