Page 155 of The Married Alpha And His Arrow: Vol 1

A pop sounded in my office. I glanced over, startled, “Haley?” Haley smiled, “Yes, obviously. Who else would pop into your office?” I raised an eyebrow, “Your brother did.” Haley laughed, “Did he really? Why?” She didn’t know? Jesus Christ.

I explained, “To warn us about a potential fairy pop in. He didn’t want us to kill them.” Haley laughed again, “Oh dear. If you get fairy’s starting to Troll your territory for concupiscence partners, you can call me. I’ll handle it.” Come again?

Matt asked, “What are you doing here?” Haley said, “I’m here to see if any progress has been made on our little problem.” Finally. Someone who was going to be as upset as I was. I told her, “We have a drop dead date of February.” Haley stared at me.

She asked Matt, “Is he fucking joking?” Matt answered, “He is not, and it’s not his drop dead date. It was given TO him. He’s unhappy about it.” Haley gritted her teeth, “That doesn't work for me.” Derrick snorted. I admitted, “It doesn’t really work for me either. Why doesn’t it work for you? What harm could that do, in your opinion?” Haley looked away.

Matt linked, “She so knows.” Haley turned back, “It doesn’t work for me because it doesn’t. I will be nice until New Year’s. January second it’s my goddamn turn to solve the problem. I will do shit my way WITHOUT asking. Are we fucking clear?”

I raised my hands, “Sure, I have no problem with that. Why January second?” Haley sighed, “Google says the holidays are very important in this realm. I’m being respectful.” I was trying not to laugh. Derrick, however, was howling with laugher. He linked us, “Google says…. Dear god.”

Haley frowned, “Is that incorrect? Are the holidays not a stressful and important time in this realm?” My office door opened as I said, “No, that’s right. The holidays are important.” Haley told us, “Eric’s here.” I was surprised and glanced at my door I had previously been certain was my dad.

Alpha Eric stood in the doorway. He smirked, “Angel, what are you doing here?” Haley pouted, “Being too damn nice apparently. You know I could’ve popped you here.” Alpha Eric came in and picked her up then sat back down in the chair with her in his lap. He told her, “I have business with Alpha Chase.”

Haley frowned, “So did I. We could’ve done the whole two birds one worm thing.” Alpha Eric laughed. Matt explained, “It’s stone. Two birds one stone.” Haley frowned, “What does a bird have to do with a stone? They eat WORMS! ERIC! Why can’t this realm do anyfuckingthing right?” Alpha Eric kissed her. “I love you so, Angel.”

Alpha Jackson raised an eyebrow at my door and sat down. I asked, “So, did you find something, Alpha Eric?” Alpha Eric answered, “Yes, I believe you are correct. There’s something off about Alpha Allister’s death.”

Haley groaned, “Are you serious? Does Sophia know?” I answered, “Not yet. I don’t have proof.” Haley hissed, “Fine. IF she uses this to stall then I take back my niceness until the holidays are over. Then I’m just going straight to fairy hijinks.”

Alpha Jackson laughed, “What holidays?” I explained, “She’s being nice until January second.” Alpha Jackson asked, “Pray tell little sister-in-law, why?” I laughed. Haley repeated, “Google says the holidays are a stressful and important time. I don’t want to add more to everyone’s agendas. It’s apparently a VERY important time. I’ve already started planning our Thanksgiving dinner with Mrs. Blanch. I told Aiden he was coming with his family, and my Hackura family. They can’t all come, but most are coming.” Alpha Jackson laughed.

Haley continued, “Mrs. Blanch says cherry pie is your favorite kind of pie, husband of mine.” Alpha Eric smiled, “It is.” Haley smiled, “I’m going to make them for you from scratch. I found a recipe on Google.” Both Alpha Jackson and Alpha Eric raised their eyebrows.

Matt linked, “Hold up. She’s MAKING the pie.” I replied, “That’s what she said, and she can’t lie. Aiden mentioned that too.” Alpha Eric asked, “Angel, have you ever made anything that wasn’t frozen food? Or food that you didn’t just conjure?” Haley asked distractedly, “Huh? Well, no. How hard can it be?” I looked at the ceiling to contain my laugh.

Haley continued, “Anyway, I’ve decided this will be resolved before February. There are NO holidays that are stressful in January. Right, Eric?” Alpha Eric smiled, “Right, Angel.” Haley smiled, “Then January second Alpha Chase. Pass it along to your wife. I’m not going to see her because I might do something to her if I see her. It was hard enough to be nice to her at the wedding. That was about the Google saying not upsetting the bride rule.”

I laughed, “I’ll let her know.” Alpha Jackson said, “Some people are still hungover January second sister-in-law.” Haley argued, “Some people can get over it. We are having a group meeting.” Eric laughed, “Angel, you already have a meeting that day.”

Haley shrugged, “They can overlap. Alpha Chase, Beta Matt, and Gamma Derrick WILL be at our house at ten in the morning. You can bring whoever else you want. Sophia WILL be there too.” Matt asked, “Why don’t you call her Alpha Sophia?” Haley said, “When she starts acting like one, I’ll call her one.” Derrick laughed.

He straightened quickly and asked, “Do you know when Sally is coming back?” Haley tilted her head, “Sally Quaid? Yes, I do. Why?” Derrick explained, “I want to meet her. Ted talks about her cooking a lot.” Haley agreed, “She’s a very good cook.”

Alpha Eric raised an eyebrow and linked me, “What’s that about?” I explained, “He’s convinced she’s his mate. The night she rejected her string, he felt his mate’s presence for a brief moment. According to Ted, that time aligns with her rejection of her string and your mate popping her out to another realm.” Alpha Eric rubbed his face, “For god's sake.” I smiled, “What can you do?” Alpha Eric responded, “Nothing apparently.”

Haley told Derrick, “Sally is helping out with the cooking in the Hackura realm. She’s having such a good time she extended her stay, but she’ll be back Friday night.” Derrick’s eyes lit up. Haley grinned, “Oh my god. Do you like her, or something?” Derrick answered honestly, “I think she’s my mate.” Haley smiled, “You two would be cute. Wouldn’t they Eric?” He agreed, “Yes, if you think so.” She nodded, “I do.”

She leaned in and kissed him. “I’ll leave you to your meeting. Link me if you want a fairy ride back home. I can’t believe you drove. I linked Bex, and she said she didn’t pop you here.” He squeezed her thigh, “I will let you know. Jackson and I were talking on the drive. We had a phone meeting on the way here.” She popped out laughing. Alpha Eric growled.

Alpha Jackson said, “You should’ve seen that coming, brother. She loves to rile you up.” Matt linked, “What a brave little fairy.” I replied, “Hackura too.” He nodded. We went over the reports Alpha Eric had brought from what he’d found. It wasn’t proof, but it was enough to look into the circumstances surrounding Alpha Allister’s death.

We worked most of the day until he stood to leave. I asked, “You’re not going to have Haley pop you home?” Alpha Eric explained, “I’ll have her pop to our SUV. I wouldn’t want to leave it here.” I was stunned, “She can pop an SUV home?” Alpha Eric nodded, “That is something I discovered recently, yes.” Matt sighed, “We’ve gotta get a fairy.”

We watched them get into their car. Haley popped in straddling Alpha Eric in the driver’s seat, then she popped the entire car and its passengers away. Derrick said, “Damn.” My dad agreed, “I second that.” I turned, “What did you need, dad?” My dad shrugged, “I wanted to ask for one of the laptops.” I frowned, “Why wouldn’t you just take it?” My dad replied, “You’re the Alpha.” I gave him a look, “Dad, take the damn laptop. Why can’t you just use yours?”

My dad smiled, “I’m covertly looking into something.” My wheels started turning, “Did Lexi ask you to look into her family?” My dad frowned, “No, should I?” I shook my head, “No. Derrick, Matt go home. You’re free the rest of the afternoon. I’ll link you if I need something. Dad, let’s go to my office.” My dad nodded.

We walked into my office, and I opened the closet. I gave him one of our laptops. He took it and sat down. I said, “Lexi is my fated mate.” My dad laughed, “I know. She basically told me. I knew before then though.”

I told him, “I love you dad.” He replied in kind, “I love you too, son.” I said, “You can’t keep undermining me as Alpha. I saw red when Lexi cried, having a panic attack that you were going to keep me from her. That and everything you’d been doing lately just crashed into me.”

My dad acknowledged, “I know that I overstepped. You had every right to put me in my place. Maybe I needed you to do it. You’ll always be my son, but you’re an adult. I think you are making a mistake not trying to convince Lexi to let you tell her about Sophia. I think she’d understand.”

I agreed, “I do too, but she doesn’t want to know.” My dad called me on my half answers, “And that relieves you, so you aren’t pushing her.” I frowned. My dad pressed, “You’re afraid of her reaction. This will probably blow up in your face soon.” I admitted, “I don’t know what to do.” My dad advised, “Communication is always good.”

I admitted, “She has demons in her past with bad relationships. I’m afraid this would push her to them. I’m afraid she will reject me, and I’ll never see her again.” My dad said, “I understand your fear. I just think she’d surprise you. Can I just say, I hope I see her meet Cassandra Conners. You might want to prepare an apology for Alpha Eric.”

---