“Don’t you think they would respect that you have settled down into a new pack?” I asked.
“Probably. But for now I’m not ready to take the chance,” she said. I nodded.
“Just let me know what day and where you’re heading. If you don’t want to do it by yourself, you have options to bring someone along now,” I told her.
“Thank you. But I don’t think I would be good company. I will do it on my own,” she insisted. I nodded.
“Just make sure to check in regularly so we know you are safe.”
“I will. Thank you.” There was a long stretch of comfortable silence. The new moon was approaching and the brook was lit only by the stars.
“Time to head to bed, Red. I expect you to be in the conference room directly after breakfast tomorrow. Time to start your new job,” I finally told her. She laughed.
“Yes, Alpha,” she said and got up. The way she used my title always did something to me. I did my best not to let it show. “Sleep tight, Finlay,” she added.
“You too, Red. Welcome to the pack. I’m happy you’re one of us.”
“So am I.”Amie
After my alarm woke me in the morning, I just lay in bed for a while, getting used to the pack bond again. It wasn’t as if you always felt every individual in the pack and what they were feeling. It was more like a soft humming in the back of your mind. My last pack bond hadn’t been severed, as I had run away, the distance had made it feel less and less the further away I got. But even during my first months in my new home, I had felt it. But a pack bond that wasn’t maintained and if you didn’t return to the pack land at least a couple of times a year, it faded. The bond was a living thing and needed to be nourished and felt. But now a new pack bond had taken its place, as well as a connection to the pack land. I loved the familiar, yet new, feeling of it. I eventually got up and got ready before heading down for breakfast. Cadence’s family invited me to sit with them, and I did. It was nice getting to know his parents and older sister. When he asked me if I wanted to go to the river with him and his sister, I had to decline. I had to start my new work today.
“Where have you been?” Medow asked as we met outside the conference room.
“I had breakfast with Cadence and his family,” I told her and Sam.
“Is he trying to court you?” she asked and we laughed as we joined Finlay and Martin in the room dedicated for the meeting of the top rank.
“What are you doing?” Finlay asked me as I took a chair that stood along the wall and moved the other chairs around the table to make room for it.
“I’m getting a chair so I can sit down,” I told him.
“And why do you need a new chair?” he asked, confused. I looked at the table. Finlay was sitting at the head of it, Martin to his right, with an empty chair next to him, opposite him where Sam and Medow sat next to her mate. The chair opposite Finlay was also empty.
“I’m not sitting in the Luna’s or the Beta female’s chairs,” I told him. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and signed for Martin to scoot his chair closer to Finlay. I moved the Beta female’s chair after Martin and put my own at the corner between the two empty chairs.
“Happy?” he asked me as I took my seat.
“Yes,” I said. The others laughed.
“Now that we got the important matter of the chairs out of the way,” Finlay said, looking pointedly at me. “We can start by welcoming Amie to our group. I think we are all looking forward to her advice,” he continued. The three others eagerly nodded.
“Thank you. But as I told Medow yesterday; I think you are doing a far better job than you give yourself credit for. The pack is thriving and is harmonious. I don’t know what I can contribute with,” I honestly told them.
“The pack is a good pack, and I agree with you. We mostly got those things under control. Well, Finlay does most of it, and he is a natural Alpha,” Martin agreed.
“But what we worry about is the outside threats and how we can prepare the pack to face them,” Sam continued. All four of them nodded in agreement.
“We are a low ranking pack. But we are low ranking since you couldn’t participate in the last games. I would think packs and rogues that are after land would go after one of the confirmed weak packs,” I said. Finlay and Martin both shook their heads.
“We have chased away wolves that have been close to our borders. It has only been one or two at the time so far, but we think they are scouts,” Martin told me.
“Pack or rogues?”
“Both,” he said.
“We think it’s due to the fact confirmed weak packs have already been targeted and all good land has been taken. Most of those packs are living on barren land or in the cities,” Finlay told me. I shuddered at the thought.
“And then there is us, and all this amazing land. Okay, I can see why they are willing to chance it,” I said. “So we need to prepare. Even if we are a strong pack, not everyone can fight or defend themselves. What is the plan if we get attacked?” I asked. Finlay got up and got a map from a locked drawer and spread it out over the table. It showed the pack land and someone had drawn symbols on it. They all explained what plans they had put in place to keep the pack safe. They had hideouts in two places in the village and then seven more scattered across the land. Most were natural caves they had fortified and made sure to keep food and blankets in.
“It looks good. It’s a good start,” I said. “But we should add some general pack training that everyone participates in. Something that teaches everyone to find shelter if they get caught by surprise.”
“Everyone? Even the pups?” Martin asked.
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