“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
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.“
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
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.
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
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
I have to rinse out my conditioner bottle to get the last bit out but I manage to wash my hair, I drop the empty bottle in the bin as I exit the shower. I dress and towel dry my hair then drop the towel in my hamper. I head out to the living room and glance around.“Okay step one is shopping, step two is laundry, step three general cleaning.” Aaron gets to his feet. I usually walk to do my shopping, when I suggest this Aaron just shrugs and gestures for me to lead the way. I link my arm with his and we get on with it. The shopping doesn’t take too long and the walk home goes much faster than usual as Aaron insists on carrying my bags for me. (Or at least he just took them from me and never really gave me a choice and who am i to argue if he wants to carry stuff?) which is why I’m shocked when I get home and find Shaun and another guy I don’t know are using a drill to remove my front door. Shaun waves cheerfully.“Morning miss Gale.” I smile awkwardly. “I locked that…’ I respond mildl
I can’t help but smile and I tuck the note from Bellamy into a drawer I have in my kitchen. The one everyone seems to have that is full of random stationary, tea towels and other odds and ends. I tap Aaron on the arm to get his attention, he is preoccupied opening the packaging on my new microfibre cleaning cloths. “Bellamy says we should negotiate a schedule or something for you. I work mostly evenings and sometimes the lunch shift, but I never really start before eleven. Maybe we could make your start time nine and just take each day as it comes until we figure it out in more detail?” i suggest. Aaron nods. I already traded numbers with him and all the other guards I've had ages ago so that's not a problem. I’m still not thrilled with having to have security in the first place, but this probably won’t be so bad. I pull out my phone and text Bellamy. Ryann- Got your note. Of course I’m happy to have Aaron here. We’ve made a temporary plan until we work out our schedules a bit bett