Page 99 of Game of Destiny
‘And you say I am stubborn. Just take a nap, or I will ask Sam to knock you out,’ she said. I was mostly objecting because I liked our banter. I could see she was serious, so I put my head down on my paws and focused on the sound of the wind in the grass, the warm summer sun and Amie’s scent. I was drifting off before I knew it.
Amie woke me up by gently buffing me with her nose.
‘Time to wake up. I need to get back and help Matilda with dinner,’ she told me. I was trying to shake the sleep from my brain.
‘You mean help her with lunch,’ I corrected her. I heard a giggle through the mindlink and noticed the sun was in the wrong place in the sky.
‘No, I mean dinner,’ Amie insisted. I sat up and looked around. We were alone.
‘Where are the others? How long did I sleep?’ I asked, trying to get a grip of the situation.
‘Calm down,’ she said and rubbed her head against me. The sensation calmed me and I enjoyed it for a moment, rubbing my head against her as well. ‘I told the others to go ahead and go back about an hour ago. You were sleeping and looking so cute that I didn’t want to disturb you,’ she told me.
‘I’m not cute. I’m a fearsome wolf. And you should have woken me up.’
‘You are cute, at least when you sleep, and by how soundly you slept, I would say you needed it. Come on, I really need to get back and help Matilda,’ she told me and nudged me. I got up and we set off toward the cabin. Her wolf was almost as tall as mine and our steps synced and I made sure to keep close to her. Our fur skimmed over each other and I enjoyed it. We found the spot where our clothes were and shifted back. I took her hand as we walked the final way. As Amie joined Matilda and Rania in the kitchen, I found Sam and Jake and we called Medow and Shelly to check up on what was happening back home. We’d been at the game for two weeks, and it had begun to feel like a world of its own. Everything was calm at home. The pack had calmed down after the news of a possible forced joining with our old pack. Things seem to be calming down all over. I had a good pack and a good inner circle to keep us on the right track. Dinner was relaxed and jokes were flying across the table. After dinner, we all gathered in front of the TV and watched what had become everyone’s favourite game show. There was a knock on the door and Ramses went to see who it was.
‘Alpha, it’s your mother,’ he mindlinked me. I frowned and got up. Amie looked at me but I shook my head. My mother stood just inside the door and Ramses stood at a distance. Giving her space, but not wanting to leave her by herself.
“Thank you,” I told him and he walked away with a nod. “Please, why don’t we sit down in the kitchen. I’ll make you some tea,” I told my mother.
“Thank you,” she said. She sat at the table while I made her tea and took out some cookies. I joined her at the table and watched as she sipped her tea.
“Where is Amie?” she asked. The question took me by surprise.
“She’s watching TV with the others,” I said. My mother hummed.
“I like her,” she said, adding to my surprise.
“She said the same about you,” I told her.
“I heard… rumours about her situation,” she said after some hesitation. I frowned.
“I don’t think it is something we should talk about.” She nodded. “Is that why you came here?” I asked. I was confused by her showing up and the topic of our conversation didn’t make it easier to understand.
“No. It was just an observation on my part.” She took a deep breath. “I just want you to be happy. As I want Ryder to be happy.” I nodded.
“Does he know you are here?” I asked.
“Oh, no. No, he thinks I’m taking a walk.” I did my best to not take offence that my own mother needed to sneak out to see me. “Do you think Amie would mind joining us?” I looked at my mother for a moment. I hated that I suspected some kind of foul play from her. But I decided my mother wouldn’t have a chance to hurt Amie as long as I was here.
‘My mother has stopped by, she wants to know if you would join us. You don’t have to,’ I mindlinked Amie. It took a couple of seconds and then she walked into the kitchen with a smile.
“Tamara, how nice to see you again,” Amie said.
“Amie, the pleasure is all mine,” my mother said and stood up. I watched as the two of them hugged and I had a feeling of being in a parallel universe. Amie sat down next to me. “I asked Finlay to ask you to join because I think you have a calming effect on him,” my mother said as she sat down.
“I think that is one of the biggest compliments I have got,” Amie told her. “What topic did you have in mind and what would get Finn riled up?” She had used her nickname for me, she never used it around others usually. I liked it.
“The dinner we had the other day was eye-opening to me. It showed me we can get along, despite being in different packs. Before the dinner, I believed the only way to heal our family was to unite the packs. I was wrong,” my mother said. By this point I had stopped being surprised by how surprised I became every time she spoke. “I have tried to talk to Ryder. Tried to tell him he should withdraw his request to the council. I can see now it is only causing the divide between you to grow. He is refusing. I couldn’t understand why, I thought he did it because he wanted the same thing I did,” she confessed.
“But that wasn’t the reason?” Amie asked. My mother shook her head.
“No. After nagging him, he told me the real reason. You know of your brother’s thoughts on the ideal wolf and the ideal pack. He thinks physical strength is the only important virtue. When you left the pack and when a large part of our members followed you, he didn’t think twice about it. In his mind, it made the pack stronger.”
“Let me guess. He found out even the not so physically strong members of a pack are important?” Amie asked. My mother gave a weak smile.
“You can put it like that,” she agreed. “Apparently warriors aren’t inclined to cook and clean. They don’t want to sit and gothrough the last month's invoices and expenses. Neither do they enjoy buying food and necessary supplies.”
