6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Pike

Pike woke up in the early afternoon starving. On his right, Cora was sleeping peacefully, and beyond her, Kimble lay with the unnatural stillness that came with his daytime sleep.

As he expected, Kimble’s eyes shot open as he eased off the bed. The vampire’s brow wrinkled as he watched Pike stand up and stretch. Circling the end of the bed, he leaned over and gave Kimble a gentle kiss on the forehead.

“I’ll be in the kitchen cooking.”

Kimble gave a slight nod and closed eyelids over bright red eyes. Pike had found out that the red wouldn’t go away until Kimble completely came back to himself. Pike looked forward to finding out Kimble’s natural eye color as Kimble healed from his feral state.

With Cora in their lives, it could be any day now.

Feeling buoyant, Pike pulled on a pair of sweats and headed into the kitchen. The only window in the apartment was the one boarded up in the bedroom and a tiny one in the bathroom. The ancient fixtures never provided enough light, making the apartment always seem gloomy except in the kitchen where the industrial fixture beamed light down in one spot, the kitchen table.

Looking at his place with Cora in mind, Pike shook his head .

He lived in a hovel. It wasn’t messy, but everything was worn, poor quality, or both. He wished he had a nicer den to present to Cora. This must be how Kimble felt all the time, frustrated that he couldn’t provide for his flock.

“It’s fine,” Pike muttered to himself as he started pulling out ingredients to make biscuits and gravy. “Cora understands.”

If Cora rejected them, it wouldn’t be because of his financial circumstances. It would be because she didn’t want them on a personal level. The thought hurt, but he knew it was unlikely. He could already feel the bond between them growing.

Tossing some sausage into a pan, he set the burner on low, then pulled out a bowl to mix the biscuit dough. He wished he could put on some music to break up the silence, but he didn’t want to wake Cora up before she was ready.

Hopefully, the smell of food would pull her from sleep, and he could present her with a hearty breakfast. There were even bags of blood in the fridge left over from the last delivery Cora paid for, so Kimble could be fed too.

Humming to himself, he jumped a little when Cora’s phone started ringing. Rushing over, he grabbed it, pulled the short charging cable out, and answered it.

“Cora’s phone,” he whispered.

“Who the fuck is this?” a male voice asked.

He almost chuckled at hearing the word fuck used after their conversation before bed about fuck and flock. Clearing his throat, he answered.

“Uh, this is Pike, Cora’s boyfriend.” He liked the sound of that, so he repeated it. “Cora’s boyfriend, David Pike.”

“Cora doesn’t have a boyfriend,” the voice answered. “She has two-or-three night stands with guys that we never meet.”

“I’m going to be more than a one-night stand,” Pike answered. “We’ve only been dating about two weeks, but I already know she’s the love of my life.”

There was a moment of silence before the other person responded. “Love of your life after a couple of weeks? Oh shit, she’s going to eat you alive. Look man, you might want to leave before she causes permanent damage.”

Pike was an easy-going bear, but just like any bear, he could be possessive. He frowned, then made some demands of his own. “Who is this? Why do you want me to leave Cora? Do you want her?”

The man laughed. “Chill, she’s my sister. I’m only warning you off for your own good. She can be mean.”

If this man was Cora’s brother, Pike needed to be nice to him. Even if he sounded like an asshole. “Cora isn’t mean, she’s loyal and tough. I’d never break up with her, unless it was to save her life.”

Her brother snorted. “Save her life? That’s a weird as shit thing to say. When are relationships ever life and death?”

That made it clear Cora wasn’t the only one in the family who hadn’t known about the magic world hidden in plain sight all around them. There was no equivalent of mates and flock to a human, so he didn’t bother trying to explain.

“What’s your name, or should I call you Cora’s little brother?”

“Big brother,” the guy answered quickly. “I’m her big brother, Ted. We’re all her big brothers because she’s the youngest.”

“How many of you are there?” Pike asked.

“She hadn’t even told you about us yet?” Ted said, sounding smug. “That means you’re doomed.”

“It means we’re still getting to know each other,” Pike argued. The sausages were starting to sizzle, so he shifted position, keeping the phone to his ear.

“Why don’t you come to our next BBQ?” Ted suggested. “You can meet all six of us and Dad.”

“I have to ask Cora,” Pike answered. “I don’t want to barge in on her family time.”

“Yeah, you do that,” Ted snickered. “Make sure to get permission to breathe while you’re at it. Fuck dude, if you’re this pussy-whipped, you might have a chance with her.”

“I don’t like that term,” Pike said. “It’s rude.”

“Yeah, that’s what a pussy-whipped beta would say,” Ted answered. “I’ll see you Sunday. Unless Cora says you can’t come over to play.” Laughing, Ted ended the call.

Pike carefully set the phone down, or he might have accidentally crushed it in his hand because he wanted to reach through it and wring Ted’s neck. As eager as he was to meet Cora’s family, it was clear he wasn’t going to like this brother at all. Hopefully, the others weren’t such assholes.

“Was that Ted on the phone?” Cora asked from behind him.

He was surprised she was able to sneak up on him, even if he’d been distracted by the call. Looking over his shoulder, he gave her a smile. “Yeah, how did you know? Have you been there the whole time?”

Still wearing only his shirt, she took a seat at the table and shook her head. “I only caught the last bit, but I saw it was my phone, and Ted’s superpower is the ability to piss anyone off in .4 seconds flat. It hasn’t done his face any favors because he’s gotten sucker punched for his comments so many times, his nose will never be straight again. Or at least not without major plastic surgery.”

“Good to know I’m not special,” Pike said, giving the sausages a last few rolls before going back to mixing the biscuit dough. “He said you have six brothers, all of them older than you.”

“From oldest to youngest, they are: Caleb, Tim, Cooper, Ted, Carson, and Trevor.”

“And then Cora,” Pike said. “Cute.”

“Only if you think growing up in a pack of feral dogs would be fun,” Cora drawled. “I’m surprised Kimble didn’t get up with me.”

“He probably wanted to, but it’s still daytime. It would be hard for him until he’s had at least a week of meals like the one he had earlier,” Pike explained, then turned the topic back to her brothers. “Are they mean to you?”

“They weren’t deliberately abusive,” she answered slowly. It was clear she’d thought about the topic a lot. “When we were young, they played a lot of pranks on me until I learned how to be even worse back to them. By the time I was nine, we had a ceasefire. They could do stuff to each other, but they had to leave me alone.”

Pike couldn’t imagine being the youngest and smallest among a bunch of rough boys without anyone to soften their behavior. His parents were immensely kind people who raised him to be gentle with anyone smaller, which was almost everyone .

“Where was your dad during all this?” Pike asked, sprinkling flour on the counter and dumping out the biscuit dough. “Did he ever step in to keep you safe?”

“Dad fell apart when Mom died,” Cora said, her voice quiet. “I don’t remember her. I was only a toddler.”

Pike’s heart hurt for child Cora. “Can I ask what happened?”

“Brain aneurysm,” she said. “Caleb was twelve and was the one who called 911. He said she started asking weird questions and then fell over and started seizing. She died before they even got her to the hospital.”

Hands covered in flour, Pike turned and took a half step toward her. He wanted to grab her in a hug, but worried that would be overstepping. She didn’t look overwrought or upset; it was him who couldn't handle this story.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, clutching his hands together and creating a little cloud of white powder.

Cora smiled at him, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s okay, you don’t need to be upset for me. It’s hard to be sad about losing something I don’t even remember. Dad’s the one you should feel bad for. According to everyone, he was never the same. Mom’s sister, Aunt Maria, ended up moving in to help take care of us, and his business partner took over everything else. Caleb says that Dad spent a lot of time hiding in his bedroom, crying or sleeping. Anyway, he managed to pull himself together and start taking care of us and working again, but it was a lot for one parent by themselves. He relied on Caleb and Tim to take care of the rest of us. Aunt Maria helped a lot too, bringing over food at least once a week and doing a lot of shopping.”

The affection for the woman was evident in Cora’s voice. “She was like a mother to you.”

“Still is,” Cora confirmed. “She’s my favorite member of the family, including my siblings, and they know it.”

Chuckling, Pike turned back to his dough. He could see Cora saying that to her brothers without hesitation. “After talking to Ted, I’d think the same way, and I haven’t even met her.”

“What about you?” Cora pressed. “What's your family look like?”

“My mom and dad live out in Bonita,” Pike explained. “We talk every few days and get together for a meal once a week. I’d like to bring you to the next one.”

“Have they met Kimble yet?” Cora asked.

“He comes with me for the weekly meals,” Pike answered. “Mom and Dad have been great, talking to him as if he can respond and treating him like family.”

Cora went silent, and Pike glanced back to see her blinking with shock. “They’re okay with having a vampire in the family?”

Pike was confused by her question. “They want me to be happy, and Kimble makes me happy.”

“Damn, I wish my family was like that,” Cora muttered. “Tell me about you and Kimble meeting.”

“I thought I did,” Pike said, putting the biscuit disks on a tray, then popping them into the oven. The sausages looked done, and he had a good amount of grease to make the gravy, so he pulled them out and placed them aside.

“You told me he rescued you, but I want details,” Cora pressed. “I feel like there’s a lot of stuff you left out.”

Pike felt his face getting hot. “Um, well, uh…”

Cora crowed out a laugh. “You’re blushing! Oh, this has to be good. Spill everything, Pike!”

There shouldn’t be secrets between mates. Reluctantly, Pike started talking.