“Bloom?” Rose asks as if the carbon copy of herself sitting directly across from her could be anyone other than her only daughter.
Bloom has apparently slipped on a mask of indifference because when she answers Rose though you can’t see any emotion in her response. “Yes, I’m your daughter.”
Rose looks frantically between Bloom and I then turning to her mate and whispers, “I don’t know what’s going on.”
He put his arm around her then looks at me, “Alpha Pike, what’s the point of this? You can see how much this is hurting my mate.”
I jump to my feet and spit out my words between growls, “And you don’t think this hurts my mate?” I want to lunge at the older wolf and rip him apart for thinking his mate hurting these few moments is anywhere near the pain my mate has been put through since birth.
Bloom breaks through my angry haze by taking my hand and pulling me back to her side on the couch.
“Pike baby, calm down. He doesn’t mean any harm. I don’t think they even put together I’m your mate until your outburst.” She lets her mask slip long enough while she speaks so I can see all the love she has to offer me. When she places her lips to mine I feel the last of the anger leave my body.
I turn back to our guests. Both of their faces show how shocked they are and tears are filling Rose’s eyes. “We didn’t arrange this meeting to hurt you.” Not that I care if her feelings are hurt. “It’s just that Bloom is my mate and has agreed to move here to be with me. No thanks to you,” I glare at Rose and she at least has the good nature to look ashamed of herself, “she is finally learning what she is.”
“You left me with no answers. What if I had shifted?” Bloom’s anger is finally breaking through her carefully crafted mask. She’s now sitting on the edge of her seat with her eyes focused on Rose.
“Billy would’ve called me.”
“You shouldn’t have put your responsibility off on someone who knows very little about our kind!” My mate’s voice rises with each word she speaks.
“I was going to take you, but Billy wouldn’t let me,” Rose finally says trying to defend herself.
“No, you don’t get to use that excuse. You could have at least visited me, let me get to know you. Get to know my brothers! But you decided it would be easier on you and your new life if you just left me without any knowledge of who I really am!” She’s standing now and I’m keeping a hold of one of her hands to keep her from leaping across the coffee table to get into her mother’s face.
Grady stands to step in front of his mate. “Now calm down, you don’t know what she’s been through.”
It was the worst thing he could’ve done. Bloom pushes the tray of drinks off the coffee table and hops up onto it so she can be eye to eye with the six foot seven wolf. She jams her fisted hands onto her hips and stares the man down. It’s the sexiest, most reckless thing I think I’ve seen her do yet.
She keeps connected with his glare as she narrows her eyes. Her next words come out closer to a growl, “You will not protect her from this. It has been 20 years in the making. So your best bet is to back down now before I rip out your throat for getting in my way. I didn’t come here to hurt either of you but if I’m not allowed to speak my peace I won’t hesitate in taking out my anger in more violent forms on both of you. Sit. Down. Now!”
There is no way around it, my mate means what she says and I don’t doubt my spitfire will follow through. Thankfully Grady has the good sense to sit back down and shut up. I’ll say he even looks a little frightened of his step-daughter.
She turns back to her mother. “You owe me a lot of answers and you will give them all to me. We will be spending time together and do not mistake it for me forgiving you at all. You are a means to an end for me and that is it. I will not call you mother, mom, mama or any other form of that word. I will be living in this town and I know we will be forced to interact at pack events but unless I approach you first you will not attempt to speak with me. Do you understand so far?”
Rose nods. Tears are streaming down her cheeks now and she’s visibly shaking. Bloom however is completely still as she’s able to release the anger she’s pent up the last 20 years.
“Last, I plan on getting to know my brothers. They are the only family I have left, since my Dad died, and you will be staying here to face their questions about me. You will not lie about abandoning me to make yourself look better.”
At this news Rose looks up at Bloom, “M-Michael died? H-how did it happen?”
At the mention of her Dad I watch Bloom soften up a little, “Yes, a year ago. He fell asleep behind the wheel coming home from work.”
Rose’s left hand flies to her mouth while her right hand reaches for her daughter, “Oh Bloom, I’m so sorry.”
Bloom pulls back. “Thank you, but no. You don’t get to comfort me through this. You lost that privilege when you left me alone in a hospital at birth.”
Rose pulls her hand back to her stomach as if Bloom’s words have punched her in the gut. Bloom ignores her mother’s reaction as she steps down from the coffee table and looks at me, “I’m sorry I made a mess, Tennessee. If you’ll show me where the cleaning supplies and towels are I’ll clean it up before the others get here.”
“This is your home too, darlin’, so you can mess it up as often as you want.” I caress her cheek then say, “I’ll go get the supplies. Have a seat.”
Chapter 30 – Bloom
~ Looks like we’ll really be family now ~
Pike goes and gets the supplies to clean up my mess. This has gotten out of hand fast, but I can’t regret it. She needs to know how badly she hurt me. I could’ve probably let her know a little calmer, but once I got started I couldn’t calm down. Even now I’m still seeing red.
Pike walks back into the room, a bucket of water and towels in his hand. I reach for the supplies but he won’t hand them over, so I bend down and pick up the pitcher and glasses. Thankfully, they hit the rug instead of the hardwood floors so they didn’t shatter. Pike uses one towel to soak up the lemonade and the other he dips into the water to wipe down the spot down. The whole time we are doing this Rose sits sobbing and Grady sits beside her not moving. I try to worry about the mess in front of me and ignore them, but once the mess is gone and I’m forced to sit back on the couch in front of them, I can no longer hold my tongue.
“Good lord, Grady, comfort your mate so she’ll stop the crying. The boys should be here anytime and she needs to calm down so she’ll be able to answer any questions they have.” My words sink into the older man because he finally takes in the condition of his mate; pulling her into his arms he whispers words of comfort to her.
Pike comes back into the room from disposing of the cleaning supplies and sits down beside me. He takes my hand into his and we sit in silence. At that moment I have no more to say to the couple across from us and apparently neither does Pike.
After several more minutes Rose stops crying and reaches for a tissue and compact out of her purse to clean up her face. She closes the compact then tosses it and the tissue back into her purse and turns to me.
“Bloom, I wish I had handled it all differently. I never meant to push my daughter so far away.”
“That may be the case, but you can’t go back and change it now,” I sigh then continue, “I don’t want to hate you Rose. My Dad wouldn’t be happy with me if I did, but I’m not ready to forgive you. I may never be able too. I do need you though, because like I said you may be the only one who can answer the questions about who I am.”
“Pike has already told you that you’re a shifter, so I’m not sure what else I can help you to understand.”
“I never shifted and from what he’s told me it’s very odd and now there’s this … gut thing.”
“Gut thing?” She looks truly confused.
“It seems that I can …” There’s a knock on the door before I can finish. Pike moves to answer it and I listen as he greets the three boys.
“So, where
is the girl who’s stolen our alpha’s heart?” The voice that asks is warm and friendly. I stand up from the couch and look towards the hall they’re coming from. Pike enters first and crosses to stand beside me. The other three stop right inside the door side by side and stare at me.
“This is my mate, Bloom Daniels.” Pike puts his arm around my waist and gives me a squeeze. The boys say nothing; just continue to stare at me. I know they catch my resemblance to Rose, it’s pretty hard to miss if you’ve ever seen her. All three of them look me over from head to toe then turn their attention to their mother. Their eyes are a mixture of confusion and I know one of them is seconds from demanding an explanation.
Finally Rose speaks up, “Boys stop being rude and come greet your sister.”
Two of them shout “Sister!” and the other turns his eyes back to glare at me. Rose proceeds to explain about her marriage to my father ending with how she abandoned me at birth. Pike picks up the story to tell them how we found each other and how until the other day I didn’t know shifters even existed. When they finish talking the tallest one on the end crosses to me pulling me into a hug.
“Damn, I have a sister.” He pulls back to look down at me and says, “Bloom, I’m Tucker. Most people around here call me Tuck.” Tucker look a lot like his father; they have the same light brown hair except Tuckers is to his shoulders in loose layers and the same bright amber eyes. Tucker is taller than Grady by a couple inches, putting him close to seven feet. Having just been hugged by him I can tell he’s pure muscle. I understand why he’s Pike’s beta, my brother is deadly if he needs to be, though my gut is telling me he’s extremely laid back and completely loyal to my mate.
“I’m so happy to meet you Tuck. Most people call me Bloom, but my friends call me Blu. Feel free to call me either.” I have to step back to smile at him. He returns my smile then turns to Pike, “Looks like we’ll really be family now.”
Pike grins at him and says, “Yes, brother, we will be.” They give each other a one armed hug that guys normally give that includes a pound on the back, and then Tucker moves to take a seat on the couch beside us.
The twins watch the whole exchange without saying a word. Though they are twins the only thing they have in common is their height, unlike Tucker who is a mountain of a man, they aren’t much taller than me and are a lot leaner than their older brother. The one that is glaring at me has Rose’s hair color and Grady’s eyes but his features are far more angular and harsh than either of his parents. His blonde hair is cut short on the sides but longer on the top so it can be spiked. The other twin is the spitting image of his Dad, in a shorter package, but he has Rose’s bright emerald eyes. His light brown hair is cut shorter in the back and he has long bangs in the front that keep falling over his left eye. He gives me a shy smile then comes to hug me like Tucker did.
Releasing me he introduces himself, “I’m Killian and this is my twin Kyran. We’re both pleased to meet you.” My gut tells me Killian is being sincere, but Kyran doesn’t feel the same. It also tells me that Killian and his inner wolf are gentle souls, who very rarely give into the darker part of their nature. Kyran on the other hand is anger and darkness wrapped up like a tight ball that’s getting ready to unravel. It scares me seeing that in my own brother, but if my gut is right then I know it’s the truth.
“I’m pleased to meet you too, Killian.” He nods then steps away to sit beside his mother. I breathe a sigh of relief when Kyran doesn’t move to hug me but instead sits in one of the chairs at the end of the coffee table.
Pike sits me down between him and Tucker on the couch then addresses the room, “Now that that is done I need to let you know there is a chance Bloom is in danger.” He relays what happened with Trace and how he has yet to be located. Apparently there are still some of his wolves back in Ohio looking for him with no success.
“I want everyone on alert watching for any outsiders who come to town. He may not have followed us, but I don’t want to take any chances with Bloom’s or Bonnie’s safety. I plan on announcing all of this at tonight’s pack meeting as well, but seeing as you’re her family as well I wanted to tell you first.”
“Who’s Bonnie?” Tucker leans forward with his elbows resting on his knees and looks at Pike.
“She’s Bloom’s best friend who moved here with us. She’s going to live with the pack for a while, possibly permanently,” Pike explains. “We gave her a suite in the single’s section of the house. She’s there now getting unpacked.”
“What do you mean the singles section?” I ask Pike through our connection.
“The house suites are broken out into sections: mated pairs, single pack members, the elders, and then the top ranking members. None of the sections are any better than another, and everyone is free to decorate their suite as they please. It’s just easier to keep the singles, who tend to have loud parties, away from mated pairs because they usually have little ones and don’t want them woken up by the loud noises.”
“That makes sense.”
Kyran, who has been glaring at me the whole time Pike explained what’s going on, jumps up and growls, “It’s bad enough that you brought her here, but now you are risking our lives by letting a human outsider to live among us, all because she can’t be here without her friend.”
At once all of the men jump up to hold back Pike, who has moved to attack Kyran. Tucker is holding Pike’s arms back, snarls at his younger brother, “Get out of here now you little fool, before your Alpha decides he’d like to use your fur as a rug.”
Kyran narrows his eyes at me, “My mother should have killed you in the womb to save us all the trouble I know you’re going to cause this pack.” Pike breaks free of the three grown men who are holding him back, but Kyran had already bolted from the room after the last word was uttered.
I know Pike is going to follow Kyran and kill him for what he’s said to me, but I can’t let that happen. Moving in front of him I place my hands on the sides of his face, “Tennessee, please calm down, I don’t need to lose anymore family.”
“He threatened you and I will make him pay for it,” Pike’s wolf is in charge and staring at the hall that leads out of the suite, he wants to chase down the threat.
“Then punish him somehow, but please don’t kill my brother,” I plead with the wolf.
Oh come on, let him take that little weasel out. My wolf pipes in.
Pike finally looks at me and places his hands over top of mine on his face, “Mate, please tell me why I shouldn’t kill him? I saw what your gut was telling you about him, evil and darkness. He is dangerous to all of us.”
“We don’t know if my gut is right and he said what he did because he’s hurt. This was all a lot to take in and apparently he couldn’t handle that, but that’s no reason for him to die.”
Stop fooling yourself. Our gut is never wrong. That brother of ours is trouble with a capital T and should be taken out now before he wrecks everything. My wolf snaps at me as she paces back in forth through my subconscious.
I can tell Pike is back in charge of himself when he quirks his eyebrows at me down playing my gut feelings.
“Okay, my gut is probably right, but that doesn’t mean he can’t redeem himself.”
“Wait, I’m sorry to interrupt, but what is this about gut feelings?” Tucker asks. I hadn’t realized but he is the only one who remains in the room with us. The others must have gone after Kyran.
Pike sighs then says, “Sit down, Tuck. There is more you need to know about your sister.” He tells him how I knew about Emily and Kit and about the way I’ve been reading people. Tucker takes it all in and then when Pike is done asks, “So you can’t shift?”
“No, but ever since Pike has revealed himself I’ve been able to feel my wolf. She’s there in the back of my thoughts; she just can’t come out like yours.”
“Wow, I’m sorry sis. I can’t imagine having my wolf locked away.” It makes me smile at how easy he has slipped into the role of brother.
&n
bsp; “It’s hard now that I know she’s there and I’m determined to find out what’s causing her to be locked away.”
“I’ll help anyway I can. It might have something to do with your gut instincts though. Do you know if there’s a history of gut instincts on your Dad’s side?”
“My Dad never said anything and I have no other living family members on his side to ask.”
Tucker comes over and pulls me into another hug, “Ah sis, don’t worry you have family now and we’ll figure this all out together.”
“Okay, Tuck, now that you’re caught up I want you to go keep an eye on Kyran. We have the pack meeting soon and I don’t want him coming to cause trouble.” Pike is pacing the room, trying to calm himself down. I know he’s still aching to kill my brother, but because I’ve asked he isn’t going too.
Reviving Bloom (Bloom Daniels Series) Page 15
