"What do you need, Rose?" Bloom asks. Hearing my own name has never caused as much pain as it does when she says it. I'd rather hear the three letter "M" word, but she's made it clear that'll never happen. I swallow the emotional lump that's clogging my throat. "I know whose pack Kyran has coming with him."
Pike jerks away from Bloom as he comes to sit at the edge of the cushion. "Who?"
"The Wright Pack out of Kentucky."
His eyes narrow with suspicion. "Are you in contact with him? Is that how you have this information?"
"No!"
"How?" Pike demands.
"Because they're my original pack. My sister is still a member and she called me when he showed up there."
Before I can even blink Pike has me backed against the wall with his hand pressed to my throat. "You were hiding him! He helped kidnap my mate. She was almost..." His words become a true growl as he continues. "She was almost raped! And still you help hide him from my rightful justice!"
With my hands pulling on his to stop any attempt at squeezing tighter, I cry out. "He's my son! I can't hand him over to die."
Pike's hand goes tighter but before he can kill me Tucker pulls him away. Then he spins on me himself and growls. "Your son handed his own sister over to a psychopath. For that he forfeits his life. You know the way of the wolves, Mom, so you know you can't protect him."
I sag against the wall in defeat. "I know."
From behind Tucker, Pike, rumbles. "If that's why you came here then you can leave."
My body slides down until I'm sitting on the floor. My head falls into my hands as I sigh. "There's more."
"What else can you possibly have to say?" Pike asks, glaring at me from behind Tucker.
"I know why the Wright Pack is agreeing to attack with Kyran."
Bloom crosses the room to Pike, placing her hands on his arms to soothe him. They look into each other's eyes and I know they're having a conversation through their bond. When she looks away from him her eyes come to me, and instead of asking me why she answers why. "They want me."
Oh, hell!
The rumors that are swirling around are true. I didn't want to believe it. It's a gift that few know of and even fewer have, but she has it. "You're an Oracle." I say my head snapping up to look at her.
She nods in confirmation.
I pull my legs to my chest, dropping my head to my knees, as I start chanting to myself. "Oh, no! Oh, no! I never wanted this for you. Oh, god. Please, no."
So lost in my own head I don't feel anyone coming closer until I feel a hand touch my shoulder. I look up, and through my tear soaked eyes I find Bloom. "What didn't you want for me, Rose?"
I latch on to her wrist. "This! You can't be an Oracle! This is what they planned!" Shaking my head in disbelief. "I didn't know, but this is it. I thought I prevented this from happening to you." I looked her in the eyes, pleading with her to understand. "I tried to stop this from happening. I promise!"
I feel larger hands take my wrists and arms. They pull me away from Bloom and lift me off the floor. I fight against their hold to no avail. "Calm down, Mom." Tucker tries to get through to me.
"No! NO! I tried to stop it." I scream as I squirm, trying to get out of his grasp.
"Shit! Call for my dad." Tucker rumbles as he maneuvers me so his front is to my back, and his arms wrap around me, holding me in place.
"Already done." Pike tells him. "He's almost here."
"You knew I might have gifts." Bloom says to herself but the statement has every eye in the room focused on her. "You tried to prevent it from happening?"
She stands up, moving to stand right in front of me. "What did you do? Why did you feel you had to?" She keeps asking, more to herself than to me.
"I-I-I..." I stammer through my sobs, attempting to find the words to answer her.
She truly looks at me for the first time, not as the woman who abandoned her, but as her mother, and asks. "You what? Please, tell me, Rose."
Right then Grady walks in. He pulls me out of Tucker's arms and into his. With his cheek laying against the top of my head, and his hands rubbing my back he soothes me. "It's okay, Rosie. I'm here for you."
The tears slowly go away with his comforting touch, and I start to calm down. On a shaky breath I tell him. "I have to tell her everything."
"I know. I'll be with you when you do."
I squeeze him tight, and then pull away to face the room. Directing my question to my daughter I ask. "May I take a seat? This is a long story, but it's one you need to hear."
She nods her head instead of saying yes. I take a seat in one of the arm chairs, and she takes her previous seat in the middle of the couch, diagonal from the chair. Pike and Bonnie, once again, bracket her, giving her their support. Grady stands behind my chair, and puts his hand on my shoulder in a way of offering me support, as well.
"The reason the Wright Pack wants you is because you were promised to their former Alpha's son." Several people in the room gasp, but before any of them can break in with questions I continue. "For you to get all the answers you deserve I'll have to tell you my whole story."
Chapter 23 - Rose
Kentucky (1989)
"Rose, they're here." My mother called from our living room. I tossed the copy of Tiger Beat I was reading to the night stand, and rolled off the bed. I took a quick glance in my vanity to double check my appearance before I headed out.
Dad snagged me as soon as I entered the room, putting his arms around my shoulders, and gently squeezing me closer. "Here's my girl. Didn't I tell you how beautiful she is?"
The Alpha pair, Dean and Olivia Wright, stood from their seats on my mother's floral printed couch and walked closer. Dad released me, taking a step back, so they could inspect me without obstruction. I stood straighter, smiled brightly, and prayed my hands wouldn't shake, revealing how nervous I truly was. Alpha Olivia slowly circled me, scrutinizing every little detail. She lifted a chunk of my hair and asked Dad in a bored tone. "Is she a natural blonde?"
I couldn't see his reaction, but I could hear the pride in his voice when he answered. "Yes, Alpha. Even her wolf has a blonde coat." My blonde hair didn't make me special, there were plenty of other shifter girls with blonde hair, just not in our pack. So in Dad's eyes he saw it as a point in our favor. Another way for me to stand out and catch our Alphas’ attention.
Olivia nodded in response to his answer as she dropped the tendril of hair. She continued her thorough inspection, lifting my fingers to inspect my nails. Alpha Dean took a different approach. Instead of circling and taking in every aspect of my body, he choose to stand directly in front of me taking in my face. Maybe he wanted to see if I would crumble under his glare, combined with the inspection his mate was doing. Thankfully, though, I didn't. I knew I needed to impress these two. My family needed me to impress these two.
He broke the stare by taking my chin and turning my head to the left and right. "Your eyes are stunning."
"Thank you, Alpha." I managed to say without the words getting tangled on my tongue.
"You can call me, Dean, my dear." He said releasing me, and stepping back.
"Yes, Alpha. I'm sorry. Yes, Dean."
Alpha Olivia moved into her mate’s side, weaving her arm through his. Dean looked down at his smaller mate and asked. "So, Livy, what do you think?"
Her eyes raked over me as she answered. "She's much lovelier than the other females we've inspected."
Dean chuckled. "That's probably the closest you'll get to a compliment from my mate." His hand went to her slightly rounded belly. "Carrying my pup seems to have made her moodier than normal."
She placed her hand over his and looked up at him with a genuine smile. "That may be so, but I blame it on the little alpha you've put in me. Any female would get cranky having to deal with two demanding men."
"You're handling us both very well, my love." He said placing a kiss on the top of her head.
"I try. Now back to the task we have at hand."
She turned her attention back to me. "Rose, did your parent's explain how serious this assignment is?"
"We did, Alpha." Dad chimes in for me.
"Can she not answer for herself?" She snapped at him.
"Sorry, Alpha." Dad whimpered, showing his neck in submission.
"Now, Rose, did they?" Olivia repeated her question.
"Yes, Alpha, they did." I answered, quickly not wanting her to doubt my response.
"You understand that you'll be moving away from your family for a very long time?"
"Yes, Alpha."
"That you'll be required to court this human boy, and later breed with him?"
"Yes, Alpha." I echo my earlier response.
"You'll essentially be giving up your youth in service of your pack."
"It would be an honor, my Alpha." I reply, baring my neck in submission and respect.
Olivia released her mate so she could move to me. She stroked my bared neck with one hand while the other caressed her pregnant belly. "You and this human will create the perfect mate for our son. Bringing our pack great power in doing so."
****************************
My younger sister, Lily, laid on my bed, her stomach to the mattress, her legs up in the air, kicking back and forth. She was fourteen, only two years younger than me, and my best friend in the whole wide world. She propped her head up on her hand and said. "I can't believe you've agreed to this."
"I have to." I replied, instantly, as I continue to pack clothes into the suitcase my parents just bought me. I'd never needed one until that point, because I'd never left our pack territory.
"But you're going to be doin' it with a human!" She reminded me like I didn't already know that little fact.
I placed the shirt I was folding into the suitcase, and then collapsed beside Lilly on the bed. On a sigh I told her. "I know. But I won't have to go that far for a few years."
"Still..." She mumbled, scrunching up her face in disgust. "Why do the Alphas even want you to? What is there about this human that will make your baby so valuable?"
That was the big question, but my parents weren't asking it, so I knew it wasn't my place to ask neither. All I did know was that I had to do the task. My parents had dug themselves into a deep hole financially. And the Alpha's were offering too good of a reward for them not to offer me up as a breeding female. I was honored to be chosen. I'd be the mother of the future Alpha female. What shifter wouldn't want to take credit for that? But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared.
I won't be around my family for years. I can contact them but I won't be visiting. Part of my cover is that my parents are dead, and that I'm being raised by an Aunt. Another shifter named, Harper, is playing that role. In reality she's going to be my handler. Making sure I keep to the plan, and reporting back to the Alpha's on my progress. They introduced us and I have to say I really wasn't looking forward to spending years with that cold woman.
Ignoring the questions Lilly asked, that I had absolutely no answer for, I rolled to my side so I could face her and said. "I'm going to miss you, Lil."
She copied my move, rolling to face me, as well. Tears filled her eyes as she begged. "Don't go."
"You know I have to." I told her as I wiped a tear off her cheek.
"I hate our parents!" She wailed.
"Shh!" I pulled her close, wrapping her in my arms. "Don't say that. They're only doing what they have to."
Against my neck she cried. "They're selling you off like some trashy street walker."
"I'd prefer to be called an escort, and a high class one, if you're going to insist on referring to me as a lady of the night." I teased, tickling her side in an attempt to lighten the mood. Not just for her, but for me also. She was right though. I was being sold off like some breeding mare. My womb going to the highest bidder, without care for what I might really want. I knew there were true mates out there, but my pack leaned more towards the betrothed pairs. So even if I wasn't being forced upon some unknowing human I wouldn't have had a choice in my mate, anyways. My parents would've promised me off to some shifter male without my say.
"Stop being ridiculous." Lily giggled as she tried to squirm away from my reach.
I stood and pulled her up beside me. I took my Madonna t-shirt out of my suitcase. It was my favorite, with its cut neckline that made it fall off my shoulder. And I knew Lilly coveted it. I pushed it into her arms. "It's yours now."
She looked at the shirt in her arms and then me. Not missing a beat she carefully set the shirt on the bed like it was a great treasure. Then she removed the cross hanging around her neck. She'd seen the little white gold and diamond piece at the local jewelry store, and had wanted it so bad, but Mom and Dad couldn't afford it. So Lily saved money here and there, doing babysitting jobs and cleaning houses. It took her months but she finally saved up enough to buy it. She fastened it around my neck and I had to fight back tears.
"I can't."
"I want you to. It can remind you that there's someone in this world who loves and misses you."
"That someone being you?"
"Well, duh!" She responded throwing her arms around me for a hug that neither of us wanted to ever end.
****************************
Present Day
"I left that night for Ohio. To this day I've never returned to my original pack. It was only supposed to be a mission, and then I was going to return to my family."
"But you fell in love with Dad." Bloom whispers through tears that are silently sliding down her cheeks. Her hands are clutched around her necklace. The very same one my sister put around my neck when I was leaving home. The reminder that someone loved and missed me. I wanted my daughter to have that too, even if she wouldn't know that’s what the meaning was. So I left it behind for Michael, asking him to give it to her when she was old enough.
"Deeply so." I confirm, softly. Once again trying to fight the tears that are brought on by a single piece of jewelry. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to turn my back on my true mate." I whisper as I turn my head and kiss Grady's hand on my shoulder.
"You left knowing the Wright Pack could come for her at any time?" Billy asks, breaking his silence on a yell.
"No! I killed Harper before she could report back that I had given birth. And I got Lily to lie to our parents and the pack by telling them the baby was still born." I explain. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, releasing it before I continue. "A couple months into the pregnancy the Wright's started taking an interest in me again. For years they'd left me alone to do my thing. It's funny that the task that I had forced upon me is the thing that brought me freedom, but it did. But then it was confirmed I was having a girl and their interest peaked again. Their plan was working out, and I knew I had to protect you. I wasn't sure what was making you valuable to them, but I figured it had to be your wolf side. Your dad was human, but I'd pieced together that your grandma had wolf blood in her lineage. So I decided I needed to block your wolf. That way if they ever came looking for you, all they'd find is a human girl."
Shocked gasps roll though the room. "How?" Was asked by several people at once.
"Right after I found out you were a girl I started taking small doses of Aconitum. Not enough to poison either of us. Just enough that it would affect my unborn baby. I didn't even know if it would work. It was a wives tale I'd remember hearing from some she-wolves as a child."
"Aconitum?" Bloom asks, looking around for anyone who can explain.
"Wolf's Bane." Her great-aunt Amelia answers. "In small doses it can suppress your change. In large doses it's lethal."
"She could've killed you and herself." Pike adds with a glare in my direction.
Meeting his glare as long as I can without it being a challenge I say. "It was a risk I had to take to keep her out of their hands."
A loud rumbling growl comes from Pike as his Alpha vibes overwhelm the room. Bloom abandons her seat to climb into her mate’s lap. She strokes his face as he grips her tightly to h
im. Slowly the vibes recede, and the growling stops.
"Sorry." Bloom offers the room at large. "He doesn't like hearing my name associated with dying, even if the possibility was past tense."
"No shit!" Bonnie snaps off on a laugh. "Big Bad will challenge God himself when he decides to take you away."
"Not helping, Bon!" Bloom warns as the growling starts again.
"Never claimed to be." She shoots back on a mischievous smile.
"Bonnie-bean." Tucker growls in warning.
She crosses her arms and pouts. "You plan on ruining all my fun."
He leans down to her ear and loud enough for everyone to hear asks. "Do I need to let you have fun, my mate?"
Her eyes get large, she growls (well, as much as a human can) and warns. "Stop embarrassing me. I will stab you with my dagger!"
"Ah, foreplay." He sighs with a smirk on his face.
"Jesus! You two need to get your heads out of the bedroom and focus." Pike stops growling long enough to snap.
"What's more fun to focus on than my mate?" Tuckers asks.
"The fact that we now know why Bloom can't shift." Pike tells him.
"And that it can be cured." Amelia adds with a smile, causing every head in the room to turn and look at her.
Chapter 24
bloom daniels 02 - lightening bloom Page 10