Chapter 33

Chloe's POV

Anxiously, I pace the living room, glancing every second or so at the clock. Beca was supposed to be home almost half an hour ago, but she hasn't shown up.

"Dammit, Beca. Where the hell are you?" I let out a loud sigh before glancing at the clock again. My hands shake as I grab my phone, deciding whether or not to call someone.

"You're just being paranoid," I mutter. But what's the uneasiness that's currently settling in my stomach? It's like a pit that grows with every passing second, the emptiness weighing me down. Annoyed, I shake my head as I dial Beca's number. My fingers tap the phone impatiently but freeze when I get her voicemail. Maybe she got held up.

For several hours, I pace in the living room and wait for Beca who never shows. When the uneasy feeling gets to be too much, I call Aubrey. Hopefully, she won't be too mad that I called her this late.

"Hello?" A groggy sounding Aubrey answers.

"Something's wrong with Beca."

"What?" Aubrey sounds more alert now and I can hear Stacie on the other end talking to her. "Why do you think that, Chloe?"

"Because she told me that she would be home hours ago and still hasn't. Plus, she won't answer her phone and we both know that she answers me every time she can."

"Yes, but we can't go jumping to conclusions."

"We can if it's Beca and I," I retort, referring to the past and Aubrey makes a sound of agreement.

"It's still not smart to assume that something bad happened so why don't you get some rest and we'll come over in the morning. If Beca is still gone, we'll talk to Mr. Swanson."

"Okay," I reluctantly agree and only because I might have a dream involving Beca. Aubrey may think that I'm over exaggerating, but I can feel that something is off here. It was evident when Beca was talking to me on the phone. She said that today was weird and so I know that she felt it too.

"Bye Chloe. I'll see you tomorrow." We hang up and I drag myself to the couch, wanting to be in sight of the door in case Beca comes home. With an empty sigh, I drift off into sleep, fearful of what's to come.

…...

They ram their van against my car and this time, I'm not prepared. My car starts spinning and no matter how I turn the wheel or hit the brakes, it doesn't stop. Finally, my car starts to slow but the van hits me again, speeding it up. This time though, my car rolls and everything seems to go in slow motion.

The windows shatter and glass flies everywhere, sinking into anything it can. Including my skin. Metal crunches together, making the door crush into me and I cry out in pain. The wheel pushes up against my chest, pressing down until it's almost too hard to breathe. When the car rolls again, my head slams back causing stars to cloud my vision.

Suddenly, white seems to be everywhere, blinding me. Blurred figures walk by and I can feel their gazes on me. Watching me. My throat burns as I call out my wife's name, but nobody answers. Muffled voices float through my ears and I strain to make it out. Suddenly feeling tired, darkness closes in.

My eyes fly open and I sit up, gasping. Beca. Does someone have her? Is she okay? What the hell was that?

…..

"So explain everything again?" Aubrey sighs, rubbing a tired hand over her face. After the dream, I called her and Stacie over which is how we ended up in my kitchen at 4 in the morning drinking coffee.

"Yesterday, Beca was a little late coming home so I called her to make sure everything was okay. Then, she proposed that we go out to dinner and told me to be ready for her. She never came."

"Was she upset at all?"

"Well yeah. She said that she had a bad day." Aubrey nods in thought and both her and Stacie give each other a look. "What?"

"Does she usually do that? Randomly take you out to dinner?" Stacie's kind eyes find mine and the suspicion in them makes me uneasy.

"Yeah, she loves surprising me with all sorts of stuff. Random presents or dates."

"Who knew Mitchell could be such a romantic?" Aubrey jokes trying to lighten the mood but it only makes my heart ache more.

"Is it possible that she may have left?" Stacie's question shocks me and I instantly shake my head, taken aback by such a horrendous idea.

"Of course not. You know that Beca would never do that. Not unless she had a good reason."

"Well, with your guys past, it wouldn't surprise me if something happened that spooked her. I mean, she could still be, you know…" Aubrey makes a crazy face and I stand up, ready to leave this conversation when they stop me.

"Look we're just checking every possibility. Now, tell us about the dream." I do and when I'm done, they share another look. What now? Aubrey goes to open her mouth when there's a knock on the door. Frowning, I walk over and open it, surprised to see an officer there.

"Um, hello? May I help you?" The officer gives me a sad, kind smile. He's obviously older with gray hair and wise eyes.

"Are you Chloe Mitchell?" I nod. "Your wife is Beca Mitchell, correct?" My hands start to shake when I say yes and his face falls.

"What is this? What's going on? Is Beca alright?"

"I'm afraid not, Mrs. Mitchell. You see, there was an accident. The paramedics were able to get her to the hospital, but she didn't make it. I'm very sorry for your loss." My heart speeds up, my pulse races and I have to lean against the wall as my legs threaten to give out. Beca's gone? It can't be. I would feel something, right?

"How? What happened?" My voice shakes as I push down the lump in my throat.

"We're not sure. There were no witnesses nor any other cars. We're not even sure when the accident happened, just that we were too late."

"Can I see her?" I have to. It'll make it real but at least I'll know for sure.

"You see, there's a problem with that. The car had caught fire and we got there too late to put it out before it spread. We managed to grab your wife but not before she was badly burned. She's not...recognizable."

"How do you know it's her then?" There's a panicky tone to my voice, telling me and everyone else how close I am to breaking.

"We were able to acquire some info from the car and pieced together who it was. I'm sorry for your loss." A sob breaks through and I slap a hand over my mouth to hold it in. Someone sets their hand on my shoulder and says something to the officer that I don't hear over the roaring in my ears. She can't be gone. We've been through too much for her to die in a car accident. But with my dream, it's undeniable. I felt the moment the accident happened and all the bright lights and people that must've been doctors. I saw her last moments and yet I didn't get to say goodbye.

"Chloe, breathe. Come on honey." Stacie's soothing voice brings me back as I suck in a sharp breath, unaware that I had been holding it.

"Oh Chloe. I'm so sorry," Aubrey grabs my hand, tears in her eyes. My grandma's vision came true, not when she almost died that day in the clearing, but now with this car accident.

"I have to tell everyone." My legs shake as I stumble towards my phone.

"What if we called everybody together and tell them then?" I nod, agreeing to Stacie's idea. Aubrey and Stacie start texting everybody as I go into mine and Beca's room. Tears stream down my face as sobs break through. I grab one of Beca's oversized hoodies and put it on. She always hated getting tight girl ones so she would get them from the men's section in a bigger size than she should've. They would swallow her, making her look even smaller than normal.

"Oh Becs," I whisper, my voice hoarse. "What am I going to do without you?" I repeat the question in my head, sobbing even harder when there's no answer.

….

"Chloe?" My mom takes in my shitty appearance and pulls me into a hug. "What ever happened, it's going to be okay." No it's not. My throat closes, a sudden lump blocking any words from going out.

"So what's going on?" Mr. Swanson booms, being the last one to come in. We all decided to meet at my mom's house because it's the biggest.

"It's Beca," Aubrey says for me. "She was in an accident." There's multiple gasps and instant tears.

"Is she..." Jesse trails off as he studies me and makes a weird choking sound in the back of his throat.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry." My mom pulls me into another hug which I gladly take.

"Would Chloe be able to feel that she's gone?" Cynthia Rose asks. "As part of the mate bond or whatever?"

"In a case like this with normal werewolves, yes." Mr. Swanson says and I swing my tired eyes toward him.

"But we're not normal." He shakes his head sadly.

"Not at all. With normal werewolves, the mark is burned off of their neck and after that, it's up to the werewolf how they live. Most go crazy and die, but some, like me, continue to live and eventually heal." My mom puts a reassuring hand on Mr. Swanson's arm which I would usually question, but at the moment am too exhausted to.

"So you have no idea how this is going to go?" Fat Amy asks and Mr. Swanson just shakes his head sadly. The room descends into a dark silence as we all think about the girl we lost.

"How do I live without her?" I whimper to my mom and she strokes my hair with a shaky hand.

"I don't know baby. I wish I did."

"What do I do now, mommy? I'm lost." My mom leads me to the living room and into the couch where she makes me lay down.

"For now, you rest. Give yourself some time to clear your head, to grieve." She leans down and kisses my forehead gently before leaving. I close my eyes and when tears threaten to escape, I let go. My mind wanders to the conversation floating from the kitchen in soft whispers.

"Is she going to be okay?" My mom asks, her voice cracking.

"I'm not sure, Laura," Eli whispers, his voice hoarse with emotion. "I've never dealt with a situation like theirs. We'll just have to wait and see. Be there for Chloe."

"So did anybody get details on what happened?" Cynthia Rose asks, her voice harsh and cold. Nobody takes it personal though since we know it's her way of dealing with it.

"I talked with an officer on the phone later," Stacie starts and I lean to hear her better. "It seemed like she was hit by another car but nobody else was at the scene. Beca's car caught on fire and apparently she got burned. They wouldn't let Chloe go see her because she's too… unrecognizable."

"That's bullshit," Fat Amy spits and somebody shushes her, letting Stacie continue.

"They got her out of the car alive, but she died before they could get her into an operating room."

"God," Jesse sobs and my heart breaks again. Whether Beca knew it or not, she was loved by many people. Curling into a ball, I hug my sides, trying to suppress the sharp pin pricks of grief. My lip trembles as I cry out in my head, too weak to make any actual noise. You already left me once. Dammit Beca. You promised you would stay with me. That we would be together forever. Why won't you answer me? That last thought pushes the sobs that were trying to slowly escape, rush out, breaking the poorly built dam. There's no answer from Beca and there never will be again.