Chapter Eleven #2
“You can just say ‘nope’?” Meryn asked.
Kiera shrugged. “I think it works best amongst friends who will respect that boundary.”
Meryn will smirk. “Or people that I force to accept my boundary.”
“Sure, that works too.”
Meryn looks over to her mate. “Babe, I have a new superpower.”
Aiden will shake his head. “You’ve always had that particular superpower. Or did you think anyone could force you to do anything?”
“Yeah, but this way, it’s like having a magic word.”
Kiera turned to Rory. “Do you know what time the custody petition hearing got set up for?”
“Ten in the morning,” he replied.
Hunter stood and bent down to kiss her nose. “Be right back.”
“Okay,” she said, smiling at him.
She watched him walk into the kitchen. He can’t still be hungry, right?
*****
Hunter grabbed a basket from the top of the cabinets and stood looking into the pantry.
Bread? Yeah, but not the sliced kind. He grabbed a loaf of French bread.
Cheese? Absolutely. He grabbed an unopened pack of cracker cuts from the fridge.
Skittles? Why not?
Chocolate? For sure.
“Wine?” a voice asked.
Hunter turned to see Ryuu holding out a bottle. “It’s a screw cap, but a good bottle. Genevieve and Master Arlo drank two earlier this week.”
Hunter smiled. “I really suck at the handheld cork screws anyway. Great idea.”
By this time, Ryuu had already placed a pack of uncured meats and a small jar of peanut butter in the basket, along with cloth napkins, and several bottles of water.
“When you collect your mate, I’ll place the… what did denka call it? The glamper’s dream tent? I’ll place that along with several blankets in the camping tote by the back door.”
“Ryuu, you’re a lifesaver.”
“She has been through a lot these past couple days. You both need time for yourselves. She needs to be reminded that she’s Kiera, not an errant niece or protective older sister.”
“I need to do better in spoiling her,” Hunter admitted.
“You are much faster on the uptake than some other bear-shifters I could mention,” Ryuu said dryly.
Hunter chuckled as he passed the basket to Ryuu. “Wish me luck.”
“I do not think you need it. I will wish you peace instead.”
Hunter nodded, then walked back into the dining room. He went to her chair and held out his hand. “Come on.”
His mate looked up at him with wide eyes. “Hunter, it’s only seven o’clock. It’s a bit early for bed.”
“I have a surprise for you.”
She blushed, and he smiled wider. He turned to Caiden. “Can we get that bug spell?”
Caiden grinned and spoke low. “You both should be set.”
“Fucking love that spell,” Meryn admitted.
Kiera took his hand and stood. “Why do we need bug protection?”
“You’ll see.”
“Don’t go too far,” Caiden advised.
“Yes, sir,” Hunter said and led his mate through the kitchen to the back door. As promised, Ryuu had stacked up the camping gear, totes, and picnic basket by the door. He lifted them easily. “It’s not far,” he said, leading her away from the estate and into the woods.
“It’s only about a mile away, close enough that we can walk back in the morning,” Hunter said.
“Morning?” Kiera asked, looking excited. “We’re camping?”
“Yes, is that okay?”
“More than okay! I’ve spent the past five years in corporate high rises, surrounded by concrete and egos. I’ve missed plants and the smell of the earth.”
“I always forget that after the fae, witches are closest to nature,” Hunter admitted.
“Do we have a tent?”
“I’m assuming we do, Ryuu mention a glamping version.”
She looped her arm through his and walked with him in the dark. Neither of them were novices when it came to the forest, so they avoided any roots or branches that could have caused a spill.
“You have a place in mind, don’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite spots. Should be coming up. You’ll know it when you see it.”
He watched her carefully as they crested a small hill and heard her intake of breath. In front of them a small meadow spilled out from the tree line, surrounded on all sides by the forest. The moon overheard provided plenty of light for them to find a flat spot for their tent.
She pointed to the ground. “There’s already a campfire spot here,” she said, pointing to the ring of stones and old charcoal.
“I told you it was a favorite spot of mine.”
He set everything down on the ground and pulled a confusing set of hard plastic tubes and plastic sheets from the travel case. He looked at her and she looked at him. “This is your rodeo cowboy. I’ve never set up a tent in my life,” she admitted freely.
He twisted the material this way and that until he saw a tag that read ‘Pull’. He pointed to it. “It says pull.”
“I can see that.”
“Should I?”
“If you want a tent tonight, I recommend it.”
Hunter had no idea what was about to happen. He pulled the tag, heard the whistling of air moving through tubes and the next thing he knew he was flat on his back surrounded by plastic.
Somewhere beyond his hell, he heard the unrestrained laughter of his mate. He smiled, wishing he could see her as she laughed.
“You alive under there?” she asked, while gasping.
“I am, but have no idea what direction to head. If I stand, I have a feeling I’ll flip this entire thing over.”
Moments later he felt her soft, warm hand find the top of his head. “Move this way.”
Hunter scooted until he was clear of the tent. Shaking his head, he looked up at his mate. “I didn’t know it’d do that.”
That set her off again. Between wiping her eyes of tears and holding her sides, she laughed until she could barely breathe. He threaded his hands behind his head and watched her.
When she finally caught her breath, she offered him a hand up. He took it and stood. “What’s the damage?” he asked.
“It looks like a tent version of a bounce house, if that makes sense?”
Hunter eyed the tent. The entire thing looked like a small house with a gabled roof.
Hardened plastic tubes acted as the framework, and clear plastic acted as windows.
Using his strength, he dragged the tent backwards and positioned it a bit further away from where he built a semi-permanent campfire; he nodded slowly.
“It’s not bad.” He dug around the camping tote and pulled out an inflatable mattress pad, blankets, and a lantern.
“Should I do the mattress pad?” she teased.
“Har, har, very funny. I have trauma you know.”
“Poor baby,” she cooed.
He sniffled dramatically, then started up the battery-operated inflator for the mattress pad.
“Ahh, that one doesn’t explode?”
“Thank all the gods it doesn’t,” he muttered, causing her to giggle. “I was trying to be romantic,” he confessed.
She lifted out the jar of peanut butter and a bag of Skittles. “Were you going to woo me with snacks?”
“It has worked for more than one warrior brother.”
After everything was unpacked, he pulled a blanket from the tent and wrapped it around them. It was summer, but nights could still get cool. They got comfortable in front of the fire, each with a glass of wine.
“What did you want to be when you grew up?” she asked.
“A warrior.”
“Always?”
“I feel like I wanted it since I could speak and could understand what a warrior was. What about you?”
“Honestly? I wanted to be an apothecary. I love the smell of herbs and the idea that with enough knowledge, no matter how little magic you had, you could still do magical things.”
“Did you never have magic?”
She shook her head. “Some years it barely registered, some not at all.” She took a sip.
“Mother and Father never cared about my test scores, only how I’d be treated because of them.
” She squeezed his arm tighter. “I think that’s why they wanted to save so much, so I’d have something to fall back on. ”
“Every parent wants to ease the way for their children, magic or no magic,” Hunter said. “Take me, for example. Father sat me down when I was younger and said that I could do whatever I set my mind to, it may just take me longer to do it.”
She gasped. “He did not.”