Page 130 of Game of Destiny
“Everything okay?” Finlay asked. Elder sighed, and I knew the sigh by now.
“What does he want?” I asked.
“He has agreed to see you. If it’s done tonight. I told him it was a shit move, but he won’t listen.” I could feel Finlay tense up. I rubbed his arm.
“Fine. It’s not what I hoped for, but I’ll take it and get it over with,” I agreed. “Tell him to meet me by the bridge over the creek in half an hour. The place should be empty tonight,” I added.
“I will come as well,” both Finlay and Elder said at the same time. Becky giggled and I smiled.
“No, you won’t, neither of you. I will do this in private. It’s the dignified way to handle this. Does he agree to my terms?” I asked Elder. There was a moment of silence as he mindlinked his Alpha.
“He says he will see you there,” Elder said.
“Good. Now go and have fun and don’t think too much about this. That is what tomorrow is for,” I told both my brother and his lovely mate. I hugged Becky again and then Finlay took me back to our table.
‘Red,’ he started as we sat down.
‘No, Finn. Don’t ruin a perfectly amazing evening. I will take a little break from it. When I get back one more thing will have been resolved and we can go back home to start the rest of our lives,’ I told him.
‘What if he tries to harm you?’
‘You, Sam, Ramses and Jake are within linking distance. I can hold him off until you get there. It won’t come to that. He knows why I want to meet, he has agreed to it. I will be back before you know it,’ I insisted. I got up and headed for the bridge. It was in the part of the forest that was thicker with undergrowth. It would give us some privacy. It only took me ten minutes to walk through the forest to the bridge, but James was already waiting. His eyes grew bigger as I stepped into the clearing.
“Amie, you came,” he said.
“Of course I did. I have been trying to set up a meeting for days,” I answered.
“You are upset with me.”
“I’m upset that you try to drag this thing out,” I corrected him.
“You are being stubborn and won’t give me another chance. I thought that if I dragged it out and your pack was forced together with the Ocean shore pack, you would have to come back home and then we would have a chance to start over,” he told me.
“James, that wouldn’t have happened. If you hadn’t agreed to meet me, I would have made sure we ran into each other in a more public setting. This needs to end. We both deserve a new start. You can have Cindy, or someone else,” I said.
“And you can have your Alpha,” he spat out, sounding bitter.
“I can. And I can forget everything about fated mates and just enjoy life with my chosen mate instead. If you want to hold out for a second chance mate, I wish you all the best of luck.”
“Amie, please. I beg you not to do this. Please take pity on me.” I looked at him. He didn’t look well.
“James. This isn’t healthy, it’s not good for either of us. The bond between us has turned toxic. I don’t want the bond, I haven’t wanted it for many years. If anything I would like my friend back. The one who picked blueberries for me when I was sick and who made sure I didn’t have to walk by the old bridge alone because I believed a troll lived under it. I don’t want this. This could have been great, it could have been amazing, but it never was and it never will be.” I had to take a moment to collect myself. The forest was quiet, the music didn’t reach us. It was only the pebbling from the brook and the soft sound of the wind rustling the leaves. “I, Beta Armeria Rose Sage Winstone…”
“No! Amie, please. Please don’t do this to me, to us,” James begged me as he fell to his knees in front of me.
“… accept your rejection.” I felt the frail tendrils of the bond between us vanish. There was no snap, no pain. It was just a feeling of freedom, of peace. James howled in pain. I turned my back on him to head back.
“Amie, wait. What happens now?” he asked. I looked back over my shoulder.
“Now we go back home and find happiness, James. We learn and we move forward. I wish you all the happiness that life can bring. I hope you find a mate you will love and accept. I hope you build a happy family and that your pups get to grow up as we did. And I hope that when your pups find their mates, they will accept them because you will have taught them the value of the bond. That is what will happen, James.” I could hear him sobbing as I walked away. I didn’t feel bad for him. I just felt relieved. I was done with true mates, with mate bonds, and with fate. I would choose Finlay and he would choose me and it would be perfect. I was walking through the woods, heading back to the dinner. The scent hit me from nowhere and I wanted to cry when my wolf told me my mate was close. Why me? What had I done to the moon goddess for her to hate me like this? Why wouldn’t she just let me be happy? I steeled myself and turned towards the scent. I had rejected one mate this evening, I could reject fifty more if I needed to. From between the trees Finlay came walking. My heart stopped as I took in the moment. I drew in my mate’s scent again and relief washed over me as I recognised it. It was Finlay’s scent. Finlay was my second chance mate? He didn’t stop as he reached me, he stepped into my space, took a grip on my neck and kissed me as if his life depended on it. I wrapped my arms around his neck and responded to the kiss. Sparks danced where our skin touched. These sparks were miles from the ones I had felt with James. I welcomed the tingling sensation. Finlay kept moving forward, making me back up into the trees and bushes. I didn’t care. The only important thingwas our kiss and the sparks. When my back hit a tree trunk, we stopped moving and Finlay pressed his body against mine. He ended the kiss and looked into my eyes. I could see how close to the surface his wolf was, mine was as well. She felt her mate, her real mate, the one she had been accepting all along.
“You are mine,” Finlay told me. The presence of his wolf made his voice dark and growling.
“You're my mate,” I told him. He smirked.
“I am.” Then he kissed me again. I desperately wanted to feel more of the sparks. The kiss and my hands on his neck weren’t enough. I tugged on his tie until I got it off him. I threw it into the bushes. Finlay took a handful of my hair and tilted my head to the right, exposing my neck to him. He kissed his way down it, and I shivered as my fingers did their best to unbutton his shirt. He growled in approval as the last buttons were undone and I placed my hands flat against his six pack. He licked his way up to my ear and I let out a needy sound. “Do you feel the sparks, Red?” I hummed and let my hands travel up over his naked skin. Enjoying the sparks and exploring each valley and rise of his muscles. I watched my hands travel over his chest as he kissed my neck, his hand still tangled in my hair. My eyes found the tattoo he had on his chest. Sam, Martin and Finlay had gone on a boys’ trip a couple of years back and they had all come back with tattoos. Martin had blue mountains with a howling wolf in front of them tattooed on his upper arm. He had been proud of it and showed me the moment they got back. Medow had told me Sam had tattooed her name on his ribs. I had asked Finlay what he had tattooed, but all I had got was that it was personal. I had been tempted to sneak a peak when we shifted, but it went against all social norms, so I had refrained. Now he was all mine to look at. I found it and took it in. It was the size of a baseball and had a rounded shape. In the background, there were mountains. The same mountains which surroundedthe pack land. As the centre of the tattoo, there was a flower. I recognised it, it was an armeria flower. It took my breath away all over again and I placed my hand over it. Finlay stopped kissing my neck and looked down at it and my hand.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
