Chapter 85
Amie
he journey to the meeting place was interesting to say the least. Sam,T Jake and Finlay all kept trying to feed me with snacks which Matilda had sent with us, or tried to make me drink water. We stopped at every rest stop we saw. How the warriors in the second and third car hadn’t lost their minds after the second hour was a testament to their loyalty to the pack.
“I promise we can skip this one,” I insisted as I saw the sign for another rest stop.
“Are you sure?” Sam asked, he was currently driving.
“I’m sure. It hasn’t been an hour since we last stopped. At this pace, we will be about two months late to the meeting.” I took a breath and reminded myself they did this because they cared about me and the pup. “You are all being really sweet, but this has been ongoing for three days.”
“We made room for this in the travel plans,” Finlay reminded me. I knew we had, that is why it had taken three days.
“I know. But we are so close and I really, really want to meet my parents,” I told him. He smiled, nodded and kissed my hair.
“I understand, we will skip the stop and go straight for the meeting,” he said.
“I think I have never loved you more than in this moment,” I told him and relaxed against him. The three men in the car laughed. Three minutes later, as we passed the rest stop, Sam chuckled.
“What?” Finlay asked.
“Both of the other cars mindlinked me, asking if something is wrong as we didn’t stop,” Sam told us and there was another round of laughter. We were close to where the meeting would take place, a rented log cabin in the middle of nowhere. My nerves were acting up and my wolf felt restless. ‘Is there anything I can do?’ Finlay asked in a mindlink. I snuggled in closer to him and he put his arms around me. ‘This is what I need,’ I told him. We turned off the main road.
“Remember, my family poses no threat to me or the pup. I will not have any of you growling at them when they hug me. Is that clear?” I told
everyone in the car.
“Yes, Luna,” both Sam and Jake said.
“I will behave,” Finlay promised. I smiled and gave him a kiss.
“Seems like they beat us here,” Jake said as he saw the cars already parked outside the cabin.
“I’m guessing they didn’t take three million pee breaks,” I pointed out, and Finlay chuckled. I was out of the car almost the second it stopped moving, Finlay was close behind me. I saw the group standing on the deck in front of the cabin. My mom and dad broke off from them and were hurriedly walking towards me. They stopped about halfway to me.
“Amie! Are you…?” my mom asked, looking at me with big eyes and then switching focus to look at Finlay.
“Yes, mom. We are having a pup,” I happily told her. She let out a mix between a shout and a sob and before I knew it she had me wrapped up in a tight hug. I hadn’t known how much I missed her hugs until that moment.
Her warm, familiar hug and her scent which enveloped me had me teary- eyed in seconds, and I hugged her tightly back. I felt my dad draw both my mom and me into a tight hug and the mix of both their scents sent me back to my childhood and the feeling of being safe and loved washed over me.
“I’m so happy for you, pumpkin,” my dad told me in a low voice and kissed my hair. I could hear the crack in his voice. “And you as well, Finlay,” he added.
“Thank you. We are very happy,” Finlay said from behind me. I was proud of how calm he was.
“Let me have a look at you,” my mom said, pushing me to arms length distance. She had tears running down her face as she looked me up and down. “You look radiantly happy,” she told me.
“I am,” I agreed and smiled through my own tears.
“Finlay, it’s nice to finally get to meet you,” she then said. Finlay smiled at her and reached out his hand. I saw his surprise when she, instead of shaking his hand, drew him into a hug. He froze for a moment and then relaxed and hugged her back.
“It’s nice to meet you as well, I have been looking forward to it,” he told her. My dad had his arm around my shoulders, watching my mom and Finlay as well. I leaned my head on his shoulder.
“You have done good for yourself, pumpkin,” he told me. I just nodded.
“Finlay,” he said and held out his hand when my mom finally let go of my mate.
“Ron,” Finlay said and shook my dad’s hand. Then he looked down at me and I saw how happy he was for me, mixed with a small part of worry.
“I’m fine,” I said. He opened his arm and I stepped away from my dad
and let Finlay pull me close to him.
“Sure you are,” he agreed.
“How long have you known?” my mom wanted to know.
“About a week,” I said.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I thought it would be more fun this way,” I confessed.
“I already knew,” Elder bragged as he came walking with Becky, holding a little boy on his arm.
“What?!” Elder locked eyes with our mom and I sensed they were mindlinking. “Oh. Well, that was a good decision,” my mom relented.
“Congratulations to the both of you,” Becky told me. She looked genuinely happy.
“Thank you,” I told her. Both she and my brother kept a little distance between us. It was sweet that they didn’t want to cause Finlay to worry.
“Mino, this is aunt Amie,” Elder said to his son. The boy looked at me with my brother’s eyes and I gave him a huge smile.
“Hello there, Mino. I have been looking forward to meeting you,” I said with a huge smile as I took a couple of steps towards him. I reached my hand forward and after waiting a moment, he took my hand in his little one and we shook. Mino seemed to get a case of shyness after that and hid in his dad’s neck. I didn’t mind. I was just happy to see him, and my wolf added his scent to her memory. Becky gave me a hug. “Was the journey okay?” I asked her.
“Yeah, I’m happy it wasn’t as long as the one to the Games. How about you? I’m impressed Finlay even let you come.” There were chuckles coming from my pack members.
“Let’s say we have made a tour of all the rest stops between here and the pack land,” I told her and giggled.
“Amie, congratulations. We are so happy for you.” I looked over to the group of people on the deck and saw uncle Mark standing there with Joy. I had been too focused on my parents, I hadn’t looked at the rest of the group.
“Thank you, uncle Mark,” I said and felt Finlay put his arm around my waist and pull me tight to him. I knew he didn’t fully trust the former Alpha and I wasn’t going to object. This trip was hard on him and I was perfectly fine with him being overprotective toward anyone who wasn’t family.
“Luna Amie, Alpha Finlay, congratulations. It is truly a blessing for the pack when the Alpha couple are expecting,” James said. Finlay pulled me even closer and I could feel how close he was to growling. I put my hand on top of his that rested on my hip.
“Alpha James, thank you. Sorry for keeping you waiting, Finn insisted we take regular breaks along the way,” I said.
“As he should,” James said. He sounded fine, neutral. I relaxed a little.
There was a hint of something, maybe sorrow or regret, in his eyes, but he kept it contained.
“Let’s get you inside. The Alphas and Betas can discuss the fine prints and we can have some tea and talk,” my mom said. Inside, the cabin had an open floor plan on the first floor. To the left there was a kitchen and to the right a living area. My mom took me over to the couch with Becky and Mino close behind. Joy came walking with a woman I didn’t know.
“Luna Amie, this is Carol,” Joy introduced us. I said hello to her and had to admit I was a little curious about her. There was a pause and everyone looked over my shoulder. I looked as well. While most of the men had either secured the perimeter or sat down at the kitchen table to talk about the agreement, Sam stood behind me.
“Oh, don’t mind him. Sam has always taken his Gamma duty as my bodyguard seriously. Now that I’m pregnant, I can’t seem to get him to stop hovering,” I told them with a laugh. Carol’s eyes moved to my stomach and then quickly moved to James. My mom, Becky and Joy all shared tips and their experience of being pregnant. It was helpful and a little scary. I was
looking forward to having more talks like it with my mom during her and dad’s stay.
“I think Finn will ask dad about how not to piss me off,” I told them.
Everyone giggled.
“It’s a good idea,” mom said.
“Mark came close to losing his life, or his privates, a couple of times,”
Joy said. “Remember when I made him sleep in the pack house for a week?” she asked my mom. My mom laughed.
“I do. I remember he was being stubborn and not apologising. I told Ron to make him see sense or join him to sleep in the pack house,” she told us.
“It wasn’t ideal to have the Luna and the Beta mate pregnant at the same time,” Joy giggled. ‘Carol keeps giving you looks,’ Sam mindlinked me. ‘Relax. As I understand it she and James are a thing. I’m guessing she has heard about our past. You know her better than I do, do you think she poses a danger?’ I answered. ‘No. She isn’t aggressive. She has always been the shy type since she was a pup,’ he told me. ‘Then just ignore it. At this point I think we all will be happy if James finds a mate.’ My dad and Mark joined us. They brought refreshments with them.
“Amie, I made sure to bring some lemon squares for you,” Joy told me.
“That was sweet of you,” I said. I had loved them since I was a child and eagerly reached for one. The moment I bit into it I felt my body object and the smell of lemon made my stomach turn. I froze. ‘Amie?’ Sam mindlinked. ‘I’m okay,’ I told him while I tried to force the soft cake down. I really didn’t want to offend Joy.
“You should give this a try Sam, they are divine,” I told him out loud and passed the lemon square to him.
“Um, sure. Thank you, Luna,” he said, taking it from me. ‘Just get it away from me, I can’t stand the smell,’ I told him. Sam looked around for a moment, then he devoured the thing in one gulp.
“Amazing,” he said. I giggled. When the smell wasn’t as close to me, I didn’t feel as nauseous even if my stomach still objected to me forcing the bite down. Both my mom and Joy looked at me.
“You look a little green around the gills, Armeria. Are you sure you are okay?” my mom asked, taking my hand in hers. The sound of scraping chairs made us all turn around. Finlay, Elder and James had all stood up as one and Finlay and Elder were heading towards me. James looked as if he wanted to join them, but held back. ‘Red, is something wrong?’ Finlay asked, as he touched my cheek and made me look at him. Joy, who was sitting next to me on one side, moved to make room for him. All focus was on me.
“I’m fine,” I told him out loud and relaxed into him as he sat down next to me and placed his arm around me. ‘You mom is right, you don’t look alright,’ he insisted in our link. ‘I think the pup doesn't like lemons. I got a serious case of nausea when I took a bite out of Aunt Joy's lemon squares. I usually love those,’ I told him, feeling disappointed to have to skip out on the pile on the table. ‘It’s okay now. Sam got rid of it and your scent is calming me.’ ‘How did he get rid of it?’ Finlay wanted to know. I told him and he smiled.
“Don’t let me hold up the signing. Get back to work,” I told him out loud and kissed his cheek. “That goes for you as well,” I said to my brother.
They both returned to James and Jake to continue the discussions.
“Have another,” Joy told me and reached the plate with lemon squares out to me.
“Thank you, but the lemon scent is making me feel a little off,” I
confessed and she paled.
“I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t know either. I guess the pup is starting to make its presence known,” I told her. “Carol, have you had one? They are amazing.”
“They are,” Carol agreed. “I always enjoy them when she makes them for the full moon celebrations.” I nodded and Joy passed the plate to Carol. We talked about easy things, things which wouldn’t upset the renewed bond between us. They had greetings from pack members who wanted to say hi. I tried to include Carol in the conversation. She was a nice wolf and I could see her with James, they would be good together. ‘Sweetheart, we are ready to sign,’ Finlay mindlinked me.
“Excuse me a moment,” I said and walked over to the kitchen table with Sam trailing behind me. Finlay reached out his hand and helped me down on his lap. I watched James as I got comfortable. He remained unbothered
and I relaxed. Finlay handed me a copy of the final agreement and I read through it. It was a fair alliance agreement and I smiled. “Looks good.
Should we sign?” Finlay and I both signed for our pack and James signed for the Eagle Forest pack. Jake and Elder signed as witnesses.
“Now that is out of the way, let’s celebrate,” James said. It was a great idea and we set the table and cooked a meal together. Cooking with my mom and Joy again brought back memories and when Finlay joined us to help out they both praised him. The meal was simple but well made and everyone grabbed a plate and took a seat where there was room. This was always my favourite part of a new alliance agreement; the part when the packs mingled and got to know each other. I was sitting in Finlay’s lap, to save on seats according to him, when Mino came walking over on unsteady legs.
“Hello,” I said and put my plate on the table. He looked up at me and then reached his hands towards me.
“Up,” he told me with a determined voice. How could I say no to that?
With a little help from Finlay, I reached down and pulled him into my lap.
“Yum,” he said, pointing at my plate.
“Yeah, the food is yummy,” I agreed.
“Yum, yum,” he said, a little more desperate. I looked over at Becky, who sat a couple of seats away. She smiled and passed me the plate with cut up food she had prepared for Mino. I scooped up some food on a spoon and held it out for him.
“Nuhu,” he said, shaking his head and again pointed at my plate.
“Sure thing, little guy,” I told him and placed some mac’n’cheese on my fork and gave it to him. He happily ate it and then looked at me. I got the point and continued to feed him from my plate. ‘You never feed me,’ Finlay pointed out in a mindlink. ‘You are a grown man. You can feed yourself, Alpha,’ I told him.
“Is he bothering you?” Becky asked after a while.
“Not at all,” I told her, making sure my grip around his waist to support him on my lap was good.
“It’s okay to tell him no. He is eating your food,” my brother pointed out.
“I can eat when he is done.” My mom and dad were smiling at us. When Mino was happy, I ate the rest and Finlay made sure to add some extra to my plate. My nephew seemed happy in my lap, listening to the grownups
talk. When it was time to get up, I placed him down on the floor and got up from Finlay’s lap. Mino grabbed my hand.
“Look,” he said, pointing to the living area.
“You want me to come and look at something?” I asked. He nodded and tugged on my hand. I followed him and Finlay followed me, holding my other hand. When Mino noticed, he stopped and glared at Finlay and then at where he was holding my hand. Both me and Becky giggled.
“I think Mino would like to show his aunty without her mate,” Becky
pointed out.
“But…” Finlay objected.
“You go and get things ready for the drive home. I’ll just spend a little extra time with Mino,” I told him.
“But I’m your mate,” Finlay told me and sounded like he was sulking.
“No one doubts that. I would just like a little more time with him before we need to say goodbye.” Finlay glared back at the toddler.
“Fine,” he agreed, and then he kissed me and looked at Mino with a raised eyebrow before leaving.
“Honestly,” I said to Becky, who was dissolving into laughter. Mino happily led me over to where Becky had put down his toys that had kept him busy most of the day. He tugged on my hand and I got the hint. Both Becky and I sat down on the floor. Mino took out a story book and handed it to me as he crawled up on my lap again.
“Oh my. He has taken a liking to you,” Becky told me.
“You are a sweet boy,” I told Mino and placed a kiss on his hair. “He reminds me of his dad. He was always sweet as well.” I opened the book and started reading. After a while, Mino fell asleep and I stopped reading and Becky and I sat and talked instead. My mom sat down on a couch nearby and joined in. It didn’t take long for Finlay and Elder to come walking. “It’s time?” I asked.
“It is. I will take my son back now before he decides to go back with you,” Elder told me and reached down and took Mino from my lap. Finlay helped me up from the floor.
“I really appreciate you bringing him along. It has been such a treat to spend time with him,” I told his parents. They both smiled back at me.
“We were happy to. He is starting to get to the age where he can join in our calls. It will be good for him to have met you,” Becky said. I gave her a
hug and then I gave my brother and nephew a hug and placed a kiss on Mino’s hair. Finlay put his arm around me.
“Feel free to come for a visit anytime you feel like it,” he told them. “We will look into coming down for a visit once the pup arrives,” he added.
Elder and him shook hands. We left the corner of the living area and walked up to James, Mark and Joy who stood waiting.
“I’m happy we could get the agreement signed. I think it will be good for both packs,” James said, holding out his hand.
“I agree,” Finlay said. “We will make sure your pack members are safe while they are in our pack,” he added.
“I’m not worried.” I said goodbye to Uncle Mark and Aunt Joy.
Apparently my dad and Finlay had agreed my parents would ride in our car.
Sam and Jake would drive my parents’. My mom and I were ushered into the back seat.
“Can we make a deal to only stop at every other rest stop?” I asked as we drove off.
“I don’t know, Red. I think it’s better to stop at them all,” Finlay said.
“It’s a long way. I think your mate is right. It’s not good for you to sit too
long,” my mom agreed.
“Thank you, Melissa,” Finlay said.
“Dad?”
“I agree with them, pumpkin.”
“Dad! You are supposed to be on my side,” I objected. My dad chuckled.
“I’m always on your side, pumpkin. But it means I sometimes need to make sure you do things you don’t like.” I realised Finlay might just have gained two powerful allies in his struggle to pamper me silly.
