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56- Courage and courting
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Strings of Fate 57- Worries and worth
“I didn't use ALL the methods of courting, there are three main aspects to Shifter courting. First I show that I can provide for you with gifts of food and clothing. Second I show I can protect you, I got the rules about shoes changed at your workplace and literally fought the Vampires to protect you so that counts. That just leaves proving that I will do the same for our children.” He concludes. I choke on my water. Bellamy is out of his seat in a second. He moves onto the bench next to me, patting and stroking my back as I regain the ability to breathe. He looks like he is trying not to laugh.“Breathe Ryann, hypothetical children, relax.” Bellamy chuckles and I glare at him.“And just what kind of new and confusing behaviour can I expect from you regarding this?” I demand. He sobers up a little. “I'm not entirely sure, usually this would be proven by making an effort to be active in the family, taking care of younger siblings, or elderly family members of the female being courted.
Strings of Fate 58 - Distraction and denial
Without missing a beat Bellamy hops out the car and runs around to open my door for me. Before I can so much as blink he’s leaning down over me and pressing his lips against mine. Just for a moment but I'm not expecting it and I freeze in shock.“For luck.” He states calmly, a click at my side tells me he’s undone my seatbelt. I flush red as I scramble out of my seat and take the arm Bellamy is holding out for me. There’s a smirk on his face and I can tell he’s enjoying how flustered I am.I take a few deep breaths as we approach the front door and try and relax. Megan is the one who has the right to be freaking out, not me. Things are actually looking up for me, I really have no right to complain. Bellamy unlocks the door, I did plan to head straight up to Megan’s room but I can hear noise coming from the kitchen. Is she… humming? I glance at Bellamy who shrugs and gives a confused expression which tells me he doesn’t know what’s going on either. I peer around the doorway and see Meg
Strings of Fate 59 - Sleeping and shrieking
“So Bellamy was telling me about some of the things Shifter men do to court women. Food and clothes and stuff. You had to have known this whole time!” I complain. Megan smirks. “I figured if it was meant to be you would already know and if it wasn’t... Then why force him to go through the rejection? Besides, I only knew about him buying you a dress, Darrien has been filling me in about your meals together though. Did you really throw money at him?” She asks. I frown.“Darrien wasn’t even there for that part. He left when we went to dinner.” I point out. Megan shrugs.“Just assume all the guards gossip. Except maybe Aaron. He barely even talks. I think I’ve mentioned before that Shaun is a gossip. He told Darrien and Darrien told me.” I groan. So much for privacy. I think Aaron might be my new favourite purely for his apparently unique skill of keeping his mouth shut. “I get the feeling I’m going to end up being embarrassed by all you guys a lot in the future. Well since I’m already
Strings of Fate 60 - Couches and company
I turn to Bellamy about to ask how he’s doing when he sweeps me up into a hug, pulling me right off my feet.“Thankyou so much. I thought I could handle her but then she started crying. Usually I don’t have a problem with dealing with people who get angry but it’s not like SHE did anything wrong and I just… got stuck.” I can feel him breathing into my hair as he places me back on my feet, holding me close. I stay still a few moments until he releases me.“Sorry if I overstepped. I just didn’t like seeing her yell at you. Also I was worried she would wake Megan, she’s finally asleep.” Bellamy shakes his head.“You didn’t overstep. I know you aren’t ready to be… well, all in yet. But helping with this kind of thing, emotional Shifters. That is what the Alpha female does. You are going to be so good at this, I just know it.” I take a step back in shock.“I…um. Didn’t mean to…this doesn’t mean.” I stammer out. Bellamy takes my hand and runs his thumb over the back of my hand soothingly.“
Strings of Fate 61- Apologies and alarm
I shriek and leap out of his lap. Or I try to, I trip over my own feet and get caught by Bellamy’s hand in the edge of my top. Bellamy tries to catch me but we both end up overbalancing and the chair tips over. We both land hard, sprawled on the floor. Bellamy manages to slip a hand behind my head as we fall so at least I don’t break my skull. Bellamy groans as I sit up and I realise I landed hard elbowing him in the stomach. I jump up.“Sorry!” He sits up and rights his chair. Megan is in the doorway and is frozen. I make eye contact with her. I’m sure I must be tomato red and I can’t believe that just happened. Megan bursts out laughing. She laughs so hard that I can see tears in her eyes. Bellamy can’t help but join in.“You guys!” I whine but I can’t help but smile and I try to resist the desire to giggle. Megan throws herself into the recliner Bellamy moved in for me as she manages to calm herself.“Oh I needed that. I was going to come apologise for falling asleep and ditching y
Strings of Fate 62- Nightmares and numbness
Darrien looks so lost. I start laughing. Megan and Bellamy give near identical smirks. “My brother stole it to make a nest for Ry in his office. Apparently he needs supervision while he works now. Although I’m not sure why he bothered because she wasn’t sitting on the recliner when I found them.” Her tone is suggestive and makes the whole thing sound a lot worse than it was. Still, I can’t help the blush that burns across my face. Seriously, I need to find a way to stop that.“I can go grab it.” Bellamy moves to stand but Darrien waves him back.“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine here.” He drops to the floor and settles in place resting his back against the edge of Megan’s recliner. Not touching her, but definitely more of a casual placement than he would normally choose. Megan’s gaze darts to mine and I try to arrange my face in a way that appears encouraging. Bellamy settles back in beside me. He checks his phone.“Food should arrive in about twenty minutes.” He informs us cheerfully.
Strings of Fate 63- Security and suggestions
Megan wakes several more times throughout the night, each time jolting awake in tears. In the morning when I wake up she is curled up against my side hugging my left arm tightly against her chest like it’s a prized teddy bear. I remain in bed, swapping between dozing and staring at the crack of light visible through her curtains contemplating what time it might be and what I need to get done today. I probably need to clean my house, I’ve been quite slack with it lately while I’ve been moping. I need to make my bed properly, actually I should probably wash everything since it’s been on the floor and dragged around my home to make a fort. Oh and I definitely need to do some shopping, there is zero food in my house and it’s now highly likely that I’ll actually have guests again. I also owe Maggie a cup of tea at some point, if she saw the state if my home she would be horrified and probably start cleaning it for me which would only make me feel worse. Yep, definitely due for a deep clean
Strings of Fate 64- Silence and sass
Bellamy sighs and takes me by the hand. He leads me to the living room and sits on the couch, dragging me to sit next to him. “I don’t want to argue. Let’s talk about this properly.” He insists. I sigh and nod my agreement.“I just really don’t think I need them.” I start. Bellamy nods. “I understand that. But I can’t trust that you’re safe when I can’t see you. I might be overreacting, I probably am. But my sister was just nearly killed by her fiancé and that was in a room full of people who care about her. Someone has already threatened you once and I’m on edge. I can’t stand the idea of leaving you unprotected. I have plenty of enemies and while people might not really know about us yet they’re still a threat to you. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you because of me.” It’s really hard to hold firm to my argument after his confession, I’m wavering and I know it. I try not to completely give up. “Surely we can come to some kind of compromise? What about someth
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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
