Strings of Fate by Kit Bryan
Chapter 187

187- Accidents and avoidance

I wake up feeling groggy and I just know that I’ve slept in late. If I did dream, I don’t remember any of it which honestly is kind of a relief because I needed rest so badly. Bellamy isn’t in bed beside me, so I assume he got up at a more normal time. He must be exhausted, because I’m still tired and I obviously slept in longer than he did. It’s strange that I didn’t have visions of Kiara, then again those visions seem to make me tired and use energy, particularly when I interact with her. So maybe I just didn’t have enough energy to manage it. I spend at least fifteen minutes lying in bed trying to force my brain to wake up. Okay, that’s enough. Apparently I’m not going to feel better or more awake than I do now. A shower might help. I climb out of bed, tripping over the blankets as I go, and head straight into the ensuite. I don’t think at all, just strip off my clothes and step into the shower. I turn the hot water on first and absolutely freeze as I wait for it to heat up. Finally it reaches a comfortable temperature and I’m able to relax under the stream of water for a while. It feels great on my back which is apparently really sore. I probably slept twisted or something. Or maybe it was all the tension from yesterday. I suppose the cause doesn’t really matter. But I should definitely take a painkiller or something. I have a headache too. Actually I feel almost hungover which is annoying since I didn’t even drink. All the downsides with none of the fun. Alright that’s it. When this is over, I’m getting all my friends together and we are going to get raging drunk. I want to actually earn my hangover for once. Then again, last time I totally humiliated myself with Bellamy, although being drunk might be the only way I’m ever brave enough to actually make any progress with him physically. Ugh. I should really work on that. I might manage it better if I didn’t have to stress so much about Kiara and these psychos. I take it back, rather than get drunk, when this is all sorted out I’m going to spend some time actively working on my relationship with Bellamy and learning not to feel so damn awkward all the time! It’s crazy how I can simultaneously feel so comfortable around him and so nervous.

I hear the bedroom door open.That’s strange, I shouldn’t be able to hear that so easily, especially not while in the shower. I automatically turn towards the door and… oh shoot! I didn’t close the bathroom door behind me. I really was out of it. I should go close the door right away. Actually, Bellamy’s footsteps sound close… Maybe I should stay where I am and hope the

eam hides me? Or can I reach a towel? I know I was thinking I should be less shy with Bellamy but this is NOT what I meant. Maybe I should just call out to Bellamy and tell him to close his eyes and give me a second, yeah that’s a good plan. I open my mouth but I’m too late. I can see Bellamy’s figure through the condensation in the shower and I freeze in place. I can hear him draw in a sharp breath, then the ensuite door is being pulled closed and I’m alone again. My heart is beating a mile a minute and I have a weird urge to stand in front of the mirror to figure out if I look hot or if I look like a drowned rat. Probably the latter. Ugh this is so ridiculous. I spend more time in the bathroom than I probably would have and when I finally emerge, Bellamy is sitting on the end of the bed, his hands behind him, leaning back staring up at the ceiling, He looks flushed. Yeah okay, that steam definitely wasn’t hiding anything. So much for that.

“I didn’t realise the door was open.” 1 force out. Bellamy lets out a deep breath.

I figured.” He answers.

“Th- thankyou for closing it for me.” I push on. Bellamy nods and doesn’t look at me. Okay… I don’t know how else to

respond to that.

“Uh… I guess I’m going to go grab something to eat?” I tell him, although it weirdly comes out as a question. Bellamys nods and gets to his feet, I assume to/join me. Just as I reach the bedroom door he grabs my hand and pulls me back. He is flushing bright red.

“Ry? I just wanted to say… you’re beautiful.” Okay, now I’m just as bright red as he is. Although I feel a bit pleased too.

I kind of needed to hear that.

“Th–thanks.”

1/2

187- Accidents and avoidance

I wait until I’ve eaten, taken some painkillers and downed some caffeine before I even bother trying to figure out my own thoughts. I’m still kind of concerned about my new thread. I can’t see it anymore, I assume that Cheryl is too far away for me to see it anymore. I tell Bellamy about how it suddenly appeared, and how exhausted I’ve been since then. He listens intently without interruption.

“Is it possible that the threat was there last time you met and you just missed it? I mean it wasn’t a long conversation and there was a lot going on.” He suggests. I raise an eyebrow sceptically.

“Alright, I get it. It wasn’t there before. I was just checking.” He thinks for a minute.

“Maybe… It’s because of the murders. I mean we already determined that they weren’t fated. So maybe these additional deaths changed your fate too.” Bellamy pauses and his expression freezes in place.

“Have… have you seen any other threads change?” He keeps his voice even but it sounds…off? I shake my head no.

“No, definitely not. That’s why this is so weird.” I tell him. His shoulders droop and I can see him relaxing.

“That’s okay then, as long as none of your other threads change. The one with Megan… Or me.” Oh, I get it. He was worried about our thread. He thought it might change too. I seriously doubt that would happen.

“Bellamy, it’s one thing to hate someone, it would be totally different for my fated soul mate to somehow change. I don’t think that could ever happen.” I reassure him. He hugs me tight and I can tell how relieved he is. He must have been more worried than I thought. I think he probably is right about the murders being what changed my threads. though.

“Oh, I had some questions now that I’m actually awake properly. I was wondering why your Alpha, bossiness thing couldn’t make Cheryl tell us about Kiara, you were able to make her stay put. What changed?” I ask. Bellamy sighs.

“She was closing her eyes and ignoring me. It sounds silly but it works. Eye contact isn’t strictly necessary, but it does help. Essentially what was happening is that Cheryl wasn’t listening to me. She was ignoring me well enough that she was kind of… zoning out? She did it well enough that she wasn’t really aware of the commands I was giving so that she was able to avoid them. Sure, something like telling her to stop or stay might work. It would be hard to tune someone out enough that you don’t process a basic command like stop. More complicated questions are easier to ignore and harder for me to force. Although it definitely takes a lot of focus to avoid them. Some Shifters practise that kind of thing, particularly if they spend a lot of time around dominant Shifters with opinions they disagree with. I guess Cheryl is one of them.”

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