Chapter 92
Finlay
was ready to kill someone, anyone, as long as it got me Amie back. MostI of all I wanted to kill my brother. I knew he was behind all of this, I had known it from the moment Jonas and I wondered what took them so long in the bathroom and tried to mindlink our mates. And failed. The panic I felt in that moment surpassed anything I had experienced before. Barging into the women’s bathroom to find Beatrice out cold on the floor and not a trace of Amie had set my world spinning. The roar that had been torn from my chest had the windows shaking and the council’s warriors flocking to the bathroom. As Jonas had tried to wake his mate, I had done my best not to destroy the bathroom or shift into my wolf. Amie needed me and I couldn’t turn into a mindless beast. As the head of the council had understood the situation, one Luna injured and one missing, he had mobilised every resource the council had to find Amie. Elder had not left my side since he learned what had happened. All our allies had offered their support, but what could they do? We were all here without warriors. Luckily, the council had theirs. A virtual army was put in my hands to direct as I pleased. I just didn’t know what to do with them. I had no idea where Amie was. When she mindlinked me after two hours, it was like pulling air into my lungs after being underwater.
“I need to know every building within a two-hour radius of this hotel!” I demanded in the conference room that had become the command centre in
the search for my mate.
“Yes, Alpha,” someone called back.
“Amie?” Elder asked. I nodded as I was occupied with mindlinking her.
“She is mindlinking me,” I told him. His relief was visible.
“Finlay, over here,” James called out. He stood at a large monitor. As I walked over to it, I saw it was a map over the area with the hotel in the centre.
“There are five buildings you can get to within two hours,” a warrior explained and five dots showed up on the map. “Four of them are guest cabins the hotel guests can rent to go glamping. The last one is a warehouse,” he explained.
“Not the cabins. Amie said the room was made of concrete,” I told them.
“That rules out the warehouse as well, it is made of corrugated metal,” the warrior said.
“What? But that leaves us with nothing?” I said. Amie had confirmed the one who had taken her was my brother and she had asked me to stay away.
Fat chance of that ever happening. I would get her and our pup to safety. I would leave her for a couple of minutes with Elder while I killed my brother and then we would go back home and she would never leave our pack land ever again. The last part was maybe something we needed to talk about, and I was almost certain I would lose the argument, but I would do my best to win. I just needed to find her. It hit me in an instant and I felt like an idiot. ‘Amie, tell me if you can hear this,’ I mindlinked her. Then I channelled all my wolf’s fear, panic and frustration and let out another roar.
“Alpha, please, you will trigger all the alphas in this hotel and that would be bad,” the head of the council told me. ‘That was one mighty roar, love. I think Karo just wet his pants,’ Amie
linked back.
“She is still in the hotel!” I shouted.
“What?” Elder said.
“But I can’t scent her,” James objected. I didn’t even bother to growl at him for trying to scent my mate out, because he was right. We had all tried to get a trace of Amie to follow and since we didn’t get one, we had assumed she had been taken from the hotel. At least I wasn’t the only idiot.
“Does the hotel have windowless rooms?” I asked the head of the council.
“Yes, we have storage rooms in the basement which have no windows,” he said. Basement it was. I sprinted towards the door.
“Finlay!” I heard Elder and James call out as one. Before I could reach the door, it was blocked by Alpha Lars.
“Get out of the way or I will tear your head off your shoulders,” I growled.
“Hey, I’m not going to stop you from getting your mate. I’m just asking you to take two minutes to think of a plan. This smells like a trap,” he told me. He was right, but it would mean two more minutes Amie had to spend being cuffed to a chair.
“Would you have waited two minutes before rescuing your Luna?” I asked.
“Do as I say, not as I do?” he tried to say.
“I want to get her out of there just as much as you do. But she will be heartbroken if her rescue comes at the cost of your life. Don’t do that to my sister,” Elder told me.
“We will get her, but we will do it together and with a plan,” James
added.
“Fine!”
“First things first. Head councilman, do you agree Alpha Finlay is in his right to kill anyone who has kidnapped and harmed his Luna and unborn pup?” Alpha Lars asked.
“Without hesitation. To harm any pregnant wolf is a crime punishable by death. Kidnapping a Luna also has a death sentence,” the head of the council agreed.
“Good, then we don’t have to stop you and wait for a trial,” Alpha Lars cheerfully said. The plan, if you could call it that, took us five minutes to put together. We all set off for the basement. ‘Red, we are coming to get you,’ I mindlinked her. ‘Be careful, Finn,’ she answered. I scoffed. My brother and his former Beta may have been built like brick walls, but neither of them had the primal need to protect their mate and pup running in their veins. I did, my wolf was just under the surface, pushing me forward, lending me his senses and strength. We stepped off the elevator into the basement and a group of the warriors took the lead. It rubbed me the wrong way, but I could see why it was the best choice. They moved with determination through the corridor, opening doors as they passed them. The leader stopped and pointed at the floor. If he hadn’t pointed it out, I wouldn’t have seen the thin wire at ankle
height. One warrior took a moment to investigate it, then he used a claw to cut it. He pointed high up on the wall.
“Probably wolfsbane or silver solution,” he whispered. I looked at the small device on the wall with a spray nozzle. I held back a growl. We continued forward and found three more traps. I knew if I would have rushed down here on my own, I would most likely have triggered all four of them. Even if they wouldn’t have killed me, I would have been weak when I reached Amie. ‘Red, can you talk to my brother or something? We need to pinpoint where you are,’ I mindlinked her. I held up my hand to let everyone know to stop. I heard a low murmur coming from a couple of doors down. As one, we started moving again, everyone being on the lookout for more traps.
“What the fuck did you just say to my Alpha?” I heard Karo yell.
“He isn’t your Alpha any longer. He isn’t anyone’s Alpha. Soon he won’t be nothing more than a wet stain on the floor,” I heard Amie say. Both Elder and I groaned. ‘I thought we agreed you wouldn’t provoke them, love,’ I reminded her. ‘Sorry, it was an accident. Wait, you could hear that?’ she asked. ‘I’m almost there. Elder and James are with me. They will look after you until I have finished the business with my brother,’ I told her. ‘You might want to close your eyes,’ I added, as I didn’t like the idea of her seeing that side of me. ‘Love, I’m not going to miss you tearing that piece of filth limb by limb.’ I smiled at the blood thirst in her voice. I knew that if my brother hadn’t knocked her unconscious and used silver on her, he would already be dead.
The thought made me grin. We had arrived at the door and when everyone was ready, a warrior kicked the door in and stepped to the side. I was first to go through the open door. Karo came at me full speed. I slashed him with my claws and sidestepped him. Elder was the second in through the door and he engaged the former Beta. James and the warriors headed for Amie. I had my sight set on my brother. He stood halfway between me and Amie.
“Brother, you came,” he said, sounding happy.
“Shut the fuck up,” I growled.
“It’s time we settle this the right way. Winner takes both packs and both mates. I won’t promise to keep that pup alive. But at least we know your mate is fertile,” he told me. Red coloured my vision as my wolf roared and I attacked my brother.
I was prepared for a long fight. It had taken me all my wits and skill to beat him a year earlier. But I hadn’t counted on the primal alpha rage. I avoided his first attack, took a hold of his head, twisted and pulled. It separated from his body in a tearing, snapping sound. My wolf roared again, this time in victory. The next second I was on my knees in front of Amie. Someone had released the silver shackles around her arms and legs and she was smiling at me with tears in her eyes.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I asked. My hands went over her body, her arms, her legs. Gently checking her out, looking for injuries.
“I’m fine. I’m okay,” she told me over and over again. When I was sure she was okay, I pulled her face down and kissed her. I let all my emotions into the kiss. My fear, anger, relief, and love. She responded with just as much desperation. We pulled apart because a lack of air. I stood up and lifted her into my arms.
“Thank you,” I said to James who had stood to the side the moment I had rushed to get to Amie. I knew he had been the one who made sure she was freed.
“Anytime,” he said with a nod. I turned around and saw Elder more or less covered in blood. The sight had me stunned.
“You’re okay, sis?” he asked as if he didn’t have blood dripping from his light brown hair.
“I am. Thank you for coming. Are you okay?” Amie asked him back.
“Never been better.” I made a mental note not to piss neither the brother nor the sister off. We all walked out of the room, leaving the cleaning for the council. I had one goal, get Amie to our room. She had put her head on my shoulder and both me and my wolf took comfort in her closeness. As we stepped out of the elevator on the top floor, the head of the council and a woman I had never seen before stood waiting. I growled and got a poke in my chest from Amie.
“Sorry about that, head councilman. Emotions are running high,” Amie told him. I snorted.
“No need, Luna. I’m happy to see you’re safe and judging by the state of your mate, the culprit has been dealt with,” he said. Amie smiled a tired smile.
“He has, and his former Beta,” she told him. He nodded.
“This is healer Aria. I thought she could be of help to check up on you, and the pup,” the man said.
“Thank you. That is very kind of you. We would happily accept her help.
Right Finn?” Amie asked, looking pointedly at me. I didn’t want a stranger near Amie, I didn’t want her in our room. But it did make sense to have Amie and the pup checked out and it would take us time to get home.
“Yes,” I reluctantly said. I got another poke from Amie. “Thank you,” I added.
“Don’t mention it. I will wait out here,” the head of the council said. I unlocked the door and walked inside with Amie, the healer trailing behind. I put Amie down on the couch.
“May I?” Aria asked. I grunted and stood a little to the side, holding Amie’s hand. The healer examined her and hooked a monitor to her belly. A steady, whooshing, sound was heard. “You are doing fine. I can’t see any lasting effects on whatever was used on you. You have no scent, I’m not sure why and if it will fade or not. I’ll look into it. Otherwise you, and the pup, are healthy and strong. I would advise you to rest. Take a shower and then head to bed. Stay there for at least a day. You can go up to use the bathroom, but no more. After that, you are free to move around as usual.
Let your body tell you when you need to rest,” Aria told us.
“Thank you,” Amie said and I grunted. “I’m sorry, he usually has quite good manners.” The healer smiled and excused herself. I was torn. I didn’t want to leave Amie, but I did want to make sure the healer was gone and lock the door. I gave in to my need to keep us safe and made sure we were alone and locked in. When I turned around, Amie had stood up.
“What are you doing!?” I asked. She looked at me like I was insane.
“I’m following the healer’s orders, I thought you would like me not arguing.”
“I do,” I said as I walked up to her. “But you shouldn’t be walking around,” I added as I lifted her into my arms. She smiled at me and looked like she was about to kiss my cheek, but scrunched her nose.
“We both need a shower, we might as well take one together. I’m suspecting my brother will check in on us sooner rather than later,” she said.
As I liked the first part of her plan I headed for the bathroom.
“Can’t we just pretend not to be home?” I asked. She laughed and it warmed my heart.
“No we can’t. I think it would cause more problems. Now put me down. I need to undress. I suggest we put the clothes in the sink for now and then throw them out.” As I gently placed Amie down, I got a look at myself in
the mirror and almost took a step away from the image. I understood why she hadn’t kissed me. I was not as blood covered as Elder had been, but I wasn’t far off. A light spray of red covered most of my upper body with splashes in places. Yeah, my clothes were a lost cause, I agreed. We stripped naked and stepped into the shower. It was our third go at it, and this time we turned on the right sprays on the second try. I washed off quickly and then spent a long time washing every inch of Amie’s skin. I wanted any trace of my brother off her and I could check for injuries as I went. The longer we spent in the shower, the more I noticed Amie’s scent returning. I pulled her to me and nuzzled my nose into her neck. She giggled as I took in her scent.
“You smell like you again,” I told her. I felt her hands roaming over my back.
“That’s nice,” she said. “Thank you for coming to get me,” she then said, leaning her forehead against my shoulder.
“There was never any other option, Red.”
“I’m sorry you had to kill your brother.”
“I’m not. He wasn’t my brother any longer,” I said and I meant it.
“What should we do about your mother?” Amie asked.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I want her in our pack.” It was hard for me to say the words, but a big part of me believed she could have prevented a lot of the suffering if she had stood up to my brother.
“We can make sure one of our allies takes her in and gives her a good life,” Amie told me. I hummed. I knew our time alone would soon be over.
Amie had been right in thinking her brother wouldn’t stay away, and I suspected some of our closest allies would drop by as well. We dried off and put on some comfortable clothes. I made sure Amie was comfortable in bed and sent a message to Jake that he should get the top tier ready for a meeting. There was a knock on the door, I kissed Amie’s forehead and went to open it. It was Elder and the head of the council.
“Is it okay if we see her?” Elder asked.
“Sure,” I agreed. I was on my best behaviour as both Elder and James had been of great help during Amie’s rescue.
“Sis, looking better,” he said as he walked into the bedroom.
“Elder. I can say the same. Red really isn’t your colour, leave that to mom and me,” she told him and they both laughed.
“Luna, you look better and I noticed you have got your scent back,” the head of the council said as we followed Elder into the bedroom. He had
taken a seat on the edge of the bed, holding his sister’s hand.
“Thank you. I feel better and whatever was blocking my scent washed away in the shower,” Amie told him. I wanted to push Elder off the bed and take his seat, but I didn’t think Amie would be impressed by it. Instead, I walked up and stood next to the nightstand.
“Have you found something?” I asked the older wolf. He nodded.
“After searching the former Alpha’s room and car and checking his electronic devices, we can fairly certain say that he planned this in advance.
Well, let me correct myself. He was planning something. We can’t say if Luna Amie was always the target, or even if a kidnapping was the original plan. But no one travels with the kind of things we have found if they aren’t planning something violent. We have found more traps containing wolfsbane, meters worth of silver chains, liquids our scientists are analysing as we speak and explosives. We have sent a squadron of warriors to his old pack. His Luna and Gamma and any warriors will be interrogated to see if they know what his plan was.” As I listened to the head of the council talk, I was grateful my brother hadn’t used everything he brought with him.
“Please be gentle when you are talking to his former Luna. She’s an Omega and I can’t see her life in the pack having been easy,” Amie said.
The head of the council nodded.
“You have too big of a heart, little sister,” Elder said. I agreed with him.
“No such thing. We should be kind to those who need it,” Amie objected.
At the same time her stomach growled.
“I think that is the signal for us to leave. Thank you for letting me see her,” Elder said.
“Of course,” I said. As I walked them out, I turned to the head of the council. “As soon as it’s safe for Amie to travel, I’m taking her home. We will probably leave midday tomorrow,” I told him. He nodded.
“I understand. It will be sad to see you go, but I don’t think anyone would have done differently. The Luna needs to feel safe and nothing does it like being surrounded by her pack,” he told me.
“Thank you for understanding.”
“I will come by and see you in the morning and say goodbye,” Elder said.
I closed the door after them and walked back to the bed. Amie was already on the phone placing our order to the kitchen and as I listened, I wondered if she was planning on inviting all the Alphas up to join us.
“I’m hungry, so I may have ordered a little too much,” she said as she hung up.
“That’s okay, that way I have a chance to have some as well,” I told her
and gave her a gentle kiss.
“So we are leaving?” she asked.
“We are. There is no point in you arguing about it. I have made up my mind.”
“I won’t argue. I actually really want to go home.” She sounded so frail it tore at me. I lifted the covers and got under them together with her. She curled up against me and I held her tight.
“We will go home, my aunt will make a fuss about you staying in bed and cooking all of your favourite food. Medow and Shelly will bring the pups and gossip. Sam will tell us he told us so and camp outside our bedroom for a month and then we will all feel a lot better,” I told her. She let loose a small sob.
“I really, really don’t like going on the council planned activities,” she told me. I couldn’t help but to chuckle.
“Don’t judge them too harshly. I found my mate at last year's Games,” I reminded her.
“True, they have redeeming qualities.” The food arrived and it looked like my little mate had ordered one of every dish on the menu. I made sure she reached all the food from where she sat in bed and I let her eat. I ate the dishes she clearly rejected and was happy just watching how satisfied she was.
“Mph. I don’t think I can ever eat again. I think I overdid it,” she huffed as she had finished. I smiled as I cleared the rest of the food. We had managed to empty almost every plate between the two of us. “Time for a restroom break.” I put the plates back on the cart and placed it outside the room and got back into the bed. Amie joined me and I took out my phone.
“We need to tell them back home what has happened,” I said. Amie nodded and we called the top tiers. The outrage and concern on their faces
made me miss our pack even more.
“I’m coming to you,” Sam said.
“No need. Once Amie has rested we are coming home. She needs to be around the pack and we have things to deal with. The fallout of what my brother has done will need to be dealt with.”
“I can’t believe the old pack is gone,” Jake said.
“I know. Could you please inform the pack and tell them we are coming home early. You don’t need to tell them why. We will do that when we get back,” I said. We talked a little about what we could expect and how to handle it. As we hung up, Amie put her hand on mine.
“Time to call Matilda,” she said. I nodded. I wasn’t looking forward to this conversation. We called her and started by telling her about the council’s and the alphas’ decision. She looked heartbroken. Then we told her the rest.
“You killed him?” she asked after I told her how Amie had confirmed it
was my brother who had kidnapped her.
“I did,” I told her.
“Good. He was family, but someone needed to stop him. I’m sorry it had to be you,” she told me. Her response was so much like Amie’s it had me stunned into silence for a moment.
“He thinks people will judge him for killing his brother,” Amie told my aunt and kissed my jaw. How had she known that? We hadn’t talked about it. Then she was Amie. She knew me better than I knew myself sometimes.
“That’s just crazy talk. No one will care about that,” my aunt said.
“I agree. We will have to make sure he sees reason,” Amie told her.
“I am present and part of this conversation,” I said, snapping out of my own thoughts.
“You did good, Finlay. Both as an Alpha and as a mate. Ryder knew what he was risking when kidnapping a pregnant Luna. Don’t linger on it. We have other things to think about. I will call my sister and talk to her. By the time you get back home, I will have news for you,” she said. We said goodbye and then Amie and I sat in silence for a while.
“Last call, sweetheart,” I said.
“Who?” she asked.
“Your parents.”
“Do we have to? They will be worried,” she objected.
“Do you think Elder and James won’t tell them?” I asked.
“Fuck, you are right. Unless I swear them to silence! I have dirt on both of them,” she told me. I smiled and kissed her nose. My phone rang and it was her dad.
“I think it’s too late for that,” I said and answered. ‘I’m so gonna tell Mom it was those two who stole the cake she had made for the pack cake baking contest,’ she mindlinked me. Amie’s parents
looked upset and worried. As Elder had already talked to them they knew the background story, which was nice to not have to tell it a third time.
“I’m sorry. I let Amie down and I failed as a mate. I should have kept her safe,” I told them. I got an elbow in the side by Amie.
“Don’t say things like that,” she hissed.
“But it’s true.”
“I think you should listen to my daughter, she knows what she is talking about,” Amie’s mom said.
“Yes. You did what you could and made sure she wasn’t alone. Even if you had gone with her to the bathroom, you would probably have been knocked out as well. My pumpkin knows what she is saying,” her dad
agreed.
“Thank you.”
“And I’m fine. The healer has checked on both me and the pup and we are doing well. I’m a little tired, but that is most probably because I just ate my double bodyweight in food,” Amie said. Both her parents laughed. “We will be going home tomorrow. There are things to do as our pack was close to the Ocean Shore pack. It will be affected by what has happened.”
“I think that is the right decision. Go home and get some rest. Call me when you are home and have the time. And Finlay, thank you dear for protecting my little girl. I’m sorry you had to fight your own brother,”
Amie’s mom said.
“I would do it again if I had to,” I told her. Both her parents nodded happily. When Amie tried to hide a yawn they smiled and said goodbye.
Amie and I got ready for bed and as she snuggled up next to me, I put my hand on her belly and enjoyed the closeness and scent of my mate.
