Reviving Bloom (24 page)

“Pack house?” Bonnie and I both ask in unison.

Emily walks
over carrying a plate full of French toast, which she set
s
in the middle of the table before sitting down to make herself a plate. She look
s
at me and order
s
, “Make yourself a plate, doll. You’ll need the energy for all the packing we’re gonna do today.” She stare
s
me down
as
I try
to ignore her
while I
wait
on one of them to answer our question.

Giving in I sigh and grab an empty plate and place two pieces on it then pouring syrup over the top ask again, “Ok
ay
, what is the pack house?”

She waits
till I t
a
k
e
my first bite then answer
s
, “It’s where the alpha and his family
live
. It’s big enough that any pack member who wants or needs to can live there as well.
There are a couple wings of the house that’s set up with apartments, most of the top ranking members that are still single live there. The mated pairs usually choose to live outside of the pack house, either on the pack owned land or near town.”

Stunned I look
between Pike and her and ask, “How big is this place?”

“Big enough for what we need it for
,
” Pike answer
s
simply.

“Alright. Where will I be living?”

Pike raises
his eyebrows at my question. “You’ll be with your mate, of
course.” I should’ve known the
answer but I
thought
I’d
double check.

“The pack house is also where we have all pack meetings and mating ceremonies and such. It really is a beautiful place, Bloo
m.” Emily continue
s
explaining even though I
’m not listening because Pike picks
th
is
moment to talk to me through our bond.

“Are you ok with living with me, darlin’?”

“Yes, but I wish you would’ve asked instead of ta
king away my choice
,
” I grumble
.

“I’m sorry
, but
I
’
ll probably do that a lot; it’s the wolf in me. He knows what he wants and if he thinks it’s good for his mate he will act on it without asking your opinion. I
’
ll try to keep him in check and ask your opinion on things that involve us.”

“You better or you and your wolf will find your butts sleeping on the couch, Tennessee.”

He chuckles at my threat then pulls
out of my thoughts
. Bonnie and Emily
a
re still discussing the move so I focus on finishing my breakfast. I c
an
see out the window that it
’
s a clear sunny day and I kn
o
w I want to slip away for a few hours by myself. If I
’m
going to be leaving this town for awhile I need to visit
Dad
’s grave to say goodbye. I ha
ve
n’t been there since the funeral because I
w
a
s
n’t strong enough, but now that Pike
i
s here supporting me I kn
o
w I c
an
handle going.

It t
a
k
es
us most of the day
to pack all the things I plan on taking with me, we d
o
n’t have to worry about the furniture or any
of the kitchen items
, but
we
gather all of my clothes, the pictures off the walls,
my collection of books and
Dad
s movie collection. Bonnie asks if I want
to pack any of
Dad
’
s or Rose
’
s stuff from the shed out back, but I kn
o
w there
i
sn’t anything there that w
ill
make me feel connected to
Dad
, just his old clothes. As for Rose’s stuff, it could be used to start a bonfire and I wouldn’t blink.

The
only
thing I kn
o
w without a doubt I w
o
n’t go without
i
s the swing off the front porch,
Dad
crafted it with his own hands and he used it to rock me to sleep when I was a baby. When I got older he
’
d take me out there to read me my bedtime story. Some kids got
quiet
stuffy rooms with
creaking
rocking chairs, but my
Dad
dy
gave
me
a warm breeze to gently sway us and the sound of crickets as the background music to our fairytales. Now that I’m older it’s where I go to think, and even if I h
ave
to make Tennessee build a porch on that humungous pack house, it
’
s coming with us and w
ill
be put up.

Taping down a flap on the last box Emily ask
s
, “Since we’re done here, do you need help packing, Bonnie?”

“Good heavens yes
!”

“You guys go ahead over and I’ll meet you there after I run an errand
,
” I t
ell
them.

“Don’t even think
you’re
going
somewhere
without me,
darlin’
,
” Pike warn
s
.

“I don’t need p
rotecting, Tennessee
,
” I reply
taking our conversation into our minds.

“We’ve went over this, until the threat to you is eliminated I will be stuck to your side like glue. Go ahead and let that sink in so you can get over it and then we can proceed to the grave yard so you can visit with your
Dad
dy.”

“H-how?”
I could’ve sworn I’
ve
been blocking my thoughts when
I was deciding to go to
Dad
dy’s
grave.

“Nope, we’ll have to work on you  blocking yourself, but if I’m gonna be honest with ya, darlin’, I love knowing I can slip into your thoughts at any moment.”
I want to be mad at him for being to
o
controlling but I
c
an
feel through our connection that he
’
s doing it all to keep me safe. I c
a
n’t get mad about that and I
’m not
ready to block him, anyways. Our mating
i
sn’t complete and until it
i
s I want us open to each other.

“Alright Tennessee, you can come with me. I’d like to properly introduce you to my
Dad
dy since you’re gonna be around for awhile.”

“Awhile?”

“Yes. What’s wrong with awhile?”

“It’s more like I’ll be around till the good lord pulls the last breath from my body.”
He grab
s
me around my waist and pull
s
me to his chest.
“This is forever Bloom Michael, I’m not some teenage boy making promises I know I can’t keep. I’m a shifter and when I promise you forever you better believe I mean it. Got it?”

“Yes.”
It c
o
me
s
out more as a
sigh
. This man ha
s
succeeded in healing up the hole in my heart and now he
’
s tattooing his name all over it, just in case someone ha
s a question about who
it belong
s
to.

Oh we’re all his alright and he’s all ours.
My wolf grins from pointy ear to pointy ear.

“Good
,
”
h
e replies
and then his mouth
i
s on mine demanding I submit to his claim o
n
me.

“What the h
eck just happened?” Bonnie asks
breaking through the bubble that
’
s just the two of us.

“What do you mean?” Emily ask
s
looking back and forth between Bonnie and us.

“Instead of arguing they just stared at each other and then started to make out in front of us. Not that I
’m
complaining because that part was pretty
…
wow! But still, what the heck?”

Laughing at Bonnie’s description Emily explain
s
, “They were talking through their mate connection
. It looks like they resolved whether or not Pike
i
s going with her and by the grin on his face I’d say he won.”

“Wait, go back. What’s this about a mate connection? Is that your way of saying they’re psychic now?” Bonnie’s brow scrunche
s
up as she stare
s
at us as if she just
needs to look
harder
and
she’
ll
be able to see a string that connect
s
us.

“No, it’s not like that at all. They can’t read everyone’s minds, just each others. It’s something special between mated pairs so they’ll be able to protect and care for one another. It makes the mating easier especially when one of the mates isn’t use to our ways. It’s a lot easier to explain being connected when you have a way to prove it. Now that Pike is the alpha he’ll be able to connect with all the pack members thoughts as well, though alpha’s only use that ability when they sense someone could be hiding something dangerous to themselves or the pack.”

“Please tell me that my moving into this wolf house of yours won’t make me pack, because I’m so not ready for
Big Bad
here to be sorting through my most secret thoughts.” She cock
s
her hip and stare
s
at Pike waiting for an answer.

“No, Bonnie, you won’t be official pack just by moving into the house. Though if you decide
you want to become pack there is a way to do it. If you’re gonna be living amongst us it might be something you’ll want to consider.”

Bonnie’s face
goes
from one of relief to one of intrigue. She may not be ready to apply to be part of the pack today, but she
is
n’t going to dismiss the idea either.

“I’ll think about it,
Big Bad
.”

“Okay, now that that was thrown out there, let’s go get this stuff done. No offense to Ohio, but I’m ready to be home. So the sooner we get this done and get on the road the better.” Emily
’
s already headed to the door before anyone c
an
respond and just before she step
s
outside she tosse
s
over her shoulder, “Pike join me real quick. I need to have a word with ya.”

Chapter 27 – Pike

~
I don’t want to lose you
~

“You summoned me?” I kno
w my voice
drips
of
sarcasm, but as her alpha I d
o
n’t appreciate being ordered around. Damn these women, not one of them
are
giving me the respect my position demand
s
.