Reviving Bloom (7 page)

“
Are you ready?” I ask back. 

“You know what I’m talking about
Blo
om Mich
ael.” You can always tell an adult is
being
serious when the
y use you
r
first and middle name
.

“I’m ready Billy, but if you don’t mind I won’t be helping. I’m not sure I can go through his stuff yet.”
I admit
,
not meeting his eyes because apparently watching the condensation on my glass is more important.

He places his hand under my chin, forcing me to look him in the eyes. “
I know doll
, that’s why I’m here
.” He s
tands
up from the table, c
o
me
s
around Pike and g
i
ve
s
me a
one armed
hug. “I’m going to get started. Holler if you need me to save you from that bear of a dog.”

“Not needed Billy.
He’s a teddy bear.” I prove it by getting on the floor with Pike and cuddling him close to my chest.

“Yeah yeah a 300 lb teddy bear that c
an
rip out a man’s throat. Real cuddly,” I hear him mumble as he walk
s
out of the kitchen.

After cleaning up the mess from breakfast I decide to straighten up the living room as well. I
’m
elbow deep in the dust bunnies behind the couch when I fe
el
Pike nudging my leg. Crawling out and wiping my hands on my jeans I ask him, “
What’s wrong?”

He turn
s
and point
s
his head towards the clock hanging on the wall. I ha
ve
less than thirty minutes to get ready and drive to town to meet Bonnie.
How a dog can know that is baffling
, but
I have no time to think about it because I
have to get ready.
Hopping up I rush into the bathroom and start stripping off my dirt covered clothes and t
a
k
e
the quickest shower of my life. In my haste I
forget
clean clothes, which normally wouldn’t be
a problem but with Billy in the house I
can’t
walk around in a towel, so I peek out the door to see if the coast
i
s clear then beg
i
n a mad dash for my room. I ma
k
e it all of two steps before I trip and f
a
ll over Pike w
ho ha
s
decided to stand guard at
the bathroom door.
Trying to grasp the wall to
stop my fall I manage to pull a couple picture frames down with me.
I
’m
trying to stand up
,
hoping Billy didn’t hear my
fall
, but no such luck because he c
o
me
s
running out of
Dad
’s room.

“Are you ok
ay
doll?”
He asks stopping just short of the broken frames.

Pulling the towel around me tighter and trying
to
maneuver around the glass shards, “I’m fine. I just tripped.”

“
You look like you started a fight with the wall of pictures and the pictures won. And
your knee’s
a little banged
up. Do you want me to check it out? You might have glass in the cut.” He ma
k
e
s
a move to come help me
but Pike instantly g
e
t
s
in his way. Billy trie
s
to move to the other side to get
by but Pike
’s
faster and block
s
that way as well.

The two stare each other down for a good minute, before Billy look
s
away. Pike must have won because
Billy thr
o
w
s
his hands up, “Fine pup I won’t doctor up her knee. Sorry
do
ll
it looks like your guard refuses to let me help you. You best go clean up that knee before you bleed all over the floor. I’ll get the broom and clean this glass up.”
Then he proceed
s
to stomp toward the kitchen.

Running my hand through Pike’s coat
in a soothing voice I tell him
, “Ok
ay
come with me you big brute. I’ll clean up my own knee. No help from Billy.”

Yelling after Billy’s retreating form
, “Sorry, I’m not sure why he’s acting this way. Thanks for getting the glass
though
.”

“No problem. Just don’t
let that horse boss you around, if you start now he’ll always have the upper hand.
”
Billy calls from the kitchen
.

Heading back to the bathroom I holler over my shoulder, “He’s just a dog Billy. He can’t boss
anyone
around.”

“Tell that to him!” I hear him reply in a chuckle.

Chapter 10 – Pike

~
I’m a little taken with him as well
~

Take out the part where the trap caught my
paw
and last night was one of the best nights of my life. It took all the control I ha
ve
not to shift back to my human form wh
ile
I was laying in bed with her. God, if she knew what was racing through my mind when she was rubbing her hands over my coat she’d stop thinking of me as an innocent dog.

A dog! The woman thinks I’m a dog, and not even a scary dog. A dog she trusted enough to bring into her home and allow
s
to share her bed. 

I’ve been called a lot of things over the years, including being likened to a hell hound, come to bring the wrath of
Satan
, but nobody has ever mistaken me for a common house pet. I can’t decide if I’m insulted or should be happy that I don’t scare her. Ok
ay
, I am happy she’s not afraid of me, but I think my alpha ego is bruised. I’m suppose
d
to intimidate people. People like Billy, but you see how that’s going. And
I know I promised no more growling at this guy, but I can’t help
myself
when she’s running around in those tiny shorts she
tries to pass off as
pajamas.

Hell
,
because of the little towel move she just pulled I almost killed the man
.
She would’ve never forgiven me for that one;
I don’
t care how nice of a guy he
may be
,
he’s rubbing
my wolf and me the wrong way
.
M
y wolf doesn’t want anyone but him around her when she’s practically naked.
What the heck happened to flannel pajamas or even a robe? It would’ve been a much more sensible choice when you have
a man
running around your home
that’s not your mate
. If it
’s
just her and me she could los
e
the towel and I’d be fine, more than fine
.
I
’d
shift and ha
ve
her in my arms in less than a heartbeat. But no, she has to run around in baby
doll
sized shorts and towels
that
a
re meant to clean dishes
not
cover wet bodies
. This woman is so going to be
the death
of me, a
beautiful death, but a death none the less.

Then there’s Billy. I’m not sure what it is about t
his man, but he seems to know more than he’s letting on. Ever since he tried to stare me down in the hallway I’ve been expecting him to out me as a
shifter
. I know there are humans that know the truth about us, hell most of the humans in our small town know that we exist and they protect the secret. But I’ve seen no sign of
shifter
activity in this community so how c
an
this man know. I just hope the old fool doesn’t out me before I have to chance to do it myself. She needs to hear it from me, not him.

Reminding her of the time was a huge mistake on my part, but thankfully she was too preoccupied to
analyze that
she was reminded by her “dog
.
” I
’ll
have
to be extra careful around her or she’s going to figure out herself that I’
m not
an ordinary canine.

I watch her clean up her knee, which
i
s unbelievably hard. I’ve never wanted to care for someone who
i
sn’t my family, and with her I’
m
becom
ing
annoyingly protective. Once she ha
s
it bandaged up I rub my muzzle against her hand, it seems to reassure me in a way I never believed possible.
Her touch has a soothing affect on my wolf, I’m not sure if it’s a mate thing or Bloom thing. I’m leaning more towards it being a Bloom thing.

It t
a
k
es
her less than five minutes to finish getting ready. I expected her to get dolled up, most of the women I know won’t leave the house without a couple layers of make-up and their hair poufed to perfection, but
like I said
she keeps surprising me. She braid
s
her wet hair and thr
o
w
s
on a pair of worn Levi’s and a lace trimmed tank and absolutely no make-up touche
s
her face.
She le
aves
me with no other choice but to openly drink her in with my eyes. Though to her it probably looked like a normal dog with his tongue ha
nging out.
I’ve always been comfortable as my wolf but there’s something about Bloom that has me craving my two legged form more.

Following her to the truck I wait as she open
s
the door for me then leap into the passenger sea
t. She climb
s
into the
driver’s
side
and head
s
us toward town. We
’
re running late so she call
s
her friend and let
s
her know we
’
re on our way.
The woman dr
i
ve
s
like she
i
s in the Indy 500, taking curves on two wheels. I c
a
n’t look out the windows
without
it making me car sick and the thought of sticking my big wolf head out the window
for air
i
s even scarier. She’
ll
probably take my head off with a mail box if I d
o
. Giving up on watching the road I la
y
my head on her
lap. She t
a
k
es
one hand of
f
the wheel
to rub
behind my ears the rest of the way to town, which both please
s
and scare
s
me. The thought of her driving th
is
reckless with only one hand
i
s extremely frightening, but I c
a
n’t force myself to move away from her touch.
So if we die in a fiery crash, so be it, at least I can say I have her hands on me when I go.

Less than 15 minutes after leaving the house I fe
el
the truck come to
a
stop and she shift
s
into park. We exit
the truck
and walk towards a brick building that
’
s situated next to a small park. A little bell jingle
s
against the door when we walk in and looking around I t
a
k
e
in all the pet supplies. I’m letting this woman bring me to a freaking Vet
.
S
he
’ll
owe me big time for this one
. I know my paw has already healed thanks to my
shifter
DNA, but she doesn’
t know that so I should be thankfull she cares enough to get me treatment
.