His One and Only

Chapter 32

Mira sat in the bed of the truck that night and watched Pinewood slowly disappear in the distance behind them. Mary stood at the edge of the village and waved at them until they were gone from view.

It had been a very tearful goodbye but one that couldn't be avoided non the less. Mira wished more than anything to not have to leave Mary. She swallowed the lump in her throat and reminded herself to be grateful that Mary is safe and well at least.

Xander had promised when Mira's condition improved she could go and stay in Pinewood from time to time. His job required him to travel and work a lot and they both concluded that Pinewood would be much safer for her than the Royal's Village when she couldn't tag along with him.

The Royal Village. The thought of going back caused anxiety to grow in her chest. That cursed place was the last place on earth that she wanted to go to. Mira would rather risk it with the Great Seer Frida than go back there. They had a three day journey to make it back which was three days too soon according to her.

Mira snuggled down into the thick fur blankets and got comfortable for the night. The night air was very cold but she would still rather be in the bed of the truck than cramped in it with four giant Grizzlies. They were going to drive through the night and stop in early hours for a few hours of sleep before continuing on.

The situation was quite dire as the rebels were growing in number and courage. The fact that their release of rogues in the territory caused the death of five cubs was beyond devastating for the Clan and earned all the rebels an instant death sentence.

Slowly Mira drifted to sleep and her thoughts were swept away. The next thing she knew Xander was shaking her awake.

"Pup...pup...wake up." He spoke softly.

Mira opened her eyes and looked around to see that they not only had parked but the tents were already set up with sleeping inhabitants in them. "We are stopping?"

"We stopped four hours ago to get some sleep. Come, let's do some training before they wake up for breakfast. After breakfast we will move out again."

"Okay." Mira mumbled and dragged herself out of the warm blankets into the shivering cold. She switched her thick hoodies to a thinner long sleeve shirt and warm sweatpants. "How are you not cold in this weather?"

Xander still had his usual black t-shirt and pants on. He wasn't shivering at all nor did he have goosebumps. "Warm blooded." He shrugged.

Mira hopped off the truck and started to follow him. "More like smoking hot." She said under breath with her head down.

Since her head was down she almost ran into him. He had stopped and turned around when he heard her comment. He leaned down slightly over her. "Damn straight I am." His eyes had a twinkle in them and his voice was a bit husky from just waking up as well.

"Cocky." She looked directly into his eyes with a slight challenge in hers.

"Mmhm. Got one of those as well."

Mira tried to stand her ground and win this face off but her cheeks turned pink at Xander's instant response. She walked into that one herself. Mira put her focus into keeping her face unchanged despite the color change in her face.

A smirk spread across his face as he watched her walls slowly crumble.

"Yeah, and I've seen it before." Mira shot back and shrugged her shoulders casually. "Nothing much to it."

A deep chuckle came from his chest that caused butterflies to wake up in her chest. He took a step closer and leaned down so that their noses were almost touching. She could see his canines through his parted lips.