“Bloom, I have something to tell you. I
was
planning to tell you even before you decided, I need you to know that, though I should’ve told you sooner.”
I watch her face crinkle in confusion and I push on when she d
oes
n’t say anything. “Rose, your mother, she’s a member of our pack. I promise I didn’t know when I first found you. Billy showed me her picture after he told me your parent’s story. I was trying to find a way to tell you.”
She push
es
herself farther away from me. “How long?”
“I promise I’ve only known for a few days. I’m sorry I kept this from you.”
“No, how long has my mother been with your pack?” She jump
s
to her feet and pace
s
in front of the bench.
“I was around 4 or 5 when she joined our pack. Her mate had already been a member.”
“She’s been there ever since
…
ever since she left me.”
“That’s what it looks like. Bloom, talk to me baby, I promise I won’t keep something like this from you again.
Please, just tell me if you forgive me. I don’t want to lose you
,
”
m
y voice crack
s
on the last sentence and I c
an
feel my eyelids fighting to keep the tears inside.
Bloom stop
s
pacing long enough to really look at me. I kn
o
w I ha
ve
to be a retched sight, my hands
a
re shaking and I
’m
preparing to cry like a baby. She c
o
me
s
back and s
i
t
s
beside me and pull
s
my head into her neck and h
o
ld
s
me. I c
a
n’t hold the tears in any longer and they slid
e
from my eyes soaking the shoulder of her shirt.
“I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at her. It had to be hard to tell me what you know and all that matter
s
is that you
told
me. Do I wish she wasn’t part of the pack? Yes. Will it stop me from coming with you? Hell, no. You’re not losing me, Tennessee, and I’m not losing you over her. She’s hurt me enough.”
I pull back to look in her face, I c
an
tell through our bond that
she
i
sn’t lying, but I need to see her face to reassure myself.
He
r
eyes glitter with the hurt her mother ha
s
caused, the understanding she
’
s showing me and the unshed tears that threaten to spill down her
cheeks. I place my hands on either side of her face and lean in
to
press my lips to her
s
.
She willingly accept
s
my kisses, and when the tears finally f
a
ll from her eyes, she let
s
me wipe them away. When the last one ha
s
dropped she place
s
one last kiss on my lips and pull
s
back.
I let my hands drop from her face so they c
an
grab her hands. “Bloom, there’s something else you need to know.”
“Oh gosh, Pike, please tell me she isn’t dead, because I’m not sure I can handle any more bad news
,
”
s
he sa
ys
closing her eyes, like it
’ll
keep out
the
bad news I
’m
getting ready to tell her.
“No, it’s nothing like that, darlin’. Some might even consider it good news, but that’s up for you to decide.”
“Just tell me, fast, like it’s a band aid you’re pulling off. I can handle it come on.” Her eyes
a
re still closed and she
’
s gripping my hands harder; hanging on for dear life, like this last revelation might be the one that breaks her.
“You have half brothers, three to be exact.” Her eyes flick
open as
her mouth
falls
open, but nothing c
o
me
s
out, so I continue. “Tucker is the oldest, 19 he’ll be 20 in a few months. He’s my beta
our second in charge. Then there’s the twins Kyran & Killian, they just turned 18.”
“I-I-I
…
she ha
s
more children. I have brothers.” I watch as she d
oes
the math in her head. “If Tucker is almost 20 that means
…
she got pregnant right after she had me! Do they even know about me?”
“I’m certain they don’t.”
“AHHHHHH!” she scream
s
slamming her fist down on the concrete bench. I grab it to make sure she ha
s
n’t done any damage, thankfully it
i
sn’t broken.
She st
an
d
s
jerking her hand from me and point
ing
her finger from the other hand at me. “That woman is a
…
well she’s a bad word, and when we go to Tennessee I will be informing her of just the word she is and you will not stop me.”
I st
an
d up and pull her back into my chest so I c
an
smooth my hand through the hair falling down her back. I ha
ve
to suppress my chuckle
.
S
he
’
s awfully cute when she
’s
mad. “I would never try to.”
“I may even slap her
,
”
s
he grumble
s
against my chest.
“I’m behind you no matter what you decide.”
“What if I decide to punch her in the face?”
“I’ll still be behind you, just promise me something
,
” I sa
y
leaning back to push the hair back from her tear soaked face.
“What?”
“Use your
other fist.” I grab her swollen hand and continue, “I don’t think this one can take much more damage, at least not for a few days.”
Chapter 28 – Bloom
~
You should always go with your gut
~
Five hundred and eighty-two miles or roughly nine and half hours, that’s how far it
i
s
from my old home in Ohio to my new home in Tennessee. That’s how far I ha
ve
to go till I’
ll
be in the same town as my mother, the woman who abandoned me at birth to go start her new life with her new family.
Am
I angry? Hell yes I
am
, and sleeping on the news didn’t help to squelch my anger at all, if anything it
made it worse. Every time I
close
d my eyes
las
t
night I saw her raising her three boys, my brothers. She bandaged their scrapes, made them cookies, kissed them good night, and soothed them when they
were crying. I bet they were
raised to know about their wolf side, they weren’t left to struggle with a part of them they never knew existed. Like me!
As mad as I
am
at Rose,
I kn
o
w I
ca
n’t hold what she’
s
done
against my brothers. It’s not their fault our mother
i
s a
…
well you know. Some also refer to
a female dog by the same term.
Hey don’t group me
and
that woman in the same category.
I guess my wolf dislikes our “surrogate” as much as I do.
Anyways, those boys
a
re the only family I ha
ve
left (Rose d
oes
n’t count in my mind), and I want to get to know them. I hope they fe
el
the same way when they f
i
nd out about me.
“I can’t speak for the twins, but I know Tucker and he’ll want to know his only sister.”
Pike stretche
s
his hand across the front seat of the sedan we
’
re in to grab mine. I rub my thumb along the top of his hand and g
i
ve him a little smile before I turn my eyes to stare at the scenery passing by us at 60 miles per hour.
“
Tell me about them, please?”
I plead
.
“Pike, w
e’ve been on the road for hours. I’ve drank three bottles of water and if we don’t find a ladies room real soon, you’ll be cleaning a wet spot up back here before this rental is returned
,
”
Bonnie interrupt
s
before Pike c
an
tell me about them, I c
an
’t blame her though, it’s not like she kn
o
w
s
we
’
re discussing them through our bond.
“
Don’t be so quick to soak your panties. T
here’s a rest area a couple miles up ahe
ad. Emily,
text one of the guys and tell them to stop with us.” The boys,
Kit & Price
,
are two members of the pack that Pike
had Tucker send to Ohio to drive our mov
ing truck back to Tennessee. Pike
d
oes
n’t want to be separated from us girls. He
’
s still on high alert from Trace
’s
attack
on
me. We ha
ve
n’t seen hide or hair of him since that night, and neither ha
s
anyone else in town, so Pike
’
s convinced he
’
s hiding out waiting for his next chance. I d
o
n’t think he’
s
brave enough to attempt anything else and I definitely d
o
n’t think he’
ll
follow us to Tennessee, not that
he even kn
o
w
s
that’s where we
’
re headed.
“I sent
Kit the text. He said that’s fine with them
,
” Emily state
s
from the back seat where she
’s
s
it
t
ing
with Bonnie.
At the rest area each of the guys t
a
k
e
turns watching over the gi
rls’ room, while the others do their business. They’
re sticking to the thought that we need
to be
guarded. After washing my hands I walk out
to
f
i
nd myself alone in the lobby with Kit and Emily.
Kit Drake
i
s easily six f
oo
t
one
and ha
s
auburn colored hair that
i
s messy with curls
that f
a
ll into his steel grey eyes
.
If Pike
w
a
s
n’t my own personal dream man come to life
I could
’ve
easily
fell
for his crooked smile, just like Emily seem
s
to be doing. The two
a
re so close in height they c
an
look directly into each other’s eyes
, which
is exactly what they’
re doing. It
’
s such an intimate moment, Emily’s lips
are parted in a soft smile that’
s so genuine and happy it tug
s at my heart and Kit
’
s
i
s almost as bright though somehow I c
an
tell he
’
s trying to hold his back. He
’
s the type of guy who
will
always
hold his
cards close to his heart until it
’
s time for them to be revealed. The whole encounter ha
s
the butterflies in my gut working overtime and
if Emily hadn’t already explained to
me
that she
i
sn’t old enough to be mated, I would’ve guessed them to be mates.