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36- Caffeine and contests
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Strings of Fate 37- Bears and birds
The first voice is male, but so high pitched that at first I'm not sure.“You can hardly be surprised, Alpha Kane, that someone keeps arranging these attacks on you. As the youngest Alpha and an unmated one at that, you're sure to be seen as the most vulnerable.” The voice declares, the tone is snide and I instantly dislike whoever the man is that is speaking. The next voice is also male, but far more quiet. I struggle to catch the words.“There is nothing that Alpha Kane can do to change his age other than wait. It is the second matter that is of more concern. He should find a mate. Perhaps then his position would not offend people as much. It would also secure his position. Perhaps then the attacks would cease, or at least become less frequent.” The second man suggests. His manner doesn't seem outright rude like the last man. More bored, like he just doesn't really care all that much. A third man speaks. His voice is loud and boisterous, but seems friendly, at least in comparison to
Strings of Fate 38- Sleepwalking and spa days
I put it out of my mind and turn my attention back to those in the room. Bellamy looks dead on his feet, he also looks annoyed.“It's got to be those damn canine Shifters. Wright has always had an issue with me. Mum never liked him either.” He sighs and deflates. It makes him look even more tired.“But I can't prove anything. At least not yet. Maybe I should go and try and find something more solid I could-” I cut him off.“No, there are more immediate issues. Like you getting some sleep before the party tonight.” I keep my tone firm. I am not suggesting he sleep, I'm ordering it. He needs to rest or he will be totally useless. Tonight will be stressful enough for him as it is. I don't need him loopy from sleep deprivation.“But I need to get proof the canine Alpha was involved in the attack. I can't just leave it.” He objects. Megan takes the chance to put in her two cents.“I'm with Ryann on this one Bel, you need sleep. Besides, you have your own personal army of Shifters ready to
Strings of Fate 39- Bridesmaids and ballrooms
I jolt awake as the bedroom door swings open.“Sorry, lost track of the time on the phone, I-” she stops herself.“Well, I guess you didn't even notice. I thought you looked a little tired. I guess a twenty minute nap isn't a bad thing.” She collapses onto the large bed beside me and snuggles in next to me. She smiles contentedly. Are all Shifters this cuddly? Or maybe it's just a Kane thing.“Was Bellamy here?” she questions.“I think I can smell him.” I shrug.“I ran into him in the hall. He was half-asleep. I think I must have woken him when I came up the stairs.” I keep my tone casual. Megan nods accepting my explanation. Wow, it is surprisingly easy to hide things from people when they aren't actually expecting you to lie. Not that I did lie technically, I just didn't go into a lot of detail. Okay, now I feel guilty.“Hey, Ry?” Megan sounds a little nervous. I smile at her use of a nickname for me.“Yeah?”“I know we haven't known each other long, but I was wondering if you would
Strings of Fate 40- Greeting and glaring
“Uh, Ryann... did I... did I wake up earlier this afternoon? I remember... but I'm not really sure...” He trails off and stares at the floor. Great, now I feel awkward too. I was hoping he wouldn't remember that. He could have done us both a favour and pretended he didn't remember at the very least. He didn't have to bring it up, now we have to talk about it. Darn.“Oh, um... yeah. You were up for a couple minutes, although I wouldn't have really described you as awake. I think you were practically sleep walking.” Come on Bellamy. I've just given you the perfect out for this discussion. Don't keep going.“I... yeah, you're probably right. I had a lot of trouble trying to get to sleep in the first place.” THANKYOU! I am so ready for this conversation to be over. I can hear Megan's heels as she comes down the stairs. She joins us in the kitchen. Darrien is following behind her with a slightly dumbstruck look on his face. He can't seem to take his eyes off her. It's adorable.The drive d
Strings of Fate 41- Desert and dancing
I. AM. ABSOLUTELY. FLOORED. This room is stunning. How did Megan get this party put together in so short a time? She should go into event planning. There are round tables all around the edges of the room. Each table has a black table cloth with decorative candle things in the middle. The centre of the room is clear to leave space for dancing and the DJ is set up at the far end of the room. There are servers running around setting up places at the tables and I can smell something amazing coming from somewhere nearby which is making me wish it was time to eat already. To one side of the room I can see large open doors which seem to lead outside. I can't see much but I know there are some fairy lights twinkling away out there. The opposite side of the room has several large tables pushed up against the wall. These are mostly empty but based on the few things I can see there, it's going to be where the food goes. Buffet style dinner it is, I can't wait. Megan and Tristan are still over wi
Strings of Fate 42- Teasing and terror
Bellamy shrugs.“Or, you could just ditch the shoes.”“Excuse me?”“Just take them off, then you have no reason not to dance with me.” I shake my head.“Don't be crazy, it is completely inappropriate to take my shoes off here. Not to mention rude.” Bellamy rolls his eyes.“Megan won't care.” He insists. I open my mouth to argue but before I can get a word out, he drops to his knees and grabs my ankle. I squeal and instinctively kick out at him as he snatches my right shoe right off my foot. He stands and takes a couple steps away from me.“What the hell Bellamy! Give that back!” I stand up but don't try to walk, it'll be awkward with only one heel. He hangs my shoe over one finger and dangles it in front of me.“I'll trade it for a dance.” He offers.“You're ridiculous.” I counter. He just shrugs at me again. I try to take a step forward but stumble. I slip my other shoe off and hold it in one hand. I step forwards again and attempt to snatch my other shoe back from Bellamy. He holds
Strings of Fate 43- Monotones and makeup
I- I cut off my own thought. This is not helpful right now. I take a deep breath and calm myself. I might even be almost relaxed when Bellamy finally finds me. Okay, that's not true. I'm completely freaking out. But I manage to hide it. Bellamy comes and sits on the seat beside me. He places my shoes on the ground by my feet and I slip them on. The silence is deafening until Bellamy finally manages to speak. His voice is quiet and almost completely void of expression, as is his face.“Are you mad at me again?” He asks. I shake my head. I don't know what I expected him to say but it wasn't that. “No.” He watches my face attentively.“But?” He waits for my reply. I stand up and move to look at a small water feature built into the wall. I keep my back to him.“But I can't do this right now.” I tell him. I keep my voice calm, but it's forced. I hear Bellamy stand and take a few steps until he's next to me. I don't turn to look at him.“What do you want?” His voice is a dull monotone.“I
Strings of Fate 44- Understanding and unsure
“Great! Well in that case, want to come over for a bit? I thought we could look at some bridesmaid dresses and wedding dresses online and stuff. Search for inspiration.” Her sudden mood swings are giving me whiplash. I'm not awake enough to keep up with them.“Uh, yeah sure. Okay. I'll need a bit, I need to wash my hair and stuff before I can come.”“You only just woke up didn't you?” She accuses, her tone is amused though.“I thought you sounded half asleep. It's already almost midday, time to get up sleeping beauty.”“What? That can't be right? I feel like I haven't slept at all. Maybe I'm coming down with something.” I slept terribly and I feel super tired even though I slept in late. Maybe I caught a bug. Or all the stress in recent days is finally catching up with me.“Maybe. If it makes you feel any better, you're probably less of a mess than my brother is. I found him wandering the house at like five in the morning. I'm pretty sure he didn't sleep again. He's back in bed now bu
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Strings of Fate 203- Beads and bonding
“Well, I think that it might actually be nice having an extra person around the house. Extra security and company. Besides, you spend most of your time here anyway. Might as well save you the commute. That is, as long as no one else has any objection?” I say pointedly looking at Megan. Sure, Bellamy could object but I already know that he won’t. Megan briefly makes eye contact with me, gives a slight nod, then finds something to stare at on the ceiling. She is clearly trying to look like she doesn’t care but she is blushing bright red. True to form, Darrien is watching her closely trying to work out how she really feels about my suggestion. Realising that she isn’t going to provide any input, he decides to push it a little. “Megan? I would like to hear your opinion. I am still courting you and I don’t want to screw anything up by making a decision like this without your input.” Darrien says clearly. His voice is mostly calm with just the slightest hint of anxiety as he monitors her r
Strings of Fate 202- Calories and clothing
I wake up late in the morning, it might even be early afternoon. I wriggle around a little which prompts Bellamy to do the same, he is apparently already awake. He raises a finger to his lips to shush me before I speak and I can see why. Kiara is still sleeping, lying in the bed between us. She is still loosely holding onto my arm, even in sleep. I slowly disentangle myself from her light grip and slide out of bed. Bellamy follows, clearly doing his best not to jostle her and wake her up. She definitely needs the sleep. She was restless for a good part of the night and almost definitely was having nightmares, but she seems like she’s sleeping soundly now. My own sleep was blissfully quiet. No visions or anything thank goodness. I’m looking forward to having several weeks of steady sleep and so help me if anything tragic or dramatic happens for the next few weeks then whoever is responsible should probably be terrified of me. We step into the hallway to talk without disturbing Kiara.
Strings of Fate 201- Touch and trust
I cross my arms in irritation. “Kiara would never! How would she even do that? She’s just a kid!” I object. Dr Dae rolls her eyes at me.“Oh calm yourself girl. I’m not saying she chose to murder anyone. I assume that she was forced to comply somehow. You’ll have to ask the girl when she’s ready to talk. As for the how, the child is a Reaper.” She says it as if it’s obvious but it really isn’t. I know that Reapers exist, but they’re the kind of Magic that most people have heard of but no one has ever met. I suppose Kiara’s dad must have been a Reaper too and why the MRO was so secretive about her markings. Most people are kind of scared of Reapers, they’re kind of the boogeymen of our society. Mostly because they can kill on a whim. All it takes is one touch and they can free your soul from your body. Obviously with no soul you die, and I guess your soul moves on to wherever souls go when you pass on. I suppose that a Reaper would make sense for the representative of Atropos. Her add
Strings of Fate 200- Healing and hunger
Since Kiara probably isn’t up to braving the stairs and she really doesn’t want to be carried around everywhere, we decide to ask Dr Dae to come up to the bedroom. It’s actually kind of weird having so many people in here. Bellamy is a fairly private person, he doesn’t generally invite people to hang out in his… our room. Dr Dae shuffles in clutching her usual bag. I’m surprised that Bellamy isn’t carrying it for her because it looks kind of heavy, but I suspect that she wouldn’t hand it over anyway. I immediately greet her.“Thank you so much for your help. Your contact has become a great friend and she’s a huge part of the reason we were able to find Kiara here.” I nudge Kiara gently with my elbow and give her a little smile. She looks very small and delicate in the oversized, mismatched clothes with her hair dripping down her shoulders. She’s so pale that the bruises on her skin stand out and look even worse than they actually are. Dr Dae gives me a half nod of acknowledgement then
Strings of Fate 199- Clean and covered
We all turn to face Alex in confusion. I glance up at Bellamy to see if he has any idea what’s going on but he looks just as lost as the rest of us. I continue to stroke Kiara’s hair trying to keep her calm. “Explain.” Bellamy says firmly. Alex flushes red under the attention of everyone in the room. “Uh, well. I assisted Miss Gale in updating her registration with the MRO, and uh, since her position is one of… well almost authority, over the fate’s representatives the updated registration reflects this. So she should be able to make decisions about Kiara’s care like an Alpha would for their Shifters or like a Coven leader would for their Witches. Admittedly it’s a very small group of Magics, but according to the Magic Registration Office, she is in charge of it.” He explains, his voice starts off weak but gets stronger as he becomes more confident in what he’s saying. The police seem a little stunned but I guess Alex isn’t technically wrong. If Kiara were a Shifter, her Alpha would
Strings of Fate 198- Stolen and sure
When we pull up to the house, there’s a police car waiting. There are two cops standing by it, one looks bored and irritated and the other has a fake ‘customer service’ type smile plastered on his face that I know well from experience. Yeah neither of these guys want to be here. They’re probably pissed that we made them come down here. Not to mention uncomfortable being in the Shifter compound. Non-Shifters aren’t invited here often, although I suppose that isn’t exactly true anymore with all our new friends stopping by regularly. Standing beside them looking awkward and uncomfortable is Alex. I bet they’ve been taking their impatience out on him. I narrow my eyes at them and prepare myself. One snotty comment and I am going to tear into them, it’s been a long night. Bellamy parks the car and I wait for him to get out. He speaks with the police briefly and Alex escorts them inside the house. Bellamy returns and opens the door next to Kiara. “Hey, can I help you get inside? The police
Strings of Fate 197- Leaving and leaning
As we step outside, I’m confused to find that I actually have no idea where we are. I really was just running and following the tracking spell. I don’t know how far I ran. It’s a good thing the others are here to bring back the cars because I would be wandering all night trying to find my way back. I’m also fairly sure that I left my phone in the car when I jumped out in a hurry. Kiara clutches my hand tightly as the cars pull up on the street in front of us. “Megan, Darrien. You stay here and speak to the police when they arrive. Direct further questions to me. Shaun, you stay with them too.” Bellamy directs as Shaun hops out the car. At Megan’s insistence he stays a good couple of metres away from us.“Yes Alpha Kane.” He responds cheerfully. Aaron and Rio also climb out of the vehicles. Rio stops to chat with one of the other Shifters whose name I still don’t know. Aaron immediately approaches me. Actually a better way to phrase it is that he storms over. He looks almost angry. Or
Strings of Fate 196- Rescue and retreat
Darrien is the closest to her and he sees her at the same time I do. He takes a step towards her and she whimpers in fear. He freezes and backs away slowly, trying not to startle her. I gesture for everyone else to stay back and take a few steps closer. I stop a good metre away from the little table and then slowly lower myself to the floor. Kneeling down so that I can see her properly. Kiara is covered in soot and I can see little trails of tears smudging around on her face. She is still crying and whimpering. I am careful to keep my voice gentle and calm. “Kiara?” I call her name. She doesn’t answer or look up, but her whimpering quiets a little and I can see her tensing up like she’s listening carefully. “Kiara sweetheart. You’re safe now. You can come out. We can get some something to eat, you can have a nice bath and some clean clothes. How does that sound?” I try to sound soothing. Her crying stops and she looks up at me with wide, teary, red-rimmed eyes. She doesn’t
Strings of Fate 195- Smoke and smothering
Look, I’m no fighter and the Shifters move way faster than I can even properly process in this stressful situation. I watched the Shifter woman leap towards the redhead (I have got to learn these people’s names!) and the next thing I know, both women are screaming and the living room is lit up with blue flames that are steadily growing. I watch as Shaun and Darrien leap at the Shifter woman and help her tear off her burning shirt. Bellamy takes the chance to shift and a few moments later his large black cat form is launching towards the Witch in an attempt to knock her down. He pulls back at the last second as flames light up in front of him, spreading and essentially splitting the room in half with us on one side and the Witch on the other. She’s completely trapped, both by us and the fire which is steadily going out of control. There is smoke in the air making it hard to see what’s going on and the smoke in the air is making it difficult to breathe. My throat is so dry and my lung
