I mean let’s be honest, my rules are just better. They will also piss off a Troll so everyone wins. Except Trolls because Trolls never win. Ask any fairy.

Haley

Ted was on the floor laughing. He gasped, “She… has a picture… of him… to shoot…. Arrows at. I love her. We are going to have to warn the wolves. An arrow can get through the barrier.”

I laughed and ran outside the barrier. I called, “Hey, guys! Haley left for the time being. Can you come out?” Six people came out and bowed their heads to me. All said, “Luna.” I sighed, “Yes, we are going with Lexi not Luna. Can you all introduce yourselves? We didn’t get to meet earlier.” They all smiled at me.

Ted and Sally came out and joined me, then Kevin spoke, “Hello, Beta Male Ted and Sally. We are Lexi’s guards. I'm Kevin and this is my brother older brother and Lead Warrior for Yellow Hills, Kincade.”

My jaw dropped, “THE LEAD WARRIOR?! Excuse me?! Did Chase hit his head? Don’t you have like super important things to do other than follow me around?” Kincade answered, “There is no higher priority than the safety of the Luna. She is the heart of the pack, and we are sensitive to that because our former Alpha lost his Luna. He has his second chance, and we take her safety seriously.”

Ted frowned, “That got very serious quickly. Let’s get back on track, Ted or TeleTed will work for how you address me. That goes for all of you.” The next two guards stepped up. A woman spoke, “I’m Joanie, one of TeleTed’s, which is the best name ever, guards.” Ted quirked an eyebrow, “I’ve heard your name before. I think we will get along just fine.” Joanie smiled.

I asked, “You’ve heard her name before? What’s that story?” Ted laughed, “She’s a potential co-parent for Matt and me. She’s his first choice.” He clapped a hand over his mouth. I looked at Sally who shrugged. Ted huffed, “Well, damn. Those shots went straight for the barely existent filter I have. Please dear Goddess tell me Matt talked to you before I blabbed.” I laughed understanding why he looked flustered.

Joanie smiled, “He did. He’d like for us to get to know each other better.” Ted smiled, “Well, I can manage that. I already like you. She’s gorgeous, isn’t she? Matt calls them pups. He and her would make a cute, adorable little pup. Don’t you guys think so?” Sally agreed, “They so would. Are you guys thinking soon?” Ted smiled, “Yes, the summertime if all goes smoothy.”

Joanie chuckled, “That he didn’t mention.” Ted snorted, “The man loves details, I can’t believe he didn’t give you all of them. Stick with me, future baby momma. I got you.” I laughed, “You would think this means he has no alcohol tolerance, but I assure you this is just Ted. Continuing on with the introductions.” They were all smiling at Joanie and Ted. I could tell they were really happy for her. For her own part, Joanie was beaming with excitement. Sally was giggling.

The male guard spoke, “I’m Mark. I’m also Beta... I mean TeleTed’s guard.” Ted praised, “Good man.” Two more women stepped up. Sally gasped, “You…. you stopped Noah from grabbing me. You bumped into him by accident.”

The woman laughed, “It was no accident. I apologize we were not in time to stop the incident that occurred today. I am your guard, Miss Sally. My name’s Willow.” Sally had tears in her eyes. She asked, “I really have a guard?”

Another woman stepped forward, “You do. Handpicked by my brother. I’m Opal, and Gamma Derrick is my brother. You’ve met my older sister, Luna Reagan.” Ted asked, “My pal Derrick picked you guys out?” Opal and Willow nodded.

Opal explained, “He linked me before I showed up that I had a guard duty. He told me it would mean a lot to him if I accepted.” I raised an eyebrow then shrugged, “I haven’t met Derrick yet.” Ted raised his hand and jumped up and down, “I have! He’s great! We had ourselves a chat. He even sent me on a recon mission with cookies. I got the deets. It was invigorating! He says I have the gift of gab and making people gab.” I mean, his nickname was TeleTed, of course he had the gift of getting details.

Sally laughed, “That’s very true, you do. I can’t believe Alpha Chase already got me guards. I want someone to love me the way he clearly loves you, Lexi.” I said, “Someone will love you like that. You’re going to get snatched up.”

Ted cleared his throat and gestured to the picture on the porch. I smacked my head, “Right. We came out here to tell you we will be shooting arrows at a target. We might miss it. So, you should stay on the east side.” Joanie laughed asking, “You guys can shoot?” Mark looked at Ted and seemed confused. I’m sure he knew Ted was not a fighter.

Ted answered, “Not a lick.” Sally shrugged, “I’m alright.” I just shrugged. Mark rubbed his temples, “Joy. This is going to be interesting. We can hear you all when you're outside, but not inside. We can’t see incoming arrows that could just appear out of thin air, flying around. Or get to you if an accident occurs due to the alcohol. Wonderful.” Ted and I laughed.

Kincade frowned, “That’s a security risk.” I told him, “I assure you I know how to load a bow, and I can instruct Ted through it. Sally already knows. We won’t hit each other.” Kincade frowned, “Then you all will be in the same area when you shoot. No one running around while weapons are being fired.” I agreed, “That’s reasonable.” They all sighed in relief.

Sally smiled, “We will try our best not to disturb you guys.” Opal laughed, “Disturb away. It seems like we are in for an interesting ride with this assignment.” We went back inside and closed the door. My phone rang and I groaned.

I answered reluctantly, “Hello, big brother. I feel like we’ve talked a lot today.” Heath’s voice was hard, “Get to our place. Now, Lexi.” I sighed, “Alright.” I hung up. Ted frowned, “He sounded more pissed off than usual.” I agreed, “He did.” Ted asked, “What’s up his ass?” I shrugged, “Who knows? He did see me stabbed today. Start the game. I’ll catch up when I’m back.”

Sally disagreed, “Heck no! We will watch a movie and drink some…” she walked over the stash of alcohol and squealed, “I LOVE this wine!” I laughed, “Pink Moscato. Good choice.” Sally said, “We will crack this open, and wait for you to play the game.”

I silently apologized to Kincade and Kevin. I opened the back door and took off. I found Heath at our place. He hung up his phone. He asked me, “Did you know Haley protected our presence here as she did in your house?” I nodded, “Yes, people who mean us harm can’t get too close.” Heath said, “Alright, that would’ve saved me a call. I think I’m growing on her, deep down. Tell me what happened with you and Noah.”

I took a step back shaking my head, “Heath, I…” Heath interrupted, “No, I’ve let this go long enough. Tell me what happened. It’s obviously more than what I thought. I thought you needed to heal and be away from seeing Noah and Sally together.” I winced, “No, that wasn’t it. We can’t talk about this. He's your best friend and Lieutenant.”

Heath argued, “He’s no longer my Lieutenant. I stripped him of the title when we got home. I can’t have a gambler looking after our finances. I can’t trust him when he hid this from me.” I stared open mouthed, “What?” Heath leveled me with a look, “You heard me. TELL ME what happened, Lex. Why did you run from your home?”

I crossed my arms, “I didn’t run from home. Don’t make it sound like I ran away. I did a ton of missions for OUR home and people.” Heath disagreed, “You did run. You went to the Hackura realm. You didn’t even come back to tell me you were taking missions more seriously. You asked me to assign you one over the phone and you left from there for it.”

I cringed, “Heath…” Heath grabbed my shoulders, “Lexi Scarlett Scott, I need to know.” I sat down on the grass, “He came to me the night before the ceremony.” Heath punched a tree yelling, “I TOLD him not to go to you.” I shrugged, “He didn’t listen. He told me he’d felt the pull to me since he was eighteen.”

Heath shouted, “HE WHAT?!” I nodded, “We had sex. It was my first time, and it wasn’t great. He left to go meet with you.” Heath frowned, “We didn’t have a meeting that night.” I snorted, “So he lied. What’s new? Anyway, Susanna had come to talk to me and heard the whole thing. She told the girls before I’d arrived that he was my string, and that we’d had sex once he revealed that fact to me.”

Heath frowned, “But then Sally heard.” I nodded, “Sally knew all along. She’s been staying with him, so he’d leave me alone, and for herself. So, she’d know she gave the relationship everything she had.” Heath sat down, “I’m so sorry.”

I went for broke explaining, “He knew at the ceremony. He walked towards me on purpose. He smirked at me right before he turned to Sally. I didn’t realize Sally had seen it along with a few others. Why did you decide you needed to know?”

Heath held up a recorder and hit play. It was the same recording I’d heard earlier with Sally. Heath surmised, “You’ve heard this.” I nodded, “Sally has the tape too.” Heath closed his eyes, “Sally heard this?” I sighed, “Yes, and she’s done with him. Haley took it to Gunner to see if it had been tampered with in any way, but…”