Mated To An Enemy

Just as the first rays of the morning sun began to stream through the great window of the treehouse, Caleb stirred.

He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the top of Ashleigh’s head as she slept peacefully on his chest.

He smiled to himself and then carefully, he turned her onto the pillow so he could get up.

They had been up most of the night expressing their longing and need. At most he had only slept for an hour maybe two. But he was used to rising early, his body didn’t know any better.

Caleb went to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Then, he dressed in some of the clothes he had already stocked in the treehouse. He smiled again as he saw that Ashleigh had added her own clothes to the closet and toiletries to the cabinet.

As he exited the bathroom, he was surprised by the scent of bacon. He glanced at the bed and saw that it was empty. He looked toward the wall the kitchen hid behind, it was of course pulled out.

He made his way over and sat down in one of the chairs as he watched his lovely wife moving around the kitchen, wearing only a t-shirt and panties. They were not the variety she had worn last night, and Caleb couldn’t decide if he wished they were.

“I think we could use a little break, sir,” Ashleigh laughed, feeling the intense gaze on her body.

“A man can dream,” Caleb smiled.

Ashleigh turned and pointed the tongs in her hands at him.

“That line only works once, and you used it already,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

Caleb laughed.

“I didn’t realize there was any food in here,” he said. “I was about to run and grab us something quick and easy.”

“Quick and easy?” Ashleigh asked. “After the workout we got last night, I am making bacon, eggs, pancakes, and maybe even a steak.”

Caleb laughed and then got up from his chair. He moved to stand behind her and kissed the top of her head.

Ashleigh lowered the flame on the stove and then turned to face him.

“Hi,” she smiled.

“Hi,” he smiled back.

Ashleigh slipped her arms under his and lay her head on his chest, Caleb held her close.

“I missed you,” she said.

“I missed you too,” he replied.

Caleb leaned forward and gave Ashleigh a soft kiss.

“Alright,” she said pushing him away gently. “Go away and let me finish making breakfast.”

Caleb laughed and pulled away, going back to sit in his chair as he watched her return to her work.

“So where did all this food come from?” he asked.

“As I said, I missed you,” she said. “I planned for us to end up out here at some point after you got back, I just didn’t think it was going to be last night.”

“Well, aren’t you just full of surprises,” Caleb grinned. “Any other wardrobe surprises you want to share with me?”

Ashleigh bit her lower lip and tried to hide her smile as she felt the rush of embarrassment that rolled over her.

“Don’t you have emails to check or something?” she asked quietly.

Caleb laughed and got up from his chair.

“Alright, I will let you cook in peace,” he said, moving over to the desk and waking the computer. “I’m sure there are just a couple hundred requests for me to approve in my inbox…”

“Oh, actually I think Galen mentioned something about submitting a request,” Ashleigh called out.

Caleb felt a prickle of anger as he remembered seeing Galen holding the dagger over Ashleigh.

“Caleb,” Ashleigh called softly.

Caleb looked up, she was standing at the end of the small counter, the look on her face was gentle and pleading.

“You gotta work it out,” she said.

Caleb sighed.

“It’s not that simple,” he said.

“Yea,” she said, giving him a look that told him he was wrong. “It is.”

“Ash…” he started to argue.

“Caleb, he is your brother, he is your best friend, he is your beta,” she said. “He feels horrible about what happened, even though he shouldn’t. Because he did absolutely nothing wrong.”

“Ashleigh,”

“No, Caleb. No,” she said firmly. “You cannot twist the events. I know that you were scared and that you thought he was going to kill me, but I am telling you… he wasn’t.”

“You didn’t see him, Ashleigh, you didn’t see how close he was to running that dagger into your throat. If I hadn’t commanded him to stop…” Caleb paused, clenching his teeth.

Ashleigh came forward, she got down on her knees before him and grabbed his hand.

“Caleb, he wasn’t thinking. And he didn’t do it,” she said. “He feels horrible about it, he has apologized, and I told him there was nothing to forgive.”

Caleb sighed and looked away. Ashleigh turned his chin back to face her.

“Because,” she continued. “I would have done the same damn thing. So would you, if it was someone else that had done that to Fiona, you would have stopped them. Right then and there.”

Caleb sighed again.

“Just give me a little time,” he said quietly.

Ashleigh nodded.

“He is leaving for Winter today, and the baby isn’t due for almost two months. So, you have time,” she said. “But don’t let it go too long. It’s not good for either of you.”

Caleb nodded.

Ashleigh smiled and gave him a quick kiss before she jumped up and hurried back to continue making their breakfast.

Caleb turned back to the computer. He sorted through requests and notifications. He wasn’t joking when he said hundreds of submissions and emails would be waiting for him. Most of them had already been addressed by Galen or Fiona, but a few needed his personal attention.

Twenty minutes later, Ashleigh finished plating their food and called him to eat.

He looked at the last email; it was the request from Galen that Ashleigh had mentioned, and it was marked as time-sensitive.

“Caleb?” Ashleigh called out to him, she had already called him several times without a response.

She came over and grabbed his shoulders.

“Caleb,” she said with annoyance.

“Hmm?” he replied still focusing his attention on the email.

“I have called you for breakfast so many times already, what has you so focused that you are ignoring my steak and eggs?” she asked.

“Sorry,” he said. Then he looked up at her. “Did Galen actually tell you what his request was?”

Ashleigh shook her head.

“No, he just said that he had sent you an important request,” she replied.

“Yea…” he chuckled. “It’s not a small request.”

“What is it?” she asked leaning forward to glance at the email.

Caleb smiled up at her.

“He wants permission to take Clara with him to Winter,” he said.

“Clara?” Ashleigh asked. “Why?”

“So that she can present to Axel.”

“Present what?” she asked looking back at Caleb.

Caleb smiled.

“A full automated border defense system install.”