We all walked into the council building together. I made sure to keep Amie separated from the other two. Her reunion with her brother had gone better than expected, and I was happy for her. It wasn’t hard to see how much her brother adored his sister. But something was off. This mate bond thing felt off. I had seen the way Alpha James had looked at Amie, like a wish come true. I was not ready to let her go. In my mind and my heart, Amie was mine. By her reaction to all of this, I would say she wasn’t thrilled either. I had never seen her back away from anything before. With my hand on her back to make sure she knew I was there, I walked straight up to the desk where a clerk sat.

“We need an emergency meeting with the council,” I told him. The wolf behind the desk was about to say something as he looked up. He met my eyes and then looked over to Alpha James. He seemed to change his mind about what he was about to tell us.

“Yes, there seem to be some upsetting feelings. May I have your names and packs, and I will tell the council.” We gave him what he asked for, and he asked us to wait for one moment. He directed us to wait in separate areas. I was grateful for his tact, as it gave me a chance to make sure Amie was okay.

‘Are you okay to do this? Should I ask Sam to come and take you to the cabin?’ I asked her in a mindlink. She gave me a shaky smile.

‘No. I’ll be fine. I need to do this. I need the answers,’ she replied. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then she took my hand. I gave her hand a squeeze to let her know I understood, and then I let her be with her thoughts. She would let me know if she needed me. I kept my back towards Alpha James and made sure to block his view of Amie.

“Please follow me,” the clerk said and showed us into the council room. The council members sat around the conference table, and we stood at the end of it.

“Alpha Finlay, Alpha James, we were told you needed to speak with us,” the head councilman said.

“We do. We need your help with understanding a situation,” I said. “My Beta will explain.” Amie took a deep breath and explained the situation to the council.

“The bond is still there,” she ended her explanation. “I don’t understand why.” The council members looked at each other.

“Is this a true description of the situation, Alpha James?” one of them asked. Alpha James glanced at Amie. He must know the story showed him in a bad light.

“It is,” he admitted.

“And when you rejected Beta Amie, did you perform the rejection in the correct way?” another council member asked.

“The correct way?” Alpha James asked. There was a communal sigh from the council.

“This is what happens when the packs are afraid of educating their members about rejections because they think it will put ideas into their heads,” a woman complained.

“Yes. If someone is going to reject their mate, they will do it. But if they aren’t taught the proper way, this happens,” another agreed.

“For a rejection to be completed, the one rejecting has to first initiate the rejection, then the one being rejected has to accept the rejection. If this isn’t done, the mate bond will remain. As it has been activated but hasn’t been accepted, it will not be in full force. And, as you both have noticed, it will deteriorate as it’s not being maintained. But it will not go away on its own, and neither of the parties will be able to gain a second chance mate,” the head councilman explained.

“So all I have to do is accept the rejection? Or do we need to start all over again?” Amie asked.

“No, you can just accept it and it will be completed. But, I will remind you that if you do so, both of you will have to sit this year’s games out. Even if the bond between you is weak, it is still a bond, and the rules are clear about newly rejected wolves,” the councilman reminded us. I cursed internally. We hadn’t counted on this happening and hadn’t brought a stand-in. We could use one of the support staff, even if none of them was half as good as Amie.

‘It’s okay, Amie. Accept the rejection. We will figure it out,’ I mindlinked her. I hated the idea she would have to live with a bond she didn’t want.

‘No, Finn, the needs of the pack come first. If we place low in games, it means another ten years of living in fear of what will happen—another ten years of possible attacks and the possibility of losing more pack members. I won’t be responsible for that,’ she told me.

‘Amie, there is a possibility of attacks even if we place high,’ I reminded her. She gave me one of her looks, and it secretly made me happy as it showed she was coming back to her usual self.

‘We both know the risk is much lower if you are high ranking,’ she pointed out. It was true; I had no good argument to come back with.

“If I don’t accept the rejection now, when can I do it without causing issues with the games?” she asked the council.

“As soon as the final game has ended,” one of the council members said.

“I guess you aren’t keen on sitting this one out either?” Amie asked Alpha James. He frowned.

“No,” he agreed. She nodded and took a deep breath in. Amie walked around me before I could object and looked Alpha James dead in the eyes.

“Let’s make a deal. I won’t accept your rejection until after the final game. In return, you agree that neither one of us has a claim to the other and are free to continue our lives as if the bond does not exist. Deal?” she asked him and reached out her hand. He looked at her for a long moment. I was almost convinced he would turn the deal down.

“Deal,” he finally said and shook her hand. His eyes grew bigger as their hands met. When Amie let go of his hand, she discreetly rubbed hers against her pants.

“Well then. If that was all, please make sure to educate your packs so we can avoid this in the future,” the head councilman said. I bowed at the council, as did the others, and we walked out of the room. I wanted to take Amie straight back to the cabin so I could talk to her, make sure she was alright, but she stopped outside the building to say goodbye to her brother and make sure he knew she still wanted to meet his mate.

“Amie, why on earth are you participating in the games?” Alpha James asked. The tone of his voice had both me and my wolf on high alert. I would have growled at him again if Amie hadn’t placed her hand on my arm.

“Why on earth wouldn’t I?” she asked with almost as much sharpness in her voice. Her brother looked between his sister and his Alpha.

“Amie, I think James is just worried. The games are relentless, and for someone without a wolf, they can be deadly,” her brother said. Both Amie and I looked at him like he was an idiot. Then it dawned on both of us that neither her brother nor Alpha James knew about Amie's wolf. I felt a grin take over my face. Amie smiled at her brother.

“I would agree, but I have a wolf, so that won’t be an issue,” she told them, and I enjoyed the look on both their faces, especially Alpha James.

“Amie’s wolf is a tough one—large, fast, and stealthy,” I said, just to rub some salt in the wounds.

“You have a wolf?” her brother asked.

“I do. She came to me after Finlay offered me a place in his pack. I guess she felt it was the right fit for her, and for me,” Amie said. “I think we need to get going. This morning has not gone as planned, and we have some catching up to do. You have my number, please let me know when you are ready to introduce your mate,” she then said, and then she looked at me.

“Alpha James, Beta Elder,” I said and nodded to them. I then placed my hand on Amie's back to lead her towards the cabin. We had only walked a couple of steps when Alpha James called to Amie.

“Amie, one moment. Can we have a talk? There are things we need to sort out,” he said as he walked up to us.

“No, James. I don’t think so. We agreed this mate bond would not affect things between us. We have lived with it for ten years. Another month shouldn’t make a difference,” she told him and turned her back on him.