I looked at Amie as her parents fled. How could she even think I would let her go to the meeting while pregnant? “You are pregnant,” I told her. She rolled her eyes at me. “I know that. Why would that stop me from going? It’s not like the times where I would have to perform dangerous tasks.” “Just because there are no games involved, doesn’t mean it’s a walk in the park. We put all the Alphas into the same space. Their egos alone cause issues. This year it will be even worse with what has been happening in my brother’s pack,” I told her. “Listen to me, Finn. You have been going to these meetings alone for far too long. In the beginning, you had Martin with you, but then for some reason you stopped bringing him and refused to let anyone else join you. Now you are going to let me come with you. I’m not budging on this. Especially with what’s happening with your brother. I’m not letting you deal with that on your own,” she objected.

“Amie, my brother is unpredictable right now. What if he tries to hurt you, or our pup, as a way to get to me? I wouldn’t put it past him,” I told her. It was a deep-seated fear of mine. My brother put far too much pride in being the first in our family to produce an heir. And from what we had heard from the pack members leaving his pack, his Luna wasn’t pregnant yet. I feared what he would do when he learned we were expecting a pup. Amie sighed and moved to sit in my lap, it had become a habit of hers whenever she felt I was upset or worried.

“I understand what you are saying, and I’m not saying you are wrong. I’m just saying that I accept the risk. I’m not sending you, my mate, to deal with all of this alone. If you fear he is coming after me or our pup, I fear just as much that he is coming after you.” She had her determined look. I knew what it meant, but I wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

“I understand, sweetheart, and I appreciate you worrying over me. I will bring Sam with me,” I told her. In my mind, it was a good compromise. Apparently, Amie disagreed, as she still had the same look on her face. “What? The Gamma isn’t good enough?” I asked. She made a face and sighed. “It’s not that I don’t think Sam is good enough,” she told me and poked me in my stomach as punishment for even thinking about it. “It’s just that I would be staying at home, worrying and not being able to do anything. And if your brother antagonizes you, you know you will be triggered. Sam will feed off your energy and I don’t think him giving you a hug is nearly as effective at calming you down as when I hug you.” She had a point there, I reluctantly admitted to myself. The thought of being hugged by Sam in the middle of an Alpha meeting was more amusing than anything.

“I can’t bring both you and Sam,” I told her. “I know,” she agreed. “Your dad has told me I shouldn’t give in to your stubborn streak.” I knew it made me sound like a five-year-old, but I was grasping at straws here. Amie laughed. “This from a man who I think I have heard say no to my mom once,” she said, still laughing. I cursed our inability to say no to our mates.

“If something happens to you or our pup, I will lose control and lay waste to the entire meeting. You know that?” I asked, switching tactics. She stopped laughing and looked at me with a smile. “I know. We will just have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” she told me and rubbed my chest. I knew I was losing this discussion, in part because I wanted her there with me. I hadn’t been this worried about an Alpha meeting since my first one. Things with my brother’s pack needed to be sorted out. I had no statistics on how many wolves had left his pack, but my gut told me he didn’t have many left. I wanted Amie by my side for all of that. Combined with her insistence on going, I felt my arguments crumble.

“I really, really don’t like it when you are this stubborn,” I told her with a sigh. She gave me a brilliant smile. “You don’t fool me, Mr. big and tough Alpha. You love it when I push back and don’t do everything you tell me.” Fuck, if she wasn’t right about that as well. It had been one of the alluring things with her from the start. She was a master at knowing when to fold and agree to my orders and when to object. Not many people dared to object to their Alpha’s orders. “I know,” I said and kissed her. “I love all things about you.” “Does that mean I get to come?” she asked. “Yes,” I huffed. “Thank you. I will be careful and I will stay by your side and don’t do anything that puts us in danger,” she promised me. I chuckled. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Red,” I told her and kissed her nose. She looked happy again, and it made me feel happy. “I like it better when you call me Red. You only call me Amie when we are having a disagreement,” she said. “Should I start calling you Amie more regularly?” I asked. I didn’t want her to associate her own name with something bad.

“You do and you will be sleeping outside until you stop,” she told me. “Red it is.” “When we get back from the Alpha meeting, I think we should have a sit down with the ones we have taken in from your old pack. I think it’s time we discuss if they want to become part of our pack or not. By then we should have more information to give them,” she said and leaned her head on my shoulder. I pulled her closer to me and placed my chin on top of her head. “I think it’s a good idea. Unless they broach the subject before, then we will book a meeting with them all and let them decide,” I agreed. We had five families who had chosen to seek shelter in our pack. Martin’s family had been the first, but not the last. They all had similar stories to tell on how they had to sneak off pack land in the middle of the night to get away. Everyone would tell us about the worsening conditions. I was worried about my mother, but I took solace in that she wasn’t young enough to be in the breeding program. My aunt made attempts at contacting her from time to time, but she never got a response after my mother telling her everything was fine.

“Hey, where did your mind go?” Amie asked in a soft voice and caressed my cheek. I smiled at her. “It just took a detour to my mother,” I told her. She nodded. “I thought I would feel jealous when your parents came to stay. Your family bond is so far from what my family had and has. But I don’t feel like an outsider. It feels, I don’t know, strange? Sad? That I’m closer to your mom than my own.” “I’m sorry. I love how close you and my mom have gotten, and I love her for adopting you like she has done. But I’m sorry you can’t have the same relationship with your own. It’s difficult feeling cut off from your parents,” she told me and snuggled in closer. “It is,” I admitted. “But my family is growing. I have added your parents and now a pup. I may miss my mother from time to time and wish I could share news about my life with her, but I’m more than happy with what we have.”

“Things may change,” Amie said. “Sure, but I’m happy with how things are. Well, I wish I could somehow cut my brother off from my family tree. I guess everyone has a skeleton in the family closet.” She giggled.

“There is a rumor one of my dad’s great uncles liked to dress in a gorilla suit and run through the pack village a couple of times per year. My dad swears it’s not true, but I’m leaning towards that it is.” I chuckled. “Does your family have a thing for dressing up? Does it have something to do with your brother and a purple dress?” I asked. Amie giggled. “I thought that detail had slipped past you,” she said. “It didn’t. So what is the deal?” “Promise you won’t tell my parents, or my brother?” she asked. “I will keep your secrets, Red.” “You better. I have access to both your private parts and a cheese grater. Keep that in mind.” I felt my cock twitch, and for once, it wasn’t from pleasure. “Not a word,” I promised.

“Once, when Elder was about sixteen years old, there was a school dance. My brother decided to ask a girl to the dance. He spent so long fretting about it, she had already agreed to go with someone else. This happened a couple of times and my dear brother became… desperate. Eventually he asked a girl who had been interested in him for a long time. He had avoided her because she was too aggressive and she had quite a temper.” “Doesn’t seem like a good fit for your brother,” I remarked. “No. But James and their other friends were making fun of him and he just wanted a date, any date. So he asked this girl and even though she already had a date, she cancelled it and said yes to my brother. I don’t know the details, but during the dance the girl found out she was his seventh choice and she felt humiliated. And here is where her temper came into play. She lured him into a supply closet with a promise of some naked fun-time. He was a sixteen-year-old boy, of course he got naked in the supply closet. Somehow she managed to grab his clothes and ran, leaving only the dress she had worn behind.” “So he had to wear it to get home?” I asked. “I wish that was all. That had been funny, but not as humiliating as what happened. So, after evaluating his situation, Elder decided he had to put the dress on and sneak back home. Halfway home, there was a breeze and the skirt of the dress blew up, revealing my brother’s privates and covering his head. While he struggled, a group of girls came walking and got the shock of their life. They ran in one direction, my brother in another. He made it home and I saw him sneak inside. The next day, the Alpha announced they were looking for a pervert who walked around in a dress, exposing himself to teenage girls. I connected the dots and asked my brother. He swore me to secrecy. I’m guessing the girl also understood who the pervert was, but I think she was more afraid of what would happen to her if she told anyone what she had done to the Beta’s son,” Amie said, giggling. I was laughing like a lunatic. “You have the best family, sweetheart,” I told her.