Chapter 73: Chapter 73

It was our day off and we had spent most of the morning and afternoon doing some light training in one of the communal training rooms. Sam had us do some wrestling and hand to hand combat on the matts. Both as a way to make sure we could protect ourselves, but also as there hadn’t been any real contact game yet. We all felt it was coming. As Sam was happy for the day, we took a moment to rest and drink water.

“Amie and I will put away the matts, you can all head home and shower before dinner,” Finlay told everyone. I had no idea why he had volunteered us for clean up duty, but I didn’t mind. We started to put the matts away as the others left.

“Still going to this meeting tonight\`” he asked me. I sighed.

“Yes. And no, I still don’t think you should come. I will be fine,” I told him and saw him frown. Elder had set up a meeting with James. He had also offered to be there, as had Becky. I had told everyone the same thing. James and I needed to talk and it wouldn’t be possible with anyone else there. I was prepared for Finlay to argue with me. What I wasn’t prepared for was for him to press me up against the wall. His half naked, sweaty body pressed in on mine and his wood scent stronger than ever surrounded me. He looked into my eyes for what felt like an eternity.

“I hate this. I hate that I need to let you do this,” he told me before lowering his head down. I felt him placing kisses along my neck and my body reacted by turning my head to give him full access. I couldn’t focus on anything but his lips against my skin. “Red,” he growled and the vibrations travelled all across my body.

“Finn,” I sighed. My hand took a grip on his hair. I held him to me, needing him close. He took a steady grip on my ass and lifted me from the floor. Letting me wrap my legs around him. His lips stopped kissing my neck and I wanted to curse at him for stopping.

“When you walk into that room today I want you to have my scent all over you. He will know I’m staking my claim to you and you will remember the feeling of my teeth against your skin,” he told me in a low, dark voice. Before I had a chance to reply, he dragged his teeth along my neck and it brought me to the edge of climaxing. He lingered over the claiming spot and bit down a little harder. He didn’t use his sharp teeth and he didn’t break the skin, but the meaning was clear. I struggled to regain my ability to think about anything other than stripping Finlay naked and climbing him.

“You do know I will shower before I meet him, right?” I said as I got back control of my brain. Finlay chuckled against my skin.

“I know, Red. That is why I’m rubbing myself all over you. I’ll make sure my scent stays on you even if you take ten showers. Will you be able to get my body against yours out of your mind?” he asked. I could hear the smirk in his voice.

“No. You are giving me quite an impression, and I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold back,” I admitted. He hummed and the vibrations against my skin made me shiver.

“I’m on the brink myself. My wolf is pushing me hard. We both know we have to wait a little longer, but I won’t just let you go to him without making sure you know where I stand. You are mine, Red. I don’t fucking care about mate bonds or what happened in your past. You are mine because you chose to be, I won’t give up my claim. Promise me you will remember it when you talk to that fucking Alpha.” I pulled on his hair and he looked up at me.

“I could never forget. Don’t forget I have a claim on you as well.” I pulled his head to the side and mirrored how he had run his teeth along my neck. “If I am going to be thinking about your body and teeth, it’s only fair for you to think about mine, too,” I whispered to him.

“Fuck, Red,” he growled and rolled his hips against me. I could clearly feel I had the same effect on him that he had on me. I knew I could only hold off so much longer before I would shred his clothes.

“Now let me down, love. I need to shower before dinner or we will have to answer a lot of questions from the pack,” I told him.

“I don’t think we are fooling any of them,” he told me, but he gently placed me on the floor.

“Maybe,” I agreed. We took a moment to calm down and then walked back. Both me and my wolf hesitated as I was about to get into the shower. I needed to shower. I had been training all day and was covered in both my own and Finlay’s sweat. I couldn’t go down and eat dinner like this, and going to meet James like this would be even worse. I sighed and stepped into the shower.

After dinner I got ready to leave. It had taken a lot of arguing for me to walk over to the communal building on my own. I needed the time to get ready mentally, but we still had the general rule that no one should walk around alone. In the end, Finlay and Sam had given in, but as they both watched me put my plate away, I felt how much they both hated it.

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‘I will be fine,’ I mindlinked them.

‘Keep your link open, and if anything, even the smallest leaf, seems to be out of place. You will let us know,’ Sam told me.

I nodded.

‘Let us know when you are done and we will get you,’ Finlay insisted.

‘Yes, Alpha,’ I said.

‘I will be waiting,’ he told me in our private link.

‘I will not be longer than I need,’ I said before telling everyone I was going. As I walked the short way to the room where I would meet James. I took the time to check in with my wolf. I wanted to make sure she was okay with what was happening. I could feel a slight confusion from her. She recognised the bond to James and her instinct told her what a mate should be. What confused her were my memories of the pain he had caused me and both of our feelings that Finlay and his wolf were the ones we wanted to spend the rest of our life with. She was confused why our bond wasn’t with Finlay, as it seemed to be the natural order. To my relief, she was just as certain as I was about rejecting James. She was too proud to ever acknowledge him as her mate. My wolf wanted a strong mate, someone with compassion and who made us laugh. Finlay was all of that. I had reached the communal building and saw my brother standing outside of it.

“Hi,” I said and smiled.

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“Hi. How are you doing?” he asked.

“As good as I can. I’m not looking forward to this, but I think it is for the best,” I told him. He nodded.

“If it means anything, I think he is taking this seriously. He really wants to work this out,” he said. He discreetly scented the air. I smiled, Finlay had been right in thinking not all of his scent would be washed away.

“It’s sweet of him in a way, but it’s too late. Thank you for arranging it.”

“Do you want me to stay? I will stand in the corner, not making a sound,” he offered for the hundredth time.

“That’s creepy. I will be fine,” I promised.

“And my Alpha?” he asked. I smiled.

“I will make sure you get him back in one piece. I’m not going to be cruel, I’m not out for revenge, Elder. I just want to see if we can salvage some part of our friendship and give us both the closure we need,” I said.

“I know, little sister. I wish you the best of luck.” He bent forward and placed a kiss on my forehea