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Chapter Twenty: Fire

Mia's POV

The sun went down and the fire crackled in the night. I could hear the crickets chirping around us as Aunt Diana was cooking a squirrel on the bright yellow and orange flames. Brady took a seat next to me and put the small throw blanket from the backpack on my lap and his.

I rest my head on his bare shoulder and scoot closer to him for warmth. He wraps an arm around me lingering a kiss on the side of my head then resting his forehead on the side of my head.

"Are you warm enough?" Brady whispers in my right ear.

I nod and snuggle into him a tiny bit more. There was a feeling of surprise at his affection even after I ran away and broke literally all the rules.

"Why aren't you mad at me?" I blurt out.

"There is no reason for me to be mad, I am just glad you are safe and unharmed. I probably would have done the same thing if I loved anyone else. But I don't. I only love you and I promised to make sure you know that."

His response made my heart skip a beat and I gulped my spit as I smiled a tiny bit. Aunt Diana pulls the cooked squirrel off of the fire and cuts it in half with her knife. My smile fades when I see some blood drench at the end of the blade.

She slides half of the squirrel to Brady and me while keeping the other half for herself and Uncle Luca. I pull a piece of the squirrel meat and bring it to my lips. It wasn't as pleasant as I hoped for, but I couldn't complain about even getting food.

I rip apart another piece and bring it to Brady's lips. He chuckles a tiny bit and pushes my hand back down.

"I'm fine. You go ahead and eat."

I nod slowly and quietly eat my half of the squirrel thinking about the female I had killed.

"How was everything before we came along?" Uncle Luca asked. It was like he read my mind.

She drops her piece of the squirrel and lifts up her shirt a tiny bit. Uncle Luca growls when he sees the deep claw marks engraved in the side of her petite waist.

"We met a couple of female rogues but we handled it. Unfortunately, we had to kill them both." Aunt Diana said truthfully.

Brady's hands roll up the sleeves of my shirt as he looks for any wounds on my body.

"I'm okay Brady, I promise."

"Are you sure? Did you have to kill one of them?" He mumbled the last part.

I nodded slowly and brought my head down in shame. I never thought of taking anyone's life even if they were a rogue. My mate was a rogue for heaven's sake.

"I am so sorry you had to go through that. I wished I was there for you so you didn't have to experience it. I know how scarring it must be."

I was so glad Brady was here. Once we find Xavier's body, I can't wait to have time to just cherish good moments with Brady and the rest of the pack.

*****

Morning soon came and we were off. I was walking next to Uncle Luca on my left while Brady was on my right. Aunt Diana was walking on the left of Uncle Luca as they were holding hands. I decided to avoid as much PDA as possible with Brady near my uncle. I wanted my mate to live during this journey.

"How far away are we from Estes Park?" I asked.

Uncle Luca answered almost immediately.

"We have a few miles left. Let's push through it so we can get there faster and leave faster. Now that Brady and I are here, we are at a higher risk of getting caught."