“I know where our house is,” he said.
“Then why are we going in the other direction?” I asked.
“We are not sleeping at home tonight.”
“We’re not?”
“No we’re not. I haven’t given you your birthday gift yet,” he said. He took me deep into the woods, to where the mountains reached upwards. The summer night was warm and it was nice walking hand in hand with my mate. Suddenly, Finlay stopped and pointed up at the mountain. Just over the treetops there was something glowing on the mountain face.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Come along,” was all he told me. He took me up a path which went up the side of the mountain, it became narrower the farther we went. In the end I had to walk behind Finlay. “Happy birthday,” he told me and took a step to the side. In front of me was a cave opening. I could see two small camping lights inside the cave.
“We are camping?” I asked, sounding as thrilled as I was at the idea.
“We are. I know it’s not an exotic vacation. But no one knows exactly where we are. The pack knows Jake and Shelly are in charge until tomorrow afternoon. Until then, it’s just you and mein this cave. We can talk, eat cake, and have sex as much as we want.” I looked up at him with wonder. It had been a long time since I had been that free from responsibilities and even longer for him.
“This is amazing! Thank you, Finn. It’s the best gift ever,” I told him and kissed him long and deeply. As we drew apart, he smiled at me.
“I will give you anything you want. I may not always do it in the traditional way, but I will find a way.” He was just so perfect it was hurting my heart. “Give me two minutes,” he said and headed inside the cave. I took a moment to admire the view. We were high enough up that we could see most of our land. The river was close to us and on the other side of it most of the packland stretched out. I could see the faint glow of the village and the night sky twinkled with stars. It was breathtaking. Finlay called for me and when I walked into the cave, I saw he had placed and lit candles all around the walls. The two camping lights were turned off and in the back of the cave, he had prepared a thick air mattress with blankets and pillows.
“I’m lost for words,” I told him as I stood and looked around, taking everything in. He was watching me intently.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“I love it,” I said with a sob. My emotions overwhelmed me and to my horror I started crying.
“Sweetheart!” he exclaimed and drew me into a tight hug. I clung to him while crying on his shoulder.
“It’s perfect,” I managed to say between sobs. “Happy tears.” He hummed and rocked me back and forth.
“Please stop crying. I can’t stand it. I promise we can sit outside and watch the view and have the cake we brought,” he told me. I had to giggle in the middle of me crying. My emotions were beginning to stabilise.
“That sounds like my birthday last year. I liked that,” I said. He kissed me.
“So did I. But this year we won’t stop when we come to the fun part.”
Chapter 90
Finlay
We arrived at the Alpha meeting early. I wanted to get Amie settled in before there were too many alphas hanging around. It was not the same location as for the Games. But it was still owned by the council. For all but one week of the year, the facility was a high end hotel in the middle of nowhere. The rich booked a stay here when they needed to get away. Politicians in the middle of a scandal, a movie star who needed to heal from surgery, and spoiled heiresses who needed to lay low for a while. One week a year, it was the place where all the alphas gathered to talk, vote on things which affected the community and tried not to kill each other. Usually I only asked for a single-room. But this year, as the Alpha of one of the top five packs, they had given me a suite on the top floor. It was perfect now I had Amie with me. When we walked into the lobby, the head of the council stood by the check-in desk.
“Luna Amie, Alpha Finlay, welcome,” he greeted us. He discreetly sniffed the air and a genuine smile spread over his face. “Congratulations! Happy news seems to follow you around.Correct me if I’m wrong, but this will be the third pup this year?” I chuckled and kissed Amie’s temple.
“It’s true. There is a pup boom in the pack at the moment,” Amie agreed with him.
“Oh, it’s always such a joy to see the next generation of leaders come forth. I’m impressed you let her come, Alpha Finlay. I’m happy to see the mistrust between the packs lessening,” the councilman said. Amie giggled.
“To be honest with you, head councilman, I would have left her at home if I had a say in the matter. But, as you know, now that I’m mated, I have nothing to say about important issues,” I told him, trying to look serious. The older wolf chuckled happily as he watched Amie poke me in the side.
“Don’t tell him that! He will think I’m a horrible mate,” she hissed at me. I just laughed and kissed her.
“To be young and newly mated again,” the head of the council wistfully said. “Nonetheless, I am happy for you and for your pack. This is your room, take the afternoon and settle in. We will hit the ground running tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you,” I told him. I took both mine and Amie’s bags in one hand and put my other arm around her as we made our way to the elevators.
“This feels like a vacation,” Amie said as we stood in the elevator. She hugged my waist and relaxed into me. I smiled.
