Page 136 of Game of Destiny

Amie

“ W ake up, Red,” Finlay told me and kissed me.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, worried.

“No, just scent the air,” he told me. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and took in the scent. I sat up in bed and looked out of the window. It was early, but I could still see the snow. It was snowing and a good deal was already on the ground.

“Snow!” I told him excitedly. He smiled at me and nodded.

“I will get the pups ready and mindlink Jake,” he said.

“I will make breakfast and pack lunch as I mindlink Medow and Ramses,” I told him. We both got out of bed and got dressed. I was almost done with the oatmeal porridge when Asher came running into the room.

“Mom, it’s snowing!” he exclaimed and hugged me. I hugged him back.

“It sure is. Please set the table so we can have breakfast,” I told him.

He did as he was told and I enjoyed the excitement I could feel from him.

Finlay came into the kitchen still trying to wrangle Lilly into a sweater.

When he finally got her head to pop out of the thing, her red curls were a mess and she pouted.

He kissed her nose which made her giggle.

He put her down in her booster seat. While I served breakfast, Finlay managed to get Lilly’s hair into two pigtails.

“Lilly, it’s snowing today so we will have a snow day,” Asher excitedly told his sister.

Lilly made an excited squeal. I wasn’t sure how much she remembered from last year’s snow days.

But she knew her big brother was excited, and that meant she was excited.

After the relatively calm breakfast, chaos erupted as everybody needed to get into their winter clothes, the lunch needed to be packed and the sleds needed to be found in the storage.

We came out of the chaos without any injuries and with two excited pups.

We walked the short distance to the pack house to wait for the others.

Cadence and Jon came walking with Rose in between them.

No one had been surprised when it turned out Cadence and Jon were mates.

They had been inseparable since they first met as pups.

“I could have come here on my own,” Rose told them.

“You could have, but dad asked me to walk with you on my way to my shift,” Cadence said.

“And what is your excuse?” she asked Jon as she glared at him.

“I just like keeping an eye on you,” he told her. She rolled her eyes, but I could see she enjoyed the attention. I heard the sound of the group of pups before they reached us. Ramses was walking with his two daughters, Martina, and her younger brother, Sam junior.

“Sam says thank you and don't feel like you need to come back too soon,” Ramses said and laughed before he kissed both his daughters and waved as he walked away.

“Everyone ready?” I asked. Everyone cheered.

“Maybe I can skip patrolling today,” Cadence said and looked longingly at the group of pups.

“Maybe don’t say that in front of the Alpha and Luna, babe,” Jon told him and both Finlay and I laughed.

We took the group of pups and headed for the slope in the woods.

The group of pups were like a little pack of their own.

They had grown up together and were used to being in a group.

Asher, Rose and Martina took the lead and helped the younger ones who needed a little help.

May, Ramses’ oldest daughter, was a little bit shy and enjoyed sticking with the younger pups.

Lilly was her usual curious self. Even though at five years old, the snow was giving her some issues, she persisted in exploring the woods.

Asher made sure she didn’t wander too far away.

From time to time he would point out things to her and tell her what they were.

We arrived at the sledding slope and the pups went wild. Finlay and I had trouble keeping up with their never ending energy and their running up the hill to sled down.

“What are we feeding these beasts?” Finlay asked me after an hour.

“I don’t know, but it makes for happy pups,” I told him and laughed as Martina hit Asher with a snowball. The indignity on my son’s face was so much like the expression his dad used I had to hold my side to keep it from cramping.

“Dad!” he called out.

“Yes son?”

“What do I do? I can’t hit her because she’s a girl,” Asher complained.

“Hey! Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t fight. I dare you to a snowball fight!” Martina told him.

“Dad?” Asher asked.

“It’s okay, Ash. She knows what she is doing,” Finlay told him.

The snowball fight was a fact. Finlay and I watched the chaos.

There didn’t seem to be any teams, just everyone against everyone.

Lilly hadn’t figured out how to make snowballs, or maybe she had but liked her way better.

She used her smallness and sneaked up on her victims and stuffed snow up their jackets from behind.

“She is so your daughter,” Finlay told me as he chuckled.

Yeah, I couldn’t deny it. After almost an hour we had managed to calm them down so we could eat.

I was grateful for the break. After lunch, we built snowmen.

Lilly and Asher made a cat. They had been nagging us to get one ever since they had learnt their cousins had got a bunny.

‘Should we just get them one?’ Finlay asked in a mindlink.

‘I thought you were afraid it would scratch them,’ I reminded him.

‘I still am. But maybe we can teach it not to.’ I smiled and kissed him. He would give the pups the moon if they asked for it.

‘I think it would be nice,’ I agreed. We snuck away and changed into our wolves.

The final chase was always fun and the pups giggled in joy as they chased us around.

Before I knew it, it was time to head back.

It got dark early this time of year and the smaller ones hadn’t really got their night sight yet.

Finlay and I mindlinked the parents and they stood waiting for us as we got to the pack house.

“You didn’t lose anyone this year either,” Sam said as he lifted Samie into his arms.

“No, they all behaved,” Finlay told him. Both me and Medow rolled our eyes.

“Come along,” I told my little monsters. “Dad has promised to make dinner so I thought we would call grannie and grandad,” I told them.

“Yes!” they both called out and rushed towards the house.

“Where do they get the energy from?” I said. Finlay put his arm around me as we followed.

“Tired?” he asked.

“No more than what is to be expected. How about you? Are you up for cooking or should we just get food from the kitchen?”

“I will cook. It’s relaxing,” he assured me. We got home and got the pups out of their jackets and shoes. I lit the fireplace and sat down on the couch. Asher and Lilly got onto the couch on each side of me. I called my parents.

“Pumpkin, hello,” my dad answered. “And if it isn’t Sprout and Ladybug. It looks like you had a lot of fun today,” he added. My mom came into view and dad pulled her down in his lap.

“Grannie!” Lilly called out.

“Hi there,” my mom said. Asher and Lilly started to tell my parents about their day.

My mom and dad listened like it was the most interesting thing they heard in their life.

I was lucky to have such amazing parents.

The pups adored them and they loved my pups.

Once a year, Finlay and I would take the pups to see them.

We would spend a couple of weeks in my old pack with my parents, Elder, Becky, Mino and their youngest son Kobe.

It was always fun, and the cousins got along great.

James and Carol were also invited along with their son Max.

Max was a year younger than Asher and together with Mino and Kobe they had formed a tight-knit group.

When Lilly came along, the four boys banded together to protect her.

It was really amusing to watch. My parents also came to our pack once a year, which meant it never went more than six months between us seeing each other.

Sometimes Elder and his family came as well.

When Asher and Lilly had talked to their grandparents, they stayed for a while as I talked to them.

Mom was telling me about a new type of garden bed she had seen online when Finlay came walking.

He lifted Asher up and sat down with him on his lap, which our son didn’t enjoy as he thought he was too big for that.

“Hello Ron, Melissa,” he said.

“Finlay, I have heard you had a long day,” my mom said.

“I’m getting old, the pups wear me out,” my mate told her and we all laughed.

“Is dinner ready?” I asked. Finlay nodded.

“We will let you eat. Love you all,” Dad told us. The pups were hungry and their stomachs seemed bottomless. On top of that, they had spent the day running around.

A couple of hours later and both of them were tucked in bed, sleeping like they were dead. Finlay and I sat on the couch and watched the fire slowly turn to embers.

“We have a good life,” Finlay said.

“We do,” I agreed. Things had been calm and stable since Asher was born.

Just the usual squabbles between other packs and the occasional showdown at the Alpha meetings.

That was just part of werewolf life. We still had almost eight months to the next Games and the pack was in better shape than it had been ten years ago.

Jake had already told us he would sit this one out, he was feeling too old.

I hadn’t discussed it with Finlay, but Cadence would be a good substitute.

Even if he was more physical than his father, he still had the same brain.

It was an interesting combination. As he was a warrior under Sam’s command, he was well trained.

“My mother texted before, when I was making dinner,” Finlay said.

“How is she?” I asked.

“She’s doing good. It’s a little lonely for her now that Sarah has chosen a mate.

But she is still happy in the pack,” he told me.

I snuggled in closer. Finlay’s and his mother’s relationship was better than it had been.

It wasn’t a mother-son relationship, more like acquaintances.

But she was civil and she kept in touch.

Mostly through texts. She had visited once, when Lilly was just born.

We had asked if she would like us to visit, but she always gave us evasive answers, so we had stopped asking.

The pups knew they had another grandmother and they got birthday gifts from her every year and sometimes they would talk to her on the phone.

But it wasn’t like the relationship they had with my parents.

I knew Finlay was fine with how things were. It worked for everyone.

“Time for bed?” I asked.

“Yes. The little buggers have tired themselves out. I think we can have some adult fun,” he told me and wiggled his eyebrows.

“Deal,” I agreed and kissed him. He was just as an amazing dad as he was an amazing mate and Alpha.

I had waited a long time for him, but it was worth it and I loved how our relationship had a solid foundation of friendship and mutual respect.

I giggled as he stood up and pulled me into a fireman’s carry and headed up the stairs.

“Amie, wake up!”

“What?” I asked. It was too early in the morning. We had only got to sleep a couple of hours earlier. “Is it snowing again?” Even I had my limits.

“Scent the air,” he told me and kissed my head. I did and froze.

“Is this your way of keeping me out of the Games?” I asked. He chuckled happily.

“I don’t think you can blame me alone for this,” he said.

“Do you think we can handle three of them?” I asked.

“Pff, easy. We will have to extend the house to build another bedroom,” he said.

“Or two of them can share,” I suggested.

“No, we have the means to extend it and I like the idea of them having their own space. If we do an extension next to your office on the ground floor and then add the same on the second floor. I could move my office next doors to yours and we can make my office into a playroom.” I smiled and kissed him.

Three pups. The pack was going to go crazy.

As were Asher and Lilly. Finlay put his hand on my still flat stomach.

“I love you, Red. And I love all of our pups and the family we all make,” he told me.

“I love you too, Finn. More for each and every day.”