From The Ashes

Chapter Thirty-Three

The night passed by uneventfully and dawn quickly approached. I gazed at the sun rays peeking through the tops of the trees and breathed in the cool autumn air.

The briskness of the morning made me glad it hadn't snowed yet. I threw another log on our small fire and shook Valen awake.

I had learned in the past few weeks that he is not a morning wolf. I usually had to sucker punch him to get him out of bed, but today he awoke easily.

"Morning, sleepyhead," I greeted him.

He grumbled a half-hearted response back to me and pulled his sleeping bag up over his head. I giggled and began pulling out a cast iron skillet to fry us up some eggs.

I buttered the pan and set it on a pile of hot coals. While I was waiting for it to heat up, I gathered up some sliced lunch meat, bread, and cheese from the small cooler Valen had brought.

I figured breakfast sandwiches would rouse him enough to speak coherently.

I cracked the eggs into the pan and watched as they began to sizzle. Valen sniffed the air and sat up, sending me a child-like grin.

"I'm so glad you're my mate," he stated.

"Good, because you're stuck with me," I said as I planted a kiss on his lips.

I had meant for it to be an innocent good morning kiss, but passion quickly overwhelmed me, as Vale slid his arms around me and locked me in an iron tight grip.

It wasn't until we could smell the eggs burning that he finally released me with a laugh.

I scooted away from him and began to assemble our sandwiches, burned eggs and all, while Valen watched me carefully. I handed him his sandwich once I was done and took a big bite out of mine.

"Even though they're burned, these are still fantastic," Valen said around a mouthful of food.

I shook my finger at him, silently scolding him for talking with food in his mouth. He just grinned back at me.

I liked the mood he was in this morning. Playful, funny Valen was my favorite.

Too bad I knew I had to ruin it. We still needed to discuss me fighting alongside him and everyone else.

I popped the last bit of my sandwich in my mouth and brushed the crumbs off of my pants. I grabbed an iced coffee out of the cooler and took a big swig, before handing it to Valen. He downed the rest in one gulp.

"Hey! I wasn't done with that, you know."

"You snooze, you lose."

"That doesn't even make sense. I got it first."

He shrugged his shoulders at me and crushed the bottle.

"Oh well." I glared at him for a moment before clearing my throat.

"Valen, about last night.." He held up a hand to stop me.

"I was thinking about that, too. I want to say that I was wrong before. I'm protective of you and I'd give my life if it meant that you would be safe, but I can't keep you in a bubble forever. You're apart of this pack, and I wouldn't expect any of my other warriors to sit on the side lines. We need you, whether I want to admit it or not. You're one of our greatest assets. I just got lost in my head for a while."

I was stunned.

Long gone was the hot-headed Valen who would slam doors and punch walls when he didn't get his way. The man sitting before me was considerate enough to put aside his wants for me.