Page 15 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

The husky, definitely male chuckle coming from outside her tent had her popping her head up in search of the far too cheerful sound.She fought to untangle herself from both her hair, which had come unbraided during the night, and her sleeping quilt.Peering through sleep-blurred eyes and the screen across the tent entrance, she glared at the man sitting next to the firepit.

“There should be a law against birds being up this early.In fact, there should be a law againstanythingbeing up this early,” she groaned.

“I take it you aren’t a morning person,” Mitchell responded.

“No.I hate mornings that begin before it is light out.Well, I don’t hate it after I’m up.It’s the waking up part that I hate,” she mumbled before dropping her face into her air mattress.“I hate birds.”

Mitchell laughed at her grouchiness.All she wanted to do was snuggle down under her quilt for another couple of hours.Hell, it was barely even light out!

“This is a long-standing feud you have with cute little birds, then?”he asked.

She rolled onto her side so she could comfortably look at him through the screen.Curling her arm under her head, she sighed.Whether she liked it or not, it was time to wake up.

“Yes.Besides being a very annoying alarm clock at the Goddess-forbidden time of—” she released a loud groan when she lifted her arm and peered at her watch, “five-thirty?Are you shittin’ me?There should definitely be a law against any creature being awake this early.I’m going to talk to my aunt when I get home.Oh, and the second reason is they are poop-bombers.I swear they know I hate them and they target me,” she added.

“Really?”

Her lips twitched at his incredulous expression.“Really.Umbrellas are the only way to protect yourself.Big… and I mean really big… umbrellas.”

He chuckled and poked at the fire.“I don’t have any umbrellas handy, but I think you should be safe.They will quiet down once the sun has risen.”

“Yeah, being the shitty little feathered demons they are, they go back to sleep after they wake up the dead,” she commented with a dramatic flair.

“Can I entice you out with breakfast?”he asked.

She sat up and curled her legs under her.“What kind of breakfast?You’re not going to feed me mushrooms, are you?I have to tell you I hate mushrooms.”

“They don’t have any flavor,” he said.

“Yes, they do.It isn’t the flavor that bothers me.Okay, that isn’t true.I hate the flavor, but what I really can’t stand is the texture.There is definitely something wrong about eating something that grows from dead things.”

“Okay, no mushrooms.How about whatever this is?”

She squinted at the package he was holding.It had a picture of eggs with cheese, peppers, and potatoes.She grinned at him and nodded.

“Yeah, that is good.Were you snooping in my pack?”she asked.

He scowled at her.“No, it was on the ground next to the log.It must have fallen out last night when you were pulling things out.”

“Oh.I didn’t mean….Just ignore me.I’m not a morning person,” she muttered.

“I can see that.How do I prepare this delicious meal in a bag?And will it look like the picture?”

She explained what to do while she packed up the interior of her tent.By the time the meal was ready, she was stuffing the last of the items into her backpack and rolling out of the tent.

“Did you get any sleep last night?”she asked, taking the cup of coffee he offered with a sigh of relief and sitting on the log next to him.“Oh, this is heaven.The only thing better would be if this came in an IV.”

“What is an IV?”

She chuckled at his confused expression.“Intravenous drip feed.It is where they stick a needle into your arm and drip a solution into your vein.In my case, it would be coffee.”

“Are you serious?”

She threw her head back and laughed.“No, but you have to admit it could help with my grouchy morning issues.”

“I like your grouchy morning issues.”

His quiet comment stirred her inner bear.She could practically imagine the damn thing preening itself.She hid her grin of pleasure behind her cup.

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