Reviving Bloom (34 page)

“Alright
,
”
I
concede
.

“Thanks darlin’
,
”
h
e sa
ys
using one hand to rub my back and the other to play with my hair.

“What were you and Tucker talking about?” I decide to change the subject.

He release
s
me from his arms and sa
ys
, “We really need to go start breakfast.”

“Pike, this sharing goes both ways.” I step back and glare up at him.

“Ok
ay
, ok
ay
.
L
et’s go into the kitchen and I’ll tell you while we’re fixing breakfast
,
”
He agree
s
then guide
s
me to the kitchen.

I gather the ingredients to make
pancakes
and he
assist
s
by sitting on a stool at the island to watch me. I place the milk on the counter and t
ell
him, “Get to sharing, Tennessee.”

His elbow
i
s propped up on the counter so his head c
an
rest on his hand, but at my words he straighten
s
and sigh
s
.

“Kyran caused a huge scene at the bar last night.”

When he d
oes
n’t explain any further I push, “What else? You already told me about that part last night.”

“Well, he
got to hollerin’ at the people at the bar. Goin’ on about how you’re here to cause the pack problems and tear us apart. A couple of the pack members at the bar tried to calm him down but he took a swing at them, which lead to the whole bar ending up in a fight. Tuck, said that about half of the tables and chairs in the place were destroyed. Not to mention all the bottles of alcohol
that was
smashed and need to be paid for.”

“Is everyone ok
ay
?”

“Darlin’, they’re shifters. They heal fast so that’s not a problem and really neither is the damage, we’ll have the money taken out of Kyran’s account to pay for that. The problem is he got away from Tuck in all the uproar and he hasn’t returned to his suite.”

“He’s probably somewhere sobering up.”

“I wish you were right, but us shifters don’t really get drunk darlin’ so he wasn’t hammered when he caused that mess and I doubt his feelings have changed where you
’re
concerned.”

“You can’t get drunk?”
I ask shocked.

“Nope, our metabolism burns off the alcohol too fast for it to affect us.”

“Dang, do you think mine works that way too?”
Hmm, so much I c
an
do with that.

Heck yeah, it’s party time.
Finally my wolf and I agree on something.

“Not sure, but I don’t want you going and trying to get plastered just to test it either.”

Dang!
My wolf and I say in unison.

“Oh alright,” I begrudgingly agree. “Anyways, if the bar brawl
i
sn’t such a big deal then why do you look like you want to skin someone alive.”

I dig
through the cabinets to find
the
mixing bowl
s then I start to sift together the dry ingredients. When we c
a
me up with the idea of meeting with the Elders over breakfast Pike asked me make a list of groceries I’d need to cook for everyone (his fridge had been bare except for a carton of spoiled milk). I decided to fix blueberry pancakes, sausage, bacon, and some fresh fruit.  He took my list and gave it to one of the
pack members to pick up while we were getting ready for the pack meeting.

“Bloom, this is serious. He might try to hurt you.” Pike pound
s
his fists on the
island
in frustration.
I look up from
sifting and s
ee
he now ha
s
a death grip on edge of the island. The nails on his hands ha
ve
elongated into claws and
a
re digging into the wood.

I look into his eyes and tr
y
to sooth him,
“Tennessee, I’m his sister he won’t hurt me. He may be confused by everything that’s going on right now, but I don’t believe for a second he’
ll
hurt me.”

He h
o
ld
s
my eyes,
“I heard your thoughts when you met him, darlin’. You
saw anger and darkness and if last night was any indication that ain’t gonna go away.”

“Pike, we don’t know if we can trust my gut
,
” I
plead.

He look
s away,
t
a
k
es
a deep breath and release
s
it before he me
e
t
s
my eyes again,
“He took a broken bottle to Tucks stomach last night. Thankfully, it wasn’t deep and we heal fast
so Tuck’s alright, but if he’d do that to one of his own brothers. He’d definitely hurt you and I’m not gonna allow it.” Pikes words fe
el
like a kick to my own stomach and I fe
el
as if I c
a
n’t breathe.

“Tuck
…” I gasp.

“
Darlin’,
I told you he’s fine, but he agrees with me on keeping you away from Kyran.”

“How are you going to do that?”
His claws recede back into his fingertips and his face soften
s
as he beg
i
n
s
explaining the plan to me.

“We’re banning him from the pack house
and we’re not letting you out in town without a guard.
After the Elders leave I’m meeting with Tuck and other men of the pack and we’re
setting
up a guard rotation.
”

He scan
s my face.
I kn
o
w he
’
s waiting for me to blow up. Hell, I want to blow up, but because I c
an
feel him through our bond I kn
o
w it upset
s
him to place these limits on me. So instead of screaming and accusing him of treating me like a prisoner, I t
a
k
e
a deep
breath and let it out then say
, “Ok
ay
.”

He g
e
t
s
up off his stool and c
o
me
s
to my side of the island. He kisse
s
me gently then whisper
s
, “Thank you darlin’.”

“You can thank me by starting the bacon and sausage. We don’t have long until everyone will be here and
you bought enough meat to feed a small country.” I push him towards the fridge that
i
s holding the meat.

“Not a small country darlin’, just a small group of hungry wolves.” He turn
s
from gathering the packages in the fridge to grin at me.

I roll my eyes at him and turn
back to the island
to start cracking the eggs. I hear him chuckle at me and sen
d
up a silent prayer of thanks that he
’s
calmed down. For a second I thought I was going to have to hold him back from hunting Kyran down. My little brother
i
s turning out to be a pain in my ass and if I didn’t have to worry about keeping Pike and Tucker from ripping him apart I’d kill him myself.

We
’r
e sitting at the large table in the dining
room off the living room. We
finished breakfast an hour ago and just moments ago Pike and I finished telling the
Elders the story of Rose
and
Dad
’
s relationship, my growing up with no knowledge of shifters, to
Pike finding me and what all has
happened since. I t
a
k
e
in the faces sitting around us. All ten ha
ve
the same expression, confusion mixed with a whole lot of concern.

I start to think they’
ve
slipped into a bacon induced coma (they
ate
every last piece
of
what seemed like 10 pounds of bacon we
cooked) and I’m
wondering if I’
ll
have to call around to find a doctor who specialize
s
in reviving wolf-shifters from
such ailments when Elder Andrew
s wife Lilith sp
eaks
up.

“Have you always been able to feel your wolf?” She
’
s inspecting me closely with those striking violet eyes and I ha
ve
to stop myself from squirming under her gaze.

“Um
…
I
didn’t notice her until Pike came into the picture, but I think she’s always been there just not as prominent as she is now.” I hope that d
oesn’t sound insane to her, but it’
s the truth. I ha
ve
been thinking about my wolf a lot lately and the more I reflect back on my life the more I realize she ha
s
been in the background guiding me. B
ut she has
be
come
a lot more vocal since Pike
ca
me into our life.

“Hmm that is curious,”
s
he mumble
s
as she exchange
s
a look with Elder Isla. I look between the two of them expecting one of them to speak what
’
s running through their minds but neither
speaks
up.

“Please, if you have any idea what’s going on don’t keep it to yourselves
,
” Pike
begs
apparently having caught the exchange between the two women.

“Pike,
it
’
s
obvious why
your
mate
’
s wolf has become more active since finding you, but I don’t know of anything that would be keeping her locked inside
,
”
Isla
semi
explain
s
.

“Why is she more active?” I ask watching Isla. She ha
s
her beautiful wavy hair pinned back at the sides with the rest falling loosely down her back. At my question she g
i
ve
s
me a smile but it d
oes
n’t meet her eyes.

“My dear, isn’t it obvious?” She ask
s
back. I sh
a
k
e
my head and she respond
s
, “Bloom, you met your mate and his wolf is calling yours out. Just like Pike wants to be near you, his wolf longs to be near your wolf. So he
’
s pulling her out of you.”

“Do you think being around Pike
when he
actually
shifts into his
wolf will cause me to finally shift?” I ask trying to keep the hope out of my voice. Pike t
a
k
es
my hand and lace
s
his fingers through mine for support while we wait to see what Isla’s response w
ill
be.