“Sam,” I half heartedly objected.
“I asked him to give us a moment. He won’t come out here until I tell him to,” Finlay said. I nodded and let myself take a deep breath of his scent. “They seem lovely,” he said. I smiled.
“They are amazing. I didn’t realise how much I missed them. When all of this is over, would you object to me going to see them?” I asked. It was nice to have got to see and talk to them. But I found myself craving my dad’s hugs and my mom’s scent.
“Not at all. I’m sure we can arrange something. And they are welcome to our pack anytime,” he told me.
“Thank you,” I said and sat up. “All better.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek and he smiled. He didn’t object as I sat back in my chair.
“I’ll ask Sam to come out here.”
“We need to tell him what has happened. We need to tell everyone,” I said.
“We don’t need to do that if you don’t want to,” Finlay objected. I shook my head.
“No, they need to know. We don’t know what will come of this,” I said.
“Come out of what?” Sam asked as he came walking. He took a seat on the chair on the other side of the table. I took a deep breath.
“It has been an interesting morning,” I said, and started to tell him everything.
“Fuck. Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m good, well, mostly good,” I told him. He frowned.
“And we are sure there is no other way around it? I don’t like the idea of you being bonded to this idiot,” he grumbled.
“It is what it is for now,” I told him. He looked at Finlay.
“I know how you feel. I even offered her to sit this game out and just get it over with. But you know Amie, she insists it would be unfair to both packs,” Finlay said.
“Well, then we just make sure he doesn’t get close to you and we pretend this isn’t happening. Then you can reject his ass and we will go home and celebrate our new top rank,” Sam determined.
“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed, loving his positive take on everything.
“Best way forward,” Finlay said.
Chapter 35
Amie
We were all heading to the gathering point. It was the first day of the games and there would be an opening ceremony. Attendance was mandatory for everyone, participants and support staff alike. Finlay and I had told our pack what had happened the day before, so everyone was aware. The support I had got was overwhelming. I knew it wasn’t a coincidence that I found myself in the middle of the group from our pack. I could have objected. As Beta I should be able to choose where to walk. But it was sweet and I kind of liked not having to worry about running into members from my old pack.
“You are taking this better than I thought,” Matilda told me as she walked next to me. I smiled at her.
“It makes them feel better, and it reminds me of what an amazing pack we have,” I said. She laughed.
“That’s the spirit.” We came to a building that resembled a big stadium. We were all filled into it, we had designated seats. It was to keep packs with feuds from ending up next to each other. We were seated high up on the sloping stands. On the inside, the gathering point were a combination between a stadiumand an amphitheatre. When everyone was seated, the head of the council stepped forward on the stage and held an opening speech. It was a long speech about the history of the games, their importance to our community and that we all should treat this coming month with the respect it deserved. Then, he reminded us that this was a time not only for the games, but for us to come together and talk between packs. When he finally ended his speech, I felt relieved and joined in the howls that followed it. After him another council member took to the stage and went through the rules. We were free to adjust the groups who were to compete until we entered the first game, which would be tomorrow morning. The team that arrived for the first game was the team we needed to use throughout all games. If one, or more, members of the teams were injured to the point they couldn’t take part in further games, the team would not be allowed to fill their position with an alternate. They would need to continue with being a member short. They reminded us that fighting between teams was strictly forbidden if the game itself didn’t require it. We were told the games were dangerous, all games were what they were portrayed as. There were no safety nets, no fake dangers. There was real potential to get hurt or lose your life. We all knew this. But for me it became more real as I listened to the councilman. There would be games where each pack did the task separately and there would be games when all the packs performed the task at the same time. The rules for the support staff were more straightforward. No fighting between packs, no sabotaging another pack, not helping the own pack during the games. They were allowed to supply their pack with food and drink during a game, but the items should be handed into designated spots and the council staff would make sure it reached the correct team. They were welcome to watch the games and were encouraged to cheer for their own pack andtaunt the others. When the rules had been read, another speech commenced and I felt myself lose focus.
‘He brought our mother,’ Finlay mindlinked me. I followed where he looked. In seats which were among the best in the stadium, I saw a woman that vaguely resembled Matilda. Even for my wolf sight, it was a little too far away to get a good view. Next to the woman, there was a man. I assumed it would be Finlay’s brother. I had expected some resemblance, but I didn’t see any. The man looked like he spent all his time lifting weights. Where Finlay was tall, lean and powerful, this other Alpha just looked tall and strong. I looked at the group surrounding him and I could see all of them except three were men and all of them looked like their Alpha.
‘I can see why you and the others felt like you didn’t fit in,’ I couldn’t help but comment.
‘Yeah, my brother has a strong view of an ideal warrior. I see Martin’s sister is in the group as well,’ he linked. I looked over at the three women and saw one I guessed was Martin’s sister. They had the same hair colour. As if she could feel our gaze, she turned around and looked back at us. She inclined her head and both Finlay and I did the same. The big man sitting by her side with his arm around her shoulder looked in our direction as well when he noticed his mate had her attention away from the stage. His eyes grew bigger as he spotted Finlay. He quickly faced forward again and nudged his mate to do the same. It didn’t take many seconds before Finlay’s brother turned around to look at Finlay. His eyes narrowed. ‘No love lost there,’ Finlay linked me. I reached for his hand and covered it with mine.
‘Don’t mind him. We knew he would be grumpy,’ I told him. Finlay looked at me and I saw he was trying to contain a laughter. ‘What?’ I linked, wanting to get in on the joke.
‘My brother is giving me death glares and you call him grumpy?’ Finlay asked. I shrugged. ‘But you are right. We knew this would happen.’
