31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Pike

Several days later, Pike quietly eased the front door of Kimble’s house shut, then stood on the porch. It was five in the morning, the pre-dawn light weakly illuminating the heavy mist that had formed during the night. If his life was a horror movie it would be creepy, but because the loves of his life were asleep in the house behind him, the mist was romantic instead.

Opening his mouth wide, he exhaled to watch his warm breath turn white as it met the cold air. His inner bear wanted to shift and forage on the new land, but he held the beast back. The last thing he wanted to do was upset the pack by shifting without giving them proper warning.

Not that they’d indicated it would be an issue. Everyone had taken great pains in the last few days to tell him how welcome he was and that they had his scent so he could shift at any time, and no one would attack him. It was nice, but he was still cautious.

The real question now was what the hell was he going to do with his life?

Kimble had his life back, Cora had her company, but what did Pike have? He wasn’t even employed anymore. He felt adrift and redundant. He didn’t even need to cook for Cora any longer. If they weren’t joining one of the wolf families for dinner, then food was delivered to the house. When he’d tried to politely object, they’d only smiled and pushed the containers at him anyway. The Laske Pack was determined to feed Kimble’s flock.

They were all so nice but made Pike feel obsolete.

Needing to move, he took all three porch steps in one stride and headed to the path he’d seen yesterday. Someone said it circled the fenced-in portion of the compound and was about two and half miles all the way around. That sounded like a nice walk to help clear his head.

“Pike?” He turned to find Annette watching him with a worried expression. How had she snuck up on him?

“Hi, Annette. I thought I’d hike the path around the property,” he said, pointing to where he was going.

She nodded her head, but her eyebrows didn’t smooth out. “Your mates are tucked away in bed, and you decided to go for a walk? Are you feeling ok?”

Guilt hit him. A good bear wouldn’t leave his mates’ sides while they slept. On the heels of his guilt was aggravation. Who was Annette to ask him questions like that?

Feeling annoyed at Annette, who’d been nothing but nice to him, caused the guilt to come back even worse. What was wrong with him?

As if sensing his turmoil, Annette stepped back a few feet and tried to smile at him. “I’m not judging you. I only wanted to see if you needed anything.”

Pike blew out a long sigh and felt his shoulders slump. Shoving his hands in his pants pockets, he stared down at his shoes. “I’m a bear, mated to a vampire and a human, and now I live with a bunch of wolves. Life feels weird.”

Annette made a sympathetic sound and stepped up next to him. “It seems like you need to talk. Let’s walk the path, and you can tell me everything going on in your head.”

“It’s a mess,” Pike admitted, falling into step with the alpha.

“I’ve raised three cubs. I’m good at cleaning up messes,” she offered, making him chuckle.

Annette was a good listener and let Pike pour out all his thoughts and feelings. His love for Kimble and Cora, his worry about being good enough for them, his concern over Cora’s family, and his worry about his own place in the world .

The wolf didn’t give advice, only asked questions and sometimes helped him express his thoughts when he was struggling. She reminded him a lot of his dad; he was a good listener too.

Before he knew it, an hour had passed, and they’d done a full circuit and were starting on the second one. Feeling calmer, Pike stopped at the section where three paths intersected with the circuit. One would lead off to a cluster of houses, one would lead to Kimble’s house, and the third to the barn.

He was hungry and ready to make a hearty breakfast for himself and Cora before she left for work. If he was quick, he could get it done before anyone delivered food. “Thanks for the walk. I think I’ll head back to Kimble’s house.”

“Can I say something before we part?” Annette asked.

Pike braced himself. “What?”

“It’s not Kimble’s house; it’s your house. The three of you might be in different bodies, but you share souls now, that makes you almost a single entity. What belongs to Kimble belongs to you and vice versa. You need to start thinking of this place as your home. And most importantly, they bonded with you, not someone else. You are who they want, that means you could never be a disappointment to them.”

“I feel so useless,” he admitted. “I want to do more than keep house for them.”

“You do,” Annette argued. “You love them.”

Pike rubbed a hand over his head. “It doesn’t feel like enough. They’re both so successful, and I’m just me. I can’t even fight. The only reason I can act as a bouncer is because most of the clients are human, and they’re easy to pick up and carry out of the club. The shifters tend to go because they smell bear, but if any of them challenged me, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

Annette blew out a long breath then said very quickly, “I’ve never been in a fight.”

Pike blinked in surprise. “I thought you have to fight to be alpha.”

She snorted. “Alphas that have to fight for their position are shit leaders. Healthy, well-adjusted packs are formed when wolves want to follow an alpha because they know they’ll be cared for. Most packs are small, basically extended families, and rarely have any issues. When they get as big as ours, it’s common for outside wolves to challenge the alpha. If they win, then they can claim all the pack's wealth for themselves. But I’ve never been challenged. No one has ever even looked at me sideways. Do you know why?”

“I don’t know that much about wolf pack dynamics,” Pike said with a shrug.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. It’s not because of my powerful build,” she said with a twist of her lips as she stepped back and held out her arms. She was a lovely woman who looked to be in her mid-forties, but nothing Pike would call menacing. “It’s because of Kimble. None of our leaders have ever been challenged because we have a vampire. While he was gone, I lived in constant fear that someone would find out and our pack would face challenges. We’re fiercely loyal to Kimble, not because he bought this property and has all kinds of funds and trusts set up for us, but because he’s always made it a priority to keep us safe. That means we want you and Cora happy also.”

Stepping up to him, Annette grabbed his hands in hers. “I will do anything to make you feel better. If you want to spend an hour walking and talking every morning, I’ll set my alarm. If you want to go to college, I’ll help you apply. If you want to start a business, I’ll walk you through the paperwork. Do you understand me, Pike? You are as precious to me as any other member of my pack because you’re part of Kimble.”

Uncomfortable with her intensity, Pike tried to make a joke. “Be careful, I might ask for a blood sacrifice!”

“I know you’re trying to be funny, but I’m going to answer the unasked question: what if you ask for too much, and we come to resent you?”

Pike’s eyes went a little wide. He was impressed at Annette's level of intuition. “I don’t want to upset anyone.”

“I doubt you could,” Annette said, letting go of Pike’s hands. “If Kimble picked you to be in his flock, then you must have the same sense of kindness and duty as he does. I don’t fear the requests because I know they’ll all be reasonable and even tame.” Turning, she pointed at the bare patch of earth behind the barn. “I have a suggestion for you. A project to think about. You should turn that into a garden fit for a bear to forage in.”

It took him a moment to realize she was referencing the garden he was helping his mother create. It was one of the many topics he’d mentioned during their conversation .

“I don’t know,” he hedged, but he could already see the way he’d organize the space.

“We had a kitchen garden there once, but the couple who created and maintained it got too old, and no one else wanted to take over the duty,” she explained. “It would be nice to have one again. I can get you a pack credit card.”

Pike wasn’t surprised by the offer, but he was startled at how badly he wanted to accept. “I’ll think about it.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he wanted to call them back. There was no thinking. There was only want. The area was calling to him, just like his parents’ backyard. He was desperate to start working in the soil with the knowledge that he’d eventually coax a fabulous garden to grow.

“If it would help the pack, I could probably find the time,” he said before Annette could respond to his lukewarm response. “I’ll have to see when I can borrow my parents’ truck though. I’m going to need a lot of supplies.”

Annette smiled broadly and pointed to the barn. “All the tools and the utility vehicle are in there to use, no one has touched them in years.” she frowned thoughtfully. “The vehicle might need to be serviced so I’ll talk to Kell about it.”

Pike had to keep himself from rushing off to the barn to start looking at what they had. “Thanks, Annette.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she warned. “I have a feeling the pack will start putting in requests as soon as they find out what you’re doing. As far as borrowing a truck, you can use one of the pack vehicles. I’ll send Kell over with keys. We have plenty of cars and trucks, so don’t feel like you have to return the keys. Use it as you need to.”

Then she said something under her breath about the sorry state of his Caddy. He ignored the accurate comment and started for the barn.

“Thanks, Annette,” he called back. Maybe being part of a wolf pack wasn’t so bad after all.

***

Cora

Waking up to the smell of food wasn’t unusual for Cora anymore. Pike was an early riser and often hurried to cook her something fabulous for breakfast. She’d never eaten so well in her life and if she wasn’t careful, she was going to need to buy bigger sized jeans.

Sitting up, she looked down at Kimble. His eyes were open but with the out-of-focus aspect she’d gotten used to seeing when it was daytime. With his returning strength, he could get up and move around during the day, but only for a limited time. Each day he could stay awake a little longer, so she expected he’d be able to resist day sleeping within a few months.

“I’m getting up,” she warned him. Sometimes he’d get up with her and other times, he’d wait until after breakfast so he could help her shower and get dressed for the day before going back to bed.

His bedroom en suite boasted a massive shower stall with two shower heads so they could all get clean together. Well, mostly clean. Shower sex seemed to be Kimble’s new favorite thing, and Cora wasn’t about to talk him out of it!

“Later,” Kimble mumbled, then let his eyelids drop closed.

“Okay, I’ll come back after breakfast,” Cora promised and dropped a kiss on his cheek. He smiled before his features relaxed back into unconsciousness.

Pulling on a robe, Cora shuffled out into the kitchen just as Pike was about to place two heaping plates of food in the oven to keep them warm.

“You’re up!” he said with way more excitement than a Thursday morning warranted. “I made French toast the way you like it with extra cinnamon.”

Cora stopped dead in the large opening to the kitchen and blinked at him. “I need coffee.”

Pike’s expression turned sympathetic, and he lowered his voice a little. “Sorry, I forgot about the sleepy Cora rule.” He set the plates on the kitchen table and pulled out a chair. “Come sit, mate. I’ll fix you a cup of coffee.”

It took at least two cups of coffee before Cora could carry on a conversation. In sharp contrast, Pike was ready to start his day the moment he opened his eyes and had to learn to keep his chatty nature in check until Cora had a little time to finish the painful process of waking up.

No sooner did she sit down than Pike was plunking a mug of coffee with the perfect amount of cream in front of her. She ignored the food and slurped down half the mug in one go. Holding the warm mug in both hands, she let a contented sigh ease out of her.

“That’s better,” she murmured. Pike brought the coffee pot and creamer to the table, then took his own seat and started shoveling food in his mouth.

Considering he’d seemed a little depressed the last few days, this change in mood was startling. First, she finished her coffee, then broke the silence with a question.

“What’s going on?”

Pike straightened in his chair and lowered his fork full of food as joy and enthusiasm radiated off him. “I’m going to design and plant a giant garden for the pack!”

His declaration wasn’t anything she expected. “That’s great?”

“Isn’t it!” he said, obviously not hearing the question in her words. “Kell gave me the keys to a truck and said I can use it every day if I need to. I’m going to spend the day clearing the old garden area and breaking up the soil. I promise I’ll have dinner ready for you when you get back.”

Cora latched on to the last part. “You don’t have to cook for me. You’re not my house-spouse. Spend your days doing anything you want.”

“House-spouse!” Pike chortled. His phone chimed, and his laughter disappeared as he looked at the screen. Dropping his fork on his plate with a clink, he picked the device up and typed. The happiness of earlier was gone, replaced by a furrowed brow and tightly pressed lips.

Cora poured a second cup of coffee and added cream while Pike sent a message to whoever took his smile away. She heard the whoosh sound of a sent message just after taking a sip of another perfect cup of coffee.

Pike sat the phone down and looked at her, trying to smile. “So I was thinking—hey!”

Cora swiped the phone to see who’d made him unhappy.

Don't you have anything? I'm really struggling right now. Come on, you're my big bro. You've always got something.

I'm sorry, I only have a little cash and that's it. All my credit cards are maxed out.

When do you get paid?

I lost my jobs, remember?

Ask your human for money. She seems like she'd have plenty. I can't pay my rent!

I'll talk to Mom and Dad today. I can try to sell the caddy, but that'll take time.

The identity at the top of the window said Sis and the three dots were moving, telling Cora there was probably a rude message incoming.

Before she did anything, she looked up to warn Pike of her intentions. “I’m going to message your sister. If she needs money for rent, I’ll pay the manager directly, but we won’t be handing her cash anymore.”

She expected Pike to get upset at her for being controlling, instead, the large man’s shoulders slumped in relief and a real smile tentatively formed on his face.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as several chimes indicated the arrival of Lucy’s response.

She waved the phone in the air. “You don’t ever have to deal with her again. Kimble and I will take care of her finances until she can handle them herself.”

“Then she and I can go back to the way we were,” Pike agreed. Cora had a bad feeling he didn’t realize Lucy wasn’t the adult he wanted her to be. But you couldn’t fix family, so she simply nodded her head.

Hello Lucy, this is Cora, the human. From now on I'm in charge of your finances. I'm going to text you my number so you can send me the contact info for your apartment manager. I'll pay him directly. You're not getting anymore money from Pike so don't bother asking.

“Be prepared for the fireworks until she gets used to it,” Cora warned as she read the messages from Lucy, all of them demanding money right away.

After she hit send, she pulled her phone from the robe pocket and copied Lucy’s number, then sent the same message again. Lucy’s response was rapid and full of vitriol. It was easy for Cora to remain calm in this situation. She had all the power.

Cussing at me won't help you. I'm going to block you on your brother's phone until you agree to be civil. You're free to complain to your patents, but I think we both know they won't advocate for you. It's time to grow up, Lucy.

Cora quickly blocked Lucy’s number on Pike’s cell and turned hers to silent. She was sure that Lucy would only send abuse until she realized two things: Cora was serious, and there was no one left to manipulate.

Satisfied with her morning work, Cora handed Pike back his phone. “Lucy’s blocked. I’ll tell you when you can unblock her.”

Again, Pike only looked relieved. “She’s a good person. It’s just that she’s dealing with a bad break up and having a hard time holding down a job.”

Cora made a sympathetic sound. “I’m not going to let your sister go homeless or starve, but she can’t treat you like this, okay?”

Pike nodded. “She really tries to be responsible with her money though, I swear.”

Cora didn’t argue with him. That wasn’t what he needed right now. “We’ll help her, but no more cash, got it? She’ll find some way to talk to you. That means you need to stay strong.”

“That’s easy to do when you don’t really have money,” Pike tried to joke.

“I’m sure you’d sell a kidney if she pressured you enough,” Cora said. Unlike Pike, she wasn’t joking. Pike was much too good for this world, and it was Cora’s job to keep him safe despite himself.

She knew Kimble would agree.