Page 38 of Game of Destiny
“Nothing,” he said. I gave him a look and he sighed.
“The Alpha meeting is the same week,” he reminded me.
“Crap. I had totally forgotten. It’s okay, I’ll just tell them I can’t make it.”
“No, you should go. They are your friends and a wedding is a big deal,” Finlay insisted.
“It is. But the pack comes first. You need someone to go with you and then someone needs to stay with the pack.”
“I don’t need someone to go with me. I’m a big Alpha, I can manage on my own. Beside, most Alphas take their Lunas as the plus one. I will be fine,” he insisted. I hesitated. We didn’t talk about it but his brother would be there and from what I could tell, the previous years hadn’t been easy when the two met.
“Why do you both look like thunderclouds? It’s spring, we are having a BBQ and we are supposed to be happy,” Martin said as he came walking with a beer each for us.
“Thank you,” I said, taking one.
“We were discussing that Amie has received a wedding invitation for her friends’ wedding the same weekend that I’m to go to the Alpha meeting,” Finlay said.
“Oh. So you told her you would go alone to the meeting and I would go with her, leaving Sam and Medow to watch over the pack and she didn’t like it?” Martin asked. I stared at him.
“What?” I said.
“I hadn’t got quite as far,” Finlay told him.
“Well, it’s the only reasonable solution.”
“Wait. Why do I need an escort? I’m going to a small town wedding with people I know, humans. Finlay is going into a week long meeting with every other pack. Some are openly hostile towards us. If anything he needs an escort,” I objected. Martin looked at Finlay and shrugged.
“He can look after himself,” he said.
“Look, Red. Just do as he says. The two of you can have some fun and we will feel safe knowing you are not alone. I will know to be on the lookout for trouble. But if trouble finds you, it will be unexpected,” Finlay said.
“Fine.” I caved. “As you are being kind enough to tag along, I will make sure to introduce you to all the single ladies in the town. They will have a field day with you,” I told Martin. He laughed and looked pleased. We had grown close and I saw Martin like an older brother. He always took the opportunity to tease me or make a joke that had me blushing. But at the same time he was protective of me and more than once when we had met other packs he teamed up with Finlay to make sure single wolves stayed away from me. I didn’t mind.
“Sounds like I’m the lucky one. I’ll let the others know,” Martin said and walked inside. Finlay and I stood in silence. It was a nice silence. I was looking out over his garden where Cadence was running around.
“You should get going with your garden, soon it will be too late,” I told him.
“My garden?” he asked, as if he had never heard of the concept.
“Yes. You know, milling and turning the soil, cutting down the perennials, planning what to plant in the garden patches. All the good stuff,” I explained.
“Oh, I don't do that.”
“You don’t do that?”
“No.”
“Then what do you do with your garden?” I asked.
“Nothing really.” He must have seen the look on my face, because he continued. “When I built my house, I thought it was a good idea to have a garden. I imagined a mate, some pups, and then a garden was a nice touch. The pups could play out here, wecould grow some vegetables. It felt right. It’s nice to be able to come out here in the summer, but I don’t have the time to tend to the garden and I barely eat at home, so the produce would go to waste,” he explained. Mates were a topic we usually stayed clear of. Not like it was a forbidden topic, but with my past and Finlay not having found his mate, it was a subject neither of us enjoyed.
“You shouldn't let it go to waste. You have such an amazing garden,” I insisted.
“It was my aunt who designed it,” he told me. It didn’t surprise me.
“I’m guessing she isn’t happy with the state of it,” I told him with a knowing smile.
“No, I’m not,” Matilda said as she joined us. “I have told him he needs to take care of it. I didn’t plan it and oversee its creation to let it become overgrown,” she added.
