BLOOD TIES

CHAPTER 7

JAY's POV

As the sun dipped below the horizon, I drove at a constant speed heading back home with Blossom. She was seated in front with me while Zelda took the back seat. Her occasional gaze that I met through the rearview mirror was still one that was guarded. I couldn't blame her because, after all, she hadn't been forewarned about this but mostly because she loved Blossom like she was her own daughter. One thing was evident in her eyes that came above everything else. She was still a mother like any other and would do anything for her.

Blossom on the other hand stared into the passing landscape but I could tell that her thoughts were elsewhere, far away from the present. I didn't want to stare much but I found myself throwing an occasional glance at her. I couldn't believe that I was sitting right next to a mate I never even thought about before. It was definitely not the picture I would have painted in my head had I been thinking about a moment like this. Yet it felt so peaceful. Her presence even in the silence brought me a calmness, a feeling that was more like home.

At one point I forgot myself and as if she had been waiting for that chance to burst me, she turned. I felt an exhilarating surge of anticipation swim through my body when our eyes met. And then she smiled and my heart started pounding in my chest.

"Are you going to say something or do you want to keep staring at me until we get there?" she asked cockily, settling her dazzling eyes on me.

I turned and looked straight ahead on the road. Nightfall was fast encroaching but the moon was out bright and high in the sky, illuminating the night and bathing everything in a silvery glow. I took a deep breath inhaling the crisp night air that was washing over our faces through the open windows.

"I don't know," I began in a calm voice that my wolf didn't want to hear of it. "Depends on if you want to talk or just keep staring at the moon as if you are seeking some answers up there."

She sighed and wrung her hands together, "Maybe I am." She went on, "I can't stop thinking about what it's going to be like. All this... having brothers, having a father and a pack that I could call my home..." she smiled hinting some excitement in her voice. "It's all surreal." I went silent but met Zelda's eyes in the mirror. Blossom wasn't prepared for what was ahead of her and the thought of having a family was clouding her whole judgment. None of them had warned her about what she was likely to encounter once she got there and honestly, I wasn't willing to burst her bubble so soon. I also didn't want to take the risk of making her change her mind about going with me.

"It is!" I agreed with a light smile avoiding saying much.

A long while of silence passed before any of us spoke again but her next question caught me off guard.

"Can I just ask, why is it important that I become Alpha?" She furrowed her brows. "Aren't my brothers older and more accustomed to the rules and requirements of the pack?"

I poked around my head for the best answer for her, once meeting Zelda's eyes for a little help but she left me to drown in the challenge alone. I couldn't trust my eyes so I didn't dare to look at her as I answered her.

"Let's just say that there are certain things that an Alpha is supposed to possess that they don't have." I went on, the words coming out more easily but my conscience was betraying me. "You have those qualities, everything that makes you fit into that position perfectly."

"You hesitated."

I turned sharply, "What?"

"Is there something wrong with my brothers?"

I could feel her hard gaze on me almost as if she was trying to pry me open with her eyes alone and knowing that the guilt of lying to her was written all over my face, I kept my gaze on the road. The familiar landscape of my pack's territory was beginning to show. We would be at the pack house within minutes. I didn't want to lie to her but I knew all those answers she needed would be answered once she got home.

"Why didn't any of them come with you to find me?" she asked again with the kind of authority I had felt with only one person before. Her father. I was about to answer when she added, "They don't know I exist, do they?"

She had figured that part out by herself and I didn't know how to deny so I shook my head to confirm her statement.

"Your father thought it would be wiser if they didn't know until you were back home."

"I'm not going," she stated. "Stop the car!"

"What? Why?"

"I said that I'm not going! You need to stop the car right now or I will do it myself," she stated and tried to reach for the steering wheel. I caught her hand and blocked her but she displaced it within seconds. I lost my footing on the brakes and stepped on the gas accidentally accelerating down the winding forested road. "Stop the car!" she shouted over the loud sound of rubber meeting tarmac and I stepped on the brakes suddenly halting with a loud screech right before we could ram into a tree.

Blossom opened her door and ran out heading into the woods towards the enemy territory.

"Blossom, where are you going? Come back!" I called out after her then turned around only to find Zelda seated still in the backseat. She was comfortably watching as if there was a reality show progressing in front of her. "Do something!" I tried but she just shrugged.

"This is not my fight pretty boy. Furthermore, she will not listen to me. I'm part of the reason why she is having trust issues now but you will know exactly what to do." She leaned forward. "Go."

I found her standing in a secluded clearing with whispering pine trees all around. She was standing with her back towards me but I could tell that she was aware of my presence. I however approached her carefully not wanting her to run away again. The silver moon illuminated her figure making her hair shimmer in the night. I took a step closer, aware of the scent that blended with mine perfectly, and grew stronger by the seconds it took me to get to her.

Instinctively, I took her hand in mine and felt her draw in breath. A tingling sensation coursed through my veins making me aware of every part of me that had been dormant for so long. That side of me was slowly crawling to the surface intensifying only when we got that close. I took a deep breath and squeezed her hand.

"I'm sorry." She turned to me slowly but her gaze had a touch of fear instead of the betrayal I thought she felt. "The reason why it is so important for you to be Alpha is that your brothers are not worthy... they are spoiled, arrogant, abusers of the law, and will basically destroy your father's reputation."

"Yet they are the ones who got to stay home and not me. Wouldn't you feel like the outsider here if you were in my shoes?"

I nodded as the words directly related to me. I never talked about my past life but that moment felt like it needed that.

"I have felt like an outsider for most of my life." She stared at me attentively. "Your father took me in when I was just seven years old and brought me up with your brothers who never wanted anything to do with me."

"Are they that bad?" I sighed heavily. "I need to know what to expect if I go ahead with this, please."

I turned to her completely so that we were now looking at each other face to face.

"It will be hard," I stated. She deserved to know what she was walking into and even though I couldn't tell her everything, at least knowing that, she wouldn't be surprised if they decided to alienate her as they had done to me. "You are already your father's favorite child. He might not have been around your whole life but I can assure you that he loved you deeply from a distance."

"How can you possibly know that if you learned about me just the other day?"

"I read his letters to Zelda. The words were filled with love." Blossom swallowed visibly and looked down with a light sigh. "Look at me," I instructed softly and she slowly looked up. "They will most likely hate you but that doesn't matter. Your father needs you, our whole pack needs you."

"I have witch blood, Jay," she stated. "They won't accept me there."

"I accept you," I stated confidently looking into her eyes. "This connection between us... I know you can feel it too." I pulled her a little closer to me. "I am not going to leave your side, Blossom. You can trust me."

She exhaled deeply and nodded, "I do." She hesitated for a split second before she added. "From the moment I saw you sitting in that bar and our eyes met, I felt like I was meant to navigate some twists and turns of my life with you." I nodded and waited for her to continue knowing that she wasn't done yet. "But I need some reassurance," she added in a soft voice.

"What kind of reassurance?" I asked trying to read her eyes that were fervently searching mine as she leaned closer to me. "Stay with me for the night. Let's take a few hours from the rest of the journey." Her boldness struck a fire within me setting me ablaze. "Can you do that?"