Page 116 of Game of Destiny

Amie

T he journey to the meeting place was interesting to say the least. Sam, 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.