“My family wasn’t a part of the ranked families. We were run of the mill wolves. When Alpha Johannes ran the pack wolves like us had it good. We were respected as we contributed to the pack. Maybe not in the same ways as the tops or the warriors, but we worked hard,” he told me. I hummed, not wanting to interrupt him now he had got started. “But then he passed away and Ryder took over the pack, Finlay’s brother. All of a sudden my family wasn’t worth anything. We weren’t physically strong, so we didn’t matter, but then Finlay gave us the option to follow him instead.” There was a pause.
“Your family isn’t here,” I said. I already knew it as I had been going through the pack roster with Medow.
“No. My dad thought it would be dishonourable to abandon our pack. My mother would never go if my father stayed and my sister mated with one of the warriors in the pack. But I knew I couldn’t stay. There was no future for me in that pack.”
“I’m sorry. Do you keep in touch?” I asked.
“With my sister and my mom. But my dad is still disappointed in me,” Martin told me. “I’m telling you this because I really don’t know what I’m doing. I have no clue why Finlay chose me to be his Beta, but I will do whatever I can to live up to the title. I need you, and I need you to tell me if I’m not doing what I should. I will step down rather than hurt the pack. This pack is my life and I will protect it, even from myself.” I smiled and gave him a nudge with my shoulder.
“What you just told me, that is why Finlay made you his Beta. You love this pack just as much as he does. The relationship between the Alpha, Beta and Gamma, and as an extension, their families, are more important than one might think. That was why I left my first pack. What was happening between me and the Alpha’s son was messing with that bond. I didn’t want that on my shoulders, so I left,” I told him. “As Beta you are the quality control. It’s your job to make sure the Alpha doesn’t go off the script. Alphas have a tendency to get tunnel vision. Your job is to make sure Finlay remembers the big picture. And to help take up the thing he thinks he has the bandwidth to do, but you know he doesn't.” At that he huffed in amusement. I smiled. “You are doing fine. Better than fine. You are doing amazing. Look at the pack. It’s happy, it’s open and welcoming. A pack like that doesn’t have issues with the top ranks. You just need to find your confidence, and that I can help you with.”
“Thank you, Amie,” Martin said, and he gave me a nudge back.
“So how did you and the Alpha become friends?” I asked. Martin chuckled.
“We are born a day apart, so we like to think it started a couple of hours after I was born. The idiot beat me into the world with sixteen hours. Something he likes to remind me about. We played together as pups, I don’t think our parents saw anything wrong with it. But we bonded from the start. He’s the brother I never had and I’m the brother he wished he had. When he told me about his plan to break away from our old pack, I knew I would follow him,” he told me. I smiled, I would have liked to see the toddler version of my Alpha and Beta. I would bet money on that they were adorable.
“You never doubted that he would get the permission?” I asked.
“Never,” he said with a chuckle. “When Finlay wants something, Finlay will get it. If the first way doesn't succeed, hewill try another way until he finds one that works. That man is stubborn,” he said. I laughed.
“Yeah, that was a stupid question. I have been on the receiving end of that stubbornness,” I admitted. Martin joined in my laughter. It was nice sitting in the sun by the water and laughing.
“Well, when he gets that way, gets tunnel vision as you put it, it’s usually something important. I’ll be the first one to admit that I called him insane when he called to say he would bring a lone wolf back to the pack and we should do our best to make her join our pack. But… He was right. The pack is better off with you here. Thank you for accepting our offer,” Martin said.
“Oh you weren’t alone on that. I called him crazy once or twice. I don’t know about the pack. But I’m definitely better off here. This is home. So thank you for being open-minded and having me.” We remained seated for a while, I ended up resting my head on his shoulder and he rested his head on top of mine. It was nice with some bonding time. It almost felt like when I used to hang out with Elder. We eventually got up and made our way back to the village. The subjects were lighter and we needled each other. The hesitation of a new friendship wasn’t there any longer. When we got close to the pack house, Finlay walked up to us.
“Where have you been?” he asked. He didn’t look annoyed, more amused.
“I needed to warn Amie about how stubborn you are and all of your other flaws,” Martin told him with a grin.
“I had to tell him it was too late. I already knew all about it,” I added, and we both laughed.
“You have bonded, I see. Why do I feel this will be bad for me?” Finlay asked with a chuckle.
“We will be gentle with you,” I told him. Then I gave Martin a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for the walk. I really needed it and I had a great time. We should do it again sometime,” I saidbefore saying goodbye to both men and heading off to do what I had planned to do before my little outing.
Chapter 15
Amie
It was time for the big hide and seek tournament and I could feel the excitement in the air. We had decided to make it into an all day event. The day started with the pups’ competition. Anyone between a toddler and the age of fifteen got ten minutes to find their hiding spot in the forest. There were five starting points spread out over the pack land. The warriors of the pack had been enlisted as trackers. It was not an equal match, but the aim was to prepare for a future attack. In case of a real attack, there would be no mercy. After the pup event, it was time for anyone above fifteen who wasn’t a warrior to have their turn. Then everyone would gather and have a BBQ before the highlight of the day. The warriors would hide and the five of us in the top tier would track them. I was at one of the starting points for the pups and watched as parents were giving advice before the pups would set off.
“Amie, are you going to be tracking me?” Cadence asked.
“You know she isn’t,” Mari, his older sister, told him.
“I have to save my strength for when I’m tracking the warriors,” I told him.
“Okay. I’m going to be so good at this. My dad has told me everything about how to find the best place to hide and mom told me how to mask my scent,” Cadence said.
“I know you will do great. You too Mari,” I told them and they hurried over to the starting point.
“I think he has his eyes set on you,” Finlay chuckled as he walked up to me.
“Who?”
“Cadence, who else? Don’t tell me you already have a horde of men courting you,” he teased me.
