Seduced by My Childhood Sweetheart’s Brother
Chapter 8

8- Tests and tombstones

“You’re right.” He grumbles out.

“Excuse me?” I question. He repeats himself.

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“You’re right okay? I should have tried asking you first. I will try to remember to do so in the future. Ihave been worried about my sister and after hearing she got engaged I might have gone a little out ofcontrol. Don’t worry about your job. I know the man who owns Borderline, I will make sure you don’t getin 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.” Hemanages to keep his voice calm but seems uncomfortable. I do notice that he hasn’t actuallyapologised. 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. Bellamyshrugs.

“I’m not sure I do. Maybe it is just because you seem to be the only other person around here who issuspicious of Tristan, but I replace I really want to trust you.” he explains.

“So you have decided you do believe me?” I question. Bellamy shrugs again.

“I’ve decided I want to believe you. So I have come up with a way to test you. I will give you a chanceto observe some of my Shifters, and you will tell me which ones are fated mates or any other

relationships you can see. I know everyone here and will be able to tell if you are seeing somethingtrue.” he explains. He seems proud of his idea. I’m not so sure of it.

“I don’t know about this. I usually try to avoid sharing what I see. It seems a bit like a violation of privacyto share what threads I can see on people.” I try to explain. Bellamy looks thoughtful.

“Perhaps, but I can think of no other way to be sure.” I consider for a moment.

“I will tell you, but I have a few conditions.” Bellamy waits for me to explain.

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8- Tests and tombstones

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“First, you can’t share the information I tell you, not even with the people themselves. Fate

knows what it’s doing. I don’t need anyone interfering with it.” Bellamy nods.

“I can agree to that. What else?” he asks.

“Second. I won’t tell you anything about your own threads, not unless I feel you really need to know.Most of the time you are better off not knowing.” Bellamy hesitates. I can tell he has something hewants to say but he just nods.

“Fine. Anything else?” he asks. I nod.

“One more thing. If I do tell you about someone’s threads. I need you to promise you will try your bestnot to judge them. No one is perfect and sometimes the threads get tangled and

mixed up

and will take time to sort themselves out. It is easy to be frustrated with people when you feel they aremaking the wrong decisions, but you have to remember they don’t know. Do you understand?”

“I understand. I can’t judge anyone anyway. It’s not like I have my life all figured out.” he

states. I nod.

“Okay, I’ll do your test then.” he grins, pleased.

“Excellent. If you will follow me then.” he offers me his arm, just as Shaun had. This time, I take it onmy own. Bellamy leads me out onto the street where a group of about fifteen

Shifters stand waiting.

“I was confident you would agree, so here they are.” he explains smugly. I roll my eyes at him.

“You didn’t plan to give me much choice so it’s not a surprise. Just pick someone.” I tell him. He pointsto a man towards the back of the group.

“His soul mate is the lady with red hair on the far right.” I answer. Bellamy nods, a pleased

expression on his face.

“What about the woman in the pink shirt?” he questions.

“Her soul mate is the really tall guy in the middle. The blonde one.” Bellamy is about to talk

8- Tests and tombstones

again but I hold up a hand.

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“I’m not done. She also is fated to be friends with the guy at the front. The one wearing all black wholooks a little goth if you ask me.” I explain. Bellamy smiles.

“Can you tell me more about him?” I nod.

“He has a fated mate nearby, but not in this group. His mate is…” I spin around and wave at a group ofhouses to my right.

“Somewhere over there. Also he will be a mentor to someone.” I squint as my eyes follow the greenthread. It leads to one of the women in the group, but not to her chest as it usually would but to herstomach instead.

“Is that blonde woman pregnant?” I ask. Bellamy grins, absolutely delighted.

“I hope so, she has been trying for a child for a while now.” he answers. I smile, pleased for her.

“I’m glad it’s good news then. The guy in black will be mentor to the child. Maybe not right away, but hewill be.” Bellamy looks beyond happy at this point.

“Okay, one more.” He asks. He points to an elderly woman who hovers at the back of the group. Herexpression is pleasant enough but her general demeanour is sad. Her red thread leads away from thegroup. I have an awful feeling about this. I decide to follow the thread properly rather than just point toit. Bellamy follows behind me as I make my way through the compound. My fears are confirmed when Ireplace myself in a small cemetery. I make my way over to the stone the red thread leads to. There areflowers lying over the stone. I kneel before it and place a hand over the cool rock. I can feel a few tearsrunning down my cheeks. It always breaks my heart to see threads connecting to those who are nolonger with us. I know that death happens to everyone eventually, but it seems unfair that fate gives ussoul mates then allows us to be parted from them. But they aren’t really parted are they? The glowingred thread in front of me shows me that even now the two of them are connected. One day, they will bereunited. I take a deep breath and stand up, turning to face Bellamy as I do so. I wipe the tears from myface onto my sleeve, then cross my arms over my chest.

“Are you satisfied?” I demand. Bellamy looks apologetic.

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“I… I didn’t think you would see anything for her. I expected you to say you couldn’t answer.” he blurtsout. I sigh. It isn’t his fault, not really. He didn’t mean any harm by this.

“Will you tell me what you see?” he asks, almost timidly.

“The same thing I see for everyone else. There’s a red thread connecting their hearts.” I place a handover his heart for just a moment before dropping it to my side.

“From right here. It never fades, as long as one of the pair is still living. It seems that fate doesn’tbelieve in the saying until death do us part. I stare sadly down at the grave. It’s time to pull myself

together, I decide. I shake my sad thoughts from my head.

“So, do you believe me now?” I demand. Bellamy nods.

“Yes, definitely.” he assures me.

“Good. So, can I see your sister now?” I ask.

“Yes, let’s head back to my office, I’ll call her from there.” he hesitates a moment before.

continuing.

“I don’t want to tell her the reason you are here. Not yet. If she knows she will likely be ratheruncooperative. She is stubborn that way. Besides, there really isn’t a good way to say ‘I think yourfiance is evil“.” I consider for a moment, not sure I like the idea of lying.

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“You want me to hide my powers from her? I’m fated to be her friend, I’m not sure I want to

do that.” I remind him.

“No, I think you should tell her about your powers, just don’t tell her that you’re here to investigate herand Tristan. I don’t think it would be useful to tell everyone about your powers though, if you don’tmind.” I shrug.

“I usually prefer it that way. You’re the first person I’ve told about my magic in years. actually.” Bellamyseems surprised. I ignore his shock and push on.

“So what am I supposed to tell Megan about why I am here?” A red flush runs along Bellamy’s face.

8- Tests and tombstones

“Tell her you’re here to replace my soul mate.”