‘Not at all. I could go for another run. I’m just taking in the moment,’ she told me before shifting and slipping on her dress. I chuckled as I made sure everyone was accounted for and ready to head for the pack house. Martin, Sam and Medow joined Amie and me as we headed for the dining room. I knew the pack had prepared a feast during the day that the ones who didn’t run with us would have put out. I was starving, as always after shifting and I was looking forward to the food. I smiled as Medow hooked her arm in Amie’s. The two had become close already, and I joined in with Martin as he teased Sam.
“Looks like you have been traded in for a newer model. Your mate seems to have a thing for redheads,” Martin told Sam.
“Maybe she is collecting you,” I added. We both laughed at the hint of jealousy that flashed in Sam’s eyes before he quickened his steps and walked up to Medow’s other side and took her hand.
“Don’t tease him,” Medow scolded us. “I just had to have a matching pair. But Sam will always be my mate,” she added, giving him a kiss. We all laughed, even Sam. As we got to the dining hall in the pack house, a buffet with heaps of food had been set up. As Alpha, I was to take my portion first. I took a plate and loaded it with food. The pack then waited for Amie. She looked a little unsure at first, but gave in and took a plate of her own. After that, it was a free for all and the tables filled with food were soon surrounded by hungry pack members. Instead of sitting down to eat, everyone walked around and talked, rubbed shoulders with each other, and made sure the pack bond was strong. Amie had Cadence as a shadow when she moved around. I watched as she made sure he was included in the conversations and took time to give him attention. Cadence's father had made sure with both me and Amie that she didn’t mind having him around. But Amie liked the pup and I just found the whole thing adorable.
It was a little after midnight and the party was winding down. I had gone outside to the back porch of the pack house to get some air while the last members of the pack remained. I heard Amie’s footsteps, it was easy to know it was her now that we had the pack link, even if her footsteps were almost silent.
“Am I disturbing you?” she asked.
“Not at all,” I said and gestured to the other deck chair next to the one I was sitting on. She sat down. “What’s up?” I asked.
“It’s my brother’s birthday in a couple of weeks,” she said. I remembered her telling me about her tradition.
“You want to continue posting your cards?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Don’t you think they would respect that you have settled down into a new pack?” I asked.
“Probably. But for now I’m not ready to take the chance,” she said. I nodded.
“Just let me know what day and where you’re heading. If you don’t want to do it by yourself, you have options to bring someone along now,” I told her.
“Thank you. But I don’t think I would be good company. I will do it on my own,” she insisted. I nodded.
“Just make sure to check in regularly so we know you are safe.”
“I will. Thank you.” There was a long stretch of comfortable silence. The new moon was approaching and the brook was lit only by the stars.
“Time to head to bed, Red. I expect you to be in the conference room directly after breakfast tomorrow. Time to start your new job,” I finally told her. She laughed.
“Yes, Alpha,” she said and got up. The way she used my title always did something to me. I did my best not to let it show. “Sleep tight, Finlay,” she added.
“You too, Red. Welcome to the pack. I’m happy you’re one of us.”
“So am I.”
Chapter 12
Amie
After my alarm woke me in the morning, I just lay in bed for a while, getting used to the pack bond again. It wasn’t as if you always felt every individual in the pack and what they were feeling. It was more like a soft humming in the back of your mind. My last pack bond hadn’t been severed, as I had run away, the distance had made it feel less and less the further away I got. But even during my first months in my new home, I had felt it. But a pack bond that wasn’t maintained and if you didn’t return to the pack land at least a couple of times a year, it faded. The bond was a living thing and needed to be nourished and felt. But now a new pack bond had taken its place, as well as a connection to the pack land. I loved the familiar, yet new, feeling of it. I eventually got up and got ready before heading down for breakfast. Cadence’s family invited me to sit with them, and I did. It was nice getting to know his parents and older sister. When he asked me if I wanted to go to the river with him and his sister, I had to decline. I had to start my new work today.
“Where have you been?” Medow asked as we met outside the conference room.
“I had breakfast with Cadence and his family,” I told her and Sam.
“Is he trying to court you?” she asked and we laughed as we joined Finlay and Martin in the room dedicated for the meeting of the top rank.
“What are you doing?” Finlay asked me as I took a chair that stood along the wall and moved the other chairs around the table to make room for it.
“I’m getting a chair so I can sit down,” I told him.
“And why do you need a new chair?” he asked, confused. I looked at the table. Finlay was sitting at the head of it, Martin to his right, with an empty chair next to him, opposite him where Sam and Medow sat next to her mate. The chair opposite Finlay was also empty.
“I’m not sitting in the Luna’s or the Beta female’s chairs,” I told him. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and signed for Martin to scoot his chair closer to Finlay. I moved the Beta female’s chair after Martin and put my own at the corner between the two empty chairs.
