The more time I spend with this Shifter, the more I begin to think fate got it wrong.
I wonder if there is a way to break threads or get rid of them in some way. I've never seen it happen before. Even in death people are tied together. I once walked past a cemetery and saw an old man visiting his wife's grave. The red thread still flowed from his chest and vanished down into the ground connecting him forever to his beloved. It was depressing but also sort of romantic in a morbid kind of way. I glanced back at the man sitting at the table across from me. I can't imagine being linked with him forever. I really hope fate knows what it's doing, giving me this man as my soul mate.“Yes, I will be friends with your twin sister. It is fated.” He scowls at me.“You aren't even a Shifter, why would fate want you to be friends with my sister?” Now it’s my turn to scowl back at him.“What does that have to do with anything? Everyone has a fate Mr Kane, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. When I look at someone, I see the threads of their fate, not their species.” I am feeling incredibly annoyed. This man is my soul mate, how can he be such a jerk? This was definitely not the first meeting I expected when I finally met the holder of my red thread. I had hoped for something a little sweeter, maybe cute or romantic. But no, I get yelled at and insulted. Yay for me. He stares at me for a moment.“Bellamy.” he suddenly states.“What?” I am totally confused, he already told me his name, didn't he? The Shifter looks very serious.“Call me Bellamy. Mr Kane was my father.” His expression is sad. I don't know what happened to his father, but I am certain that he can't be alive and well, not with his son looking so miserable. I nod.“Fine. Bellamy then. You can call me Ryann.” I offer, mostly because it would be super awkward for me to use his first name while he uses my last name. Besides, the guy is my soul mate, we're going to have to pass the awkward 'using each other's names' stage eventually, why not get it out of the way now? The Shifter- I mentally remind myself to call him Bellamy, seems relieved that I agreed so easily and... is he breathing weirdly deep? Maybe it's a Shifter thing, I heard they can tell a lot about how a person is feeling and reacting from their scent... which is kinda weird but I guess it would be useful.“Well Bellamy, now I have some questions for you.” I begin. He looks annoyed. You would think I had just told him he had a dentist appointment or something.“Wow, calm down would you. I'm not asking anything difficult, at least it shouldn't be.” hesitantly, Bellamy nods and gestures for me to continue.“Well, first I really would like to know how you found me. I didn't even put my full name on the note, and you didn't know it until I told you, so I doubt you got my details from anyone at Borderline.” I reason. Bellamy shrugs.“Your scent was all over the note. I assumed that it was placed in my sister’s bag at the restaurant since that's the only place she went that evening, so I went there. It didn't take me long to find you from there. Your scent was... exceptionally easy to follow.” he observes with yet another deep breath. I shrug.“Maybe it's because I walked home barefoot.” I say nonchalantly. He seems confused.“Barefoot? Why would you do that?” he asks curiously. I point to the heels I had abandoned in the doorway.“Because those shoes are evil and I am pretty sure they were biting my feet off or something. Sadly, they are part of my uniform at work.” I explain. He raises an eyebrow.“Biting your feet off? Surely they can't be THAT bad...” he trails off. I lift my foot up and pull off my bunny slipper to reveal the blisters and red marks that marr the pale skin of my foot.“They are definitely that bad.” I state as I hold my foot up so he can see. It is almost comical how horrified Bellamy looks. He actually leans forward and grabs my foot, pulling it towards himself.He seems to realise how weird that is because he suddenly freezes and, almost as quickly as he grabs me, he releases me again.There is an awkward silence as I pull my bunny slipper back over my foot. I decide to move on to my next question and try not to think about the fact that he figured out my location by scent. It kind of seems like an invasion of privacy or something, but who am I to talk. I literally spy on everyone's personal relationships constantly. Besides, I did leave a note.“I... how did your sister react when she saw the note?” I find I am actually terrified to hear his response. I don't want her to hate me. Bellamy drops his gaze to the floor.“She hasn't actually seen it. I scented something different in her purse, you I suppose, and I took it before she saw. She was excited and didn't seem to notice it.” I'm not sure if I'm disappointed that my warning never made it to her or relieved.“I'm surprised you took the effort to track me down.” I comment. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat.“She's my sister, I had to know if there was anything to the note. Besides...” he hesitates.“I'm not too sure about Tristan. I've never really bonded with him.” I interpret that as his tactful guy way of saying he hates Tristan and thinks he is a total ass. I open my mouth to say so, but I am interrupted by someone at the door. Paul is standing with his arms crossed over his chest in my doorway. We have been so busy arguing, neither of us thought to close the door. Bellamy is on his feet in an instant and steps forward to meet the stranger. Paul speaks, his tone is one of complete disgust.“A Shifter?” he bites out, staring at Bellamy's mark.“I thought you were such a nice girl Ryann, I hope you don't intend to have Shifters coming at all hours in my building.” He snaps. Bellamy takes a step closer, his stance is defensive. I get to my feet and stand between them.“Bellamy, ignore my neighbour. It seems he has poor manners. Paul, get out of MY apartment. This building belongs to Maggie, not you and there is no reason why I can't invite whoever I please.” I remind him. So Bellamy is a bit of an ass, but I'm not going to let my neighbour be insulting because of his species. Paul glares at me.“Well sorry for coming to check on you after this brute almost knocked your door down. I could hear it from downstairs. Magics really all act like rules don't apply to them, don't they?” he directs the last statement towards Bellamy who looks like he wants to knock Paul out. I don't really blame him. Paul is grating on my nerves too. Without saying anything, I push the sleeve of my pyjamas up as high as I can on my arm. It's just enough that the bottom of my mark is visible. Paul's expression darkens.“What the hell? Maggie promised that everyone in this building was safe. I guess a little old lady is pretty easy to fool huh?” I snap. It's one thing to insult Bellamy, I barely know him. Insult me? Sure, why not. It's not like there aren't tons of people doing it already, I can take it. But Maggie? She is the best person I know, and I can't stand to hear him speak about her that way. I probably shouldn't get physical but I just can't help myself. My hand flies before my brain registers that it's moving and I slap him hard across the face.Paul swears and raises a hand towards me, but it never connects. Bellamy catches him by the wrist and holds him firmly. When he speaks his tone is deadly.“Get out. Never speak with Ryann again. I suggest you look into finding other accommodations since you are so against the presence of Magics.” He doesn't make any threats, but his tone and the look in his eyes is enough. Bellamy releases Paul who backs away before fleeing down the stairs to his own apartment. I had hoped that this neighbour might last a little longer than the last few, it seemed it wasn't going to happen. Note-to-self: apologise to Maggie for scaring off her residents. I sigh.“I shouldn't have done that. He didn't need to know that I'm a Magic. Now Maggie is going to have to get a new resident for the second floor again. She did warn me that he didn't seem terribly open minded.” I grumble, more to myself than to Bellamy. He shrugs. Suddenly he seems a lot less hostile, in the last minute he's changed from oppos
“Or maybe I can just tell my shift manager that I have to leave...” Shaun grabs my hand and places it on his arm. I want to yank it away but I feel like I probably shouldn't antagonise this guy, at least not until I'm sure he's not a threat. Seeing no real option but to go along with it, I leave my arm there and allow him to lead me from the restaurant. There is a black car parked out front. Shaun opens the door for me to get in and climbs in beside me. Aaron makes his way to the drivers seat. I rack my mind to consider why a Shifter Alpha would want to see me. Something to do with Bellamy of course, but what? Had he made some complaint about me? Or had he somehow figured out that I was his soul mate and planned to drag me kicking and screaming to the Shifter compound? The fact that he has involved his Alpha is hardly promising. I don't know a lot about Shifter politics and rules, but I do know that, to a Shifter, their Alpha is the highest authority that they answer to. If I am
“You're right.” He grumbles out.“Excuse me?” I question. He repeats himself.“You're right okay? I should have tried asking you first. I will try to remember to do so in the future. I have been worried about my sister and after hearing she got engaged I might have gone a little out of control. Don't worry about your job. I know the man who owns Borderline, I will make sure you don't get in trouble for missing your shift today.” He takes a deep breath and releases it.“I am hoping that you will agree to help me protect my sister by further investigating Tristan.” He manages to keep his voice calm but seems uncomfortable. I do notice that he hasn't actually apologised. But I guess admitting he is wrong is the first step.“I thought you didn't really believe in my power?” My tone makes the statement a question. Bellamy shrugs.“I'm not sure I do. Maybe it is just because you seem to be the only other person around here who is suspicious of Tristan, but I find I really want to trust you.
Bellamy sounds incredibly embarrassed. My eyes are wide. He couldn't possibly have figured it out could he?“Um...” I am unsure how to ask my question but Bellamy catches on fast.“It is generally accepted that a Shifter should have a mate before taking over as Alpha. Due to my parents' sudden passing, I had to take over early. It has caused some... friction... among the other Shifter groups. They don't respect me as they should because of it. Some demand that I should step down and allow a mated Shifter to replace me, one of the Betas. I have no intention of doing so and most feline Shifters here follow me easily enough. But a mate would simplify things. If you say you're here for me, my sister will believe it.” Bellamy pauses before speaking again, his voice halting.“Do you- oh no, I promised not to ask. Never mind.” I released a deep breath. If Bellamy outright asks me who his soul mate is, or if I am his soul mate, I am really not sure I can lie to him. I really don't want to hav
Bellamy, once again offers me his arm. I take it and allow him to lead me out to the front of the building where a Shifter man waits patiently. He is dressed in jeans and a dark shirt, much like Shaun and Aaron. He is quite tall and bulky, if he weren't so polite he would probably be intimidating. He has chocolate brown hair. His eyes are brown too but seem tinted orange so they don't quite look human. He is well built and if I do say so myself, quite attractive. “This is Darrien, Megan's guard.” Bellamy says quietly. The guy is cute, but what really catches my attention is the red thread connecting his heart to Megan's. Interesting. I go out of my way to smile at him and shake his hand.“Hi, I'm Ryann Gale. You're Darrien right? It's nice to meet you.” The man smiles kindly and mumbles a quiet greeting. I can already see that he is the gentle giant type. Although I wouldn't put it past him to be seriously scary if someone threatened Megan. He assesses me with his eyes, as if determin
Bellamy immediately turns to me.“Are you okay?” he asks in a hurry.“Of course I am. He's an Incubus sure, but he isn't going to hurt me.” I assure him. Bellamy looks doubtful.“You sure he didn't try anything? You know how Inccubi. can be.'' His voice is thick with implications. I glare at him.“Now that's just rude. He's a person like anyone else. He has a soul mate just like anyone else. I'm not sure who, I don't know if they've met yet. It just takes a while for Inccubi. and Succubi to settle down is all. He's basically harmless.” Bellamy looks confused.“I've seen people run into Inccubi. and leave with them after only a minutes conversation once they turn on their charm. It doesn't seem to affect you at all.” I shrug.“Harry wasn't really trying. Inccubi like games. As long as you let them know that you aren't playing, they lose interest.” Bellamy nods.“Fine, it's good that you aren't really affected by them. Just remember that I promised to see you home.” he reminds me. I gla
I go and change into my fluffy unicorn pyjamas. I plug my phone onto charge and climb into the very corner of my bed where I am most comfortable. I watch as my red thread fades from my view. Bellamy must have driven far enough away that I can't see it anymore. Considering that we are fated to be together, he is very annoying. He is definitely not the kind of person I expected fate to give to me. I still can't imagine being with him for the rest of my life. He is bossy and demanding, the complete opposite of me. I am pulled from my thoughts when I feel my phone vibrating next to me. I have a text from Megan.Megan- Hey, so I'm thinking brunch tomorrow followed by shopping. I want a dress for my engagement party!!! Pick you up at 10am???I responded with my acceptance and my address. I have never really been shopping with a friend before and I find I am insanely excited. I probably can't buy much given my limited income. But it should still be fun helping Megan pick something. I put my
Here.” She hands me a folded square of paper. I unfold it and read.Ryann,Since you will be attending my sister's engagement party and will be assisting me with the matter we previously discussed, it is only right that I provide you with the appropriate attire for the occasion. As such, I hope that while you are shopping with Megan today you will choose a dress for yourself which I will pay for. (Megan has my credit card)BellamyI am gaping at the note, totally confused. What the actual hell is this? Is Bellamy just super generous all of a sudden? Or maybe he is trying to bribe me to cooperate more or something. Either way, it is completely unacceptable. He might be my fate but that doesn't mean I'm comfortable going around spending his money. Particularly since we aren't actually together yet. I drop the note and turn to Megan, about to voice my objections when she hands me a phone. My phone which she apparently took from my bag while I was reading.“I added my brother's number. I