A LOT OF BOYFRIENDS

7 MARCH, SUNDAY, CONTINUED

"First to cross 30 points loses." I told Owen as I pointed up to the electronic scoreboards. Cornelius had explained that in this demonstration, the men would shoot for 10 rounds. The maximum points for each round was 10 points. Which was the usual standard setting even in the Lorent's basement shooting range.

I'm not sure if the fact that our Underground Base was using the same electronic target system as the Lorent Alpha household meant that our army was using super fancy expensive stuff, or if it meant that the Lorent Household was installing an overkill system, but that was besides the point.

What mattered was that there was a really fun game to play, my favorite shooting game actually.

"I beg your pardon, Alpha?" Owen looked extremely confused.

"We'll take turns to shoot at the same target." I explained the rules, "The winner is the one who forces the other guy to cross the 30-point mark on the scoreboard. Since everyone else is shooting 10 rounds, the two of us will split it between us, 5 rounds each."

Ki helpfully collected earmuffs for me.

I felt I had given a pretty good explanation, but Owen didn't look like he understood at all.

"I'm afraid I don't quite follow." He admitted as much.

"It's alright, this game will make more sense when you're playing it." I told him, "You can take the first shot. Just remember, you're not allowed to score a zero."

This game wasn't for noobs, that's what made it fun.

"Yes, Alpha." Owen nodded obediently.

When Stephan gave the order to open rounds, Owen took the first shot. 9.7

"Not bad." I nodded. My own average was 9.6 a round, but only because I was easily distracted, "My turn."

Owen looked confused again. He looked over at his fellow marksmen who were not subjected to their Alpha's personal attention and spared from the spontaneous change of rules, and then he handed the rifle to me. I think he realized that he wasn't going to be able to escape his fate.

The rifle was in most part similar to the new ones Charles had shown me this year. Wow, we were buying the top of the range of everything at the Underground, huh? (I'm basing this on the assumption that the Lorents would only buy the most expensive of everything.)

The color was different, and some of the details which would probably affect the rifle's loading and capacity looked different too, but the weight distribution felt alright, a little heavier, but not in a bad way. I lifted it up and took aim.

It wouldn't shoot.

"Alpha, the safety switch…" Owen reminded me. He looked really worried.

What safety switch?

Owen pointed, I checked the side of the rifle but wasn't sure what I should be looking for.

"The lever, Sam." Ben got impatient, "Hurry, the others are on their 3rd round."

Grrr…

I pushed the rifle back to Owen, "Unlock it for me."

Owen dutifully did and gingerly passed the rifle back to me like it might explode at any moment, "Please be careful, Alpha."

Why? Did I not look like I knew how to shoot? (I guess not?)

Maybe it was because I didn't even know about something as basic as a safety switch. I tried to explain it off with a joke, "I guess the Lorents don't have safety switches on their guns."

I had kinda hoped to lighten the mood, but my remark led to a tense silence. What?

And then I remembered how the Lorent wolves had a bad habit of accidentally shooting at warriors from other packs - most recently, this included some Morning Light youths…. The goons! I hoped Ethan the hyena was alright.

"I meant that literally." I tried to amend my statement, "Like when I shoot with Charles…"

Did the wolves at the Underground know who Charles was?

"Never mind." I sighed a little and lifted my gun up again, maybe it would be best to shut up and shoot. It seemed that I was bad at explaining things even in this timeline.

9.8.

"Lucky!" I was quite pleased.

"I'd say." Ben muttered, "You didn't even take aim."

I shrugged, "It's not like the target is moving, Ben."

Because this was a static range, and the targets were exactly the same size and distance, and always directly in front of you, every single time.

I handed the gun to Owen who received it with two hands and a bow. So polite, this guy.

"Your turn." I said. Our total on the board was 19.5

Either Owen figured out my game or didn't understand at all, but he shot a 9.8, bringing us up to 29.3 in the third round.

"Very nice." I said, "My turn."

And then just in case Owen really didn't understand at all, I told him, "Remember, the first to cross the 30-point mark loses."

I lifted the gun and carefully took aim. It touched the outermost rim of the target. 0.3.

Don't you just love super fancy digital scoring? Now our total was 29.6.

And Owen looked like he had an epiphany, "Oh. So I should miss the center on purpose!"

"Yes, but you can't score a zero." I reminded him, "You need to aim just on the outermost line. Imagine you're shooting to just graze the target."

I gave Owen a moment to contemplate the possibility of such a shot. I mean, anyone could hit the center with enough practice, but skimming the bullet just along the target rim… now that was a skill.

"You only have a 0.4 range." I told Owen gleefully, and then I felt bad since it was the first time Owen was playing this game, "Don't shoot too near my last shot though, the sensor might not capture it and it would come out as a zero."

Because it had happened more than once when I played at the Lorent's.

"Oh." Owen said again.

"Do you mean our Alpha had scored less than 1 point ON PURPOSE?" Cornelius asked.

"The goddess is exceeding talented in marksmanship." Ki beamed like a flower to the sun. Ironically, my wolves looked very proud of my 0.3-point score.

"It's just pointing and shooting." I said. I was trying to be modest, but it didn't come out exactly the way I thought it would.

Owen lifted his gun to fire. 1.4. Now our total was exactly 31.0.

"Opps. You overshot." I told Owen, "I win."

I noticed the other demonstrating marksmen had completed their 10 rounds by now, "Maybe you better just finish up the rest of the rounds."

"Yes, Alpha." This, Owen knew how to do. He did it very precisely too. I think his personal average was probably above mine… he never got anything lower than 9.7.

But he scored the lowest. Everyone else scored above 94. Hahaha, my bad.

Cornelius felt he had to tell us that our army had a relatively large proportion of capable marksmen, and the average warrior could score above 85% consistently.

Dad and Beta Lucas looked very impressed.

"Hoo man, we should bring our warriors here to try it." Beta Lucas said, "I would be surprised if we get above a 65% average."

The funny thing was how Beta Lucas sounded so proud of it, "Our warriors are better at head butting than shooting."

He laughed like it was a good thing too.

"Hey Owen," I called out to him before we left for our next inspection location, "Let's play again next time. If you win, I'll…"

I tried to think of a suitable reward, "I'll let you be one of my agents."

Wait, wasn't that like asking him to be my slave?

But Owen was beside himself at the offer. He bowed lowly, "Thank you Alpha for the opportunity! I will work hard to meet your expectations!"

"Thank you for your guidance, Alpha." The other warriors bowed as we left the shooting range.

"Whew," Ben joked from my side, "For a moment there, I thought you were going to let him be your boyfriend."

MY WHAT? I flared, but not so much at what Ben said. I flared because I suddenly "remembered" that while it was true that the Sam in Timeline 3 didn't have a harem, if rumors were to be believed, she had a lot of boyfriends.

OMO. Somebody just shoot me!