Intransigent

Intransigent | 26

Chapter 26
Emma's POV

Ashton woke me the next morning by raining light kisses all over my face. I grinned, waiting until he was close to my lips again before tilting my face and capturing them with my own. He groaned slightly and kissed me back.

"Good morning," I murmured when he pulled back a little.

"Morning, sweetheart," he murmured back, kissing my forehead before crawling backwards off the bed. "Are you ready to get up?"

I stretched my arms and legs out with a light groan and then said, "I guess."

He laughed, watching me with dark eyes. I grinned up at him before throwing back the covers and walking across the room to him. He pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me when I tried to walk past him to the bathroom. "I have to head back down to the office," he told me. "Come see me when you're done getting ready?"

I nodded, reaching up to give him a quick peck. "I'll come see you before I head down to the kitchen."

"Good," he replied, kissing my forehead quickly before heading out of the room and leaving me to get ready for the day.

I headed straight for the bathroom. I needed to shower and find a dress for the welcoming party today. I'd be spending most of today cooking for it, so I needed to get ready now. There were plenty of aprons in the kitchen to protect my dress while we were cooking.

Once I was washed, shaved and in some under garments, I headed for the closet to pick out a dress. I found a simple sky blue dress and slid my feet into some matching ballet flats. I pulled some of my hair back in bobby pins and headed out of the bedroom.

I found Ashton in the office, pouring over some papers. "What's wrong?" I asked, not particularly liking the wrinkle between his eyebrows, showing that he wasn't happy with the paperwork.

He held out a hand, pulling me into his lap when I took it. He wrapped his left arm around my waist and used his right to point out parts of the papers as he spoke about them. "This is the new contract for the Lightning Dawn Pack," he told me. I recognized the name as the pack along our western border. "Alpha Elison just sent it to me. Do you see the crazy loopholes he left in here?" he asked, pointing out three of the glaring issues. They would give Lightning Dawn Pack access to our land whenever they needed it, but it was disguised in the paperwork, Alpha Elison obviously hoping that Ashton wouldn't notice it.

I growled lowly, Melanie's fur practically raising in my mind. It was low to try to trick allies in the contracts. "You'll have to call him and straighten him out," I told him. "And don't forget this line, here." The line was giving them permission to use resources in our lands.

Ashton groaned. "I didn't even notice that!"

"Read through it and highlight any problem areas," I said. "When you're done, bring it down to the kitchen and I'll do the same."

He smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Emma," he replied, kissing my cheek gently. "It would be wonderful to have another pair of eyes on this one. He's certainly being a sneaky bastard."

I smiled gently, hoping to calm him down slightly as I ran my fingers gently over the hand at my waist. "Just relax, Ashton," I said quietly. "We'll run through it carefully and you can give him hell tonight after the party."

He grinned. "You're amazing," he praised, rubbing my back with his free hand. "Go on downstairs. The women should be here soon."

I kissed him on the cheek in goodbye and did exactly as he'd said. I headed downstairs and into the empty kitchen. First things first: breakfast. I still had a half hour before the pack women were supposed to show up and that was just enough time to get breakfast ready for Ashton, Dane, Cindy, Emily and Cara.