“I’m fine thank you Finlay. I hear you are cooking for my daughter. I approve. The only thing my mate knows how to cook is his special pasta dish, and I wouldn’t call it cooking,” she told him. I laughed.
“I’m doing my best.” he glanced towards the kitchen. “I think I need to get back to it. It was nice talking to you. Give Ron my best.” He kissed me and then set off for the kitchen.
“Oh my,” my mom said and laughed.
“He is adorable. I suspect my kitchen will need a deep cleaning after tonight, but I don’t mind.”
“He’s a good mate,” she agreed. “And it will be useful if he knows how to cook when you have a pup. Are there any plans for that?” she asked. I knew my mom. She was not putting pressure on me, she was just curious.
“We have talked about it. Things are unstable at the moment with the things happening around us, but neither one of us are against it. We are just not actively trying.”
“But you are actively having sex?” she asked.
“MOM!” I felt myself turning bright red in the face as mom chuckled.
“Was that pumpkin I heard bellowing?” I heard my dad ask and then I saw him coming into view.
“It was. She is fussing over me asking her about her and Finlay’s sex life,” my mom said. My dad turned visibly pale.
“Love you, pumpkin. Have a nice talk and say hi to Finlay from me,” he quickly said and walked out of the room. My mom was giggling.
“Having fun?” I asked.
“So much! You should have seen the look on your brother’s face when I asked him when he was newly mated. I have never seen someone shift through so many colours in so little time,” she told me, still giggling. I had to agree that it sounded amusing.
“You don’t have to worry about us, that is all I have to say on the subject,” I said.
“Good. Then I’m happy. Take your time with pups if that is what feels right for you. It’s nice to have time for each other.” We continued talking about other things until Finlay came to tell me dinner was ready. He had set the table and served a large pot with a beef stew and homemade bread. I ignored the mess in the kitchen and kissed him.
“This looks and smells amazing. Thank you for cooking for me,” I told him. He smiled at me and kissed my nose.
“The bread is a little black on the sides and I think I added a little too much chili in the stew,” he told me.
“You should have seen my first attempts at cooking. If you ask my mom about it the next time you talk to her, she will be happy to tell you about my best efforts,” I said. He laughed and pulled out my chair. He was right, the stew made me feel like a fire-breathing dragon, but it was still good and when we added some sour cream as a topping, it was delicious.
Chapter 81
Finlay
The mood in the room was tense. Amie was sitting close to me, holding my hand in her lap and gently rubbing soothing circles with her thumb. I don’t know if it was for her or my benefit, maybe for both of us. On the other side of Amie, Sam was sitting. He had insisted on joining. Jake was on my other side. On the big screen in front of us was James, Elder and the former Alpha.
“Little sister, Luna Amie, you look well,” Elder said and then smiled in my direction. “Alpha Finlay, it’s nice to see you again.”
“Beta Elder, thank you for inviting us to this meeting,” Amie said. If I hadn’t known her as well as I did, she would have sounded relaxed. But I did know her and the tension in her voice gnawed at my raw feelings about this meeting. According to Elder, James was now ready to let go of the past and move forward. Apparently he had taken a liking to another woman. That was all nice and dandy, but I still didn’t trust him. I wasn’t scared about him trying to woo Amie back. She would shut any shit like that down. I was scared he was still holding a grudge and would try to hurt her. As he didn’t have access to her, itwould be emotional pain. If he tried, I would personally go all the way to his pack and end his miserable little life. For now, I was playing nice. This was important to Amie. She saw this as the only way to make sure she was able to see her parents again. I wouldn’t be the one standing in the way of that. Instead, I put on my best smile.
“It’s long overdue. Our packs share many values and we have strong ties of family and friendship between us,” the former Alpha said. “Wouldn’t you agree, son?” The question seemed to wake James from his state of deep thought.
“Yes. You are right. It would be beneficial for our packs to have an official tie. We saw it with how you organised everything to let members of Ocean Shore find safe heavens. We are always looking for allies like this,” James said. Amie squeezed my hand.
“I couldn’t agree more. I think both our packs would benefit from an alliance, and I know it would make Amie happy,” I agreed.
“It would,” she confirmed. We continued to talk about expectations and limitations. I relaxed the longer the meeting went on. It seems like Elder was right.
“Mom told me two of your pack members are expecting pups. Congratulations,” Elder said as we were rounding off the meeting.
“Yes, Emile and Hudson are expecting their second pup in May. Ramses and Kyla just found out three days ago they are expecting. So we will have a spring and summer full of pups this year as well,” Amie said. I could see James’ eyes filling with something close to longing. I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was longing for a family in general and not eying my Luna. Just to be safe, I let go of Amie’s hand and put my arm around her shoulders.
“It’s a great blessing for the pack. I don’t know if we told you this, but the Beta’s and Gamma’s pups were actually born on thesame day last year. It means we can have a big spring birthday party,” I proudly said.
