Enlightening Bloom (6 page)

How can I say no to that? I can’t. I love this man and I want that too. So I push aside my fear and embarrassment. Not taking my eyes off Pike’s ocean blue ones, I tell Amelia and Forrest. “Tell us how to finalize our bond.”

Chapter 12 – Bonnie

“I’m a what?” I ask in shock. I couldn’t have heard this wolf chick right. There’s no way girly, mouthy, insignificant me could be anyone’s so called
Guardian
. I mean this role sounds like a badass position. I’m so far from badass I might as well be on a pink, glitter-covered planet; where the biggest crime is wearing the wrong type of shoes with your dress. So how can I be destined to be stronger, tougher, and more lethal than any other human? Yeah, I can shoot a gun, but so what, most girls raised in the country know how. And as for being stronger…Ha! Majority of the time I can’t even get the lid off a jar without help.

“Don’t underestimate yourself, Bonnie-bean.”
Tucker tries to encourage me through our bond. I choose to ignore him and focus on Tillie.

“You’re a Guardian.” Tillie tells me again. She’s perched on a boulder by a hot spring. Her mate, Heath, is perched beside her. The other three male wolves who we’ve learned are Rhett, Rex, and Hayden, are splashing around in the warm pools. Rhett and Rex are the sons of Forrest and Amelia. Hayden is Tillie’s and Heath’s son.

I’m sitting on a rock opposite theirs’. Tucker is beside me. When he took up the protective stance at my side I contemplated knocking him off the boulder and into the water. He, of course, picked up the thought and threatened to pull me in with him if I did. Aggravating freakin’ wolf!

Shaking my head. “You have to be wrong.”

Tillie’s sharp grey eyes narrow, and she snaps. “I’m not wrong.”

“I’m not strong. I can’t even get the lid off the spaghetti jar!” I argue. Tucker and Heath chuckle.

“It will come.” Tillie answers, her eyes still sharp on me.

“I’m not tough. I cry when I break a nail!” I continue my objections. This time the other three wolves join in on the chuckles with Tucker and Heath.

Tillie doesn’t lose her focus on me and responds again with. “It will come.”

“I’m not lethal. I freaking cry over killing spiders!” I slide off the boulder and begin to pace in front of it. Why aren’t these wolves understanding what I’m telling them? I hear the guys chuckling at me again. I stop and aim a glare at each of them.

Tillie slides off her boulder as well, and comes to stand right in front of me. She places her hands on my shoulders and catches my eyes again. “It will come.”

I jerk back from her touch, throwing my arms up in frustration. “How can you be so darn sure it will come to me? What if it doesn’t and my best friend ends up dead because I’m not the right person to be her Guardian.”

I feel Tucker’s warmth behind me. He doesn’t hesitate in putting his arms around my shoulders and pulling me back into his chest. Instead of pulling away like I know I should I give in, letting him comfort me. It makes me feel weak, but in this moment that’s exactly how I feel and there’s no changing it.

Tillie eyes Tucker’s arms holding me. Her eyes move to her mate briefly before coming back to mine. “It’s coming to you already.”

I look around the little group like I’ve missed something. How in the world does she figure any of this is an explanation? If anything she’s confused me more.

“This is your mate.” She states.

“No.” I protest, pulling out of Tucker’s comforting arms.

“Yes.” Tucker agrees. I turn and glare at him.

This time Tillie joins in with the guys’ chuckling. I move my glare to them. Heath holds his hands up in surrender as he tries to stifle his laugh. He moves beside his mate, looping his arms around her waist, and pulling her flush against his side. Tillie rolls her eyes at the move, but doesn’t pull away.

“I think my mate needs a little help explaining this.” He says, grinning. She crosses her arms against her chest and rolls her eyes again, as if the idea of her needing his help is ridiculous.

“I’m thinking you’re right.”

“You’ve been fighting your mating, right?” He asks.

“We’re not mates.”

“She has.” Tucker answers at the same time as me.

“Haven’t you wondered why you’re fighting it so hard when it’s not natural for mates to do so?”

Okay, he has me there. But instead of saying that I stay quiet.

“I figured it’s because she’s fully human.” Tucker tosses out his theory.

Heath shakes his head. “It’s because she’s a Guardian. She’s challenging you because as a Guardian she needs to know you’re strong enough to be her mate.”

Tucker quirks an eye brow. “I’m seven feet of pure muscle. How can she doubt my strength?”

“Arrogant.”

“Confident.” Tucker counters.

“Well, apparently you aren’t strong enough to be the mate of a Guardian.” I taunt with a roll of my eyes.

He pulls me back to him, turning me to face him in the process. Bending so his face is right by mine he growls. “You want to test that, mate?”

I swallow hard. Not in fear. Excitement. Why the hell is this possessive, crazy, wolf crap turning me on?

“Umm…” Heath clears his throat to get our attention back. “She’s going to test your physical strength, of course. She’ll need you to be strong because a Guardian is only as strong as her mate. She gains her strength from you. But she also needs to test your emotional strength. She needs you to be able to emotionally handle being the mate of a Guardian. She’ll be throwing herself in danger more often than not and if you can’t control your basic need to protect her you could hinder her responsibilities. I know how hard that is because as a wolf you need to protect your mate more than you need to breathe, but with a Guardian you need to support her. Trust her to protect herself, and to protect her Oracle.”

I don’t feel like I’m testing him. Am I testing him? This is all too much.

“I’ll be stepping up my skills to ensure I pass this
test
and soon.”

“I’m not testing you!”

“You are. But I can handle anything you throw at me, so it’s alright.”

His arrogance is working my last nerve so to give him a little
test
, I pick up a large stone off the ground, as quickly as possible, and chuck it at his big head. To my disappoint he catches it easily. I purse my lips in aggravation which causes him to grin.

“Did I pass this
test
?”

I ignore his question and grumble. “Freakin’ arrogant, big-headed, annoying canine.”

I try to ignore Tucker’s laughing to focus on Heath and the least emotionally draining point he brought up. “If I’m getting this so called strength from him why don’t I feel stronger?”

He looks down at his mate and she takes over the conversation. “Because you haven’t completed your bond. You won’t come into your full strength as a Guardian until you accept your mate and go through with the mating ceremony.”

My shoulders slump. If that isn’t a little bit of wolf-y black mail I don’t know what is. Either I mate the freakishly large wolf shifter or put my best friend’s life on the line because I won’t have my full power to protect her.

“You know what they say about freakishly large shifters?”
Tucker wiggles his eye brows.

“That they have freakishly small b...”

“Hey!”

“What? I was going to say brains.”

“Uh-huh. I got your number, Bonnie-bean, and I know you’re falling for me.”

“If by falling you mean someone’s pushed me off a cliff while my back was turned, sure.”

“I knew it! You love me!”

“I plead the fifth.” I have a feeling this fall is going to be a rough one. The kind that you never heal from.

“Don’t worry, mate, I’ll make sure my freakishly large body protects you from getting hurt.”

I’m sure it’s that body and the owner of it that’s going to cause the most damage. Probably, all to my heart.

Chapter 13 – Pike

Bloom and I lay face to face. I’m scanning her’s for any sign of pain. For the first time in days I find none. Our connection is open again, and I can feel contentment flowing from my mate. I pull her closer to my body and ask the question that’s been haunting me since the pain hit her. “Why were you closing our connection?”

She stiffens in my arms. My wolf’s hackles rise within. I growl her name in warning. “Bloom.”

“Don’t growl at me, Tennessee.” She says, smacking my bare chest.

“You love it.” I bury my face in her neck and growl against my mating mark. She lets out a soft moan. “Point proven. Now stop changing the subject.”

She releases an annoyed huff. “It’s really not a big deal.”

“Tell me.”

She moves out of my arms, pulling herself up so her backs against the head board, and the sheets are pulled up to cover her chest. She closes her eyes, swallows hard, and then spits out the words in a rush. “Having the connection open made the pain worse.”

I jerk back from the shock. I can’t even find words. She reads it from me, so in a sign of comfort she reaches out to touch my cheek. “I hated doing it. But from what I could figure you being the Alpha amplified my connection to the pack. And amplified the pain. Closing our connection was the only way I could lessen it.”

I pull her hand away from my face to hold it in my own. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because not being able to help me was already making you miserable. I didn’t want to hurt you more by telling you our bond was making me worse.”

“It wouldn’t…..”

“Yes, it would have. You take pride in being able to protect me. To heal me.” Her eyes get far away. I can see through our bond she’s remembering the dark place she went to after losing her dad. The sadness dims and happiness feels her eyes, as she then remembers us finding each other. “You won’t always be able to do those things, and that’s going to be hard for you to handle. So if I can save you from feeling a little bit of that disappointment, I will. Because whether you want to believe it or not our responsibilities to each other are the same. As your mate I’m supposed to protect and take care of you, as well. I may not have your type of strength to handle the first part but I have my own type of strength. And I will use every ounce of it to keep you safe in every way.”

“That’s why you’re my mate. You bring balance to my life. And without that I’d topple over into a pit of darkness so deep I’d never be able to climb out.”

Her face softens as a smile takes it over. “You do the same for me.”

I pull her back down the bed and cover her body with mine. My fingers brush up her bare sides, and with my lips hovering over hers I say. “Now, we can get back to the fun stuff.”

Her arms move around my back. Her fingertip’s tracing the muscles there, causing me to shiver with need. “I like the fun….”

Bloom’s words are cut off as she sucks in a sharp breath. Her body goes completely still, and her eyes glaze over. Somehow, through our bond I know what’s happening, but knowing doesn’t stop me from worrying. I roll us over so we’re once again on our sides. I push the hair away from her face to sprinkle kisses across her forehead, cheeks, chin, and mouth.

Finally, I feel her body relax and see her eyes clear. She blinks rapidly as she comes back to herself. When she’s fully back to herself she looks me directly in the eyes and whispers. “We have a problem.”

****************************

We track Bonnie, Tucker, and the Savage pack to the hot springs. Bonnie’s eyes are alert and locked on the wooded area we walk out of. Tucker is standing beside her on guard. She must have got bad vibes off Bloom. She strides to us, the smart mouthed girl I’ve come to know pushed aside, the Guardian in her place. When she reaches us she doesn’t even say a word, just waits. She knows her orders are coming, and she’s prepared to handle whatever they may be. Tucker takes a moment to admire the strength radiating off his mate before his focus snaps back to the situation at hand.

“What’s happening?” He asks once we’ve reached each other.

The Savage packs joins us, though they stay a couple steps away from the group, understanding this is pack business and unless they’re invited in they need to stay out of it. Bloom gives me a slight nod and commands through our bond.
“We’ll need them.”

“Alright.” I answer back. Trusting my mate to know what’s best for us all.

Her eyes scan the small group around us. They land briefly on Bonnie, giving her friend a reassuring look, and then they move to Amelia when she announces. “I had a vision.”

“You’ve completed your mating bond.” Amelia states with a knowing smile. The group whoops and hollers at that announcement.

“This wasn’t like my gut feelings.” Bloom says, her cheeks flushing as she ignores the cheers.

“I expect not.” Amelia moves closer, stopping just short of our little circle, but close enough that she can reach out and grab Blooms hand. “Now that your bond is complete your talents will morph into more. The gut feelings will stay. But you’ll also have visions. They’ll come of their own free will and won’t be able to be controlled. Once you’re strong enough you’ll be able to see what the future holds just by calling upon it.”

“I don’t know if I can handle that kind of responsibility.”

Amelia’s eyes hold steady on Bloom’s. “I know this is all overwhelming now, but know that you were born for this destiny. So as long as you follow what your head and your heart are telling you then you’ll do fine.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“You forget, niece, that I’m a strong Oracle in my own right.”

Understanding crosses Blooms face. “You know what’s to come.”

“I do.”

“Can you tell me how this all turns out?”

“I can, but I won’t. As Oracle’s we have to learn when to let the future reveal its surprises and when we need to step in and help it along. And right now your future needs to reveal itself to you in its own time.”

“Bullshit.” Bonnie grumbles under her breath.

“Bonnie!” Tucker, Bloom, and I all chastise at the same time.

“What? We’ve already established I don’t trust this woman.”

“We’ve all noted your distrust, Bonnie. Now I think we need to get back on topic.” I say directing us back to what we should be focusing on. I move closer to Bloom, taking my hand in hers. “Darlin’, tell them what your vision was about.”

She gives me a nod and then her eyes search out Tucker. “My vision was about Kyran.”

His voice is gruff when he asks. “Good or bad?”

“Bad.” Bloom answers in a delicate voice. She knows it’s hard for Tucker to hear just how corrupt their younger brother really is.

Tucker’s head drops so that he’s staring at the ground. Bonnie moves closer to him and slides her hand into his. Tucker looks at their joined hands and then up to her face. After a couple beats he finally asks. “What’s he doing now?”

“He’s aligned himself with another pack. He’s bringing them to Tennessee to take our pack over.” She takes in a deep breath and releases it. “He’s planning on killing everyone loyal to Pike and myself, including you.”