Page 130 of The Married Alpha And His Arrow: Vol 2

Matt dragged Noah away. He was struggling as much as he could, but it looked like his leg was broken. Matt rolled his eyes at Noah’s attempt to get out of his grasp. Ted linked me, “My wolf is so damn sexy when he’s in charge. He’s dragging him as if he were an empty sack. God, he’s sexy.” I replied, “He’ll be your husband tomorrow.” Ted stood taller agreeing, “Yeah he will.”

Guilt consumed me about Sally. If not for me maybe Noah and Sally could’ve been happy. Sally said the War Goddess showed her a path they could’ve been happy on. Maybe I’d done something wrong to cause Noah to have such an obsession with me. Chase pulled me out of that spiral.

I noticed my brother and Allie were missing. Well, I knew where he was. Emmaline popped us all to the dungeons. Ted, Sally, and I were not surprised to see Heath was demanding answers from Noah. I locked eyes with Allie. She smiled back at me letting me know she was fine. I sighed in relief that she was ok with whatever had been said about Dani.

I got caught up in the spiral again, still worried it was my fault. That I’d given him some sign. The reality crashed into me. He didn’t have a good reason, and it clearly wasn’t my fault. Ted took my hand and linked me, “He’s a crazy person. This isn’t your fault, Lex.” I mostly believed him, but a small piece of me still felt responsible for all of Sally’s unhappiness.

I threw out a few taunts about our awful sex. Sally linked me, “Don’t feel bad, it’s him. I was his string, and it wasn’t great. Ok it was atrocious. Derrick and I together is transcendent.” I snorted. Noah’s eyes crumbled when Heath confirmed Hanson was his dad. He watched him for all his tells, and realized he wasn’t lying.

Noah didn’t know Susanna was his cousin. I looked at Heath curiously. I wondered why Susanna wasn’t given to Denise to raise. I was glad she wasn’t, but if she wanted her the question would be who stopped it. It might have been small of me, but I wanted him to know Susanna hated him. At this point, most people did. He was a monster.

Robert vamp sped into the dungeon looking murderous. He stabbed Noah in the same spot Susanna had been stabbed. Robert whispered into my ear, “I could listen to his screams for centuries.” Damn. I shivered. Chase asked Noah about Eddie next.

Sally linked me, “He won’t know. He’s not going to stay on this topic for long. Get ready for him to spew more hate at us.” I assured her, “It doesn’t bother me.” Sally admitted, “Oddly, it doesn’t bother me either. It doesn’t even hurt. He gets my hackles up when he threatens Derrick and my child, but that’s it.” I said, “Fair enough.”

When Noah taunted me about Sophia and Chase Ted linked me, “Please let me shoot him.” I replied, “Not yet.” Ted huffed. I did need to talk to my brother about this though. Heath looked at me with a little fear in his eyes. I wasn’t mad he knew and didn’t tell me about Chase being married. I wouldn’t have wanted him to.

The conversation turned to Haley. I linked Ted, “Do you recall the knock down drag out fights Noah and I had over Haley and I being friends? I recall those happening. Often.” Ted chuckled, “Do I ever! Those made my whole damn day. It was in those moments I knew he hadn’t totally beaten you down into submission. To be fair, he knew in those moments too.”

I rolled my eyes at Noah thinking he could’ve convinced Heath to offend the Royal Hackura family by banning me from seeing Haley. That was a joke, if not suicidal given how they all feel about their little sister. Heath was not suicidal or stupid. He knew that making me stay away from Haley would’ve been a bad move. It wouldn’t have worked either.

Then he brought up Haley’s kidnapping. Ted linked me, “Heath said he already knows who it is. Calm down!” I gritted my teeth, “I’m going to shove that silver mallet over there SO FAR UP HIS ASS!” Ted commented, “That would hurt.” I huffed, “GOOD! He was going to try to have her killed.” Ted pointed out, “He’s underestimating her. People tend to do that. She is a survivor, that one, and you know it. She survived so much worse, and she was not about to be taken down by a plan devised by Noah Calvert of all people. He’s also not remembering her brother was there with her.”

I grumbled, “Arion was a shit brother.” Ted agreed, “Yes, but he did not want her to die. He had his powers, and he had his mate watching out for her too. Noah’s person would’ve died.” I stated, “His person WILL die. No one who would agree to kill Haley is going to live. Even if I can’t do it, I can leak it to so many people. Any of Haley’s brothers, their mates, Eric, his brothers, and so on. I mean seriously my options are limitless.” Ted agreed, “True.”

Sally linked me, “I need to say some things to him before he dies.” I nodded to her, “Take your moment and get your closure from this whole chapter and then put it behind you.” She took a deep breath and stepped forward. She asked really valid questions.

Ted linked me, “You both seem to be getting hung up on the fact that he's a crazy person. His actions aren’t going to make sense to you. It’s not your fault he’s just crazy. Straight up, just crazy.” I said, “She deserves to get her questions out there, and hear his answers.”

I thought Derrick’s wolf was going to shift and go for Noah’s throat listening to them. I swear I saw claws and fur at one point. This was not going to be a hard sell to Chase at all about killing Noah. Derrick was liable to require an Alpha Command not to end Noah himself at this point.

Noah didn’t have any good answers for Sally. My heart hurt for her as he completely disregarded everything she said and blamed her for everything. I linked Ted, “You might have a point about the crazy person thing.” Ted scoffed, “I might have a point? MIGHT? I have the most valid point of all time. He’s honestly blaming her for standing up to him and moving on. He’s not a man. He’s a coward and just a bad apple.” Maybe Ted was right. Was he always bad, though? Or did someone make him this way? Did it matter? I wasn’t sure anymore.

I gave Emmaline a quiet high five as Chase and Alpha Lucas moved in on Noah when he disrespected her. I linked Ted, “Hanson was here too? Man! I wish this was over. Truly over.” Ted said, “We will get is sorted. Don’t worry.” That was rich coming from the King of the worriers.

Noah taunted me saying he’d always be in my head. Three years ago, he’d have been right. He’d lived rent free in my mind for years, but I’d ripped him out and cleansed myself of the echoes. I asked him if he put out a hit on Emmett. He looked delighted when he told me yes. Until Emmaline said he was lying my heart had stopped.

I heard Noah’s bones snapping but I didn’t care. He was still believable. I reached back and squeezed Emmaline hands. I mouthed, “Thank you.” She smiled and whispered, “Of course.” Her kids used her powers or theirs. I wasn’t totally sure how that worked, nor did I care. It caused Noah pain and I was on board for that.

Ted linked me, “Holy jumping catfish. My kids will be doing stuff in utero!” I linked, “They don’t have to be in utero. I'll that explain later though.” Ted agreed, “Ummm yes you will.” I said, “We learned more things in the fairy vault. I might have forgot to tell you that detail.” Ted rolled his eyes, “I’ll forgive you, just this once.” I smiled, “I appreciate that.”

Noah had to try to get the last word in. I locked eyes with Heath knowing we were ending this. Because Noah wasn’t wrong. He made the impossible happen frequently. If we gave him an inch, he’d wriggle his way to freedom. He was talking about a long running revenge plan. I turned to see Chase’s jaw flexing. He had almost taken a bullet that could have killed him. Everything hurt. I slammed a lid on those feelings. I would never show Noah that he’d managed to scare me. Sally reached in on the inside of her thigh and ran forward to Noah. My jaw dropped and so did Heath’s.

Ted linked me, “MY GIRL! YOU GO SALLY QUAID! YOU SHOW HIM WHAT YOU ARE MADE OF GIRL!” I reminded him, “That’s not her last name anymore.” Ted chuckled, “Who cares? This is such a girl power moment!” It was. Sally plunged the knife into Noah’s heart, twisting it ensuring that he couldn’t survive.

Ted linked me, “In case you're wondering, they taught us that in our self-defense class you made us go to. Always twist before pulling the weapon out.” I smiled in reply, “I’m glad.” Noah stared at her in shock. The last thing that he saw was Sally breathing heavily with anger in her eyes as she protected her family.

I flashed out of Noah’s sight so he couldn't see him. I didn’t want him to receive even a moment of comfort. Once he stopped breathing Sally looked up in shock. Everyone in this room was steps away from killing him. She knew I’d planned to kill him anyway. She protected her family. Derrick comforted her. I also knew without Haley here Noah wouldn’t have given away their headquarters.

I linked Ted, “I can’t believe you’re a getting married tomorrow.” Ted smiled, “I can’t believe that I’ll be married tomorrow on Valentine’s Day. My string and I are walking down the aisle and he’s so handsome. Our baby is on the way, and I can’t wait.” I smiled, “I love that you, me, and Sally are going to raise kids together AND we can link. This is the coolest shit ever.” Ted smiled in agreement, “It really is.”

We left the dungeons. Sally linked me, “Is Emmaline really apologizing? She was so helpful.” I said, “I know. I believed there was a hit out on Emmett. He’s so convincing.” Sally admitted, “I believed him too.” I shivered. Without Emmaline I would’ve been a basket case trying to track the contract down. I’d be on edge with Emmett all the time. She gave me peace of mind. She had helped more than she could possibly understand.

I teased them all about what I’d seen in my zero gravity chamber. Allie was excited her and Heath were going to have more kids. She’d always wanted a big family like she had. Heath said they could have as many as she wanted. Her blush and smile told me she’d want a houseful. I was so happy for my big brother. Chase was thrilled about Keaton and Keith already.

Everyone left and Chase and I headed up to our room. It seemed he’d been keeping secrets himself when he pulled a gift case out of his bedside drawer. No one I’d ever dated had gotten me gifts for Valentine’s Day. Chase had very good taste in jewelry. I sat back down, and it hit me. I was supposed to hear Chase get shot. I couldn’t stop the emotions this time. My whole world stopped when I heard the shot fired. Then Haley went down.

I couldn’t even be relieved because I was so worried about her and Eric. I never stopped worrying for Chase. I just had to be strong in that moment. I hated that I couldn’t be there for him. I hated not being by his side, sinking arrows into my targets.

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