Page 118 of Game of Destiny
‘Shade me. I’m doing fine. Now stop wasting energy and sit down.’ I thought I had been subtle about my intentions, but she saw through me like always. Sometimes I thought she was a mind reader. I wasn’t an easy person to read as I was used to hiding my true intentions since I was a kid. I didn’t really have a good reason to keep standing, so I joined the others again.
‘Is anyone giving up?’ Sam asked.
‘No,’ I said. When the signal sounded again, we moved to the three remaining logs. We got new bottles and handed over the empty ones. We now had to sit in a row.
‘No dangling feet in the water,’ Amie reminded us. As far as games went, this was starting to become boring.
‘Try not to nod off. The sun and the lack of things to do will make you feel sleepy,’ Ramses warned us. I could feel it. It wasalluring to lean my head on Amie’s shoulder and take a quick nap.
‘Everyone up and on your feet,’ I told them. We all managed to get up and we did our best to move around a little.
‘I spy with my little eye, something brown,’ Jake said. We all turned and looked at him. ‘It always keeps the kids awake in the car when we don’t want them to fall asleep,’ he said. I grinned.
‘A log?’ I asked.
‘No.’ The game took off and continued as we sat down again. It wasn’t long before Amie nudged me and pointed at a raft nearby. One of the wolves on it had fallen asleep and she was swaying where she sat. Her pack mates seemed to be deep into a discussion. We all watched as she lost her balance and tumbled headfirst into the water. She popped up straight away, spluttering. After looking in confusion at the raft she just had been on, she sighed and headed for the shore. She was the first one in a row of wolves that ended up in the lake. Most fell asleep or lost their balance as they tried to stay awake by moving around. One pack had a member who was clearly starting to overheat. They carefully lowered their drinking bottles into the lake, not touching the water, and then poured the water on to her. Which caused her to be disqualified, as it was still lake water. Again the signal sounded. Another log was removed, leaving us with two. We got more to drink and we had all stood up.
‘How are you doing in the sun?’ Amie asked Sam.
‘I’m fine. I’m honestly used to putting on like two bottles of sunscreen when looking out the window in this kind of weather. I’m more worried about the others,’ he said.
‘Yes, our Alpha is getting a little red on the ears and cheeks,’ Amie said. I did feel a little hot on my face, but it was hot outside. ‘At least turn your back to the sun,’ she added and looked at me. I rolled my eyes, but did as she told me. The two logs provideda stable base for us to stand on, but the heat and not being able to move around as much made it harder. We continued to play games to distract ourselves. Around us we could hear others falling into the water and soon the number of people on the rafts was visibly fewer.
‘Jake, are you okay?’ Sam asked. We all looked at Jake. His face was red and the top of his ears looked painful. Amie walked up to him and placed her hand on his forehead.
‘Time to take a swim,’ she told him.
‘I can hold out,’ he insisted.
‘I believe you. But there is no need to torture yourself. We have one game left, and everyone says it’s the worst one. Take a swim and make sure to keep all the stubbornness until the tenth game,’ I told him.
‘Yes, Alpha,’ he said, turned around and jumped into the water. ‘Fuck, that was nice,’ he told us as he swam away.
‘I might join him,’ Sam said. I smiled and slapped him on the back, almost making him lose his balance. But he regained it and glared at me.
‘Doesn't look like you want a swim,’ I told him. The others laughed. As the fifth hour approached, I felt my face and ears burning worse than before. As the final log was removed, leaving us balancing on one, I was grateful the water bottles only contained water this time. I used some to discreetly splash on my face.
‘You should take a swim, you know,’ Amie told me in our private mindlink.
‘Won’t happen,’ I declared. I could hear her sigh and then something ripping. I looked over at her and saw she had taken a claw and ripped the t-shirt she was wearing to make it into a crop top. The fabric which had been around her stomach, she was pouring water on. Amie placed the wet cloth over my face and for a moment, it felt amazing. The heat from my skin soonheated it and even though it was still nice, it wasn’t as good as it was the first minutes. A little further away, someone screamed as they fell into the water. Ramses had to have been on the verge of nodding off as the scream startled him. He lost his balance and Amie reached for him. He deliberately avoided her hand to save her. When he landed in the water he shook his head.
‘I didn’t listen to my own advice,’ he said. “Good luck.” It was Sam, Amie and I left on our log. It gave us some room to be able to walk back and forth. The log was broad and relatively easy to keep balance on. Another hour passed, this time when the signal sounded, no logs were removed. We got a new round of water and we evaluated our situation in the game. There were fifteen rafts that were still occupied by one or more wolves. We were doing well. Amie reached up her hand and took my chin to turn my face to look at her. She frowned. Then she looked around me and I followed her gaze and saw Sam looking at me. He shrugged, I shrugged and turned to face forward again. The two hands on my back surprised me, as did the firm shove from both of them. I didn’t have time to resist or to correct my balance. I ended up in the water and once I got my bearings, I turned around and stared up at the traitors.
“I’m sorry, but it was the only way,” Amie said. She looked remorseful. Sam, on the other hand, chuckled.
“Land is that way,” he said and pointed behind me. The water felt amazing as I swam back, but I wasn’t in the right mood to enjoy it.
‘Oh my,’ my aunt said as I got out of the water. ‘Hugo needs to have a look at you.’ She led me over to a group of parasols and had me sit down on a beach chair. Hugo came over and put something cold and sticky on my face and ears. It took the stinging, burning and most of the pain away. I still wasn’t in the right mood to be grateful. I thanked him nonetheless, even if it probably didn’t sound sincere.
‘They pushed me in,’ I told my aunt, expecting her to take my side.
‘Well of course they did. You would have never given up,’ she told me.
‘They pushedmeinto thewater,’ I said.
‘I heard you the first time. Don’t let your pride keep you from seeing they did you a favour. And take it as a lesson to wear sunscreen,’ she told me. I glared at her and when she glared back, I glared at Amie and Sam in the distance. They had sat down, back to back, leaning against each other. Looking at them like this, they could be fraternal twins. Amie turned and looked in my direction.
‘I am sorry. But you were hurting and you wouldn’t have done it yourself. I love you,’ she said in our mindlink.
