“Thanks for the offer, Bon, but I need to try to do this alone.” Bloom smile
s
at her friend trying to reassure her even though I c
an
feel through the bond
that
she
i
sn’t as confident as she
’
s letting on.
“Not comple
tely alone, I hope
,
” Bonnie says
turning her gaze to glare at me.
“I don’t plan on leaving h
er side. No worries
,
” I promise
.
“Still, if you need any back up just text me and I’ll be there in heartbeat, well as long as I don’t get lost
in
this place. Which there’s a good chance of that happening if I venture far from this room, so just take notes on who
I need to
smack down and I’ll get them
later.”
“I’ll make sure
Tennessee plays secretary and keeps a meticulous list of everyone that needs
beat down. Try not to get lost.
I don’t want to have to send out the wolf search party to find ya.”
“I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll try to be good and if I go anywhere I’ll leave a trail of bread crumbs like Hansel & Gretel.”
“Maybe le
ave a trail of non-edible items.
I
t’ll be safer, because these shifters eat more like pigs than wolves and I don’t want them eating your way back to your room.”
“Thanks for the heads up, my friend. Now get your behind on the move I need to get settled in and so do you.” She pull
s
Bloom into her arms and whisper
s
, “Good luck. Remember no matter how it goes I love you and have your back.”
“I know, Bon. I love you too
,
” Bloom whisper
s
back then release
s
the h
ug, “Come on Tennessee, time for you to show me our room.”
***
“
What do you think of your new home, darlin’?” She walked around the suite taking it all in when we’d first got there, but that
’s
been 20 minutes ago and she’
s
yet to say a word whether she like
s
it or not.
“It’s beautiful, Tennessee.” She put
s
her hand out for me to take and I d
o
so willingly. “There’s a lot I’m gonna have to take in today and I’d be lying if I said I
’m not
nervous. So I’m sorry if I’m not responding the way you hope
d
. I really do love this suite.”
I caress her face with my
free hand
. “It’s fine, darlin’. I know how nervous you are, but please remember I’ll be by your side all day. You’ll probably get sick of my presence and try to send me away.”
“When are they supposed to be here?”
“About an hour, would you like to take a bath before they arrive? It might help you relax.”
“That sounds like a good idea. I’m feeling rather icky from being in the car all day.” She lean
s
in
and
kisse
s
my cheek then head
s
towards the bathroom.
“I’ll let you know when they get here.” She stop
s
at the door that le
a
d
s
to our bath and ask
s
, “Will you have Rose come first. I want to talk with her alone before I meet my brothers.”
“Of course, darlin’.
”
Forty-five minutes later she
’
s done with her bath and leaning against me on the couch. The knock on the door ha
s
her sitting straight
up
with her feet planted flat on the floor
. I want to pull her back to my side because my body fe
els
the loss of her
s
but I kn
o
w now
i
sn’t the time, so I r
u
n my hand down her bare arm to soothe her then g
e
t up to answer the door.
Rose
i
s standing there with her mate Grady. I shouldn’t be surprised to see him by her side but since I sent out a cryptic request to meet with her before the pack meeting, it rub
s
my wolf wrong that he ignored the part of the message that said
to
come alone. I stomp down the urge to make him get to his knees and beg for forgiveness for ignoring my orders, this
is
going to be hard enough without me throwing my dominance on the older man, so I plaster a fake smile on my face and usher them into the living room.
I expect the shit to hit the fan as soon as they t
a
k
e
in the sight of Bloom sitting on the couch, but Bloom
i
sn’t even in the room. Trying to be gracious I sa
y
, “Have a seat, please. I’ll be right back.”
“Darlin’, where are you?”
“The kitchen, sorry my throat was dry so I came to get a glass of water. Also, I need a minute to collect myself, Tennessee. Maybe you can explain what this meeting is about without including the part that the daughter she abandoned is here and your mate.”
“Ok
ay
, sugar. Do you mind bringing out some drinks for us and our guests? You might not try to slap her right away if you have something in your hands when you join us.”
“Very funny, I don’t think I’ll attack her as soon as I see her. Though depending
on her attitude it might happen, but
I’ll bring the darn drinks.”
“And Bloom.”
“Yes Tennessee
?
”
“Don’t put
poison
in Rose’s drink.”
“Darn, I guess I better dump this glass down the drain. See ya in a few minutes.”
“
Good idea.
Love you, darlin’.”
“I love you too, Tennessee.”
It warm
s
my heart how freely she
’s
say
ing
those words back to me since we uttered them that morning in the car, but right now I ha
ve
other things to focus on so I pull out of our connection and sit down on the other couch that face
s
our guests.
“Alpha, why have you asked me here?” Rose
i
s sitting next to her husband with her legs crossed and she
’
s fidgeting with the hem of her navy skirt. She look
s
so much like Bloom that it br
eaks
my heart for my mate all over again. The only differences
are that Rose
’
s hair
i
s cut short in an A-line bob that f
a
ll
s
just below her chin and her eyes
a
re the color of emeralds. Rose look
s
older but not by much. Her skin
i
s relatively wrinkle
-
fre
e other than a few laugh lines around her eyes and mouth.
“I found my mate while I was away
,
”
I announce the fake smile still plastered
to
my face.
“Oh, Ike congratulations
,
”
s
he use
s
the
shortened version
of my name the way my mother use to do.
The
fist that
ha
s
been
gripping my heart
since my parents’
deaths squeeze
s
a little tighter. I t
a
k
e
a deep breath to center my thoughts and then
I
continue.
“Thanks, but that’s not the only reason you’re here. She
…” Bloom
chooses that moment
to walk in the room. She carrie
s
the tray holding a pitcher of lemonade and glasses of
ice to the coffee table that se
t
s
between the two couches then s
i
t
s beside me. Hers and Rose
’
s eyes
a
re locked on each other as we all wait to see who w
ill
speak first.
“Bloom?” Rose ask
s
as if the carbon copy of herself sitting directly across from her could be anyone other than her only daughter.
Bloom
ha
s
a
pparently slipped on a mask of indifference because when she answer
s
Rose
though
you c
an
’t
see any emotion in her response. “Yes, I’m your daughter.”
Rose look
s
frantically between Bloom and I then turn
ing
to her mate and whisper
s
, “I don’t know what’s going on.”
He put his arm around her then look
s
at me, “Alpha Pike, what’s the point of this? You can see how much this is hurting my mate.”
I jump to my feet and spit out my words between growls, “And you don’t think this hurts my mate?” I want to lunge at the older wolf and rip him apart for thinking his mate hurting these few moments
i
s anywhere near the pain my mate ha
s
been put through since birth.
Bloom br
eaks
through my angry haze by taking my hand and pulling me back to her side on the couch.
“Pike
baby, calm down
.
H
e d
oesn
’t mean any harm. I don’t think they even put together I
’m
your mate until your outburst.”
She let
s
her mask slip l
ong enough while she sp
eaks
so I c
an
see
all the love she ha
s
to offer me
. When she place
s
her lips to mine I fe
el
the last of the anger leave my body.
I turn back to our guests. Both of their faces show how shocked they
a
re and tears
a
re filling Rose
’
s eyes. “We didn’t arrange this meeting to hurt you.” Not that I ca
r
e if her feelings
are hurt.
“It’s just that Bloom is my mate and has agreed to move here to be with me.
No thanks to you,” I glare at Rose and she at least ha
s
the good nature to look ashamed of herself, “she is finally learning what she is.”
“You left me with no answers. What if I had shifted?” Bloom
’
s anger
i
s finally breaking through her carefully crafted mask. She
’
s now sitting on the edge of her seat with her eyes focused on Rose.
“Billy would’ve called me.”
“You shouldn’t have put
your
responsibility off on someone who kn
o
w
s
very little about our kind!” My mate’s voice
ris
es
with each word she sp
eaks
.