Reviving Bloom (35 page)

“
You’ve been around him in his wolf form and when he shifted back to his human form. If I understand correctly that is when his wolf started calling to yours. So being with him when he shifts to his wolf might be the final step you need to take to release her
,
” Isla answer
s
.

I look over at Pike and through our connection he sa
ys
,
“If you want, darlin’, we can try.”

“Tonight?”

He chuckle
s
at my enthusiasm and answer
s
,
“Ye
a
h
, we can try tonight.”

I smile at him and then turn my attention back to the elders who
a
re watching us intently with smiles on their faces.

“I always love watching the newly mated. It’s such a beautiful thing to watch fate bring together two souls who
a
re clearly made for each other. Especially when those t
wo souls are healing each others
wounds like you two happen to be doing
,
”
Shea Burke remark
s
watching us then swinging her eyes to her husband, Elder Cathal, ask
s
, “Do you remember when
you realized we were mates?
”

I watch as the older wolfs imposing features soften and his eyes glimmer as he look
ed
at his mate. He brushe
s
her hair away from her temple and lean
s
in
to
kiss
her there then answers
, “Like it was yesterday. Your hair was pulled up on your head and you were wearing that oversized sweatshirt that hung off one side of your shoulders. You didn’t have a scratch of make-up on your face and
you smelled like lemonade.
T
he moment I saw you
I knew I’d never seen anyone more beautiful and I still haven’t.”

She
i
s beaming at her mate
’
s recollection of their first encounter. She lean
s
into him and whisper
s
, “
I couldn’t get over how much you smelled like leather.”

“What’s up with the scents?”
I ask Pike through our bond.
I’m
still watching Shea & Cathal as I spe
ak
to him
.
I
t
’
s reassuring to see them still so in love years after they first became mated. It g
i
ve
s me hope for Pike and
my mating.

“It’s what
draws
a shifter to his or her mate.
O
nly your mate can smell it and it’s always something unique to them. It can also help you to find your mate if they were to go missing
,
”
h
e explain
s
.

“And what do I smell like to you?”
I ask shyly. I hope I d
o
n’t smell like something gross, as much as I love Billy’s pizza I d
o
n’t want it to be the thing Pike smell
s
every time he
’
s around me.

He lean
s
in and smell
s
my neck
,
“Strawberries and cedar,”
then
he
kisse
s
his favorite freckle
on my neck
and pull
s
back
to ask
,
“What do I smell like to you?”

I
r
u
n my hand through his black hair and
answer
way to breathy,
“Like the forest after a rainstorm.”

“
When can we expect to receive the invitations to your mating ceremony?” Fina ask
s
reminding us we
a
ren’t alone.

“Umm,” I look at Pike for help.

“With everything that’s been going on we haven’t had a chance to talk about it,”
h
e explain
s
to them honestly.

“Now, don’t be dragging you
r
feet. Cementing you
r
bond by doing the ceremony is just as important
as everything else that has been happening
,
” Fina scold
s
us.

“I promise Elder Fina as soon as we get the situation with Kyran settled, we will start making the plans
,
” Pike promise
s
.

“Good boy, just remember to give us ladies enough notice to find the right outfit
s
.”

“Will do.” He chuckle
s
at her then his expression t
urn
s
serious when he sa
ys
, “We’ve
discussed Bloom’s wolf no
w I’d like to know if any of you have ever heard of a shifter having these gut
“
feelings
”
?”

Everyone sh
a
k
es
their heads no and I ha
ve
to sigh. I
’m
surrounded by people who c
an
shift into wolves and I
’m the strange one, it’
s disheartening.

Elder Darius sp
eaks
up, “We may be looking at this wrong. These
“
feelings
”
may not come from your shifter genes. Have you considered that it could be a trait you inherited from your father
’
s side of the family?
”

“My father never mentioned anything
.
”
I would’ve remembered if he had.

“It may be worth exploring
,
” He suggest
s
thinking he
’
s being helpful.

“I don’t have any relatives left on my
Dad
’s side. My grandparents both passed away when I was young.
Dad
was an only child so no aunts or uncles. He never mentioned having any aunts or uncles himself, I always assumed my grandparents were only children as well
,
” I explain the situation.

If Elder Darius
i
s right and my “feelings” c
o
me from my father’s side, I
may never get the answers I desperately need
.
The whole situation
i
s taking its toll. I slump into Pike
’
s side for support and
he
hook
s
his arm around my shoulder holding me tight.

“Bloom, I promise we’ll look into this to see if it could be you’re shifter side. We
wo
n’t shut that door until we’re absolutely certain it’s not part of your shifter genes
,
” Isla vow
s
.

“Thank you,” I reply
softly.

“You’re welcome. Now I’m going to say something you may not thank me for, but it has to be said.” I watch her, but d
o
n’t say anything, as she t
a
k
es
a moment to collect her thoughts. She continue
s
, “I understand that you don’t get along with Rose, but you need to speak with her.”

How c
an
she suggest that after she heard my history (or lack thereof) with Rose? I open my mouth to respond.

She h
o
ld
s
her hand up to stop me and explain
s
, “I’m not say
ing
become her friend. It’s just that she w
as with your father for years, which means she was also around your grandparents. She may have experienced them having these “feelings
.
”

She
’
s right, I hate to admit it, but I need my mother for something. Damn!

I agree to talk to Rose
and we thank them all for coming. Once they
a
re all gone Pike offer
s
to help clean up, but I kn
o
w he ha
s
to meet with the men about guard detail. So I t
ell
him to go on
,
that I c
an
handle the clean up myself. He ma
k
e
s
me promise not to leave the
suit
e. I promise and he reward
s
me
with
a kiss then turn
s
to walk to the door. I watch him pull out his phone and send a text, then he
’
s out the door and gone.

I carr
y
the dirty breakfast dishes into the kitchen, there
are
n’t any leftovers to put away (the wolves
were
rav
enous) so I rinse the dishes then load them into the dish washer. Once it
’
s running I wipe down the counters and stove. The floor need
s
cleaned too so I search for the broom and dustpan then use them to sweep. I
’m
emptying the dustpan into the trashcan when I hear a knock on the door.

I s
e
t the dustpan beside the trashcan and lean the broom against the counter, then ma
k
e my way to the door. My hand
is on the knob turning it
when I double over with the
dreadful
“feeling” I had that morning coming back full force. The door
i
s pushed open by whoever
i
s on the other side and I
’m
gripping my stomach still bent double.
I look up to apologize for my behavior when the words die on my lips at the sight of Trace standing with Kyran. Neither of them look like they
’
re
h
ere to apologize so I turn and tr
y
to run.

Trace hook
s
me around my stomach
before I g
e
t two steps away
and sa
ys
, “Uh-uh my little flower, we have some unfinished business.”

“Hurry up and knock her out, before she ha
s
a chance to contact him,” Kyran growl
s
from behind us.

“Fine,” Trace grumble
s
clearly pissed that his play time
i
s bein
g cut short. “I’ll see you soon my
little flower.”

I
barely
get the chance
to yell for Pike through our connection before something
i
s pressed to my neck and everything
goes
black.

Chapter 33 – Pike

~
Find Him. Kill Him.
~

The men
a
re gathered in the meeting room and I
’m
explaining how the guard rotation
is going to go when Bloom
’
s fear hit
s
me full force.