Reviving Bloom (16 page)

“Alright,” I begrudgingly gi
ve in.

Thirty minutes later
I
’m
left
thunderstruck looking a
t
th
e
small group of people sitting around me. I
’m
half expecting someone with a hidden camera to jump out and say I’
ve
been punk’d, but after taking
in each of their faces I
realize
no one’s
hiding to record my
reaction. The alternative seems way more
farfetched though. How ca
n they expect me to believe such a
story?

I look
to Bonnie, she’d
never lie to me, “Bonnie, please tell me the truth.”

She c
o
me
s
o
ver, sits
beside me and sa
ys
, “Blu, you know I wouldn’t lie to you.”

I nod
in
agreement.

“Well, I can’t vouch for Billy’s
story about your mom
,” I g
i
ve her a sharp look because she knows I don’t refer to that woman that way and she amend
s
, “I mean Rose. Because like you I’ve never met the woman, but as for Pike, I saw him shift from that black furry mutt.”

Pike growl
s
softly on my other side
and on
c
e again my attention’s
drawn to those stormy eyes
.
But I know if I keep my attention on him I’ll
neve
r hear the answers my friend is giving me. So I turn
back to Bonnie and she
continues like Pike’s growling has
n’t intimidated her
, “Like I was saying. I watched him shift from that lovely beast who’s been following you around all week to the man he is now.
I wouldn’t make that up, Blu.
And I don’t think Billy or my
Dad
would make up the stuff about Rose either.”

“But Bon, if you’re not making this up that means th-that Rose is a werewolf and so am I.”

“We prefer shifter
,” Pike jumps
in. “And though you haven’t technically shifted, yet, you still carry that gene.
”

“Yet?” I ask
a little frightened by the idea of myself sprouting fur and howling at the moon.
Don’t be afraid.
I hear come through my thoughts and it sounds like me but somehow not me. Great now I’m hearing voices.

Pike grabs
my hand again, i
n an attempt to comfort me. He already gave
me the mate speech,
after Billy told me about Rose,
explaining what we
are to each other, and that it gi
ve
s
him direct access to my thoughts and feelings.
I wonder if he heard that voice inside me too. On one level I’m
drawn to the idea, knowing this beautiful man I’m
so
attracted to is all
mine, but then I f
i
n
d
myself
drifting to the other side that
’s
scream
ing
I didn’t get the choice. My thoughts and feeling w
ill
never be private again. W
ill
I ever get to the point where I’
m
comfortable with him knowing all my fears and insecurities? That other part of myself that seem
s
to be fighting the wolf side
(Could that be who the voice is, my wolf?)
of myself, is feeling like I’ve been dropped naked in a room full of strangers for their viewing pleasure, and she doesn’t like this one bit.

He waits
for my in
ner monologue to cease then says
, “
Bloom, I know this might be a lot for you to take in after everything else you went through last night, but as your mate I promise to never keep anything from you.”

“Well that’s good to know. Why do you think I still may shift?”
I ask still a frightened
of his answer.

“Because the
shifter
gene’
s dominant. A mating between a
shifter
and a full human isn’t uncommon, but if a child is born from the relationship it always comes out a
shifter
.”

“There’s always an exception to the rule, right? There has to be others like me, who heal faster than nor
mal, but don’t shift
,
” I plead

“I can check with the pack elders when we go back to Tennessee, but as far as I know you’re the only exception to that rule
, darlin’
.”

“So not only am I getting thrust into a world that most people only believe is real in books, but apparently I’m a freak in this world as well. Great!” I repl
y
sarcastically. I know I’m coming across extremely whinny, but seriously can you blame me. In a span of less than 12 hours I have been attacked by a psycho, saved by my pet who happens to be some kind of furry
k
night
in shining armor, found out that the man I trusted like my own father kept a huge secret from me about my birth mother also going furry, and now they’re telling me that I’m t
he odd one. So excuse me if I ge
t a little whinny.

Reading my mind Pike smiles
down at me, “Darlin’, you’re not odd; you’re one of a kind.”

“Blu, don’t
get down on yourself. Wolf boy’
s right, you are one of a kind and anyone that says different will hav
e to deal with me
,
” Bonnie adds
,
taking hold of
my
other hand. I smile at my friend. I’ve
always thought I was the stronger of the two of us, sin
ce I’ve
fought her fights
more times than I can count, but I see
she
’
s
just as fierce, she just doesn’t
need to show that side as often.
Though I see she’s decided it’s the side she’s showing to Pike, she apparently doesn’t want the alpha wolf to see her as weak. I hope she doesn’t make it a permanent change. I’d miss my sweet sunny Bonnie. While I’
ll
probably always live in
the
darkness with my demons in one way or another, she
’
ll always be the person who knows how to bring the light
into my life. She’s the sun to my moon, the sister I never had, simply put
she’s
my best friend.

I
let go of Pike’s hand and pull
Bonni
e closer for a hug and whisper, “Thank you
, Bon.”

“Anytime,
Blu.” Then pulling back she says
, “Now I think we need to give you and tall, dark and furry a cha
nce to talk alone.” Pike growls
at the nickname and for the first time since the revelation
s I giggle. Mr. Harris gi
ve
s me a quick hug and tells me to call him if I start to feel bad, which I promise
to
do. Then Billy kisses my cheek and apologizes
once again for keeping the secret
s from me. I ta
k
e
pity on the
old guy and let him know I forgive him, which brings
t
ears to his eyes. Bonnie ushers them both out and follows, but not before she promises
to return to check on me the next day.

Once I hear the front door shut I become acutely aware I’m
alone in my bedroom with Pike. He
’
s still sitting at my bedside watching me intently. Feeli
ng a little overwhelmed I hop
out of bed thankful someone, pro
bably Bonnie, had
thought to remove my tattered sundress and put pajamas on me. Standing up against the wall by the door
as far away from him as I can
get I
declare
, “
Umm
…
I thi
nk I need to get cleaned up. Y
ou can go in the living room.
I’ll
be in shortly and we can talk.”
Yeah, I know I’m real smooth.
It’s ok, he’s our mate. You don’t have to win him over
,
we already have him.
Great, now I’m getting advice from the voice in my head.

Strutting over to
me he stops and places
on
e
hand agains
t the wall by my head and leans
in close
so
our faces
a
re
less than an inch apart. That traitorous wolf half
of me
i
s screaming for him to kiss us, while the more
sensible
human half wants
to kick him in the balls so he’ll
back up out of our personal space.
Come on; close the distance so we can see what his mouth tastes like.
My wolf pushes. I know he can
hear my thoughts and they
’
re probably
what
is
causing
the shit eating grin that he has
plastered to his face. He leans
in closer and I instinctively
close my eyes and brace
myself for his lip
s to touch mine, but it never co
me
s.
Instead when I open my eyes I fin
d him smelling t
he crook of my neck. I surprise
my
self by being mad that he didn’t kiss
me.

“You smell so good, darlin’, like fresh picke
d strawberries
,
”
h
e whispers when he steps
back from me.

Exasperated I throw my arms up and growl
, “Freaking
shifters
and your freaky smelling abilities! Go to the living room now so I can get cleaned up or you’re sleeping on the porch tonight.”

“No reason to get upset, darlin’, I promise I’ll kiss ya. I just want to wait till
you can handle it.” He chuckles
at my outburst.

Glaring at him and pointing at the door, “Out!”

Holding u
p his hands in surrender he says
, “Ok
ay
, but don’t take long. We have a
lot to discuss.” Then he leaves
my room.

Remembering so
mething he said early I holler
, “And
I caught that Tennessee comment earlier
and I am not going!”
My wolf whimpers because she doesn’t like that idea.

“Yes, you are!” He hollers back and the way it co
me
s
out
I kno
w
it isn’t
up for discussion
, which has my inner wolf smiling.

Chapter 21 – Pike

~
Our Dirty Little Secret
~

I pull
out of her
thoughts while she ge
t
s cleaned up. She needs the privacy so she can think through everything that’s happened today and I need
to gat
her my thoughts before we talk
. I’d already explained
our mate connection, but we have
some decisions to make
and I know she’ll have questions
. She may not see it now but I can feel the pull she has to me and no matter what she may say or think I know she wants me with her just as much as I want to be with her. So she has to come home to Tennessee with me. I’ve already been
gone from the pack too long and need to get back, and I’m not leaving here without her. My pack needs to meet their alpha’s mate and we need to talk to the Elders about her not being able to shift. I’m hoping one of them has some insight. I’m happy with
my mate either way, but I can
feel how uneasy she was
when she realized she should’ve shifted by now. I’m going to help my mate through all of these changes in her
new life, it’s the least I can
do for her since she’s going to let me love her.