Reviving Bloom (25 page)

Emily waves
her hand
in my general direction;
like she
’
s trying to rid the air of my aggravation. “Pike, get over it. You may be my alpha and I respect that, but
you’re
also my brother and I will always be your annoying little sister. So the best I can promise is when we’re around the pack I’ll keep my disrespect to a minimum, but any other time. Well, that’ll depend on my mood.”

I close my eyes and
rub
my temples.
I just kn
o
w a major headache
is
getting ready to pop up and being stuck in a car with these three for
nine and half
hours
i
s not gonna help
it
.

“Emily
Layke Masterson, did you drag me out here just to give me that speech?”

“Technically, I didn’t drag you; you walked out on your own two feet.”

“Emily!” Her name c
o
me
s
out as a growl.

She thro
w
s
her hand
s
to her hips. “Don’t y
a
dare growl at me, Pike Lykos Masterson. See I know
your full name
too, and I’m not afraid to
use
it either.”

I t
a
k
e
a deep breath and release it then ask again through gritted teeth, “Ok
ay
sister dear, did you need something when you politely asked me to join you out here.”

“Why yes, dear brother, I did.”

“Emily, enough of this, just spit it out.”

“Geez, you’re no fun.”

“Now!” I command.

“I was thinking ab
out the Rose issue
,
” She quiets
her voice so only I
’ll
be able to hear her.

“What about it? I told you I’m not
bringing it up until we’re safely back in Tennessee.”

“I know, but
the more I’ve thought about it, well
…
I think you need to tell her before we go. She needs to know what she’s walking in to, Pike. Her mother is part of the pack she’s joining. Hell, she has three half brothers she knows nothing about. As her mate you’re suppose to protect her.”

The wolf t
a
k
es
control and I grab Emily’s arm, “I am protecting her. Don’t ever accuse me of not doing so again.”

She push
es
me away, not even fazed by my outburst. “You
’
re sending your mate into a situation you can’t protect her from. She
will
be hurt by this, but if you warn her at least she won’t be hurt by you keeping it from her, and she’ll be able to prepare herself for what’s getting ready to happen.”

“I need her to go. If she finds out she m
ight
decide to stay
here
.” There
’
s vulnerability in my voice and I hate myself for letting it slip through.

“If you lie to her about it, she’ll leave you anyway, and I doubt she’ll come back. But, if you’re up front with her you have a much better chance of keeping her. Tell her, Pike, you know it’s the right thing to do.”

“Fine, I’ll
do it after we visit her
Dad
dy
’
s grave.” I sigh,
my heart
’
s heavy with the task I need to complete today that ha
s
nothing to do with packing. Heck, if this goes bad all the packing
could’ve
been for nothing.

Emily c
o
me
s
over and grab
s
me into a hug. “Good luck brother. I have faith she’ll make the right choice.”

“I just hope that choice doesn’t take her away from me.” I grip my sister tighter to my chest, I need the comfort of home, and my sister
’
s the only piece of home I ha
ve
with me.

The front door slams
and the two girls from inside spill out
onto the porch
laughing. I kn
o
w when they cat
ch
sight of Emily and m
e
because the laughing abruptly stop
s
.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t
…
we didn’t mean to interrupt. We just thought you’d be ready to leave
,
” Bloom explain
s
as she watche
s
my face for any sign of what might have happened. I smile to reassure her everything
’
s ok
ay
, but it d
oes
n’t reach my eyes, because I
’m not
sure it w
ill
be
ok
ay
after we ha
ve
our talk. She d
oesn
’t notice my apprehension, and I
’m
smart enough to keep our connection closed
so she
can
’t pick up on the thoughts running around my mind.

She walk
s
down the stairs and grab
s
my hand, knotting her delicate slender fingers through my rough larger ones. I pull
her
hand to my mouth and
kiss
it gently
which causes her to
reward me with a soul warming smile.

Letting our hands fall back between us I ask, “Are you ready, darlin’?”

Squee
zing my hand she replies, “Yep
. Are you?”

“I am
.” Lord, I hope we
are.
***

She’
s still gripping my hand as
we walk through the cemetery. We stopped and bought a bouquet of daisies to place on his grave and her other hand ha
s
those grasped against her chest.

The cemetery
i
s located on the outside of town in the opposite direction
of
the cabin. There
’
s a tiny white church at the front of the property that ha
s
a blood red door and the sides
a
re covered in stained glass windows. A black wrought iron fence circle
s
the whole property as d
o
large maple trees. There
a
re head stones scattered all around the grounds. I notice some newer stones, but
most
of the one’s we pass
a
re
from the early 1900’s.

At the back of the property, under one of the largest trees, Bloom pull
s
us to a stop and drop
s
my hand. She t
a
k
es a few more tentative steps
then ben
ds
to place t
he
bouquet on top of the headstone. I
’m
determined to stand back and give her the space she need
s
but when she crashe
s
to her knees in front of the grave and beg
i
n
s
to weep I rush to her side and pull her into my arms. She only stay
s
there a few minutes before she pushe
s
away from me and wipe
s
her eyes.

“Thank you
,
”
s
he whisper
s
as she smoot
he
s
her hand down my chest, not meeting my eyes.

I place my hand under her chin and ma
k
e her look at me. “It’ll always be my pleasure, darlin’.”

Bloom nod
s
then gently remove
s
my hand from her face, placing it in hers on her lap.
S
he turn
s
back to her
Dad
dy
’
s tombstone.

“
Dad
dy, I’m sorry I haven’t visited before and I have no excuse good enough to explain why. I’m moving away and if you’ve been watching over me you probably already know what’s been going on. I just wanted to say sorry for not coming sooner and I promise I’ll come back to visit
when we come back to town. Also, I wanted you to meet Pike. He’s gonna take good care of me
Dad
dy, and I don’t want you up there worrying about me. I’ll be ok
ay
.”

She g
e
t
s
quiet and I sen
d
up a silent promise to Michael that I’
ll
take care of his only daughter. We stay there on our knees, holding hands, for a long time. Bloom need
s
this
,
she need
s
me
and I’m
more than happy to give it to her. It m
ight
be the last thing she lets me do for her. When she st
an
d
s
up I join her and place my hand on her back, quietly showing my support. She lean
s down
and trace
s
her fingers over the inscription that read
s
:
Beloved Father and Husband.
When her fingers reach the husband part she jer
k
s
her hand back like the word burn
s
her finger tips. I watch her face closely, she
’
s deciding something and it
’
s difficult for her to admit to herself what she’
ll
have to do. Finally she kisse
s
the tips of her fingers and place
s
them back over the inscription and trace
s
it all the way through letting her fingers linger over the last word.

“She didn’t deserve you,
Dad
dy, but I know you never stopped loving her. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give her the kind of forgiveness you did, she doesn’t deserve it, but I think I need her. She may be the only one who can give me
the
answers about wh
o
I really am.
” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before she finishes, “
Bye
Dad
dy, I’ll always love you.”

When she let
s
her hand drop back to her side I t
a
k
e
the opportunity to guide her to a stone bench that s
i
t
s
closer to the church. She lean
s
into me and I kiss the top of her head.

“I need to find her, Tennessee
,
”
s
he whisper
s
. I love that she still use
s
her nickname for me and I s
i
t there for a moment letting it soak in. There
’
s a chance after I t
ell
her she may not use it anymore. She’
ll
probably come up with a harsher name to throw at me. I squeeze her tighter to my side for just a second more then
I
pull back so I c
an
look down into her face.