“How can I forget a thing like that? No, I haven't forgotten. But we are satisfied we can protect ourselves if it is needed. If anyone deems it fit to test us, they will learn that even though we are unranked, we are strong,” I said in a calm voice.
“That is good. Well, let’s set up a meeting and talk alliance,” Alpha Jackson said. He tried to sound relaxed and at peace with the outcome, but his anger bled through.
I was standing in front of the pack later that evening. I had called a pack meeting and the dining room in the pack house had been transformed into a meeting room. The tables had been made into a large square and everyone of age in the pack sat facing the middle. Me and my closest wolves sat at one side, all eyes on me.
“That is why we turned down their offer,” I told the pack after I had explained things. There was an agreeing murmur amongst the gathered wolves.
“We don’t want to join another pack,” Jake said and others agreed.
“We left one pack because we felt oppressed. We won’t give up our freedom for an unknown pack. If we wanted to trade ourfreedom for security, we would go back to our old one,” Matilda told them. The pack agreed and I smiled at my aunt.
“We will meet with Alpha Jackson and two of his top wolves in two weeks time at a neutral location. We are looking into forming an alliance with them,” I told the pack. I didn’t tell them the meeting was more of an opportunity for us to assess their true nature. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust my pack, but I knew some things were best to keep close. “When we are gone, I want the rest of you to be on high alert. I don’t think anything will happen. But I want us to be on the safe side,” I said. Nodding heads agreed with me. We went on to talk about more mundane topics. Afterward the top tier retreated back to our meeting room.
“I will take two of you with me, so our groups are equal,” I told them.
“Me and Sam should go with you. Amie and Medow can watch over the pack,” Martin said. I was glad he had suggested it, so I didn’t have to. My protectiveness towards Amie was strong, and I didn’t know if I had it in me to have her with me in a hostile situation.
“That’s a bad idea,” Amie said and shattered my satisfied calm.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because Sam won’t be happy leaving Medow behind in a possibly dangerous situation. His focus won’t be on the meeting. Medow will be worried about Sam as he is going into a meeting with a threat against him. Besides that, Sam is the Gamma. If this is a ruse to get the strongest wolves away from the pack so they can attack behind our backs, it’s best if he is here. He knows the warriors and the defence plan better than anyone,” she explained. I hated that it made sense.
“It sounds logical,” Sam said as an echo of my own thoughts.
“I would be grateful to not be split up from Sam,” Medow agreed. I didn’t like the idea of bringing Amie with us to apotentially dangerous meeting. My wolf didn’t like it either. But she made too much fucking sense for me to object. I couldn’t find a single thing to use as a reason she should stay. Other than I didn't like to put her in danger. And that would be too revealing. If we had been mates, even chosen ones, it would have been a good reason. Now it would just make things awkward.
“Fine. Martin and Amie, you will come with me. Sam and Medow, you will stay and guard the pack. We will keep in regular contact.”
“We have almost two weeks to plan and strategise,” Amie told us.
“Why does it sound like you are having fun?” Martin asked.
“Maybe not fun. I know how serious the situation is. But my dad always used to come back from meetings like this and tell me and my brother about how they had tried to trick each other and how they battled to get the upper hand in the negotiations. It always sounded like fun,” she told us. “I guess I’m looking forward to trying it out.” It reminded me how different our upbringings had been despite us both being the second child in a top ranking family. My father had never been unkind to me. He had been a good father in most ways, and I thought of him fondly. He had just not seen the point of including me in his work. He knew my brother would take over after him, so from his point of view, it was just logical that he trained my brother. Amie's family had done things differently, and I envied the openness they seemed to have shared. If I ever had pups of my own, I would do it like Amie’s father, I told myself.
Chapter 18
Amie
Iwas sitting in the back of Finlay’s car. He and Martin sat up front. The tense energy rolled off of them in waves.
“Can we try to relax?” I asked. “I know this is a stressful meeting, but if we go in like this, we will add fuel to a fire.” Finlay rolled his shoulders and tried to keep the car steady.
“You’re right,” Martin admitted and made a conscious effort to relax. “When we get there, I think it would make the most sense if me and the Alpha flanked you, Amie,” he then said.
“Keep on dreaming. When have you ever seen an Alpha flank a member of their pack that isn’t their Luna? Standard procedure is Alpha in the middle, you to the right and me to the left,” I objected.
“I don’t know, Amie,” Finlay started to say.
“Okay. I know what this is and while I find it sweet that the two of you think you need to protect me, you don’t. I’m here as a member of the top tier of the pack. We can’t make it look like I’m weak. If nothing else, it will paint a target on my back. I can hold my own, thank you very much,” I told them. They exchanged a look. “Don’t make me slap you in the head.”
“Fine. We do it as it should be done,” Finlay agreed. I could see in the back view mirror he had the look on his face he usually had when he knew he was making the right decision, but he hated it.
“Fine,” Martin said.
“Don’t we all feel a lot better now? How long until we are there?” I asked. Both of them shook their heads.
“Twenty minutes,” Finlay answered. I relaxed back. The tension was still there, but it had eased a bit. We had decided on a neutral meeting place roughly at the halfway point between the packs. As neither one of us wanted the other pack to know our exact location, it had been a best guess. We arrived at the meeting place. It was a rest stop in the middle of nowhere. A few picnic tables stood half buried in snow in the middle of a clearing next to the road. Finlay parked in the large parking area that was deserted this time of year. The cold did not affect werewolves as it did humans. We could sit in the snow and have the meeting. Finlay didn’t have time to turn the car off before another car came from the opposite direction and parked on the other side of the parking lot. Everyone exited their car at the same time. Martin and I flanked Finlay as the two groups of wolves walked towards each other.
