Page 66 of Game of Destiny

Finlay

I stood outside Amie’s bedroom, waiting for the healer to finish his examination.

“She will be fine, she said it was just a scratch,” my aunt said and patted my arm.

I huffed. I was doing my best not to be a jerk and go on a tantrum about how Amie shouldn’t have been hurt in the first place if she had stayed by me.

The fact was, she and Ramses had done an amazing job and I didn’t want to take that away from either of them.

At the same time, I was struggling with my need to keep her safe.

Hugo came walking out of Amie’s room and I looked at him.

“She is fine. A small injury, it will heal in a day or two. I would recommend she use a healing salve on it. But she said she didn’t need it,” he told me. I held out my hand towards him. He looked at it for a moment, then fished a small jar out of his bag and placed it in my hand.

“Thank you,” I said. When I knocked on the door to the room, I heard my aunt giggle and walk downstairs with Hugo.

“Yes?” Amie called. I took it as her inviting me in and opened the door. She smiled as I walked in. “All cleared,” she said.

“Liar. Hugo said you would be healed in a couple of days, and you turned down this,” I told her, holding up the jar. She rolled her eyes.

“Because I don’t need it. It’s just a scratch.”

“Show me and I will put this thing on. Then I won’t say anything about it,” I told her.

“Is this a way for you to look at my ass?” she asked. I had to laugh.

“Dream on, Red. Now drop your pants,” I said. I read the instructions on the jar. “Looks like this thing needs to air dry until it’s not sticky. Looks like your ass will be out for a while. Pants down, on the bed on your stomach and stop rolling your eyes.”

“I have my back turned. You don’t know if I roll my eyes,” she told me.

“I can hear it from here,” I said. She giggled and the sound relaxed me.

That was until she unbuttoned her pants and pulled them down.

I had seen Amie naked countless times. Shifters strip before shifting as it’s uncomfortable to shift through our clothes.

As such, we were used to being naked around each other.

As a result, it was polite to not look. So even if I was used to her nakedness, I had done my best not to look.

This was different. As she took her pants off and lay on her stomach on the bed, all I could do was to look at her long, shapely legs and round ass.

How could her skin be so pale and so perfect?

Except for the four red scratches along her right hip, coming down over her perfect ass. I had to swallow to hold my growl back.

“Well?” she asked, looking over her shoulder. She had folded her arms under her head and her hair was an unruly mess.

“Right,” I said.

“Are you okay? I can always ask someone else,” she offered.

“No need.” Like I was going to let anyone else see her like this?

That was not going to happen. “Scoot over a little so I can sit on the edge.” She moved over a little and I sat down.

It took all my self constraint to focus on smearing the translucent salve with a strong floral scent onto the wounds.

Amie flinched a little and I wanted to kill the wolf who had caused her the pain.

When I was done, I went to her bathroom and washed my hands.

She was still on her stomach when I got back.

I lay down on the bed next to her, on my back. “How does it feel?” I asked.

“Nice, it’s a little cold, but that feels good,” she told me. “Thank you.”

“You are too stubborn for your own good sometimes,” I said.

“I know.” I smiled. After a while I ran a finger over her naked skin.

“Finn?” she asked.

“Just checking if it’s dry,” I said.

“Right.” Our eyes met and I could feel the air vibrating between us.

‘Guys?’ Sam mindlinked us, and I had never wanted to kill my friend as much as I did in that moment.

‘Yes?’ Amie answered. She had rested her forehead on her arms.

‘Your brother and his mate are here and he wants to see you. He looks worried,’ Sam told us.

‘I’ll be right down. Ask them to sit on the sundeck,’ she told him.

“All dry,” I told her as I gently ran my fingers over where I had put the salve. The wounds looked less red.

“Back to reality,” Amie said. I got off her bed and watched as she did the same and put on her pants.

We walked down together and I headed for the kitchen to let her talk to her brother and his mate.

But she reached for my hand. “They are on the sundeck,” she said. I realised she expected me to join her.

“Right,” I said and followed her outside. It was still early in the afternoon and the sundeck had a comfortable mix of sunlight and shadow from the trees around the cabin.

“Amie!” her brother exclaimed and pulled her into a tight hug. “Are you okay? We heard you got hurt.”

“I’m fine, it was just some scratches. I don’t know why everyone is so freaked out by it,” she told him as she hugged his mate.

“Becky, this is Alpha Finlay,” she then introduced her brother’s mate to me.

We greeted each other and then I saw Becky give her mate a look.

He nodded. Amie looked at me. She had seen it as well.

“What is going on?” she asked. Beta Elder looked at his mate, she sighed.

“James didn’t take the news of you getting hurt well.

He wanted to come over here himself but Elder talked him out of it,” she said, giving me a glance.

It was lucky they had managed to talk him out of coming.

I wouldn’t have handled it well if he showed up demanding to see Amie.

I nodded to them. “I was just reminding Elder he needed to let James know you are fine,” Becky finished her explanation.

“Thank you. James showing up here would have led to a small disaster, neither pack needs that at the moment,” Amie told them.

She asked them to sit down. I made sure to grab an extra pillow and put on the stuffed ottoman for her to sit on.

I got ice tea for everyone and we sat and talked.

It was a new experience for me to be part of a family conversation which wasn't forced and tense. Once Beta Elder relaxed and felt sure his sister was not on death’s door, the squabble between the siblings began.

Becky and I were included as well and it felt nice.

As Beta Elder and Becky were getting ready to leave, Amie talked to Becky, apparently they had planned to meet up the next day and were discussing the details. Amie’s brother leaned a little closer to me.

“Amie has a knack for… trying not to worry the people she cares about. Is she really fine?” he asked me in a hushed voice. I had to smile.

“So it’s not a new trait, that’s nice to know. She is mostly fine. Our healer said she will be back to full health in a day or two.”

“Thank you for looking after her and for letting her spend time with me and my mate,” he said.

“No need to thank me. She is part of my pack and a close friend. Amie has been missing you, and she likes your mate. I would never dream of keeping her from her family,” I told him.

He nodded. I felt like he had a good idea about what was going on between me and his sister.

We left it unspoken. I hadn’t figured out if he was okay with it or not. As they left Amie smiled at me.

“Becky and I will have a girls’ night tomorrow,” she told me.

“Someplace safe, I hope,” I said.

“We are going to have a picnic.” I must have made a face because Amie gave me a look.

“I didn’t say anything,” I told her.

“You don’t need to. We will be fine.” I was about to object when Sam walked up to us.

“Medow ordered me to tell you that if you haven’t called her in ten minutes I won’t be having sex in the next year. Will you take pity on me and please call her?” he asked Amie. He looked desperate. She giggled.

“I will go and call her straight away,” she promised and set off. I sighed and shook my head. I guess I could count that to my win pile. I couldn’t lose a discussion if it hadn’t begun, I thought.

“If it helps, I haven’t won a discussion since I mated,” Sam told me.

“Did I say my thoughts out loud?” I asked. He laughed.

“You didn’t need to. I recognised the face. I usually see it in the mirror. I say it’s okay. It’s more important to me that Medow is happy than me winning our discussions.”

“It’s scary when you sound this wise,” I said. We looked at each other and chuckled.