Battle of Fate 94

We all dressed up for the closing ceremony. The top six ranking packs were to sit with the Council on the stage. I had on
my rust-red dress and for the first time in a while I felt self conscious.
“You look amazing,” Finlay told me for the hundredth time as we walked towards the stadium.
“I should be wearing white and gold,” I told him, as I had done all the other times he had complimented me.
“You don’t have white and gold clothes,” he pointed out. He knew this as he had asked me.
“Of course I don’t have white and gold clothes. Only lunas wear that combination.”
“Right. So you look stunning,” he insisted. He was right, I couldn’t wear what I didn’t own. But I still would have preferred
the traditional colours. We arrived at the stadium but instead of going to our usual seats, we were shown to the stage. A
long row of chairs had been arranged in a half circle on stage, a table with chairs stood in the middle of the half circle. We were placed on specific chairs, all facing the crowd. When my old pack walked up on the stage, Finlay moved his chair
closer to me and put his arm around my shoulder. Sam moved his chair closer to me on my other side. I saw my brother
and Becky and smiled at them. Some of the other pack members smiled and nodded at me as well. James looked like he
hadn’t slept in days and stared at me with a mix of anger and sadness. I saw his eyes dart to my mating mark and more
anger replaced some of the sadness in his eyes. Cindy was clinging to his arm, trying to make it look as if they were a
couple, and failing. I felt relieved when they sat down without an altercation. When everyone was sitting down, the
council walked out onto the stage and took their seats at the table in the middle. The head walked to the front of the
stage and started a speech. It was more interesting than the one at the start of the game. He did a recap of the games
and listed a number of interesting facts. During the game sixty two new matings had been made.
‘We are one of those,’ Finlay linked me. He lifted my hand, which he was holding, and placed a kiss on it. Next, highlights
from the games showed on big screens. It was a mix of impressive feats and funny moments. We got to see Finlay and
Sam pull Jake up. It was even more impressive looking at it from a distance.
‘I really should ask for a copy of that clip,’ I linked Finlay. He chuckled next to me. There was a clip of my wolf being
chased by two opponents and Ramses silently dropping down from a tree behind them and snatching their flags. There was a lot of laughing from the crowd. There was a serene looking picture of Sam and me sitting back to back on a log in
the water. ‘I really need to ask for a copy of that. It would look amazing on the lock screen,’ I told Finlay.
‘There will be no picture of you with another man on your lock screen. Not even Sam. We will take a picture you can use,’
Finlay told me. I smiled and nodded. It was interesting to see all the highlights from the games, most of them I hadn’t
seen before. They ended with highlights from the last game. When they showed almost the entirety of Finlay’s fight with
his brother, I turned my head away. Finlay put his arm around me and I buried my head in his neck. It had been enough
to watch it once. ‘I’m fine,’ Finlay reminded me.
‘I know, but I still hate to see you get hurt.’ He placed a kiss on my hair and let me hide in his neck. I was happy when he
told me it was over. The head of the council continued his speech. He told us it had been the least bloody game in
seventy years. Which was a surprise to me. He ended his speech and another member of the council took his place. She
talked about verdicts the council had made, which was interesting. They had been busy and it seemed our pack wasn’t
the only one with drama. The verdict that our pack was to remain a pack was read, as was the verification of Finlay’s and
my bond. As she ended her speech, the head of the council stood up again.
“With that, my dear brothers and sisters, I declare this year’s game finished. We will see you in ten years. Please leave as
soon as possible. We want the peace and quiet back,” he said. We all chuckled and stood up. We were expected to mingle for a while. Finlay made sure we stayed clear of my former pack. We talked to the first and second rank Alphas.
They were interested in forming alliances. It would be a good opportunity for our pack, so we exchanged information
and promised to get back to them. When we were free to get going, we were all relieved.
‘I will drop you off at the communal building so you can say goodbye to your brother. Sam and I have to fix a couple of
things at the cabin. When we are done, Sam will go and say goodbye to Medow’s father and I will come and join you,’
Finlay linked.
‘Sounds good. Don’t take too long,’ I said.
‘Never. I will miss you too much. If we say goodbye to your family quickly enough we might have a chance at having the
cabin to ourselves. Everyone is planning to be out and saying goodbye. We haven’t tried out the couch yet,’ he told me,
kissing me.
‘That all depends on how long you and Sam take,’ I told him, gave him a quick kiss and walked to the room in the
communal building where I would meet Elder and Becky. I got a warm hug from Becky and one from Elder. We sat down
to talk.
“Everything ready to go home tomorrow?” I asked.
“Yes, thank the goddess! I miss my baby,” Becky told me. I smiled at her.
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“Give him an extra hug from me.”
“I will,” she promised.
“We will make sure the two of you get to meet soon,” Elder said. I nodded. I didn’t want to ruin the mood by saying I
found it highly unlikely.
“If we are lucky, Cindy will distract James and get him in a better mood,” Becky told us. I could hear the sarcasm in her
voice. Elder couldn’t help but make a face.
“Let me guess, she tried to go for my dear brother before the two of you met?” I asked.
“And after. She had the guts to try convincing me they were in love and I was getting in the way,” Becky said.
“She did not!”
“I put a fucking stop to it the moment I found out,” Elder told me and pulled Becky closer to him.
“I never believed a word of it. I knew from the moment we met that your brother was a good wolf,” Becky ensured me.
“I took one look at you and I was a goner,” Elder told his mate. They were so cute together I had a hard time not cooing. I
missed Finlay and looked at the clock. He should be on his way. I wondered why he hadn’t mindlinked me to let me
know. Knowing him, he probably wanted to surprise me. The thought made me smile. It was nice to be close to my
brother and Becky, to meet and have a chat, but I had a serious case of homesickness. I wanted to get back, to start my
new life as mated for real.
“When is that mate of yours coming?” Elder asked. I was just going to reply he would be here any moment when I felt
something in my chest. It made my wolf go on high alert. “Amie?” Elder asked. I was too busy trying to figure out why I
felt like I did. It hit me like a bucket of cold water. It was the mate bond, Finlay was angry and in distress.
‘Finn, what is happening?’ I mindlinked. I waited.
“Amie, what is wrong?” Becky insisted. I still hadn’t got an answer from Finlay. It was bad, it had to be. He had never not
answered me. I stood up from my chair and headed for the door.
“Something’s wrong. I need to go,” was all I said. I didn’t have time to explain. I started running as I mindlinked Sam.
‘Something’s wrong with Finlay. Please tell me you are with him, he isn’t replying to my links.’
‘No, I left the cabin about ten minutes ago. I’m on my way. Don’t go there alone!’ Sam linked back. I didn’t care what he
told me. I would not ignore this thing, leave my m