“What you’re telling us is that Ryder told his warriors they could focus on being strong and fight and then let most of the supporting pack go. Now the warriors are sulking because they thought being strong meant they didn’t need to do things they don’t think are fun?” I asked.
“Yes. I knew about the issue, but I didn’t think it was as bad. I thought we were recruiting new members to balance things up. But Ryder told me today that no one is interested in joining,” my mother said. She was rubbing her hands and I knew it meant she was seriously worried.
“The reputation has spread. No non-warrior wolf would volunteer to join a pack they know won’t respect them,” Amie pointed out. My mother nodded.
“So why are you telling this to us?” I asked.
“I think you need to know how desperate your brother is. His warriors are on the verge of rebellion because either they or their mates have to do all the tasks they don’t want to do. Or, those tasks won’t be done. And he can’t find anyone else to do them either. He needs your pack. He needs the regular pack members back to build a stable pack.” I had to take a deep breath and Amie put her hand on my arm. My mother had been right in asking her to join us. I could barely contain my temper with her trying to calm me.
“My pack is not a quick fix for his poor leadership. My pack is not a slave work force for him to use to keep his warriors happy,” I hissed.
“I know. But your brother is desperate and at a point where he will try to fix the issue any way he can,” my mother told me.
“Thank you for telling us. It will be easier to handle when we know why. We have both had the feeling there was more to this than we knew,” Amie said. She still had her hand on my arm,her thumb gently rubbing circles. I focused on her touch. My mother left shortly after. Amie must have mindlinked Sam and my aunt because both of them walked into the kitchen. She got up, poured two glasses of milk and put one down in front of me. I took a deep breath and started to tell my aunt and Sam what my mother had told us.
Chapter 50
Amie
The walk to the stadium had become a ritual in itself. We walked in silence, all of us focused on the task at hand, the unknown game we would be playing. Last time it had been easy and fun. None of us expected it to be the same today. When we took our seats, it was ten minutes to nine. Finlay and Sam were on high alert and resembled bobble head figures as they tried to watch all of the stadium at once.
“Dear packs. We have now passed the halfway mark of the games. Today’s game will be hide and seek,” the speaker’s voice told us. Our pack perked up. The twice yearly hide and seek competitions were a loved tradition in our pack and we had our champion with us. “Each pack will designate one or more seekers and one or more hiders. How many in each role is up to you. The hiders will have a ten minutes’ head start to hide within the designated area. When the seekers are allowed to start, they will try to find as many of the other packs’ hiders as possible. When they have found someone, they will howl and an official will confirm they have found a hider. You will have two hours. When the time is up, every hider who hasn’t been found willamount to twenty-five additional found targets for their pack. Claws, teeth or any other violence is not allowed. You have the time until you arrive at the designated area to decide how to divide your pack.” Everyone stood up and we were escorted to buses.
‘Amie and Jake are the best at hiding, as long as she stays in human form,’ Sam started our discussion.
‘I think I should hide as well,’ Ramses said.
‘It makes sense. If we stay hidden all the way to the end, it will be worth it,’ Jake agreed.
‘It does,’ I agreed as well. ‘You and the Alpha are good seekers,’ I said.
‘So are you,’ Finlay told us.
‘I don’t know if I’m twenty-five worth of good,’ I admitted. Everyone nodded. We had a plan. When we walked off the bus, there was a man noting down who would be hider and who would be seeker. It was the same area as we had been in for the tag game.
‘Stay in touch with each other via mindlink and stay safe,’ Finlay reminded us before the first signal sounded. I sprinted off towards an area I remembered had trees, bushes and large boulders. I found a good spot that had me out of sight, but still allowed me to see in the directions where I guessed most would be coming from. When I hid, I had made sure no one was around, but as I waited for the second signal and the release of the seekers, another wolf came running. He looked around and then scaled a tree. I mindlinked Finlay with the information. Not long after the second signal, Finlay came running, looked up into the tree and howled.
“Confirmed from Alpha Finlay,” a voice said.
‘Stay hidden and keep giving me targets,’ he mindlinked me as he started seeking.
‘Stay safe and don’t fall for any traps,’ I answered. After the talk we had with his mother the evening before, I was seriously getting paranoid that Alpha Ryder would do something to sabotage us. I was worried his target would be his brother. After all, it was Finlay who was the glue keeping us together as a pack. Our leader. As time passed, I shifted my place. Even when doing my best to mask my scent, if I stayed long enough in one spot, it would be detectable. If I moved on, the scent would lead any seeker to my old spot rather than my new. It also helped, as few seekers looked in the same spot twice. Which meant that it would be safer to move to a spot that had been thoroughly searched. My second hiding spot served me as well as my first. On occasion I saw someone shift hiding spots and alerted Finlay or Sam. We were doing well. Neither Jake nor Ramses had been found. It looked as if we would get three bonuses at the end. With almost forty minutes left, I rotated spots for the second time. I made my way through high grass with the aim for a group of trees. They were tall, with straight trunks with few branches close to the ground. I saw a way to use the few branches to reach the higher ones, it would be a great spot. After making sure I was alone, I took a running start and easily jumped between the branches, ending up on one high above the ground with a dense foliage around me. I found a spot where I could see the ground below me. Not many minutes passed and then I heard someone coming. I saw Ramses and was about to mindlink him to let him know I was close by. Then I saw movement and when I looked in the direction, I saw the Beta in the Ocean shore pack. My heart stopped for a second. Then I told myself to stop being dramatic. The Beta would howl and Ramses would be out. It was regrettable, but not the worst thing. But the Beta didn’t howl and I wondered what he was waiting for. When Ramses was almost directly underneath me, I saw the Beta ready to charge him. I shouted out a warning in mindlink to Ramses. I saw the look inthe Beta’s eyes and I knew he meant business. I mindlinked Finlay to let him know and jumped down from my position. I shifted in the air. The second it had taken me to mindlink Finlay, the Beta had charged Ramses. I saw his outstretched hand with extended claws. The only thing saving Ramses was my warning, which had made him shift his weight to turn around. It made the Beta’s hand miss his throat. Instead, he got a grip on Ramses’ shoulder. It felt like an eternity to drop down. I heard the joint pop as it dislocated, and then I heard the crunch of bones breaking and Ramses’ shout of pain. My wolf growled loudly as I landed on the Beta’s chest. His surprise made him let go of Ramses. My wolf’s instinct was to rip the throat out from the offending wolf who had hurt her pack member. But I pulled her back. I didn’t want to be disqualified. I made her jump back and stand over Ramses body. Growling, showing teeth and challenging anyone to get closer. To my surprise, it wasn’t Finlay who showed up first. Jake was in his wolf form and ran past me to stand between me and the frustrated looking Beta. He growled in a way that was close to an Alpha’s growl. Impressive. The two of us didn’t let the offending Beta out of our sight. Several participants had come to see what was going on. Finlay came walking with two council members and his brother.
“What is going on?” one of the council members asked.
“The Beta from the Ocean shore pack attacked me. My shoulder is crushed,” Ramses said. The pain in his voice was clear. I was still standing over him, not letting him get up or anyone get close.
“Beta?” the council man asked.
“I may have nicked him in the heat of the moment,” the Beta said. I growled.
‘Amie,’ Finlay mindlinked me.
‘It wasn’t in the heat of the moment. I saw it. It was planned and he went for the throat,’ I told Finlay. Finlay’s eyes lockedwith mine, I could see his anger. He was trying to hold back and me growling at everyone wasn’t helping him. I stopped growling, but I didn’t move.
“A clear rules violation. The Beta is out of the game, fifty per cent penalty to the Ocean shore pack,” the council man announced and his colleague nodded.
“I want to make a formal complaint. According to my Beta this wasn’t an accident. It was premeditated and it was meant to be a killing blow,” Finlay said.
