Page 50 of Game of Destiny
“Are you sure?” Sam asked. “The anger is palatable,” he pointed out.
“I am. They will talk and at first they will be upset, but they will see the truth in the end. The remaining members of the Rolling Hills pack are no threat to us, and they were forced to be here. I don’t doubt the pack will find a way to punish them. I just don’t think it will involve taking their lives,” she said. It was a typical Amie statement, she had absolute faith in our pack but not in a naîve way. No, she was a realist. She just spent so much time with the pack members she knew how the pack as a whole worked. After watching her work with the pack for years, I wasn’t surprised the moon goddess had placed her to be Luna of a pack. I would have her as my Luna in a heartbeat. I had met her former mate during the joint pack meetings. He seemed to be a reasonable Alpha. I had met her brother as well and I liked him, he reminded me of Amie. Each year I would ask Amie if she wanted me to bring a message to her brother. Each year she declined. But she kept sending her postcards. A knock on the door awoke me from my thoughts. Amie asked them to come in. My aunt stepped inside the room, pulling a trolly with lunch on.
“Since all of you seemed determined to starve yourself to death, despite someone needing the nutrition more than others,” she said, giving Medow a look. Poor Sam paled. “I brought lunch to you.”
“Thank you, aunt. How are things out there?” I asked. She walked around the table, putting down plates with food.
“As well as can be expected. It was a nice thing to let the pack decide the fate of the poor wolves left of the other pack,” she told me and placed a kiss on my cheek before putting a big basket of bread and a pitcher with iced tea in the middle of the table.
“I’m happy you approve,” I said.
“Thank you, Matilda. This looks amazing,” Amie told her. My aunt placed a hand on Amies' back.
“I’m happy to do my part. Don’t brood too long,” she said and took the trolly with her as she left. We started eating and discussed what was next on our to-do list.
“I will handle the dishes,” Medow said as we were done.
“I will help you,” Amie offered.
“You have people to talk to,” Medow said. Amie just shrugged and Medow nodded. We all needed to be around people we considered family.
“I will be right back, baby. I just need to check on the wounded warriors and then take a quick tour around the border to make sure things are as they should be,” Sam told Medow.
“You can check on the injured warriors, I will run the border,” I told him. He looked like he was about to object, then he looked at his mate and nodded.
“Don’t worry, I’m not fragile and Amie will be with me,” Medow told her mate and kissed his cheek. Sam and Amie exchanged a look and Amie nodded. I knew Amie and I both would make sure Sam and Medow could be together as much as possible. I admired Sam for not losing his marbles in the situation with Medow being pregnant. He was a strong wolf and we were lucky to have him as our Gamma.
‘Be careful, look after your shoulder and mindlink me if something happens,’ I linked Amie as I walked out of the pack house.
‘There is nothing wrong with my shoulder. Take care out there,’ she replied.
Chapter 25
Amie
When Sam had come back and I was sure Medow was okay, I talked to Megan’s father and sister. They didn’t have any requests for the funeral. I stayed for a while and talked about Megan. They joined me on the walk back to the pack house. Most of the pack was heading there for dinner and then for the meeting. I watched as other pack members made sure Megan’s family wasn’t alone as I headed for the table where Finlay and Matilda already sat. They both looked tired. I knew Finlay hadn’t slept for two days, I hadn’t either. We had a couple of more hours of work before we could think about going to bed. Medow and Sam joined us and we ate our dinner in silence. The rest of the room was mostly silent as well. There was the sound of pups playing and a muted conversation here and there. But it was a vast difference from how a pack dinner usually sounded. When everyone was done and the dishes were put away, everyone looked towards Finlay. He stood up.
“We all know why we are here. Have you made a decision as a pack?” he asked. Jake stood up.
“Yes, Alpha, we have,” he confirmed. Finlay nodded and asked them to tell him of their decision.
An hour later, we had all gathered in the new school gym. Finlay had arranged for video conference equipment to be set up and the screen switched on and showed a conference table with thirteen men and women sitting around it.
“Council, thank you for joining us,” Finlay said.
“Alpha Finlay, under the circumstances we felt it necessary,” said the man at the head of the table. Finlay nodded.
“I can confirm that Alpha Jackson has paid his debt,” Finlay told the council and I could see them nod. “We are here to determine the punishment for the rest of the Rolling Hills pack. Bring the representatives forward,” he continued. The same two wolves stepped forward from the group of prisoners.
“Alpha,” they both said and bowed.
“The Blue Mountain pack has made the decision. As punishment for attacking our pack we won’t claim a blood debt,” Finlay told them and I could see the surprise in the representatives’ eyes. They had counted on not leaving the building alive. “But there will be no rebuilding of the Rolling Hills pack, no new Alpha is to be chosen. The remaining members will be allowed to go home one last time to collect their belongings. But twenty-four hours later, they need to leave the old pack land. From then they will be lone wolves. Families may stay together but otherwise they should not have contact with each other. If other packs are willing to accept them into their pack, we will not hold any resentment towards that pack. The pack land should be sold and the money should be handed over to the relief fund controlled by the council so it can help wolves in need,” Finlay ended his sentencing. I smiled. The pack hadfound a way to erase the Rolling Hills pack from the map without bloodshed. I had never doubted them.
“That was an odd way of dealing with it,” the head of the council said.
“But surprisingly likeable,” another councilman said. His statement was met by humming and nodding from the other members.
“The council will uphold this sentence. We will send our warriors to escort the remaining prisoners to their former pack land and deal with the rest. Alpha Finlay, members of the Blue Mountain pack, you have done a good job and shown mercy. You are strong and I think this will deter other packs from doing the same,” the head of the council said.
