Reviving Bloom (32 page)

“You know we could’ve left out the part about Rose being my mom
,
”
Bloom grumble
s
through our connection though outward she
’
s still smiling at the pack as they all c
o
me up to greet her.

“Darlin’, you can’t deny someone wh
en she’s
your spitting image.”

“We could force her to have plastic surgery. Turn her into the pack’s version of Joan Rivers.”

“Too late for that darlin’, t
he pack has already seen you and they’ve known Rose long enough to know what she looks like.
”

“Dang, well keep it in mind for later. I might get tired of hearing people talk about how much we look alike.”

“Ok, darlin’.”
I g
i
ve her side a reassuring squeeze as she sh
a
k
es yet another hand and then say,
“Heads up, the elders
and their mates
are coming over.”

Her head sw
i
ng
s
around searching the room
, she easily f
i
nd
s
the group that
’
s descending upon us and plaster
s
on her warmest smile,
“We need them to help, Tennessee.”

“Don’t worry, darlin’,
they’ll love you so much they’ll be begging to help
.”

“Pike, I’m
so
pleased to hear
our
Kit and
your
Emily are mates. They make such a wonderful pair.” Isla Drake greet
s
me wrapping me up in her arms the same way she’
s
been doing since I was a little boy. Isla
i
s 46 and ha
s
long curly hair the same auburn color as her son
, Kit. She
i
s petite for a wolf only reaching
five foot five to her mate Noah
’
s six foot one. She’
s the peace keeper on the council and I kn
o
w she’
ll
love Bloom, not just because I d
o
, it
’ll
be because Isla love
s
everyone she me
e
t
s
.
My mom use to say Isla could find the good in a serial killer.

“I’m awful pleased, too. Emily’s pretty darn lucky to being getting you as a mother-in-law. I might have to tag along to some of your family dinners with her so I can steal me some of your
down home
cookin’.”

She pat
s
my chest and
laugh
s
, “
You are always welcome at my table. But there is no need to wait,
anytime you want some of my food you just call me up and I’ll whip some up for ya.” Isla turn
s
her smile to Bloom and sa
ys
, “Now, introduce me to this beautiful girl of yours.”

I place my hand on the small of Blooms back, “Darlin’, this is Elder Isla Drake and her mate Noah. Isla, Noah, this is my mate Bloom Daniels.” Bloom stretch
es
out her hand expecting the elder to shake it, but Isla being Isla pull
s
my mate
into the same kind of hug she’s
just given to me.

Isla release
s
Bloom from the hug, “Welcome to our pack Bloom. I look forward to getting to know you as our new Alpha female and hopefully as a new friend.”

“That is very sweet of you, thank you Elder Isla.” Bloom g
i
ve
s
the older woman a genuine smile
. “Please, say you’ll come to our suite tomorrow morning for breakfast. We’re inviting all the Elders to discuss some issues and I’d love
it
if you’d join us.”

Isla return
s
the smile and nod
s
, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Then turning to her mate and grabbing his arm, “Come on, Noah, we don’t want the rest of the wolves to get mad because we’re monopolizing the new mates.” Noah nod
s
at me and sh
a
k
es
Bloom
’
s ha
nd then follow
s
after his mate. He
i
sn’t being rude. Noah
i
s just a quiet man who
i
s content to let Isla do the talking for both of them. Though I kn
o
w never to confuse hi
s being quiet as
him being weak, I ha
ve
seen Noah (in his wolf form) take down a 12 point buck like it was nothing more than wobbly legged fawn.

Isla
and
Noah a
re followed by Price
’
s parents Fina
and
Lucas Greene. Elder Fina
i
s a pistol who live
s
up to her fire engine red hair. I’m certain if you look up the definition of sassy in the dictionary you’
ll
find a picture of Fina
beside it. She grab
s me into a
hug then proceed
s
to ignore me to give my mate attention.

“Now, I don’t know what happened between you and that momma of yours, but I know a rift when I see one, and I’m here to tell you that if you need help putting your momma in her place for whatever she screwed up you holler at ole Fina. You hear me?” Fina inform
s
Bloom of
t
his as she
’
s holding her in a tight hug, not much different than the one Isla had just given her.

“Um
…” Bloom look
s
at me and then back at Fina before she finishe
s with a, “yes
ma’am.”

“Good, now we’ll see you kids in the morning for this breakfast you’re hosting. Do you need me to bring anything? Pastries, fruit, liquor?”

“Liquor for breakfast?” Bloom ask
s
as Lucas Greene step
s
around his wife to give her a hug.

“Doll, with that m
any
dominate wolves in one room, you
’re
gonna need something to cut through the testosterone.
”

“Um
…”

“Fi don’t scare the girl before she gets a chance to know us,” Lucas chastise
s
his wife then turn
s
back to Bloom and sa
ys
, “Don’t listen to this one. Us males aren’t that bad, fill our stomachs with some good home cookin’ and we’ll be so sated that we won’t even think of att
acking each other. At least for a good forty minutes
.”

Bloom
s mouth drop
s
open and Lucas chuckle
s
. I lean into her and whisper, “Darlin’, he’s pulling your leg.” She look
s at me
then Lucas and he g
i
ve
s
her a wink accompanied by a wolfish grin then saunter
s
away with his wife, still chuckling.

Elder Cathal Burke and his mate Shea walk up and introduce themselves
next
. Cathal at
56
i
s the head of the Elders and his wife
i
s only a year his junior. He
i
sn’t a large man the way Noah or Grady
are being less than
five foot
ten
, but
his dominance
i
s so strong that it ma
k
e
s
him seem ten feet tall, and maybe a little bullet proof. He had been my father
’
s beta and there was never a question as to why he held that position.
His mate, Shea,
i
s quiet and soft spoken on most occasions, preferring to sit back to take a room in instead of joining in, but if you c
an
spark her interest in a topic you’
ll
be treated to the fire
that
lays
behind her gentle appearance.

After the Burke
s c
o
me Elder Andrew and Lilith Cade.
Andrew Cade always remind
s
me of a fallen angel with his dark hair, pale skin and sharp sculpted features. People who s
ee
Andrew would guess him to be vampire instead of the dark wolf he truly
i
s.
I
f
Andrew
i
s a fallen ange
l his mate, Lilith,
would
be
an angel still in
god’s
grace, with her pale blonde hair that
i
s closer to white than blonde. Skin that ha
s
a soft
ivory
color and honest to god the woman ha
s
violet eyes. The only thing the pair
is
missing
is
contrasting black and white wings sprouting from their backs.

The last elder to approach
i
s Elder Darius Arden
and his mate Mae.
Darius
i
s an older black man with salt and pepper hair. The elder and his mate st
an
d right around the same height, five foot ten. Mae
i
s of Italian descent and ha
s
the olive skin to prove it.

Bloom invite
s
all the elders to breakfast in our suite the next morning. Of course they all accept.

Once the welcomes stop Bonnie c
o
me
s over and joins
us.

She lock
s
arms with Bloom and then look
s
at me and ask
s
, “So
Big Bad
is it time for that tour?”

“Aren’t you two tired? It has been a long day.”

They look at each other and then back at me. Their faces remind me of children on Christmas morning, alight with excitement
,
anxious to see what the shinny
wrapping paper will
reveal. In unison they answer, “We’re not tired!”

“Alright, give me a minute to call Tuck.”

“Tuck?” Bonnie ask
s
Bloom.

“Tucker
. He’s
the oldest of my three brothers
,
” Bloom explain
s
.

“Oh yeah, so is he hot?”

“Bonnie!”

“Well is he or isn’t he?”

“He’s my brother!”

“He could be your hot brother.
”

“I thought you weren’t going to get involved with members of the pack.”

“I didn’t say I wanted to be his mate and give birth to his pups. Geesh Blu, I just want to know if he
is easy on the eyes.” They’
re still standing with their arms locked together but now both of them ha
ve
their other arms cocked on their hips and
a
re staring the other one down.

“Bon
…
”