Marked By My Alpha King

8

“Are you okay?” Finlay asked. He looked worried.

“I’m fine,” I told him and let my smile slip into place. I was used to hiding the hurt by now. It was my second nature. He looked at me a little longer and then nodded. We had walked through the centre of the village. Everything looked well kept and the pack felt happy and content. As far as I could see, this was a good pack. It had the same vibe as I picked up from Finlay. Relaxed, caring and strong. It showed how much influence an Alpha had on his pack.

“I suggest we head for the communal kitchen and end our tour with a pack dinner,” Finlay suggested.

“Yes please. Medow has kitchen duty and I have been away from her for too long,” Sam exclaimed.

“Newly mated wolves,” his two friends said as one and rolled their eyes. I had to laugh. In the kitchen, we found a small woman with brown hair in a pixie cut that made her look adorable.

“Medow, honey,” Sam called out. The woman turned around and gave him a brilliant smile.

“Babe!” she called and gave him a wave before returning to cooking.

“Come, I’ll introduce you,” Sam told me and took my hand to tow me through the kitchen.

“Honey, Finlay brought a guest home with him. She is thinking of joining the pack,” Sam said as we walked up behind his mate. Medow twirled around and her mouth fell open as she stared at us.

“The two of you could be twins,” she said with a smile. “Hello, I’m Medow,” she added and held out her hand towards me. I shook it and introduced myself. “So the boys have been showing you around?” she then asked.

“Yes.”

“Poor thing, you must be in need of some decent company. You can leave her with me, babe. I’ll take it from here,” she told her mate.

“But, honey, the Alpha wanted her to eat with us,” Sam tried to object.

“Do you think I will hog tie our guest in the walk-in freezer? Of course she will eat with us. But the food won’t be ready for at least thirty minutes. So scoot, go do something useful and I’ll take care of Amie.”

“Is it okay with you?” Sam asked. I could see he wanted to please his mate, but at the same time obey his Alpha and respect me as a guest. Poor thing didn’t know what to do.

“I think it sounds like an amazing idea,” I told him. He relaxed and smiled at his mate. They kissed, two times, and then Medow shooed him away.

“He is sweet and I love him to death. But he is a tad bit clingy,” she confided in me. I laughed.

“Tell me a mated wolf that isn’t when it comes to his mate,” I joked and felt the pang in my chest. Medow laughed with me.

“Come, I’ll introduce you to the matriarch of the pack. We don’t have a Luna, since Finlay isn’t mated, but his aunt is the one female everyone looks up to. She’ll like you,” Medow told me and we walked deeper into the kitchen. “Matilda,” Medow called out. An older woman appeared from a door and smiled at us. There was a likeness to her nephew. They had the same kind eyes.

“Yes?” Matilda asked and looked at me.

“This is Amie, she is a guest of Finlay,” Medow introduced me.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Matilda. Finlay is my sister’s son,” the woman said, and we shook hands. “Is my nephew trying to recruit you to the pack?” she then asked. I was a little taken aback by her straightforwardness, but I liked it.

“He is,” I told her.

“Well then. Let’s get to know each other. Can you cook?” I smiled at her. As the Beta’s daughter, I had been expected to help out with all the different communal tasks in the pack before I left. I may not be a master chef, but I did manage to cook good, edible food.

“I can,” I therefore said.

“Excellent.” She pointed to a workstation filled with vegetables that would become a garden salad. I nodded and picked up the knife and started working. Medow started mixing ingredients for a dressing and Matilda was frying patties as we all talked and got to know each other. Half an hour later, the food was done, and the kitchen was filled with pack members helping to carry the food to the tables. Medow and Matilda guided me to a table where Finlay, Sam and Martin sat. We joined them and Finlay smiled at me.

“I hope my aunt didn’t push you too hard?” he asked. Both Matilda and I snorted at the same time, which made Medow laugh.

“Please, I don’t overwork guests,” Matilda objected.

“I’m not as fragile as I seem,” I objected.

“Amie was kind enough to help while we got to know each other,” Matilda told him.

“It was nice and relaxing,” I said.

“I stand corrected. I’m happy to hear it went well,” Finlay told us. Dinner was great. It had been a while since I sat down and ate with a pack. I forgot how nice it was not having to eat alone. It wasn’t like I always ate alone in the town either. Sometimes I invited CeCe over, or we sat down and ate at the diner. But it wasn’t the same. After dinner, the group took me to the game room. We played pool, and it was just a lot of fun. After I tried to hide my second yawn, Finlay offered to escort me back to my room. I said good night to everyone, and we left.

“It looks like you are having a good time,” Finlay pointed out as we were walking.

“I am. It has been nice to be amongst a pack again,” I confessed. He smiled again.

“Told you.”

“Fine, you might have been right,” I admitted. “It doesn’t change who I am.”

“It doesn’t,” he agreed. “But I don’t see why it would matter. You like it here, the pack likes you. When Aunt Matilda likes someone, I know they are a good person. She never holds back if she thinks someone isn’t good enough for the pack. And she has high standards,” he told me.

“That’s sweet of her. I like her too. I just don’t know.”

“No need to make a decision tonight. It’s been a long day with a lot of new things. All I ask is that you keep your mind open and let the pack get to know you. Tomorrow is the full moon celebration. You and I can have a talk the day after that and figure out what you will do,” he told me.

“I can do that,” I said as we got to my room.

“Good. Sleep tight and I will see you for breakfast. Should I come and get you?” he asked.

“No. I can find my way. Eight o’clock?”

“That’s right. See you then. Good night.”

“Good night, Finlay.” I walked into my room and got ready for bed. Even though I was tired, my mind wasn’t ready to go to sleep. I sat down in the chair by the window and looked out over the creek. The moon hung over the treetops and made the water glisten. It was a beautiful view. I thought about the day, how nice it had been to be surrounded by a pack again. Even if it wasn’t my pack. There were a lot of things I missed about being in one. I just never let myself think about it. It would be too painful. But now, I had to think about it. And truth be told. I had seventeen years and three hundred and sixty-four days of mostly good memories of being in a pack. And one day of bad memories, of feeling out of place and as a burden. Why had I let that one day taint all the others? I knew the answer. Because that one day had shown me the rest had been a lie to some extent. The pack had promised I was loved, safe and would have a place with them as long as I contributed to the pack and didn’t break any of the rules. But in one swoop, all of that had proved to be untrue. I had been threatened to be shipped off to another pack. Pack members that were as close to me as my family had turned their back to me. All because I wasn’t like them. It had made me see my time in the pack as a deceit and I was too fragile to go through it all again. I was barely over the first betrayal. Did I have it in me to put the pieces back together if it happened again? But this time it was different, I told myself. This time Finlay would know what I was, that I wasn’t strong. If the pack accepted me, they would do so while knowing everything. No, not everything. I had kept things back from Finlay. Because when we had our talk by the lake, I never thought I would seriously consider his offer. If I were to consider his offer, I needed to tell him everything. There would be no mate to reject me in this pack. If I was accepted here for who I was, then I could stay. The thought of belonging to a pack again made my head spin. I hadn’t known how strongly I wanted it. How much I needed the pack bond and to be part of something bigger. I decided I would ask to talk to Finlay the next day and if he didn’t turn me away for being less than completely honest. I would seriously consider becoming a part of this pack.