Page 114 of Game of Destiny

“Little sister, Finlay. It’s nice to hear from you.

I hope nothing has happened that has you calling unexpectedly this close to the meeting.

We hadn’t planned this call, right? It has been a lot to do these past weeks, but I think I wouldn’t forget a call with the two of you,” he said. I smiled at him.

“You are right. It’s an unplanned meeting, but nothing bad has happened,” I reassured him.

“But we do have something we want to talk to you about,” Finlay added.

“Right, and what is that?” Elder asked.

“Before we come to that, I need you to swear on your life that what we tell you in this call, you won’t repeat to mom and dad,” I demanded.

“Um, why?”

“You will understand when I tell you. But you must swear first. Not even under the threat of mom never cooking her special chili ever again,” I insisted. His eyes grew bigger.

“That is a tall order, sis.”

“It’s a big secret. I promise you won’t have to keep it for long.” He hesitated for a moment. “I’m just going to say purple dress.” Elder’s eyes grew even bigger if that was possible.

“This must be one juicy secret. Fuck, now I’m curious. Have I told you I hate you?” Elder muttered.

“Not today.”

“Well, I do. But I will swear not to tell our parents what you are telling me, not even if it means I will never eat mom’s chilli again,” he told me. I smiled and looked up at Finlay. He smiled back and kissed me.

“I think it’s safe to tell him,” my mate said. I turned to face the phone again.

“We are going to have a pup,” I said. Elder just looked back at us and blinked, for a long time.

“A pup?” he finally asked.

“Yes,” Finlay said.

“My baby sister is having a pup?”

“How is this not registering?” I asked. Elder laughed.

“Congratulations! This is amazing news. I’m going to be an uncle.

Mom is going to be ecstatic, and Dad is going to lose his mind,” he told us, excitedly.

“Wait. Why are you telling me this now? We will see each other next week. I get that you may be eager to share good news, but it could have waited.”

“I need you to do me a favour,” I said.

“Sure. I will do anything for you, you know that.”

“You are sweet. I need you to tell James before the meeting. This will sound extremely self-centred, and I know he has been seeing Carol, but I can’t have him doing something stupid out of surprise.

Finn is having a hard time letting me come as it is.

If James does something without thinking it through… ”

“I will put an end to it without hesitation,” Finlay ended the sentence.

“Ah, yes. I didn’t think of it from that aspect. Smart move. I think it’s in all our best interests for James to have some time to get used to the idea before seeing you,” my brother agreed.

“I’m sorry to ask you to keep it a secret from our parents, but I want to be there in person when they find out. Feel free to tell Becky,” I said.

“No sweat. I can be good for a week. I’ll make sure James keeps quiet as well. I’m so happy for you Amie, and for you as well Finlay.”

“Thank you. We are over the moon,” Finlay told him and placed a hand on my stomach.

“And the pack must be happy as well?” Elder asked. I giggled.

“They are. I’m being spoiled rotten by everyone,” I told him.

“As you should be,” Finlay added.

“True,” Elder agreed. We talked for a little while longer and hung up.

“Feeling better?” I asked Finlay.

“Yes. At least the likelihood of Alpha James walking away alive from the meeting has gone up,” he said.

We stayed in the office and tried to get some paperwork done.

When there was a knock on the door, Finlay asked them to come in with so much enthusiasm, I giggled.

Matilda walked into the office with a big smile and a gift bag.

“I won’t take up much of your time. I just wanted to give you this,” she said and handed me the bag.

“Aunt Matilda, you didn’t need to get us something,” I objected.

“I know, but I wanted to.” I looked at Finlay. He was smiling and looking happy. I opened the bag and looked into it. I drew in a breath and reached for the item.

“Is this?” I asked.

“The blanket I knitted during the Game, yes. I was hoping I would get to give it to you sooner rather than later,” she said and patted my cheek. Then she patted Finlay’s hand. “You did good,” she told him.

“Thank you. It’s lovely. It will look fantastic in the nursery,” I said as I gently brushed my hand over the soft blanket.

The pale green, blue and pink stripes with the cream border had my mind going to how I would set up the nursery.

I placed the blanket on my desk and stood up to give Matilda a long hug.

“I’m so happy we have you,” I told her. She laughed in a soft voice.

“I’m happy I have the two of you as my family as well. And soon there will be a little pup to add to it. I am happy to babysit whenever the two of you need some time for yourselves.”

“Thank you, aunt,” Finlay said.

“No need to thank me. Now I will leave you to your work.” She left and Finlay sighed heavily and poked the iPad with his finger. I knew he hated this part of being Alpha. It was necessary, but we had made good progress.

“I think I need a nap,” I told him.

“A nap?” he asked and looked up at me.

“Yeah. We didn’t get a full night's sleep and it has been a busy day. At dinner most of the pack will be there and we should make sure to stay and talk with everyone. So a nap sounds good,” I said.

“Then we go and take a nap,” he agreed and got up.