Chapter 57
Finlay
have stopped trying to figure out what they will throw our way,” Sam“I 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, that was 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. ‘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 was alluring 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 provided a 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 soon heated 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 pushed me into the water,’ 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. ‘I love you too,’ I grumbled back. ‘I hope you aren’t upset with Amie,’ Sam linked me. ‘I’m upset with both of you,’ I told him. I could have sworn I saw him roll his eyes at me. ‘If you weren’t so fucking stubborn, we wouldn’t have had to push you.
Do you think she will still like you if your face melts off?’ It was my turn to roll my eyes. ‘Fine,’ I said. I sat in my chair and watched as one after the other wolves fell or jumped into the lake. When the signal for the seven hour mark sounded, it was just Sam and Amie and one other left. More water was sent out and I was starting to worry. They had been out on the lake for a long time. It wasn’t worth them hurting themselves over this game. If we came second, that was good enough. I stood up and walked back and forth in the shade, watching them. Elder came walking over, he nodded at me and I nodded back. We both looked at his sister.
“She won’t give up when she is this close to winning,” he told me.
“I know. I can always order my Gamma to push her,” I said. Elder chuckled.
“I would ask him to count to ten if you do. You will need the head start.
My sister isn’t just stubborn, she has quite a temper. The council may let you use their bunker. You should be safe there until she’s calmed down.” I laughed.
“I will remember that. Thank you for the advice.” We stood next to each other and watched Amie. My aunt came over and gave us both some water.
Elder thanked her and I could see my aunt appreciating his sincerity. I was seriously thinking about asking Sam to push Amie into the water and end this. The lone wolf on his raft lost his footing and tumbled into the water.
There was a moment of silence and then my pack howled. We had won one of the games. It felt amazing and I saw Amie and Sam hugging and then jumping into the water.
“Congratulations,” Elder said and shook my hand before he left. The pack ran down to the shore to greet the winners.
‘You were amazing,’ I told Amie as I hugged her and then gave Sam a couple of slaps on his back. ‘Thank you. We all did very well,’ she told me. ‘But now I want something to eat and something comfortable to sit on,’ she told me. ‘Do I need to carry you?’ I asked. ‘No. I’m not that weak.’ She wasn’t, she was stronger than most. As the speaker declared our victory and congratulated us before instructing everyone to head to the buses, I could see my brother looking at us. I didn’t care. I hadn’t seen how his pack had done. I didn’t care, because I had the best pack and we had done our best. On the bus, my aunt handed out pasta salad and sweet iced tea. It was just what we all needed.
I had taken a long, cold shower. It was cooling on my heated skin. Hugo had told me I would be fine after a night’s sleep. I was grateful as I looked ridiculous with blood red cheeks and ears. Maybe Sam had a good point in saying I shouldn’t let my face melt away. There was a knock on my door and I pulled on my tank top so I wouldn’t be in just my shorts.
“Come in,” I called. Amie walked in and I smiled. She looked a lot better than me. Her skin had a faint red hue, but it looked more like a glow. She had eaten and rested and the tiredness was gone.
“Hi,” I said, walking up to her and letting my fingers skim her cheek.
“Are you okay?” I asked. She smiled.
“I’m fine. I’m more worried about you,” she told me. I saw her assess the damage to my skin.
“Hugo told me it will be healed by tomorrow.” She nodded and held up a jar. It looked like the same stuff Hugo had put on me at the lake. I got the point and sat down in the armchair in the corner to make it easier for her. I studied her as she worked. Her focus was fully on her task and I barely felt her touch as she applied the sticky stuff. She was so careful.
“Are you upset with me?” she asked after a moment. I frowned.
“No. Why would I?” She stopped what she was doing and looked me in the eye. “Oh, right. No. You did the right thing. I don’t have it in me to be upset with you. You are just too adorable,” I said. She seemed to relax and I understood she had been worried about it. As she moved on to my ears, I let my hands rest on her hips. When she was done and was closing the jar, I pulled her towards me.
“Finn,” she objected and tried to keep her hands away, they must still be sticky.
“Red. Listen to me. There is nothing you can do that will cause issues between us. I might be upset for a moment, and if you place yourself in danger I will be truly pissed, but it will always pass. Always.” She looked at me and smiled.
“Thank you.” She placed a kiss on my forehead and I desperately wanted to give her a real kiss.
“I should send you out to be social,” she told me.
“You want me to walk around being social with the other packs?” I asked, surprised.
“This would be the best time. If you meet your mate, one look at you and she will run away screaming,” she told me. I stared at her for a moment, then I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt.
“You got it all planned, haven’t you?” I told her and moved my hands to her waist and let my fingers dig into her sides. She shrieked and started to laugh.
