“Stay here.” he demands. I know if I insist he will let go, but he’s not usually so clingy, we were kind of having an emotional moment and I suspect he hasn’t finished processing that yet and isn’t ready to move on. Which makes sense because I don’t think I’ve processed it yet and I started it! Megan rolls her eyes.“Told you he would be all bossy tonight. I’m pretty exhausted anyway since I’ve been sleeping badly. I’m happy to just let you guys hang out. A potion to help with the nightmares would be amazing.” She looks near tears. I start to feel guilty. Maybe I should be spending time with her tonight. I don’t want to neglect my new relationship with Bellamy, but surely Megan needs up both right now. More than we need each other at least.“Oh, well it’s in a bag on the table. There’s about three doses. It’s a controlled substance though and I’ve signed for it so take care of it please. No sharing it. Also remember not to take it more than one night, it shouldn’t be taken consecutive
Bellamy starts towards his office door, carrying me with him. I wrap my arms around his neck to steady myself.“Bellamy! What are you doing? Put me down!” I demand but I’m breathless with laughter. He pauses in the hallway. Still holding me close. “Do I have to? I think I’d rather just keep you here like this. I don’t want to let go.” I can’t help but laugh again.“Of course you need to put me down.” I insist.“Hmm…” he considers me but doesn’t let go. I wriggle my way out of his arms and jump towards the ground. He catches me but lowers me to my feet gently before hooking his arms around my waist tightly holding me close against his chest. “Go get whatever you need to stay over at my place tonight.” I prompt him. Maybe a change of focus is what’s needed to escape him, although I can’t say it’s unpleasant having him so close, I’m a little unsure what his goal is. Bellamy leans down and kisses my neck. “All I need is you.” He murmurs, snuggling into my neck. It tickles and I can’t h
Maybe he is right to be worried that I’ll run away. Then again, I’m not sure I could actually force myself to move so maybe not. Not to mention I’m a little caught up with a fairly hilarious mental image of Bellamy swooning like a damsel in distress like in an old timey drama.“I… all I did was make us even. You did two of the courting tradition things and now so have I. I do see what you mean about hiding and holding back and I just wanted to show you that I appreciate it. Now, in the nicest way possible, if we don’t end this conversation now I might actually die from embarrassment. So please, let’s head inside and go make dinner and relax.” My voice is nearly pleading. Bellamy grins at me. “I’m not sure you could actually die from embarrassment, but let’s not risk it.” He runs around to open my door and leads me inside. I use my app to approve the security alert and we both get to cooking. The meal we cook isn’t great, but it’s not a complete disaster. I’d give it a solid C+. We m
Now why would he specifically bring that up. Is he implying that he touched my other drawers? I said he could, so why did he bring it up? Curiosity is enough to force me out of bed. I open my dresser and it takes a minute for my mind to understand. Did Bellamy… re-fold all my clothes? Everything I own is stacked in neatly folded piles. Far tidier than any folding I bother with. I check the next drawer and find the same thing. My top drawer has a pile on the left that clearly belongs to Bellamy. I guess he made space and… re-organised my dresser? Huh, was it really that bad or is he just a little OCD? I open my bottom drawer and as promised, it’s just as messy as ever. Well, at least I know he didn’t go through that one, although I now feel like I need to sort it nicely to make it match the rest. Maybe I’ll do that later. Impulsively, I grab my phone and call Bellamy. He answers quickly. “Good morning.” I notice his tone is more restrained than normal. I can hear voices in the backgro
Eventually, I give Aaron a break and we head to my work. The shift drags on although there is a brief moment of amusement when a group of human girls stop and try to flirt with Aaron. I say try because they don’t really get very far. Talking to him really does take a lot of work. I still haven’t decided if he is intentionally not talking to people because he doesn’t want to or if he’s just really shy. Or maybe a combination of the two? Well, I don’t mind. Actions speak louder than words and his actions say plenty. He is always mindful of me and helpful in general. I’m hoping that I can become good friends with him, it will make having him around less uncomfortable. Besides, it would be nice if he enjoyed working with me. I stop by and remind him to send the check in message to Bellamy and to encourage the girls to move on and let him be. He gives me a nod of thanks then sends the message. Aaron showed no interest in the girls and they were pretty enough. I’ve asked him before if he’s
I shrug. I don’t really want to go home, I’m tired but having fun. “I don’t wanna leave. I wanna stay here.” I whine. Megan elbows me in the ribs.“Stay then, I bet Bellamy wouldn’t mind.” She waggles her eyebrows at me suggestively and we both devolve into giggles again. I haven’t seen Bellamy all evening except. Oh shoot! I was meant to check in and I didn’t. Did I? I don’t think I did. Oops, I better do that before he gets too worried. “I need to talk to Bellamy!” I declare as I struggle to get up off the floor. Megan’s clothes are extra slippery or something because it takes a couple attempts to get to my feet. Megan makes it up first and pulls me to my feet. I stumble into her and we both fall onto her bed. “My brother’s probably in his room.” Megan informs me. I nod. “I need to talk to him.” I insist. Megan stays lying on her bed where she is and nods at me, her eyes closed. I make my way across Megan’s room doing my best not to trip over anything on the floor which is now m
Why does my head feel like someone is bashing it with a hammer? And why do I feel like throwing up? My eyes feel stuck shut but I force myself to open one. A dim light in the room makes me immediately squeeze it shut again, groaning in pain. Ugh I feel awful. I’m lying on my side and my right arm is numb under my own weight. I roll onto my back and try not to gag as my stomach rebels. “I hope girls night was worth it.” I hear Bellamy comment from beside me. My eyes fly open in shock and I bolt upright, the world spinning as I sit up. I press a hand to my head and find my hair is an absolute rat’s nest. I glance over at Bellamy who is lying in the bed next to me, the blankets pulled down far enough to see that he’s not wearing a shirt. I flush red and avert my eyes before I embarrass myself by staring. I glance down and realise I’m only wearing a bra and my underwear. With a shriek that does not help my headache, I grab the blanket and yank it over myself, tearing it away from Bellamy
As I enter, Megan whirls around to face me, she’s holding an armful of clothes that she appears to be stacking away and she stops mid-note of whatever tune it was she was humming. She looks surprised to see me. “Ryann? I didn’t realise you were still here. I thought Bellamy must have taken you home already. Are you only getting up now? It’s almost eleven.” she rambles cheerfully. She drops her armful of clothes onto a large pile on her bed and pulls her curtain open a little. I flinch at the bright morning light and shield my eyes, groaning. “Of course I’m still here. And I drank waaaaay too much last night, of course I’m only getting up now. It’s a miracle I’m up at all.” I grumble. Megan tilts her head in confusion. “Are you really feeling that bad?” she asks curiously. I roll my eyes and regret the motion. Now that I’m standing up I feel a lot worse. Also her room is way too bright. “Of course I am! Aren’t you?” I demand. She shrugs nonchalantly. “Nope. my metabolism burned of
My automatic reaction is to panic and to mentally scream NO ABSOLUTELY NOT! She is just a child. She is way too young to already find the person she is fated to be with, not to mention she has been through too much. What if he is immature or goes through a jerk phase as he grows up? Or worse, what if he is a lot older than her? Four or five years might not mean much when she’s an adult, but at her age that is a LOT. And who could it be? Is he going to be good enough? What if I don’t approve of him, what if he’s a bad influence. I’ve seen people with red threads who hated each other and were terrible for each other when they were young and as they matured became more right for one another. Is it too soon for them to meet? She’s just gone through an incredibly traumatic circumstance and she does NOT need some guy messing with her head right now. I take a deep breath and try to relax. I don’t know who it is, we might not even be meeting him right now. The thread just tells me that he’s s
The next few days pass almost too quickly. Bellamy and I have our meeting with Sara and her father. He was a little curious as to why I was there, but he didn’t say anything. He wasn’t pleased, but he did agree to back off of Sara a little bit and seemed to appreciate the added security that we are arranging for the university students. On the drive home, Bellamy is grumbling about it. “He was barely polite to you.” He complains. I roll my eyes.“He was polite enough, how polite should he be to a stranger in his house telling him how to parent his child?” I point out Bellamy shakes his head.“You’re his Alpha, my mate, he should know better.” He continued to scowl.“It’s not like he knows that. We haven’t actually told everyone.” I remind him gently. Now it’s his turn to roll his eyes.“Of course he knows. It’s the worst kept secret around, remember? He’s just the traditional type. Isn’t sure how he feels about having a non-Shifter as an Alpha. He’ll get over it.” He says firmly. I f
“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
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.
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
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
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
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
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