Chapter 17
Chloe's POV
Multiple times during the night, I wake up, startled by the nightmares that plague my mind of fire and fear. Each time, I cling harder to Beca, willing for them to go away. She remains oblivious as she sleeps, constantly coughing. When's she not hacking, her breathing is hoarse, harshly cutting through the air like it's difficult. It worries me so much, that when I wake up from a nightmare for the third time, I just stay that way, watching Beca. Each time she exhales, I'm afraid she'll stop breathing all together, so I hold my breath until I hear her next raspy intake of air.
For a while, I lay there content with where I am. Who knew Beca was such a cuddler? During the night, she slowly moved until she got to where she is now. Our legs are intertwined with the bottom half of her body is splayed out on top of mine. Her arms are wrapped around my neck and she has her face buried in the crook of my shoulder. Every now and then, her arms tighten in her sleep, pulling us closer. Finally, the strong smell of coffee wafting upstairs is too strong and I unhook Beca's death grip on me. I quietly replace me with a pillow which Beca instantly squeezes and head downstairs. My mom is sitting at the table, a cup of coffee across from her, waiting for me.
"Thank you." I wrap my cold hands around the coffee and inhale, savoring the smell.
"Sleep well?" I nod, not suspecting my mother at all. "I'm surprised with the way Beca hung onto you." My eyes shoot up and she laughs.
"I didn't want to leave her alone."
"It's okay Chloe. I figured that's what you would do anyway. How is she?" I sigh, finally feeling the fatigue hit me from staying up all night watching Beca.
"Her breathing is still rough but her coughing went down." My mom nods and takes a drink of her coffee.
"How about you?"
"Oh," I look down into my mug. "I'm fine."
"Chloe, don't lie to me."
"It's just," my eyes well up with tears and my mom grabs my hand, comforting me. "Everytime I close my eyes, I'm overcome by the smell of smoke and fear. I thought she was going to die. That I was too late." Tears stream down my face.
"But you weren't."
"What if I was?"
"Don't focus on the what if, Chloe." My mom's sharp voice cuts through the air. "You got there in time. Your dream led you to Beca and allowed you to save her. Now, I know that's not the only thing bugging you."
"How are you so calm?" My mom lifts a questioning eyebrow. "We just learned that werewolves are real and that I'm meant to be with one. That I'm a seer. How are you so okay with this?"
"I guess I was already opened to it when we first saw Beca in her wolf form. Something about her just struck me and I had a feeling she was different. There's always been a part of me that believed that there was something else out there. This just confirmed what a part of me already knew."
"Really?" My mom nods. "I've never really thought about what I believe."
"Maybe it's time you did."
"Yeah, I guess it is." I take a minute to really think about it all before speaking again. "What do we do now?"
"I don't know, honey. Just play it by ear. Take today to make sure you and Beca are okay and then go from there."
"I'm okay," Beca's raspy voice comes from the doorway, startling both my mom and I.
"Are you sure you aren't a cat with how easily you can sneak up on people?" Beca laughs, a painful sound and sits next to me.
"I'm sure. You know, I chased a cat once." Both my mom and I blink, not expecting that.
"Um.. what?" I choke out. Beca stares at my mom and I like we're crazy for thinking that's weird.
"I was 11 and for no reason whatsoever, it came up and scratched me. So I chased it around the pack land until one of the elders stopped me and hit me with a paddle."
"A paddle?" My mom chuckles a little, not sure whether to believe it or not.
"Yeah, it was the only thing I would listen too. I was a little rebel."
"Why did they hit you for chasing a cat?" I ask.
"I don't know. They told me that the mountain lion did nothing wrong even though I had a huge scratch on my arm. Somehow, I must've been the one to provoke it."
"A mountain lion?" My voice is a squeak but it's covered up by my mother's boisterous laughter. Beca just looks confused.
"Was I not very clear about that?" This sets my mother off again and I just shake my head, chuckling. The small brunette smiles, watching both my mother and I.
"How are you feeling?" My mom's laughing dies down as she goes into mother mode.
"Fine." Beca's eyes don't meet my mom and instead, she traces nonexistent patterns on the table.
"Okay, I already had Chloe try and lie to me so don't you go doing the same."
"What do you mean?" Beca's eyes are wide with fake innocence.
"Beca," my mom warns and Beca's face is replaced with horror.
"I'm serious. I feel fine." My mom stares Beca down, obviously not getting anywhere. I tune into Beca's emotions and laugh. She's confused, of all things.
"Beca, she's just worried about you." Beca glances at me and then turns her gaze back to the table.
"I have a little headache and my throat still hurts." She mumbles under her breath. My mom sits up straighter, smiling at her win.
"Good. Let me get some medicine for your headache and I'll make a cup of tea. It'll sooth your throat." My mom gets busy putting that stuff together. Beca continues to stare at the table, her dark hair hiding her face from my view.
"Beca?" I whisper, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" It's silent for a second before she sniffles and looks up, her eyes red.
"Sorry. It's stupid." She starts to wave it off but I grab her hands.
"Whatever it is, it's definitely not stupid. Talk to me. Aren't we mates? Isn't that what we're supposed to do?"
"Low blow Beale," Beca smiles. "You're right though. I just never expected that you would be so okay with all of this."
"Stop changing the subject."
"Sorry. It's just been so long since I've had someone looking out for me." I nod, knowing that after her parents died, she was pretty much on her own.
"Well, you better get used to it, Becs. We're going to be looking out for you for a long time."
"Becs?"
"Yeah, has a nice ring to it." Beca smiles at me.
"I like it."
"Alright you two lovebirds. Tone it down a bit." My mom sets down the tea and medicine in front of Beca and takes back her place on the other side of the table. I laugh while Beca turns bright red.
"Damn. You foiled my plan."
"Plan?" My mom raises an eyebrow, ignoring my language because she knows I'm up to something.
"Yeah, to do this." Without any warning, I grab Beca's face and kiss her. When I pull away, Beca attempts to hide her face behind her hands. We both laugh while Beca scowls at us. That's how it goes for a little bit. We laugh and eat breakfast, enjoying being able to relax before the hard part comes. It all comes to an end though when my phone goes off. An unknown number.
"Hello," I hesitantly say into the phone, not sure who to expect.
"Is this Chloe?" A boys voice floats through the phone, sounding panicked.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"It's Jesse. Beca's friend. So I heard that the cabin burnt down. Do you know if she's okay?"
"Yes. As a matter of fact, she's right here," I glance at Beca, who is watching me with an intense gaze.
"Then I'm going to assume she is listening." Jesse pauses and Beca nods. "You selfish, jerk! The cabin burns down and you don't even bother calling to let me know you're okay." Beca gestures for the phone and I give it to her. She puts it on speaker, setting it on the table.
"Jesse, I'm sorry."
"Sorry won't cut it Beca. Not this time." Anger boils over and I can't hold it back.
"Hey, you listen up punk. Beca almost died and you're mad that she didn't tell you? Sorry that she inhaled so much smoke, she couldn't even speak without coughing. Not to mention, how exhausted she was. Oh did I already tell you that she ALMOST DIED!"
"Chloe," Beca sooths. "It's okay." I just shake my head and cross my arms over my chest, panting from anger.
"Woah. You got your hands full with that one, Mitchell." Jesse comments, seeming unfazed by Chloe's outburst.
"Yeah, but she's worth it." My anger dims, softened by Beca's words.
"She's right though. I didn't take any of that into consideration. I'm sorry."
"Don't sweat it."
"So, what are you going to do now? Go back to the foster home?" Jesse says like it's not a big deal but he doesn't live there. He lives in an apartment near the radio station. His father is one of the few to allow their kids to live in town by themselves. Jesse doesn't understand how bad it can get at the home sometimes.
"I can't do that Jesse. If I do, they'll kill me."
"So, what then? You go back to the cabin that's burned to the ground? All your stuff is toast."
"Thanks captain obvious. I hadn't noticed that everything I've ever had is now burnt to a crisp. Hell, this sore throat must just be a cold."
"Okay, okay. Sorry. I'm just trying to help." Jesse protests and Beca just rubs her face vigorously.
"Sorry, I just don't know what I'm going to do."
"How about you stay with us?" I join in, though I instantly regret it. It's not necessarily my place to do so and now I'm afraid I overstepped my boundaries. I'm not sure all of what this mate thing entails.
"Thank you but I'm not sure how the pack would react to that." Beca's sadness is etched into her face and I set my head on her shoulder, trying to help however I can.
"I don't see a problem with it," Jesse contemplates. "Since you don't technically have a guardian, you can go where you want as long as you're on the pack territory."
"Wait, you don't have a guardian?" My mom speaks up.
"No. None of the pack members were willing to take care of me except for Jesse's dad. I stayed with them until I moved to the foster home. Even though I stayed with Mr. Swanson all those years, he never signed any official papers."
"All you had to do was ask and he would've. You know that." Jesse sighs like he's had this conversation before.
"No, he wouldn't have. I'm thankful for all your father did, I really am, but never in a million years would he have signed a paper making him my legal guardian. Nobody wants the mutt whose parents couldn't even stand. They tried to kill me for god's sake. I'm bad luck and your father knows it." Beca quiets down, her voice thick with tears by the end of her rant.
"We'd be glad to have you," my mom says gently. Beca nods, too overcome by emotion to say anything else.
"Well, um.. I better go." Jesse hangs up and everything is silent for a while.
"Tell me more about seers?" My mom says suddenly and I glare at her until I realize she did the right thing. Distracted Beca.
"What about them?"
"Do they have other powers? Is it genetic?"
"Well," Beca starts, becoming herself again. "Not much is actually known about them except they're really rare. I honestly don't know that much about them. Has there been anybody who has claimed to be a psychic in your family?" My mom thinks for a second before getting up. She goes to the hall closet and gets out a scrapbook, bringing it over, flipping through it.
"There has been some in Chloe's dad's side of the family."
"Really?" I ask, not having known this. My mom nods and stops flipping through the book.
"Your great grandma was actually a fortune teller." My mom points to a black and white picture of a beautiful woman who's wearing a robe. Her black hair is pulled up, hiding beneath some weird hat.
"She made a living off of it but I don't know for sure if it was just parlor tricks or the real thing."
"Yeah, it's hard to tell. Unless we can speak to the person, there's no way to confirm it." Beca studies the picture. "She could've been some sort of psychic though."
"There are others?" I wonder and Beca nods.
"Seers, like you, are the rarest. Then, there are the ones who deal with the dead."
"They can raise the dead?" I scream.
"No. Sorry, I should've been clearer. They can speak to the dead. There are none that can raise the dead, as far as I know. Either extinct or never existed. A lot of the old stories get mixed with both truth and fiction, so it's hard to tell what's real."
"What about her powers?" My mom asks, flipping through the book again.
"Well, with seers, their visions can come in several different ways. Some can touch a person and see their future and/or their past. Or they can touch an object and see everything about it. It really just depends on time and your ancestors." I stare at Beca, trying to take it all in, but not sure I'm succeeding.
"I'm pretty sure.." my mom trails off, thinking. "I think that your grandma can do something similar. Your dad told me about it a long time ago, but they weren't on the best of terms."
"Grandma? I've never met her." My voice is small at the mention of my dad.
"Yeah. I've met her once but it was only for a second. Your dad told me she was crazy and refused to let me stay and talk to her."
"She may not be crazy," Beca pipes in. "Many believe them to be but some can't control their visions or don't understand. Unless a psychic has someone guiding them, they're all alone and confused."
"That sounds like her," my mom laughs. "I guess it's about time to have a talk with that woman."