“What do you think will happen when I call the Rolling Hills Alpha?” Finlay asked as I had almost finished my pizza. I put down the slice I was eating and took a moment to think about the question.
“It depends on what kind of Alpha he is. If his intentions with the offer are good, he will most likely understand and be open to an alliance. If he had an ulterior motive, he wouldn't be happy,” I answered. Finlay nodded. He had a hard look on his face which didn’t suit him. I liked the playful and relaxed look he had most of the time. Even when it was a mask. I could read him well enough that I didn’t need his expression to show me what mood he was in. Irritatingly enough, he was just as good at reading me as I was at reading him.
“Do you think he will try to force the issue?”
“Attack? Maybe, if he is desperate enough. I’m guessing they are uncertain of how strong we are, or that they are weaker than they look. Otherwise, they would have gone for that option from the start. The offer is too risky. They have to know that we won’t just accept it,” I thought out loud. “Or maybe it’s just me being a pessimist and they are really doing it out of the kindness of their heart. You know I like to prepare for the worst. I’m not really a happy, happy, fluffy bunnies and unicorns that farts rainbows kind of a person,” I told him. He burst out laughing and it made me smile. At least I could brighten his mood a little.
“I needed that, thanks,” he said, still chuckling. Then he sighed and turned serious. “I think you are right to be on your guard. Something felt off with the call I had with him. He was too friendly, something with him rubbed my wolf the wrong way,” he said.
“Trust your instinct, it’s a good one. And I know you worry about the pack and about the threat we face because we aren’t ranked. But we are a strong pack, and everyone is willing to take that risk because they believe in this pack and in you as its Alpha. None of us would be here if we didn’t,” I told him.
“Thank you. I think I need to be reminded of that sometimes,” he said. He put his feet on the coffee table. I was about to object when I remembered we were in his house. He leaned back into the couch and looked out the window. It had started snowing again.
“I will remind you when I think you need to hear it. I just don’t want it to go to your head,” I told him and leaned back as well. I didn’t put my feet on the table though. I knew my mother’s spirit would take physical form and smack me in the head if I even tried. Finlay chuckled softly. We sat on the couch, watching the snow, drinking beer and enjoying the peace and quiet. “I should head back home,” I said a couple of hours later. We had time to talk about less gloomy matters and play cards.
“It’s really coming down. I have a spare bedroom,” he offered. I laughed and gave him a friendly shove.
“I think I will be okay walking ten feet,” I said as I headed to the hallway to get my jacket.
“Fine. Just be careful.”
“I will. Thank you Finlay for a nice evening. It was fun,” I told him.
“Thank you for keeping me company and taking my mind off the call with the Alpha tomorrow.”
“No worries. If your mind gets out of control, just mindlink me. I have an astonishing pile of useless facts stored in my head that I am more than happy to recite to you if needed.”
“I will keep that in mind,” he said as he held open the door. The snow was really coming down, but the few feet between Finlay’s and the pack house was still easy to walk. As I reached the front door I felt myself being watched and turned around. I could barely see Finlay’s silhouette in the doorway of his house.
‘Are you seriously watching me walk ten feet?’ I mindlinked him to ask.
‘You can’t be too careful. Sleep tight, Red,’ he linked back.
‘You too, Alpha. See you tomorrow.’
Chapter 17
Finlay
Isighed as I sat down at my desk. I knew I usually joked that I hated being Alpha. It wasn’t true. Most days I liked it, it came naturally to me. But there were aspects of it I didn’t like. Like paperwork. It was an endless tide of paperwork involved in running the pack. There was the paperwork for the pack and its finances, there was the paperwork the humans demanded we keep, and then there was the paperwork for the council. Since Amie had joined the pack, she had been a great help with it. She knew how much I hated it and how my mood took a turn for the worse when I had to endure it for a long period. So she decided to rescue both me and the pack and give me a hand. Now she always joined me during my paperwork sessions. The work seemed to go by much faster and just having someone to grumble to, made it easier to deal with. And then there was the part of being Alpha that I was heading into. I was about to call Alpha Jackson and tell him we were turning his offer down. It was the right decision; it had been my instinct when he had called me to extend the offer. But I wanted to hear the opinion of my top tiers. To my relief, they had all agreed with me. Amiehad taken the last doubt from me during our conversation. I knew I was leaning on her. During the months Amie had been in the pack the thing between us had grown stronger. We didn’t speak about it but I knew she felt it too. I had no idea what it was. I knew it wasn’t a mate bond, I wasn’t delusional. But it was something. Whatever it was, I enjoyed her company. She always made me feel better and less stressed. Just spending an evening talking and playing cards did wonders. I knew that sooner or later we would need to talk about it. I also had a feeling I wouldn’t like her take on it. So, I pushed it into the future. The thoughts about Amie called forth the memory of her playing with the pups in the snow yesterday. It was no big mystery why the pack loved her. She was generous and caring, she was protective of the ones she cared about and she was smart. And yesterday I had learnt the gorgeous wolf had a pup living inside her that was called forth by the snow. To watch her play tag with the pups had been the highlight of my day. I had watched them for a while before making my presence known. I tucked away the memory to use on days when I needed a pick up. I sighed. I was postponing the inevitable. I ran my hand through my hair and picked up the phone.
“Jakson Hill,” the other Alpha answered.
“Alpha Jackson, this is Alpha Finlay,” I told him.
“Ah, Finlay, calling back so soon?” Alpha Jackson said. It rubbed me the wrong way. Only my friends called me by my first name without my title. He was not one of my friends. But I swallowed it.
“Yes, I had a discussion with the top tier of the pack and we were all in agreement. The decision therefore didn’t take long,” I told him.
“I didn’t expect anything else.” I heard the smugness in his voice and it made me happy that I was about to give him a surprise.
“I’m happy you understand, Jackson. Your offer was more than generous, but my pack will not be joining yours. But we recognise the generosity in you giving us this offer and we would like to meet and discuss an alliance,” I said. There was a long silence from the other side, if I hadn’t heard him breathing I would have thought he left.
“You turn the offer down?” he asked.
“Yes. As generous as it is for you to offer it, we don’t feel like it’s in our best interest at this point.”
“Have you forgotten that your pack is unranked?” Alpha Jackson asked.
