Page 48 of Game of Destiny
“Sorry?”
“You kept them away from the worst of it, not we. And you kept them safe when you were discovered.”
“And I failed to get them out of there. I decided we needed to stay put and by doing so I forced the rest of you to come and rescue us. It’s my fault we lost him,” I told Finlay.
“Amie,” he objected and sat up for the first time. I took a deep breath and shook my head as the tears started rolling down my face. I had been keeping them at bay until now. But right now it was just Finlay and I knew I could be weak around him.
“I made the decision that ended with us losing Martin, our Beta. That is on me,” I insisted.
“It’s not your fault. You made the only reasonable decision you could make. If you had tried to get the boys out you would have been detected and we would have lost the three of you,” Finlay told me. He gently put his arm around me and drew me closer to him. I rested my head on his shoulder and he rested his on top of mine. “His mother was devastated. She cried and asked if I would send his ashes back to them.”
“He wouldn’t have wanted that,” I said.
“No, he wouldn’t. I told her we would scatter his ashes over our pack land. The land he gave his life to protect and which he loved.”
“It was the right thing to do,” I assured him.
“I know. But it felt horrible.” I put my arms around his waist and we sat like that. We shared our sorrow and let each other have time to think. When dawn's first light was visible outside, Finlay sighed. “We will need a new Beta,” he said. My first instinct was to object. The position belonged to Martin. But he wasn’t with us any longer. I nodded as best I could in my position.
“Do you have any candidates?” I asked.
“One.”
“Who?” I asked while I tried to figure it out on my own.
“You.”
“Me?” I asked, feeling confused.
“You’re the only one I can think of that can fill his chair.”
“But I already have a seat at the top tier table,” I objected. “Who will fill my seat?” To make me even more confused, Finlaychuckled. It sounded genuine so I sat up and looked at him. He smiled at me.
“You are usually brilliant, so I forget what an idiot you can be,” he told me and ruffled my hair. I didn’t even try to avoid his hand as I was trying to figure out what I was missing. “The seat you have is made up. It was created for you as we wanted to give you a seat at the table. When you move to the Beta chair, your chair will be removed, because no one else can fill it,” he told me.
“Oh.” Yeah I should have remembered he had created the advisory role for me. I was just so used to it by now. “If I take the Beta chair we will always be one person short. I don’t have a mate so that chair will remain empty,” I told him.
“You don’t know that. Things can happen,” he said. I gave him a smile.
“It will remain empty,” I told him. He shrugged.
“So be it. Look, the pack loves you, they trust and look up to you. I trust you. I don’t have it in me to find a replacement for Martin who isn’t you.”
“Okay. Count me in. If this is what you and the pack needs, I will do it. I will do my best and I’m counting on you to tell me if I’m messing up.” Finlay let out a deep sigh and put his arm around me again, pulling me with him as he leaned back on the couch.
“It will be fine, Red. You are the daughter of a Beta, it’s in your blood.”
“So our pack will have a second born Alpha, and a second born Beta. It has a nice symmetry,” I told him as I relaxed against him. We sat and watched the sun come up.
“Time to get some food, Red. It will be a long day,” Finlay told me. He got up and pulled me with him. For a moment we stood almost toe to toe, looking at each other. For a second I thought this was it, this was our moment. Then we both woke up and took a half step back.
“Come on, Finn, time to show the pack we still got our shit together,” I told him, gave him a smile and headed towards the pack house.
“Finn?” he asked as he walked close behind me. I shrugged.
“It is long overdue that I get a nickname for you,” I said.
“Works for me.” We entered the dining hall and saw that most of the pack had decided to eat breakfast together. As we walked up to our table both Medow and Matilda gave me long hugs. We were all trying to get our lives back to a place that made sense. It was important to support and get support from your pack mates.
