Page 117 of Game of Destiny
“Thank you for inviting me. I have had an amazing evening,” I honestly said. We were ready to leave. “Wait just one moment, Red,” I said and opened the door and scoped out the place. I didn’t want any unwelcome surprises.
“Not that I don’t approve, but are you really thinking about armed assassins?” Elder asked when I got back.
“Not really,” I said. I didn’t want to tell him about Alpha James. It was still his Alpha.
“When we came here James was outside making out with Cindy,” Amie said. I saw Becky make a face, not a fan of Cindy.
“Are you okay?” Elder asked, looking over his sister.
“The bond is too far gone for something like it to affect me,” she told them.
“Still, Cindy,” Becky said, making the face again. Amie giggled.
“Let me guess, she tried to come after Elder?”
“She did. She even tried to convince me they were a thing when we first met. That I should give him up. As if I ever would,” Becky said in a condescending tone.
“My brother is too smart to fall for her tricks. That and my mother would skin him alive,” Amie said. Both women laughed in a little unsettling way. I would never betray Amie, so I didn’t need to worry, I told myself. We said goodbye and started walking back to our cabin.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Amie asked after a while.
“It was fun. I like your family,” I told her. She smiled and took my hand.
“They are practically your family now as well. I wanted you to have an evening like this with them. So when I call home to my parents and tell them we have mated, Elder and Becky can tell them what a catch I have made,” she said. I couldn’t stop smiling. Something about her calling home to introduce me as her mate made my heart swell.
Chapter 57
Finlay
“Ihave stopped trying to figure out what they will throw our way,” Sam told us as we sat down in our seats in the stadium. It was a warm and sunny day and my mood was still high from the previous evening. My brother acted like we didn’t exist, Alpha James was nowhere to be seen, and Ramses’ shoulder was almost back to normal. It was a great day, and I had decided we would do amazing in today’s game.
“You look to be in a good mood, Alpha,” Jake said.
“I am. If we need to wait, today is a good day for it as the weather is amazing. We can relax and pretend we are just moseying around in the sun,” I told him.
“Welcome to the ninth game. Only two more games remain. If you think you need to gather points to secure a higher ranking, the opportunity is almost over,”the speaker told us. It felt strange that we only had a week left before we could head back home. Thinking back, it both felt like we arrived yesterday and like we had been here for a year. “Today's game will test your endurance. Please head to the buses and all the information will be given to you once you arrive.” We looked at each other, thatwas new. We usually were giving the instructions for the joint games before we went to the buses to give us time to plan. We moved along with the others and got on a bus. We arrived at the big lake in the middle of the woods. The lake looked to be filled with rafts.
“Welcome to the lake and the ninth game. Every pack has been assigned a raft. Your pack will get onto the raft and the objective is to be the last pack standing. Each raft is made out of five logs. Each hour a log will be removed. Once the game is started, if any part of a wolf touches the water, that wolf is out of the game. After the log has been removed from the float, your support team may hand flasks with something to drink to our officials and we will deliver it to the team. No food is allowed. There is no time limit. Last pack standing on the raft is the winner. Points will be rewarded based on how long members stay on the float and how you work as a team. Please head for your designated float.” That explained why we didn’t get any time to plan, there was not much to plan.
‘Let’s take full advantage of the big float and sit down until we can’t’ Sam told us as we swam out to the float and got up on it.
‘The heat might be an issue. Make sure to rehydrate when you can and speak up if you feel the sun is getting to you,’ Amie told us. We spread out on the float. It was nice to be laying in the sun as we were still wet from the swim.
‘Will you be okay? You are the palest of us,’ I mindlinked Amie.
‘I put on sunscreen before leaving. It should be fine for a while,’ she told me.
‘Don’t push yourself too hard. If you feel the sun burning, get off the float. The rest of us can hold out,’ I said.
‘I will remember it. But I should be fine and I’m not the only redhead,’ she pointed out and looked at Sam. Stubborn as always. If it came to it, I would just throw her in the water. I lay down next to her.
The first hour was easy. We all had found a spot on the raft and were relaxing. The sun dried our clothes and there was a gentle breeze which cooled us. The signal sounded and we moved away from the log closest to the shore. It detached and vanished into the water. Not long after, a rowing boat with officials arrived and handed each of us a bottle. I opened it and sniffed. My aunt had made sure to not just give us water. It tasted sweet and a little salty with a fruit flavour. I drank half of mine and then made sure the rest of the pack drank. We all saved some for the hour until we got the next delivery.
The second hour was just as easy as the first. All the packs looked comfortable. We were sitting in a group, talking. Since we had burnt half of the deck of cards during the last game, we had to entertain ourselves. I stood up to stretch, there was still plenty of room to comfortably move around. Deciding I would remain standing for a while, I looked out over the lake to see if the other packs showed signs of giving up.
‘You don’t have to do that, you know,’ Amie mind linked me.
‘Do what?” I asked.
