Page 55 of The Chosen Fae

Stone shrugged. "We just played the game right." Though he'd had no idea that they were playing the game right at the time.

Xena and the others came around to see what they were going to eat.

"How did you manage to win?" Xena asked. "I heard you befriended a fae seer and you sent Fang home."

"Fang sent himself home because fae seers came for him and locked him in a basement in iron manacles," Stone said.

Salads were brought to the table, along with a loaf of bread and butter.

Stone took in a deep breath. "What are you eating?" he asked the other fae.

"They're only serving peanut butter and jelly," Xena said. "If we don't like it, we can skip dinner."

"Oh, I'm glad we won then," Stone said, rubbing it in. He didn't care. He was in competition with everyone and didn't need to buddy up to them.

When their meals arrived, Stone swore the other fae were drooling. He smiled at Rune and Lolita, and they smiled back at him as they enjoyed their meals.

"I'm surprised that your plan to make friends with Tasha worked," Stone said to Rune.

"When I saw her looking at me, and she wasn't scared or texting anyone, I was just moved to make friends with her. I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do."

"Gut instinct," Stone said, cutting into his prime rib.

"Yep."

"And you, Lolita? What were you doing? Tasha said she found you just roaming the halls," Stone said.

"I was. I mean, the other fae found their targets, and then I didn't see anyone to talk to. Then I saw her. I was fully visible, so I didn't realize she was a fae seer at first. She asked me if I was friends with Rune and Stone, and I said I was. Then she smiled and invited me to her home because you were going there."

"You weren't afraid she was going to take you there and manacle you?" Rune asked.

Lolita lifted a shrimp off her plate. "Nope. She said you were both going to be there. She gave me a lift, and when we got there, I met her three cats. They loved me, and she said they usually shy away from visitors."

Rune smiled and took another bite of her spaghetti.

"What I want to know is who you were going after?" Lolita asked Stone. Then, when he glanced at Rune, Lolita laughed. "Okay, you were protecting Rune because she was making friends with a fae seer. I sure hope when I meet a wolf I like, he's just like you."

"I didn't think we could have annoyed the other fae any more than we have already, but you notice how the two wolf groups are now together and plotting against us?" Rune said.

Stone observed them for a moment. "Yeah, that's a new development. They never would work together on anything. The two packs were competing with each other."

"We should get credit for bringing them together," Rune said. She cut into another hot sausage, speared it, and ate it.

"Agreed," Lolita said.

"Yeah, I agree." Stone scooped up some buttered mashed potatoes.

"I wonder what the next challenge will be," Lolita said.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. But no matter what, watch your backs. We don't want anyone to take us out while we least expect it." Stone tore off a piece of bread and buttered it.

"I don't know if they'll allow me back in the now consolidated pack," Lolita said. "Not that I wanted to be with them, but I did get some intel before."

"They'll think you're doing that for sure," Rune warned.

"Yeah, I agree," Stone said. "You've been with us on a couple of missions and won another on your own. They haven't been winning at anything."

"Maybe we should let them win at something," Rune said.