Reviving Bloom (19 page)

His declaration causes
my pulse
to
race and I t
a
k
e
a moment to compose myself before I turn to face him. He ha
s
his legs stretched out in front of him crossed at the ankles and his arms stuck behind his head and a wolfish grin
plastered to
his face. Cocking one eyebrow and sti
cking my hand on my hip I ask, “Do you really want to tick off the person cooking your dinner? I could easily slip some chocolate into yours and where would your furry behind be?”

“I’m not a dog!” He
throw
s
his hands in the air
in exasperation
.

I ignore
his outburst
at
my
threat and set out to make our dinner.
He watche
s
my every move without saying a word and it
’
s sending shivers of pleasure down my body. By the time the food
’
s finished cooking
,
I
’m
squirming under his gaze and I c
an
see the hint o
f smile on his face and I want
to smack it off there. Just because we
’
re mates doesn’t mean he needs to ravish my thoughts. Crossing over
to the table I thro
w the plate down in front of him more than ready to give him a mouthful for tormenting me after
he
stopped us earlier, but the s
ight of the s
paghetti flying into his lap causes
me
to
disintegrate into a fit of giggles. He
pulls
me
into h
is lap
and t
a
k
es
my
plate and dumps
it on my head. The next thing I kn
o
w we
’
re running around t
he kitchen throwing pasta back in forth like snowballs. I try
to run past him to get out of the room and into the
bathroom
but he catches
me around the waist and pu
lls
me t
ight against
his chest. Leaning in he licks some sauce off my neck and says
, “Delicious, if none survived the fight I’
ll
be more than happy to lick my dinner off your body.”

I suck
in a breath at the heat in
his eyes and the thoughts that a
re running through his mind. He
’
s leaning in to follow through
on his lusty threat when he stops
to sniff the air. His head turn
s toward
the front door
just as a
knock r
i
ng
s
through the house and he let
s
go of my waist.

In six
long strides
he crosses the living room and jerks the door open and engulfs
the person on the other side in a bac
k breaking hug. When he releases the person I hear
him ask, “What are you doing here? I told you we’d be home in a few days.”

I’m
surprised by the si
lvery voice that answers
, “I couldn’t wait any longer, Pi
ke. I missed you.”

Oh heck no! You better get in there and stake our claim.
My jealousy (and my bossy wolf) pushes
me forward to find out who
’
s talking to my mate in such a loving way and I use all my weight
to
push Pike out of the way to get a look.
There on my porch st
an
d
s
the most beautiful woman I
’ve
ever seen
and that includes on TV
. She ha
s
to be pushing 6 feet tall with lean, muscular arms and legs that seem to go for miles. He
r
hair
i
s black as night and pin straight falling
just below her chin
in choppy layers.
Then there
a
re those eyes, the color of the clearest blue ocean, the same as Pikes. The realization hit
s me and pulls back mine and my wolf
’
s need to stake our claim just as Pike introduces
us.

“Bloom, this is my baby sister Emily.” Then he put
s
hi
s arm around my waist and pulls
me to his side, “Em, this is
my mate Bloom Daniels.” I wait as she sizes me up just like I’
d done her, but un
like the beauty in front of me I’m
embarrassed. It’s not that I don’t see myself as beautiful but being covered from head to toe in spaghetti w
ill
make anyone feel like a troll next to this goddess. A smile crosse
s
her face and soften
s
her angular features then she pull
s
me into
bone crushing hug that can
easily rival the one her brother had given her moments before.

“Gracious, I’m so excited to
meet you
,
”
s
he whispers
int
o my ear then pulling back asks
, “Can I come in? I wasn’t interrupting anything was I?”

Moving out of the way to let her in the door, “Of course not, please, come in.”

Stepping in she looks at her brother and says
, “
Pi
ke, will you go grab my bag
s
out of the rental car. I brought the things you asked Tuck to send
too
.”

He kisses
her cheek
, gives me a wink and then walks
out to the
car leaving us alone. I offer her a seat and ask if she wants
someth
ing to drink, which she declines
and th
en when Pike walks back in I excuse
myself so I c
an
take a shower and change out of my Spaghetti covered clothes.

Chapter 23 – Pike

~
I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it
~

I wa
tch Bloom as she walks
out of the room then when I hear the b
athroom door click shut I turn
to Emily.

“I’ve missed you, little sister.”

“I’ve missed you too, big brother. Now tell me why you didn’t want the pack to know you found your mate.” That’s
my sister; she’s never been
one to beat around the bush.

“Does she smell like a wolf to you?”

“Pike, the pack isn’t going to care if you mated with a human as long as she’s your real mate.”

“She’s not human, well
at least not fully
,
” I say
and then watched as her face dr
a
w
s
up in confusion.

“Explain,
how is she not human?” She demands
.

I look
at the hall Bloom h
ad disappeared down and listen
for the water, when I
’m
certain
she w
on’
t be able to hear our conversation I continue.

“Her mother’
s a
shifter
and her father was a human
.”

“Then, why don’t I smell her wolf side?” Emily cock
s
her head to the side and ask
s
.

“She’s never shifted, though I can say she does heal fast like we do.”

“Ok
ay
, that has to be a first, but I still don’t see why you’re keeping this a secret.”

Letting out a sigh I brace
myself for the revelation I
’m
getting ready to lay on my little sister. “Her mother left when she was a new born, so up until this morning Bloom never knew about her
wolf
side. Apparently, Bloom’s father wasn’t her mother’s mate and not long after delivering Bloom she ran into
her real mate
and left with him. She hasn’t been in her life since then.”

Sympathy showing in her eyes Emily look
s
toward the hall and I c
an
see her need to go comfort my mate over the loss of her mother at a young age. When she turn
s
her gaze back to me I s
ee
the u
nshed tears in her eyes and
she ask
s
, “Does she even know who her mother is?”

“She’s seen pictures and her father has told her about her mother, but he didn’t know about her
wolf
side either.”

“Why would she hide that from a person she loved? This woman is sounding more and more selfish
as this story goes on
. If I knew where she was I’d go smack the heck out of her
,
”
s
he
grumbles
pacing the room.

“That’s the thing
, Em, we do know her
,
” I finally confess as I collapse on the couch from the weight of my revelation.

Emily stops pacing and looks
me square in the eyes. She d
oesn’t have to even ask I know she wants the woman
s name and I c
an
no longer keep it to myself.

“Rose O’Brian.”

“Tuck
ers mom?” She gasps
in surprise.

I nod then watched as she crosses the room and collapses on the couch next to me. We se
t like that in silence for several minutes then looking up at
the
ceiling she asks
, “Have you told her you know her mom? Hell, have you told Tuck
er
that him and
the twins
have a sister?”

“Nope.”

She punches me hard in my arm and demands
, “Why not?”

“Because if I tell
her that her long lost mother is part of our pack back home she won’t want to come back wi
th me.” I sigh
.

“And how do you think she’s going to feel when she finds out you lied to her, dork
,
”
Emily demands
turning to stare at my face.

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it; right now I need to get her home.” Lying to my mate is eating me up inside and I want to tell her the truth, but what if she refuses to go with me because Rose is there. I can’t leave my pack without their Alpha much longer, and there’s no way I’m leaving my mate. Even if she hadn’t been
attacked last night, I can’t leave half my heart in Ohio. I know it makes me selfish, but at this point I don’t care.

Changing the subject I ask
, “So how did you get here so fast?”

She watches me while she deliberates
on pushing the subject of me telling Bloom then her shoulders
slum
p and she fa
ll
s back into the couch and I know she’s
made her decision. “Just so you know
,
I don’t like that we’re keeping this from her. She deserves to know what we’re dragging her into Pike.”

“I know Em, but right now I feel like my hands are tied.” We
se
t there staring at nothing in particular for s
everal minutes then Emily sighs
.