Reviving Bloom (Bloom Daniels Series)

by michelle turner

  Then there’s Billy. I’m not sure what it is about this man, but he seems to know more than he’s letting on. Ever since he tried to stare me down in the hallway I’ve been expecting him to out me as a shifter. I know there are humans that know the truth about us, hell most of the humans in our small town know that we exist and they protect the secret. But I’ve seen no sign of shifter activity in this community so how can this man know. I just hope the old fool doesn’t out me before I have to chance to do it myself. She needs to hear it from me, not him.

  Reminding her of the time was a huge mistake on my part, but thankfully she was too preoccupied to analyze that she was reminded by her “dog.” I’ll have to be extra careful around her or she’s going to figure out herself that I’m not an ordinary canine.

  I watch her clean up her knee, which is unbelievably hard. I’ve never wanted to care for someone who isn’t my family, and with her I’m becoming annoyingly protective. Once she has it bandaged up I rub my muzzle against her hand, it seems to reassure me in a way I never believed possible. Her touch has a soothing affect on my wolf, I’m not sure if it’s a mate thing or Bloom thing. I’m leaning more towards it being a Bloom thing.

  It takes her less than five minutes to finish getting ready. I expected her to get dolled up, most of the women I know won’t leave the house without a couple layers of make-up and their hair poufed to perfection, but like I said she keeps surprising me. She braids her wet hair and throws on a pair of worn Levi’s and a lace trimmed tank and absolutely no make-up touches her face. She leaves me with no other choice but to openly drink her in with my eyes. Though to her it probably looked like a normal dog with his tongue hanging out. I’ve always been comfortable as my wolf but there’s something about Bloom that has me craving my two legged form more.

  Following her to the truck I wait as she opens the door for me then leap into the passenger seat. She climbs into the driver’s side and heads us toward town. We’re running late so she calls her friend and lets her know we’re on our way. The woman drives like she is in the Indy 500, taking curves on two wheels. I can’t look out the windows without it making me car sick and the thought of sticking my big wolf head out the window for air is even scarier. She’ll probably take my head off with a mail box if I do. Giving up on watching the road I lay my head on her lap. She takes one hand off the wheel to rub behind my ears the rest of the way to town, which both pleases and scares me. The thought of her driving this reckless with only one hand is extremely frightening, but I can’t force myself to move away from her touch. So if we die in a fiery crash, so be it, at least I can say I have her hands on me when I go.

  Less than 15 minutes after leaving the house I feel the truck come to a stop and she shifts into park. We exit the truck and walk towards a brick building that’s situated next to a small park. A little bell jingles against the door when we walk in and looking around I take in all the pet supplies. I’m letting this woman bring me to a freaking Vet. She’ll owe me big time for this one. I know my paw has already healed thanks to my shifter DNA, but she doesn’t know that so I should be thankfull she cares enough to get me treatment.

  Sitting behind the receptionist desk is a girl about the same age as Bloom. She has hair the color of milk chocolate pulled into a loose bun and a smile that could rival the sun in brightness. When she notices Bloom she jumps from her seat and bounces across the room to pull her into a hug. Bloom hugs her back with the same amount of enthusiasm; this must be the girl from the phone. I’ve never been great with names. Was it Betsy, Billy, I’m pretty sure it starts with a B.

  Turning towards me Bloom answers the question on my mind, “Bonnie this is Pike. Pike this is Bonnie. Her Dad’s going to check out your paw.”

  Bonnie crouches down in front of me and rubs her hands through my coat, “Geez he’s huge Blu. Are you sure he isn’t part horse?”

  “Billy keeps referring to him as a bear, but I’m leaning towards part wolf.” Blooms eyes zone in on Bonnie’s hands and I can tell she’s forcing herself to act like it’s no big deal.

  “Wolf? He’s much too large to be a wolf breed. Well at least all the hybrid wolf breeds I’ve seen come through here. Maybe Dad can give you an idea. He is gorgeous whatever mix he may be. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a black coat this vibrant and those blue eyes.” Bonnie lets out a whistle.

  I do my best to stay still and unthreatening as she inspects me. Though my wolf wants her hands off of him, hers aren’t made to touch him. I again look at my unaware mate and see the same struggle going through her. She loves her friend but she can’t stand to see someone else’s hands on me, but she’s fighting the urge to push her friend away and claim me as hers. She doesn’t understand why she’s so possessive over me, but I love hearing those thoughts coming from her beautiful mind.

  Grabbing Bonnie’s attention back from me she asks, “So is your Dad available?”

  “Oh, yeah! He said to bring you right back. I think he’s excited to see ya.” Bonnie finally takes her hands off of me and stands up.

  Just then a plump man with snow white hair and rosy cheeks walks into the room. If he grows a beard he could easily pass for Santa. “Of course I’m excited to see my other favorite girl.” He pulls Bloom into a big hug, “It’s been too long.”

  “I’ve missed you too Mr. Harris. Thanks for agreeing to check out Pike’s paw.” She hugs him then puts space between them.

  Mr. Harris turns his attention to me. “Anything for one of my girls. Bring this big guy back into my exam room.”

  I follow the two of them into a tiny white room and plop down next to Bloom’s feet. Mr. Harris snaps on a pair of exam gloves then he turns that million dollar smile to us. “Bloom, why don’t you go ahead and have that lunch with Bonnie. I’ll fix Pike up then I’ll bring him out to join you two.”

  “Okay, but Mr. Harris first can you tell me what breed is Pike?”

  He looks me over quickly then shoots back, “He’s definitely a wolf hybrid and by his size he has to have a giant dog breed in him. Wolves alone don’t get anywhere near this size. He might be part Mastiff. I can’t say for sure. Has he shown any aggression?”

  “He got a little funny when Billy was around, but I wouldn’t say he was aggressive. He seems more protective. I’m thinking maybe he was someone’s guard dog. Do you recognize him at all?”

  “No, he’s not a patient of mine. He could’ve been trained to be a guard dog; he’s definitely big enough for the task. He seems taken with you.”

  Scratching behind my ears she confesses, “To be honest I’m a little taken with him as well.”

  Mr. Harris doesn’t respond he just gives her a knowing smile and changes the subject, “Well your lunch is probably getting cold. Go join Bonnie and when I’m done I’ll bring him back to you.”

  She bends down and kisses the top of my head and whispers just loud enough for me to hear, “Mr. Harris is a nice man and he’ll take good care of you so listen to what he has to say. I’ll be right outside waiting on you.” Then standing back up, “Thanks for checking him out Mr. Harris.”

  “You’re welcome Bloom. Now get to your lunch so I can get started.”

  She gives us both one last smile then exits the room. Mr. Harris turns back to me and starts un-wrapping the bandage Bloom put on my paw the night before. The wound’s almost healed, but that doesn’t seem to shock him. He cleans the area and puts on an ointment. Taking off his gloves and throwing them in the trash he crosses over to the door and slides the lock into place. He turns back to me with his arms crossed over his chest and the kindness that had been there before gone and demands, “Shift now!”

  Chapter 11 – Pike

  ~ That’s not my story to tell ~

  I’m so shocked I just stare at the man for a good five minutes before I let the change take me. He watches as it slides over my body and the fur recedes back into my skin, but it doesn’t faze him. You’d think it was normal for him to see one of his animal patients change into a hu
man, hell maybe it is. After the last few days I’d say anything’s possible.

  My voice’s rough from not talking for so long but I manage to grumble, “How do you know?”

  He uncrosses his arms and pulls the small doctors stool over and explains, “We had a shifter who lived here years ago. She taught me a little about your kind. Why are you here?”

  I look the man over and feel he’s telling the truth, but he doesn’t need my full story, yet. I cross over to the little sink in the room and grab a mug that’s sitting on the counter and fill it with cold water. Once I down the whole mug I answer, “I needed to get away from my pack for awhile and seemed drawn here.”

  “How’s the pack dealing without their alpha?”

  That female wolf spilled an awful lot it seems, “Yes I’m the alpha. I haven’t been one long and the last time I checked they’re doing fine. Why did this female wolf tell you so much about our kind?”

  “That’s not my story to tell so I’ll just say we were friends.” As in they no longer are. Hmm, interesting.

  “Who can tell me the story?”

  “Why do you need to know?”

  Good question. Why do I want to know about this female? It’s not against our laws to tell people about us, as long as they can be trusted. I decide to be honest. “I’m not sure. But I feel it might be important.”

  He looks me over searching for whether I can be trusted and then coming to his decision he nods his head and says, “Billy may tell you the story. If he feels you need to know. But before we decide whether to tell you, we need to know what your intentions are with Bloom.” Why the heck aren’t the people in this town intimidated by me? I’m the alpha for goodness sakes. No one from back home would ever question me or any other alphas this way.

  “With respect sir, I think she needs to hear what my intentions are before I tell you.”

  “You think she’s your mate!” How a man with such a kind face can sound so hateful I don’t know, but he pulls it off.

  Staring him down I reply through gritted teeth, “I don’t think. I know she’s my mate. I imagine that friend of yours told you how a mating works.”

  “She said a little.”

  “Well let me inform you of this little fact about a mating.” I make sure to emphasize my words putting a little of my alpha authority in them, “You do not try to come between a wolf and his mate!”

  He scoots his stool closer to the door and holds his hands up in surrender, “Calm down I’m not trying to come between you and your mate. I just have to make sure Bloom doesn’t get hurt anymore.”

  “I can respect that, but you have to realize I’d give my life to protect her.”

  “When are you going to tell her?”

  Releasing the alpha tone from my voice I let out a sigh, “I don’t know. Have any advice?”

  “Yeah, tell her before Billy does. He has a hard time keeping secrets, especially one this good.” Then his face softens and the love he has for my mate shows clearly. “Bloom really is like my other daughter Pike and I want to see her happy. So I hope she takes hearing the truth from you well.”

  “I hope she does too.” She’s already connecting with me threw the bond, even though she doesn’t understand it yet. Once she knows the truth it won’t be too hard to convince her shifters exist and that we belong to each other. At least I’m hoping.

  “Well you best shift back so I can take you back to her, unless you want to fess up now.”

  “I think she needs to see the shift for herself and I’m not sure she’s ready for that. So I’ll wait.”

  “You’re probably right. But give her some credit she’s handled a lot over the years and I believe she’ll handle this just as well.”

  A response isn’t needed so I nod and start the shift back to my wolf form. Mr. Harris leads me out of the room and through the lobby. The girls aren’t there so he tells me they’ve probably taken their lunch to the park next door. He flips the sign to closed and guides me to what he says is their favorite spot. I don’t need him to guide me to her, I can find her by following her scent but people might take notice of a huge “dog” wandering around by himself.

  Her favorite spot’s on the opposite side of the park. A stone picnic table that sets in the sun by a small creek that runs along the back side of the grounds. She’s sitting on top of the table with her back to us and her face lifted to the sun. Bonnie’s rambling on about some party at a lake and Bloom’s politely listening but from her thoughts I know she isn’t interested in the slightest. The lake holds a lot of memories of her Dad and as much as she likes to spend time with Bonnie and some of her other friends she’s not sure she’s ready.

  I stop to admire her sitting there while Mr. Harris walks the rest of the way over. He makes himself known by grabbing one of his daughter’s fries and sitting down next to her. At his arrival Bloom sits up and looks for me. When she finds me still standing several feet away she hops off of the table and jogs over throwing her arms around me for a hug. She rubs my side and then looks at my un-bandaged un-injured paw and with her brows stitched together asks Mr. Harris, “His paw’s already healed?”

  Swallowing the fry that’s in his mouth, “Yeah, you did a really good job treating the area last night.”

  “I could’ve sworn he’d need some stitches.” She continues eyeing my newly healed paw.

  “It was late last night when it happened right? It probably just seemed worse because you were so tired.” Mr. Harris tries to cover.

  She looks over at him and back at me like she’s missing something. “Maybe you’re right. It was kind of late.” I can tell she doesn’t buy the answer, she just doesn’t want to seem ungrateful for him checking me out and she’s not sure why he’d lie to her so she drops the subject.

  Chapter 12 – Bloom

  ~ Going on with my life ~

  I’m trying to listen to Bonnie talk about the party at the lake while I feed Pike his sandwich, but I can’t stop wondering how Pike’s paw healed so fast and why Mr. Harris acts like it’s no big deal. I may have been numb to the world this last year but that doesn’t mean I lost my mind. What makes my suspicions worse is that this man who’s been like my second father keeps glancing between Pike and myself like he’s waiting for one of us to pull a gun on him.

  “So are you going to come to the party Blu?” Bonnie asks pulling my attention back to her.

  “Sure. When’s it again?”

  “Thursday and don’t forget to bring a couple of poles. We can try to catch a few fish while we’re there,” she says clearly trying to suppress a squeal of delight about my agreeing to come.

  “I can cover that.”

  “Everyone’ll be so excited to see you. I know some of the guys will be there. They might even throw together a bonfire. It’ll be just like the old days Blu. You’ll see!”

  I don’t have the heart to tell her in the old days we would’ve tried to sneak past my Dad so we wouldn’t get caught coming in past curfew, and Dad’s no longer alive to catch us. But I don’t want to bring down her happiness. So far today’s been a good day. The hole in my chest is still there, I feel the pain of missing him, but the hole seems to be getting smaller. I doubt it’ll ever completely heal because I’ll always miss him, but it’ll heal enough that I’ll be able to go on with my life like he would’ve wanted.

  Bonnie realizes I’ve stopped listening to her once again because she stops talking and proceeds to gather up our mess from lunch. Mr. Harris’s already left; he must have grown tired of giving me cryptic glances and listening to Bonnie rattle on about the party. Pike who’s now full from eating his sandwich, mine, and part of Bonnie’s is curled up by my feet looking rather content. I stand and give Bonnie a hug bye with the promise I’ll see her Thursday then Pike and I head home.

  Billy’s coming out of the house, his arms filled with boxes when we pull in. Sliding out of the truck and holding the door open for Pike to follow I holler, “Do you need me to grab one of those for you?”<
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  Peeking his head around the side of one, “I can handle this. I’m just taking some things out to the shed.”

  I watch him maneuver down the porch steps then concede, “Okay, but if you change your mind let me know.”

  “I will.”

  I begin to head inside but turn back to look for Pike when I realize he’s still at the bottom of the steps watching Billy. Billy notices too, “He probably needs to stretch his legs after the ride back from town. Why don’t you let him stay out here with me for awhile?”

  “Okay but if he gets in the way just bring him back into me. I’m going to go start some laundry.”

  “Okay, Blu.” Billy agrees then turning to Pike says, “Come on pup before I drop these boxes.”

  I watch as they walk around the edge of the house then I head inside.