Chasing Freedom

XXIV

This update was not meant to take this long. Life got in the way, unfortunately, but the chapter is here! Enjoy! This one was extra awkward to write, so I hope that doesn't translate across. As usual, I'm open for feedback.

Myles reached the cabin far slower than he had days ago. The last time, he'd been on autopilot, strung on a live wire. Now, he was far more cautious, slowly taking the turns to allow Mira to take in the changing forest. From the minute he'd turned onto the dirt track, he'd sensed her wariness.

Myles knew this path up the mountain like his own palm, having driven it for as long as he could remember. In fact, here was where he'd learned to drive. In both the best and worst condition: snow, sleet, thunderstorm, clouds, sun. As his car dipped in and out of the water-pooled potholes, he wasn't the least worried—but he knew his reassurances would fail to ease Mira's nerves, so he remained silent instead.

He remembered when they'd first built the cabin up here. It had been in the middle of their summer to make things easier, but given their version of summer was limited to occasional sun it had still been difficult to get the supplies up to the top of the mountain. By his fifth birthday, it had been completed. His parents used it as their getaway home from the pack—although it was rare for either of his parents to take any time off.

In essence of that, it had become Myles' second home more than anything. Mira would be the first, outside of his immediate family, to see it. Given the tension between them, he knew he had to go to an extreme to fix things between them. This was the solution he'd come up with. So if this is what it would take to show her that she could trust begin to trust him again, losing some of his privacy was a small sacrifice in comparison.

As he crested the top of the hill, he slowed to take the sharp right turn. From there, the track was largely a mix of mud and ice. Up this high, the snow froze for months on end, leaving the area white-capped. A couple of bends later, he reached the makeshift driveway, stopping parallel to the cabin.

"I'm going to start the fire inside," he said. "Come in when you're ready."

Mira didn't respond, but Myles wasn't expecting her to. Leaving her to take it all in, he stepped out of the drivers side, rounding to the back of the car. From the boot, he grabbed the basket of food—a mix of cheeses, dips, meat, crackers, bottled water and fruit. Then he stepped off of the dirt track, onto the front deck.

The thousand square foot cabin was built of old, mismatched timbers and pines, most of which had been taken from fallen trees within this very forest. Inside, the space was open plan, and he stopped through the barn style door, into the small, corner orientated kitchen. The oversized windows lit up the space. Off to the right was the bedroom hall. The minimalist bathroom was the divider between both rooms. Both had queen beds and dressers that held spare bedding, clothes, communication devices in lieu of cellphone reception and extra emergency supplies.

The open fire pit he was after was right in the centre. Heading that way, he made quick work of shuffling the already present logs into place. Then he added the kindling, lighting that. The flames were quick to lick up, spreading heat and a light smog throughout the open space.

When Myles heard Mira close her car door, he waited a minute. She didn't follow him in. Likely, she was getting her bearings of outside. If she wanted to, she could end up walking through the trees for hours. There were multiple tracks that had been marked out over the years. Most because of Myles, whether he shifted into fur or went exploring on two legs.