Day One

ADARA

I woke in the morning, the chill of the morning nipping at my cheeks.

“Oh hey,” Ryder said as he walked into the cabin with an armful of firewood. “How are you feeling?” He set down the wood and sat beside me on the bed.

I wrapped the blanket around myself. “Better. Why is it so cold?”

Ryder scrunched his nose. “Welcome to roughing it. Give the stove a few minutes, it will warm the place up.”

I sighed before climbing out of bed and throwing on the clothes I wore yesterday. I sighed, not knowing how I was going to live with only one set of clothes.

“I ran out this morning and got some eggs and milk from the shop near town, hope you like scrambled eggs.” He shrugged.

I smiled, appreciating all the effort he was putting in. “It sounds great. What time did you wake up?”

He turned around and started whisking some eggs. “Six, I think?”

I let out a huff. “You should have woken me up! I would have helped.”

Ryder gave me a sideways look. “Yesterday was a hard day. I wanted to let you rest.”

“Well . . . Thank you,” I said with a smile.

“No problem.” He smiled before facing the window with a grim look. He paused, standing silently for a moment. “Someone is here.”

My eyes widened, fearful of what might happen. Had my father really been so upset that he sent warriors after us?

There was a tap at the door and Ryder looked out the window before giving a sigh of relief. He smiled at me, then opened the door, and my mother walked in.

“Mom . . . ” I said, tears filling my eyes.

She ran to me, hugging me tightly. “Sweetheart . . . When your father told me what happened, I just about lost my mind.” She pulled back.

“I wanted to come last night, but it was late and figured you would be settling in. I thought you might need these.” She turned around to reveal several bags.

“Clothes?” I asked.

“Clothes, shoes, toiletries, makeup, first aid supplies, a bit of food. Pretty much whatever I could fit in the bags. I went a little overboard.” She chuckled.

“Thank you. I thought I would be stuck wearing Ryder’s clothes the rest of my life.” I laughed.

Ryder frowned. “What’s wrong with my clothes?”

My mom smiled. “Nothing.” She turned to me with a wink. “They look good on you.” I chuckled as I picked up on her innuendo.

She stayed for breakfast, telling me what had happened after I left.

“Your dad hasn’t left his office since yesterday when you left. I don’t think he realized what a mistake he had made until you were gone,” she said, with sadness in her eyes.

I huffed. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going back.”

My mom smiled. “And I don’t want you to come back. Rebuild Black Trail, make a home for yourself.” My mother stood and walked to the door.

“Don’t tell your brother I said this, but you are meant to be a leader. You should have been born first.”

I smiled, determined to make her proud.

She turned to Ryder. “Take care of my girl. If you two need anything, just call me. I’ll be back in a few days with some seeds for your garden, to help start over.”

“Thank you,” Ryder said, offering a small hug and walking her to the treeline.

He walked back to the house and I gave him a smile. “So . . . Where does a girl go to shower around here?”

Ryder smiled.

“Through to the bathroom in there. The cabin is hooked up to a well, so we have running water, but it doesn’t stay warm for long so your shower better only be five minutes long or it will be a bit of a shock.”

I laughed. “Five minutes, got it.” I grabbed some clothes and walked to the bathroom. I showered quickly and made my way out to help fix up the house.

Ryder was already cleaning the blankets, so I decided to clean up the rest of the cabin. I swept and dusted, cleaning off all of the surfaces and tables.

After making the place liveable, we headed to the Black Trail pack house and walked through, talking about things that needed to be fixed.

Thankfully the inside was in pretty good shape. It just needed some cleaning and random fixes in walls and floorboards. The outside was what needed help.

The vines had grown up the house and were breaking off the siding. Shingles had fallen off the roof and there were a few broken windows. The whole thing was a mess and needed some love.

“Tomorrow, I think we should come in and begin removing all the vines and start work on the outside of the house,” I said, looking at the state of the outside.

I pointed up to the vines. “They are going to really start affecting the house if we don’t get rid of them.”

Ryder nodded. “I agree. If the outside isn’t fixed, at some point the inside will start getting worse as well.”

I smiled at him, enjoying the little DIY mood I was in. I looked around. “Do we have what we need to get up there?”

Ryder looked over to the side of the house. “There’s a maintenance shed over there with some ladders and random tools. It should be enough for now.”

I looked down with a bit of worry. “Ryder . . . How are we going to pay for all of this?”

Ryder smirked. “We’ll be okay.”

I looked at him curiously. “Are you secretly rich or something?” Ryder shrugged, giving me an innocent smile. I gasped. “Oh my gosh, you are!”

“My pack was very well off. My mom put all of the account information to the pack in my bag when I ran and I moved it to a place where it has been gathering quite a lot of interest.

“I don’t need much living off the grid and in a cabin.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “And you were going to let me live in your old T-shirts?”

Ryder laughed. “But you look good in my old T-shirts.” He gave me a wink, and I rolled my eyes playfully before walking to the treeline. Ryder took my hand as we walked through the woods.

“Thank you for staying with me. I’m not sure I deserve your kindness or support. I was kind of a jerk in the beginning.”

“You really were,” I replied with a teasing grin. “You still are some days.”

He laughed and slung his arm around my shoulders as we walked together comfortably through the forest.