Rising from the Ashes
Chapter 20

Do you ever wake up and question how you got where you are? It's the first thing that comes to mind. How in the world did she end up tangled up in Nakoa. Actually the better question is how does he manage to look this good in the morning. Elenora catches herself before she runs her fingers through those thick locks. No. They aren't anything right now. She shouldn't even be here. She should be home. With Mia. With Charlotte. She should be making Charlotte a surprise breakfast and apologizing for how busy she got. Though she really wants to kiss him, Elenora forces herself out of the bed. It seems he shoved a shirt on her after she shifted.

Elenora vaguely remembers shifting, cussing out her wolf, and then accepting the situation before curling up against him and knocking the hell out. She probably wouldn't of done that if she wasn't so tired. Her wolf seems pleased though. "Is that it then?" His insanely deep voice sounds through the room. Elenora pauses, one leg in his sweatpants and the other in the air before she slowly continues. "You break down my door to sleep with me-"

"Don't say it like that," Elenora's face goes hot. It sounds so much more if you say it like that.

"You break down my door to sleep on top of me only to wake up, steal my clothes, and leave without a word?" Elenora can't tell if he's mad, upset, amused, or all three of them at once. She sits at the edge of the bed and starts the process of rolling up his sweatpants so she doesn't drag them across the dirt. She's no small woman but he is no small man either. In more than one way he isn't. He had slept naked and she had quite literally felt every inch of him against her all night. Elenora would like to claim it's his fault and he could have gotten up and put something on but she also vaguely remembers gripping onto him whenever he tried to leave. She had missed sleeping in the same bed with him and she had slept well because of it.

"I had hoped to come talk to you later about where we stand." Elenora tells him "But my wolf had gotten a bit impatient. The moment I shifted she ran here instead of home." Elenora was about to stand but he had reached for her waist before she knew what the hell was happening and pulled her back and on top of him. "Nakoa!" She squeaks out in an embarrassingly high pitch "You don't even know what the conversation was about so stop looking so happy!" Elenora growls but he merely smiles.

Elenora hates it. All of it. Mostly because Nakoa is completely naked. Smiling. His eyes are looking at her like that. How in the world is she supposed to leave? She needs to leave. It's only six o'clock. She might be able to make it back before Charlotte drags herself out of bed. Teenage girls like to sleep in don't they? "I know the conversation is favorable" Nakoa has dimples. Dimples. Didn't god give him enough? Why does he have dimples to go with it all? "If it was not favorable your wolf wouldn't have rushed over here as she had. You would not have gripped onto me all night as you had. You would have already been gone by now." Though Elenora wants to kiss him and hold him and never let go of this insanely attractive man she forces herself out of bed anyways.

"We need to talk before we start anything Nakoa. I want to do this right and I need you to know what's going on up here," Elenora taps her head "before you jump in and accept what I give you. Unfortunately today you are not my first priority. My daughter is. I wanted to wake her up with a surprise breakfast."

"I've never been your first priority." Nakoa slips out. His eyes seem to widen. He hadn't meant to say that but it remains true and spoken all the same "I apologize-"

"Do not bother," Elenora interrupts. She is not mad or upset with him and she doesn't blame him for being bitter about it. Usually as her mate he would be her first priority. In a different world he might have been. Elenora walks towards him and she finally gives in to one of her urges. She tangles her fingers in his hair as she meets his eyes. He had sat up but he hadn't gotten out of bed. Most likely because of the lack of clothes. She's thankful for it too. How is she supposed to talk if she's too busy staring at him? "You aren't my first priority Nakoa. My daughter is my first priority and I will go home and try to convince her of that because I doubt she believes it right now." Elenora leans down to kiss his forehead before moving to walk out of the door.

"I can get you there faster." He offers. Elenora turns to face him. Thinks for just a moment and nods her head in acceptance. The bonus will be a couple of extra seconds with him.

To say Elenora regrets agreeing would be the understatement of the century. Nakoa holds her hair up as she throws up everything in her stomach and more. "I hate you so much." Elenora tells him before bending down to feed the garden Mia had found the time to plant.

"I hadn't realized that the speed would affect you like this." Nakoa utters his defense and it is a crappy defense at that. Have you ever been on a roller coaster? Elenora hasn't but she would bet anything he went about a million times faster than one going down at full speed. One second they were in his bedroom, the next second the world had blurred and they were right outside of her cabin. "You know I don't just run around with anybody" Elenora pukes again in response.

"Mia is going to kill you. Those just started sprouting and now they smell like vomit," Charlotte tells her from the porch. Elenora looks up to glare at Nakoa who still holds her hair. She had this whole plan for how today would go. She would wake up and surprise Charlotte with breakfast and they would spend the day together. Her plan is already crumbling around her.

"Whatever happened to sleeping in? I heard teens love their sleep." Elenora looks to Charlotte who already looks more put together than Elenora does. That's admittedly not hard at the moment. Elenora stands up when her stomach settles and stares at her daughter. She wears a pale pink dress that reaches just above her knee and no shoes. Her hair is done in a nice fishtail braid and she looks as if she's been up for hours.

"I don't usually sleep past six o'clock and I woke up early to surprise you with breakfast in bed. Then I realized you weren't even home. I guess I know why."

"I shifted last night to run here but my wolf seemed to have other plans as usual." Elenora explains and maybe there is a little bit of bitterness there but who cares? "I actually planned to wake you up with some breakfast too. I had a whole day planned out if you still want to spend some time with me." Elenora tries for a smile. It comes hard. All she taste is puke and she would very much like to go inside and wash her mouth out.

"What sort of day are we talking?" Charlotte crosses her arms and leans against the wall of the cabin.

"Since I already messed up the food part I hear there is a great place to eat not too far from here. After that there's an early painting class I thought we could do together and if my wolf promises to behave we might be able to shift and-"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Charlotte's entire face lights up as she agrees and runs right on inside to get ready. "Mia guess what? Wake up! Alright you're up, guess what?" Elenora can't help the smile that spreads across her face this time. It's more than one thing that brings it on actually. The first thing would be Charlotte's face at the thought of spending the day with her. The second is imagining Mia's face after realizing Charlotte woke her up on her day off at six-thirty in the morning.

"I feel your wolf now. Your connection to her is growing." He doesn't have to tell her twice. She feels Marcella more now than she had ever felt her in the past. She didn't really want to shift and it's still not on the list of things she likes to do but she knew Charlotte would appreciate it. Running with your parents after your first shift is just something you do and afterwards it tends to be a way for families to bond.

Elenora had told Mia where to put clothes during one of their phone calls and that will lead them to the forth thing she has planned today. Elenora turns towards Nakoa with a sigh. "I just puked my guts out so a hug will have to do." With that she wraps her arms around his waist and hugs him. For a moment they stay like that. Holding onto each other. Nakoa kisses her head and then they stay a moment longer like that. Elenora didn't realize how much she missed him and it's all her fault really. Fortunately she's not the only one still holding on. His grip is just as tight as her own and for some reason the fact that he doesn't want to let go sends this odd warmth through her. The mate bond Grandmother May spoke of while she was young makes sense now. For a moment Elenora forgets her betrayal and instead she thinks about the day May taught her to dance.

She had spoken of mate bonds then. She had told Elenora that nothing beat dancing with ones mate. Of course Grandmother May said that about everything. Nothing beats waking up to your mate. Nothing beats running with your mate. Nothing beats cuddling with your mate in front of a warm fire. "You should go in and get ready." Nakoa mutters and he lets her go. Elenora follows his lead and backs away. Then she takes another step back to be sure she won't go to him again. "When do you want to have that talk?" He ask and Elenora thinks it over for a good moment before deciding tonight will probably be best.

"If you have time tonight you can come over. Around six if you can handle eating in a room with two rogues." Elenora teases

He shoves his hands in his pockets "I think I will manage." He offers with a smile before he disappears completely.

Elenora steps into the cabin to see Charlotte shoving on a pair of shoes and talking to Mia about Elenora's plans for the day.

Mia looks a mixture of unhappy to be up and happy for Charlotte as she makes the coffee and breakfast for herself. "-I've never been to an art class before? Do we get to choose what we paint or is it chosen for us? Is there even a point in going? What if I know everything they teach? Whatever! I'm painting with Mom! You know we used to do that before she left. We would sit in Grandma's cabin for hours and just paint. Mom sucked at people but she could do a pretty alright landscape. Exact opposite for me. I can paint a mean portrait but landscapes are not my forte. Mom also said we're going to shift together. I've never seen her wolf before! What does it look like Mia? Red right? Like her hair? What is she like? Is she playful? My wolf is playful. It's embarrassing!" On Charlotte goes. It is the most Elenora had heard her talk since she picked her up. Charlotte had been quiet and proper since she got here. This is the first time she has shown real excitement in quite a while. It is nice.

"I'll be ready to go in ten minutes Charlotte," Elenora tells her before disappearing to the back rooms. Hopefully nothing ruins this day.