Her One and Only

The Guard's Pee-On

Miles POV

Before I can even open my eyes, my head is pounding. Cheap wine and tequila have the worst hangovers. But, the minute I pry my eyes open, I see her. She sleeps so peacefully, just like yesterday, all curled up, lips slightly parted, hair covering her face…

Get a grip, Miles. I remind myself, ever so painfully, she is straight. Not only is she straight, she is mated. Mated to an asshole, but mated nonetheless. I soak up these few peaceful moments before getting up and getting dressed. I truly wish I could stay in bed here and watch her sleep all morning, but unfortunately, I have a job to do.

The men of this pack are a sorry bunch. I can’t say I come from better, being that I’ve lived mostly within this pack my whole life, but I know damn well that if any rogue came waltzing into this place they’d have a hayday. I dress in my usual t-shirt, jeans combo and head out.

I send Nyght a quick text to let her know she’s welcome to stick around so I don’t have to come get her later on, and make the trek to the pack training grounds.

“Ah! Captain Bellator, I was waiting for you to show.” oh of course, the one day I’m late the Alpha comes for a visit.

“Alpha! What have I done to receive such a lovely surprise?”

He comes forward and gives me a tight handshake.

“As you know my daughter just recently came of age, and though she has found a mate, I have no doubts she won’t let him claim her for quite some time. With that being said, I’m going to need someone to be her personal body guard from unmated males until she is marked and mated. I thought about leaving this for you to assign but seeing how close you two are already, why not assign you!” he smiles, clearly proud of how thoughtful of a gesture he’s made.

The idea of protecting Nyght constantly makes my atoms buzz, but I have no idea how I’m supposed to keep my useless feelings out of this. I mean look at her! She’s intoxicating and I’m absolutely drunk off of her.

Gods, the thought of just being near her all day and having that be my job?

Back to earth Miles you’re talking to the Alpha!

“I’d love nothing more! Will I still be training the defense?”

“You will be part-time. You have the official captain of the guard title, but I’ve assigned Alex here-” he motions to the man beside him, whom before now I hadn’t even noticed. “To take your place when you're protecting my daughter.”

The man beside him steps forward and takes my hand into a firm shake. “Alex Wright, pleased to meet you, Captain.” wait.. Say that again?

“Alex as in.. Nyght’s mate? Why aren’t you guarding her?”

Alex takes a breath to defend himself, but the Alpha interrupts.

“As strong and capable as Alex here might be, he’s nothing compared to you, Captain!” the Alpha chuckles.

I watch Alex deflate, and I almost feel bad for him. Emphasis on almost.

I join the alpha in his laugh, and reach out for the ‘I understand what you're saying, thank you for this honor’ arm grab/handshake.

“Alright, I’ll leave you two to train. Miles, I expect you to begin your guard duty tonight. I don’t mean to make it sound urgent or anything, but you two will be living together until Alex here can take over as her husband.” and with that he walks off.

“Alright, so basically what I’m doing with these guy-”

“I’m gonna stop you there. I know how to fight, I know how to train. I’m a man. I know more than you.”

“I’m going to stop you there. I’ve been a warrior my entire life. I come from warriors. I can look at you and know I have more muscle mass in my left leg than that of your whole body. I don’t give a sh*t who you are, or what connections you have. I outrank you in every sense of the word, right down to your “mate’s” priority list. Outside of this field you can say whatever you gods damn well please, but on this field? You’re in my world, as*hole.”

Alex stares blankly at me.

“I’m going to take your silence as a “Yes Sir” but next time I better f*cking get one. Now, join the rest of the rookies on the field.”

He reluctantly walks toward the other men, and I call attention.

“Good morning boys! I’m sure you’re wondering what this little fella is doing here with us today, and honestly up until ten minutes ago I couldn’t have told you. If you didn’t know, this is Alex Wright. He’ll be your coach, not Captain. He’ll be given a training guide from me by the end of the week, but until then you’ll just practice sparring and run laps at your leisure. He will be taking note, and if any of you slack I’ll be on your ass as always.”

A chorus of ‘yes sir’s follows my speech, and I figure now is as good a time as ever to check my phone for messages from Nyght.

“New Message from Nyght Tsuki:

“I might have to take you up on that offer, your bed is so comfy compared to the ones back at the pack house. My dad said you had something to tell me, what’s that all about? X”

I shoot a quick text back:

“Glad you like my bed, lol. Apparently I’m your bodyguard now, and your boyfriend is my pee-on. It’s been a good day. Have you been getting sh*t from men?”

I shift my attention back to the boys to see Alex standing with his thumb up his ass.

“Wright, why is it everyone else is busy but you haven’t got a care in the world? Go find a sparring partner since you know how to fight so well.” I say with a smile.

I don’t think this is what Alpha had in mind sending him to me, but gods damn did it feel good after how rude he was to Nyght last night.

After a good hour or so of training the men and taking Alex down a peg I shift control over to him and head back home to fill Nyght in. The drive home absolutely flew by and I walk in to see her taking up residence in one of the t-shirts I had stored in the bottom drawer of my dresser.

“Nice shirt” I joke.

“Thanks! I stole it from my bodyguard, apparently”

“Any idea why your dad chose me, or what I’m supposed to be protecting you from?”

“Actually he sent me a text not even twenty minutes ago asking to meet us for dinner tonight.”

The way she says it makes my heart flutter and floods my mind with thoughts of family dinners with Nyght.

“Wow, word travels fast.”

“Yeah,” she says “Are you okay with this? I know he can be kind of pushy.”

“Absolutely!” I say eagerly. “I mean, you’re great to hang out with, it’s cool to be paid to hang around you.”

She smiles, and walks off.

“By the way, Nyght, I do have a spare room if you’d like to live in there. Not that you have to, you’re always welcome in my bed” I see a smirk at first, then immediately turn to panic “Not that I want you in my bed! Gods, you know what I mean.”

She laughs and shakes her head.

“Sure you don’t, Belllator.”

“Hey! It’s Captain Bellator!” I say, trying to hide the fact that I indeed do want her in my bed.

“So, what are you up to, Tsuki?” I question, plopping down in the space she left on my couch.

“Well, I sat down to watch a movie, then I got the text from my dad...and I’ve been scrolling through my phone mindlessly ever since.”

“Any idea where he wants to meet?”

“He actually wants to meet at the pack house. I think one of my moms plans to cook a big meal before the first bird leaves the nest.”

I shudder at the thought of going into the pack house, but if it’s to help her father keep Nyght safe, I’ll do it a million times over.

“Oh wow, what an honor to attend the last dinner with your whole family!” I chuckle nervously.

“Are your moms talented chefs?”

“Actually my dad was always the cook” she replies “He kind of taught them the ropes about ten years ago when the pack got that influx of new members. He got really busy that winter and with seven little mouths to feed he didn’t have time to handle everything.”

I always forget how large her family is.

“I can only imagine how stressful that was for everyone,” I say.

“You weren’t the one who had to eat overcooked rice for an entire winter!” she laughs.

“But they’ve seriously improved since then. Alanis prefers cooking for guests, but I know Mariana is more of the home-maker and will probably be the one taking over tonight.”

We sit in silence for a while, each on our phones. Occasionally we’ll share a meme with one another, but the comfortable silence was soothing.

___________

“So why does your father want me there?” I ask, fixing a red tie against my black button-up.

“I told you, Miles, I have no idea!” she turns and looks at me.

“Why are you so dressed up?” she interrogates. “You have absolutely no feminine formal clothing.”

I laugh. “You don’t have to dress up. They’re your parents. I, on the other hand, am a guest in their home.”

I watch her process what I had said.

A smile creeps across her face.

“I can dress..comfy?” she darts down the hallway into my bedroom. I stand patiently, waiting to see what caused such a reaction.

She waltzes back to the living room after a few moments wearing blue jeans, a white baggy long sleeve t-shirt with a small NASA logo on the upper right breast, and her usual Nikes.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting when you said comfy, but this is certainly on brand.” I tease.

She grins, and plops back down on the couch.

I never thought I’d take more time to get ready than a feminine person.

I walk down the hallway to check myself in the bathroom mirror one last time before leaving to meet with her family. I don’t know why I get so nervous to see them. It’s not like they’re my inlaws, or anything.

I look at myself. Tied back curly dirty blonde hair, a black button up and khaki pants, brown leather belt, all bound together with a red tie and dress shoes. You can’t see my shoes in the mirror, but my feet assure me that they are still there.

“Miles! Are you ready yet? My dad just sent me a text,” she yells.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you outside.”

How did we get so comfortable around each other so fast? I feel my mind wander. I close the bathroom door and sit on the closed toilet.

Why am I so comfortable with her?

I know the answer, but I’m honestly really afraid to admit it-- more than once a day, that is. Nyght is just so… Warm. She has a calming presence about her, and an easygoing personality that makes it just about impossible to be away from her. She’s calm, at least when she isn’t drunk and angry, and so much fun to be around. I wander farther. Why does her father trust me? Why does he trust someone he’s had to help so much? Why does he trust someone he just now gained the confidence to appoint Captain? And why does he trust Alex enough to take my place? Or was that political?

I shake myself out of it.

The front door opens.

“Miles! It’s been five minutes, c’mon!”

I stand up, brush myself off, grab my keys, and we leave.

✨🌙☀️✨