‘Yeah, that’s true. They probably have a team with strong pack members,’ Jake said.
‘Strength isn’t always a positive thing for this kind of task. I think we will see that now,’ I told him as I saw their old pack, led by Finlay’s brother, come to do their first run at the game. Finlay tensed up next to me.
‘They are strong at least,’ Jake said. I could hear in his voice he was blaming himself for his grip slipping.
‘They are,’ Sam agreed. ‘But they also have the body weight of three of you. There will be a lot of weight put on their digits.’ We all watched as they stood in a group, mindlinking their strategy on the side of the rock formation. They didn’t even look at the tools provided for them.
“We are ready,” Finlay’s brother called out after five minutes. The announcer started the clock for the game and all five of the participants flew towards the rock formation. They made decent progress for the first third of the climb. I knew it was after that point the holds would get smaller. I could see the speed of their progress decrease. It almost came to a stop as they struggled. By the time they came to the outcrop, they looked visibly exhausted. As they started to make their way under the ledge, they struggled. One of the men slipped with one hand and everyone gasped as he managed to keep his grip with the hand he still had a hold with.
“Don’t fucking slip,” Finlay’s brother growled for everyone to hear.
“Yes, Alpha,” the team member said in a strained voice. I could see his efforts to raise himself high enough to be able to get a new grip with the free hanging arm. Finlay’s brother had made his way to the other end of the ledge, and the other three had gone back so they wouldn’t have to wait while putting all their weight on their fingers.
‘Why aren’t they helping him?’ I asked Finlay.
‘Because that would be to show weakness,’ he told me. I disagreed with his brother. It was not to show weakness to help a pack mate in need. It was to show weakness when you were too afraid to help those who needed help.
“Use your claws,” Finlay’s brother growled. Again, for all to hear. It was a clear sign of how tired and unfocused he was.
“But Alpha,” the man objected.
“Just fucking do it,” Finlay’s brother demanded. I could hear the claws digging into the rock and it let the dangling man lift himself up and continue. His teammates followed after. They resumed the climb, but the mood was off. I could feel the irritation in the air from where we sat. Their struggle to get all five members to stand on the top was interesting to watch and reminded me of a wrestling match. I tried my best not to giggle, but I heard several audience members failing at the task. When all five pack members finally stood on the top the commentator was heard.
“Ocean shore pack, you have completed the game with two minutes to spare. You did use claws, which is a clear offence of the rules. Your final score will be marked down by fifty per cent.”
‘Oh dear me,’ Matilda said. Finlay just shook his head. We watched the final packs as well. When the final pack of our designated area had finished we packed up and headed back towards our cabin.
“Amie!” The pack closed ranks around me, as my name was called. I looked around me at my pack mates with a mix of surprise and gratitude.
‘It’s okay, it’s my brother,’ I mindlinked them. They reluctantly parted to give me space to walk up to Elder.
“They are protective. I’m guessing you have told them about what’s happening?” he asked as he looked back at the group from my pack. They stood a couple of feet away, none of them even pretended they didn’t listen to what we were saying. I smiled.
“We did, and they are. How did it go for you today?” I asked.
“Good, I think. We all made it to the top within the set time. It’s a little nerve-racking that we don’t get the points until the final day,” he said. “How did you do?”
“Same here,” I told him.
“Good. I was wondering, tomorrow is set aside to let the packs talk to each other and arrange for diplomatic meetings. Would you be free in the evening to go for a run with me and my mate?” he asked.
“Just you and your mate?” I asked, I needed to be sure.
“Yes. Just family,” he reassured me.
“I would love to.” He smiled.
“Mom and dad can’t stop talking about your call. By the way dad boasts about his daughter being the Beta of her pack, you would think I was a regular pack wolf,” he told me and laughed.
“I have always been their favourite,” I teased him.
“No way. Mom always gave me the bigger portions,” he objected.
“Because you were growing like an ogre,” I reminded him. We both laughed.
“See you tomorrow, Amie.”
“Looking forward to it.” I said. We gave each other a hug, and I returned to the pack. “See. I’m fine. Thank you for looking out for me,” I told them. We went back to our cabin and Matilda and two others started with dinner while Finlay, Sam, Jake, Ramses and I sat down to talk things through.
“We did good today,” Sam said.
“I messed up,” Jake objected.
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