Chapter 25
Amie
hen Sam had come back and I was sure Medow was okay, I talked toW 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 had found 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.
“We thank you,” Finlay told him and did a half bow.
“Next game will be interesting. We might see some rearrangement at the top,” a woman in the council said. I felt pride bloom inside me. We had a good pack. Finlay was concluding the call with the council.
“Beta Amie?” I almost didn’t react to my new title. It would take getting used to.
“Yes, Cade,” I said, turning towards Cadence.
“How is your shoulder?” he half whispered. I smiled at him.
“It’s much better, almost healed. Thank you for asking. How are you feeling?” I asked him.
“Oh, I’m fine. My mom fusses over me and even Mari is nice to me. It’s a bit weird,” he told me. I chuckled and messed his hair up. As Finlay was done and turned off the equipment, I told Cadence I had to go. I was walking towards Finlay, Sam and Medow.
“Beta? Excuse me, Beta?” I turned around at the unknown voice and saw the older woman from the Rolling Hills pack trying to get my attention.
Two of our warriors made sure she couldn’t go past the area we had dedicated to the prisoners. I walked up to her, but kept my distance. I nodded to the warriors and they stood to the side.
“Yes?” I asked.
“Regarding the sentence. Can you ask the Alpha to change it? We know the pack land we have isn’t much. But it kept the pack alive until our latest Alpha started spending money as if we could grow them. We can’t lose the land our pack has lived on for generations,” she begged me. I looked at her, she must have called me over because she thought it would be easier to sell me a sob story.
“No. I know your Alpha didn’t listen to you, but in this pack, when the pack speaks, the Alpha listens. And it’s not your pack land anymore, you don’t have a pack. You lost that privilege when you attacked my pack. We may be peaceful and we don’t like to be cruel. But we aren’t weak. You tried to take us over. For that, your pack will be erased from the surface of this world,” I told her.
“Please, show mercy. We didn’t want to attack your pack. We had no choice,” she said.
“You had a choice. You could have warned us, you could have told the council that your Alpha was forcing you. There were several things you could have done.”
“It would have been to betray the pack,” she objected.
“No. It would have been to honour your pack, but betray your Alpha. You made your choice. Now you have to live with the consequences of that decision. I feel my pack has been more than generous in how they decided
to handle you. Be happy you are walking out of here and can reunite with your families. Not many packs will be willing to take you in, but at least you have a chance to find a new pack. Be grateful.” I turned my back on her and walked away. ‘Are you okay, Red?’ Finlay mindlinked me as I joined him, Sam and Medow. ‘Fine. If one of the prisoners happens to die during the night, would that be bad?’ I answered. He grinned and shook his head.
“I think it’s time we all head to bed,” he said out loud. “Some of us are starting to get grumpy.” Medow nodded and yawned.
“I will carry you,” Sam offered his mate.
“I can walk,” she objected. He sighed, but nodded. The pack was splitting up as well, everyone heading for their home except the ones who would relieve the warriors on duty. I waved as Medow and Sam turned from us to head to their house.
“Will you be okay?” Finlay asked again as we paused outside the pack house. I was going inside and he was heading to his house.
“I will be. I’m tired enough to fall asleep the second I hit the bed. How about you?”
“I will be happy if I can hold out until I get upstairs to the bedroom. It’s a fifty-fifty chance I won’t make it past the couch,” he told me.
“Suck it up, Alpha. You need a good night’s sleep. Sleep in your bed,” I told him.
“Aye, aye, Beta Amie,” he joked. I shook my head as we parted. I wanted to follow him back to his place. What I would do if I did, I didn’t know. I forced my feet to take me into the pack house. It was the safer option.
Three pyres were built in the glade where we usually celebrated the full moon. A body laid on top of each pyre. As the day turned to dusk, Megan’s father and sister stepped forward and shared memories of her. Then some of the warriors talked about Brian. Then Finlay stepped up.
“Martin and I met as pups. We grew up together, we learned about life together and how to be wolves together. He was my brother. He never hesitated to follow me when I broke off from our old pack. He loved this pack, and he was proud of what we have become. Martin made the biggest
sacrifice anyone can make. He gave his life for this pack and we honour him for it.” Finlay stepped back and I took a step forward.
“When I arrived at this pack, Martin was one of the more enthusiastic to get to know me. He knew I grew up in a Beta family and he wanted me to teach him to be a good Beta. I never needed to teach him anything. He was a natural. Instead of becoming his teacher, I became his friend. In Martin I found a friend, a confidant, and an older brother. As I shoulder the mantel he left behind, he will be my inspiration and my role model. He was our first Beta and we will remember him as a Beta all other Betas will look up to.” I stepped back to stand between Finlay and Sam. Medow, Matilda and Megan’s sister stepped forward. They all had a lit torch in their hands. Each of them lit a pyre and then stepped back. We watched as the fire took hold and soon all three pyres were in full flame. After a while, the pack walked around, talking to each other, eating from the food that was laid out, and sitting down to talk amongst themselves. I walked over to Matilda and gave her a hug.
“How are you holding up? You are always looking after us, but don’t think I don’t know you have spent most of your waking hours in the kitchen, making sure the pack is fed,” I told her.
“I’m okay. They were all good wolves and I hate to see them go this early. But I like to keep busy,” she said. “Thank you for looking after my nephew. This has been hard on him. The two of them were inseparable since they were pups. I know he doesn't like to let it show, but he is devastated,” she added, and we both looked in Finlay’s direction. He looked up at me as if he felt me looking and raised an eyebrow. I smiled at him and turned back to Matilda.
“To be honest, he is helping me as much as I’m helping him. I feel like I have lost my brother.” Matilda smiled a sad smile, and we hugged again.
“It will get better. It’s never easy to lose the ones we love. But we learn to live with it and find our way to a new way to live.” She walked away to make sure Medow and Shelly had things to eat. Finlay walked up to me.
“Were the two of you talking about me?” he asked.
“Now, now, Alpha. Don’t let that ego get the best of you. There are other subjects than you,” I teased him. He smiled.
“Will you join me as I make the rounds?” he asked.
“Sure,” I agreed and we walked around the pyres, talking with the pack and listening to memories they wanted to share, fears they had and how
they now, more than ever, felt like this pack was the right choice for them.
I stood in the door opening and looked into the Beta office. It was the day after the funeral and Finlay had ordered me to move into my new office. It was a direct order, there was no way to interpret it differently. I got it. If he had let me do it at my own pace, I would probably have taken years to move my things from my office, the former storage room, into my official one. I sighed and looked over the room. ‘Have you started?’ Finlay mindlinked me. ‘Yes,’ I answered. ‘Have you actually stepped inside the room?’ Sometimes I hated how well he knew me. I place one foot inside the room. ‘I have,’ I told him. ‘Just do it, Amie. Everyone will feel better when things settle down. The more things we leave in the air, the harder it will be.’ I knew he was right. ‘I know. I’m on my way.’ I took a proper step inside the room, and as I did, something started to ring. I froze in place and felt like a burglar that had been caught red-handed. Until I realized it was the landline phone. All the top tier offices had one. I shook my head at myself and walked over to
the desk.
“Amie Sage,” I answered the phone.
“Hello, my name is Bridget. Am I talking to the Beta of the Blue mountain pack?” a woman said on the other end. I knew the name.
“Hi, it is. Are you Martin’s sister?” I asked.
“I am. I’m sorry to call like this, I didn’t know if Alpha Finlay would have time for my call and I really don’t have the phone number for anyone else,” she explained.
“No, no. I don’t mind and neither would Finn… the Alpha,” I told her.
“What can I do for you?”
“I…” there was a pause and then a sigh. “The family couldn’t attend the funeral for my brother. It wasn’t the right time,” she started over. I could read between the lines, either her mate or the Alpha had denied her to come.
“I would like to ask if it would be possible to send some of my brother's personal effects to me or my mother?” she asked.
“Of course, we would be more than happy to do so. We will clear out his house tomorrow. Martin had a will and he specified which things should be sent back to you. I will make sure you get them,” I promised.
“Oh, thank you. I can’t believe he is really gone. I always thought we would have time to put things right between him and dad. That I would get to see him again. And now he is gone.” I could clearly hear the grief in her voice.
“He talked a lot about you. He missed you.” I didn’t know if I was making it better or worse.
“Thank you. We would call each other at least once a month to talk. He talked a lot about you as well. He liked you and saw you as a close friend,” she told me. I smiled with tears in my eyes.
“He was an amazing wolf,” I said.
“He was,” she agreed. “I need to go, my mate will be home from training soon and I like to have dinner ready when he does. It gives us more time to hang out in the evening. It was nice talking to you and thank you for giving me your time.”
“It was my pleasure. I’ll make sure the things will be sent to you. If there is anything else you need, give me a call. Or Alpha Finlay.” As we hung up, I felt better than I had done before the call. I started looking over the things in the office, sorting Martin’s personal things from the things that were Beta related. Two hours later, Finlay leaned against the door frame and looked at
me.
“How is it going?” he asked.
“I’m almost done. I have packed Martin’s things in that box and I have packed my things in my office. I’m just doing a bit of dusting before I go
and get my things,” I told him.
“Feeling better about the move?”
“Yes. I spoke to Martin’s sister. She wanted to know if we could send some of his things to her. I said I promised to make it happen.” He nodded.
“Thank you for pushing me. I needed it,” I added. He gave me a weak
smile.
“We all need it right now.”
“Have you heard from the council?” I asked.
“The Rolling Hills pack land is now empty of wolves and the pack is officially disbanded,” he told me. It was my turn to nod. “It’s time for lunch, I will help you carry Martin's things to his house after we eat and get
your things. But my aunt will be worried if we skip another meal,” he told me.
“You know I can carry the boxes myself,” I said as I walked up to him.
“I know, Red. But I will do it.” Stubborn Alpha. I didn’t object, I would find a way to pay him back.
